THIS IS A VERY LONG POST TO THIS FORUM BUT PLEASE, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT, PERHAPS PRINT IT OFF, THINK ABOUT IT, READ IT AGAIN, MAKE SOME NOTES, AND THEN POST YOUR RESPONSES.
Motters has alluded to a forthcoming meeting with the ‘top brass’, and I can now give you full details of this and need your input please.
WHAT / WHEN – The company have organised two Advisor Feedback Seminars to take place this month – one in Reading on 17/18 January for southern agents and one in Leeds on 24/25 January for Northern agents.
WHY – for many reasons, but in large part as a result of Advisor Online, Hillarys realise that they have lost touch with their front line troops. I get the feeling that many managers are seriously and genuinely bemused by the breakdown in communications, the demotivation of agents, and the us/them culture that has developed. We can enlighten them to the reasons (lack of consultation, arrogant and patronising communications, forced change, cheapening brand image, and the cavalier attitudes of some – not all – FSM’s) but all this could soon be water under the bridge. They want to meet with us, identify the major problems, and open a dialogue towards a new start for 2006. We should grasp this opportunity, voice our concerns and criticisms in a positive and constructive way, and start to work together to the mutual benefit of the company and its advisors. Hillarys don’t have a business without us, but we don’t have a livelihood without them, so let’s move towards some win/win solutions. The very nature of these seminars is that we will do most of the talking and management will be listening – what a turn round ?
WHO – each of the seminars will be attended by four members of senior management :
Mellisa Bunyan Director of Sales
Ross Kenney Regional Sales Manager, UK Sales
Rose Haines Brand Communications Manager, Marketing
Rudie Stewart Head of Contact Centre, Customer Services Centre
plus the ‘host’ FSM, being he/she in whose area the meeting is being held, so Tony Boyd in the South and Louisa Thorne in the North.
Eleven advisors have been invited to the southern meeting, and twelve in the north. I have a list of who these agents are and would like to post this list to the forum for you all to see – does anybody object to being ‘outed’ in this way ? Many of the 23 will in any case already be members of Advisor Online so please let us know who you are and please help to co-ordinate the feedback that I hope this posting will provoke.
OUR STATUS – the 23 agents have been invited in an individual capacity based on our experience, time with the company, and business history. We are NOT going to become a select quorum – other agents, invited against different criteria, will attend future seminars depending on the specific focus / agenda at the time. We will be speaking our piece in an individual capacity. We will not be acting as ‘official spokesmen’ for advisoronline or for advisors at large because we have not been elected or given a mandate to act in that role. Nevertheless I for one would like to ensure that our priorities and comments are as representative as possible, based on a general concensus of all your input.
AGENDA – the seminars will have a six point agenda as follows :
1. Top 10 frustrations – feedback from the advisor feedback team and from the advisorsonline website.
2. Top 10 ideas from the field – feedback from the advisor feedback team and from the advisorsonline website.
3. Advertising – how we obtain feedback from the field – competitor activity, adverts appearing, promotion changes.
4. Communications – mechanics, frequency, subjects, advisor website/chatroom.
5. Product gaps – colours, styles, competitor product developments.
6. Day to day advisor support - Sales Support, Diary Maintenance, Outbound Centre – current methods review, communications and teamwork.
INPUT – we (the 23 advisors) need your input and feedback on the above agenda points so please start posting now and keep on posting until the eve of the second meeting. If some of you would like to help by trawling through the threads on this forum site and listing / summarising issues then that would be great. We need all your ammunition but please keep each topic short, to the point, and as constructive as possible.
SOME PERSONAL THOUGHTS – every one of the agenda items is a meaty topic but I can’t help feeling that item 1 – our frustrations – will dominate the meeting so let me offer a personal view to set the scene.
It would be a shame if our top ten were dominated by petty whinging. Each one should be a fundamental and long term issue that involves clear policy matters and requires quantum change in the culture behind company / advisor communications – not just ‘topical’ issues which may be serious but which are largely administrative and which can/will be sorted out anyway. For example, recent concerns about delayed commission payments were serious but are already being resolved, the 28 day DOR scare seems to have been nothing more than poor communications, and there have been other problems which have gone away.
As a starter to get you thinking I offer six thoughts of my own for this part of the agenda :
- Job security / tenure. It would be nice to be able to go on holiday without feeling that our businesses will be undermined in our absence. It would be nice to know that new advisors won’t be introduced into the areas we have built up and nurtured without some specific criteria being met and procedures followed.
- Penalties. Why does the agent always get hit in the pocket for Hillarys errors. One small mistake and we get fined for mismeasures. We incur the time and travel costs to correct Hillarys errors (DOR’s), and we lose commission if Customer Services offer discounts or if the customer’s cheque bounces.
- Lead Allocation. How are leads allocated and how are advisors prioritised ? Why is there no effective procedure to ensure that a returning customer gets the same advisor. Why is an advisor who lives fifteen miles away selling blinds to my next door neighbour ?
- Brand Image. We have always been proud to represent Hillarys, being market leaders and offering top quality, choice, and service. Recently we have been subjected to cheap promotions which have changed customer perceptions of Hillarys standing in the market, undermining our existing customer base in return for a quick buck. Where is this going.
- Product Quality. This will inevitably come up for discussion but lets be realistic. When did you last have a problem with a metal venetian blind ? Haven’t roller blinds improved dramatically over the last couple of years ? Romans and Pleateds are generally pretty good. So surely the focus must be on Wood Venetians, plus some gripes about Verticals and, in particular, general discussions about quality standards and quality procedures.
- Web Blinds. It is galling to have to leave SAM quotes with customers, knowing that the quote contains the dimensions and that the Hillarys website will refer the customer direct to Web Blinds where they can buy the same thing at half price.
Please add your comments, agree with me, disagree with me, propose other issues, speak out, but try to be constructive.
Similarly with agenda item 2 – our top ten ideas – our chance to influence the way Hillarys works. Lets generate some real input on this, something that will make the company realise that there is a wealth of talent and business acumen that they can tap into. At this stage of the game ideas like more commission please, sack all fsm’s, bring back Tony Hillary, etc may be understandable but are also trite and unhelpful. Lets demonstrate that we can think on a bigger scale, be original, and think outside the box. Again, I offer a couple of my own thoughts as your starter :
- Order Tracking online. Through our PC’s, or maybe even SAM, we should be able to tap into the internal tracking system to check the status of any order at any time, so that we can keep customers informed, be aware of any problems or hold ups, and change our fitting schedules as appropriate.
- Improve spares ordering. Every spare part should have a unique ‘part number’ so that it can be easily and correctly identified, and we should be able to order spares, order pads, etc online. Every such request should then be allocated a system number so that we can track it through the system and ensure that our requests for spares are noot iignored.
Items 3, 4, + 5 on the agenda are all self explanatory but please don’t ignore them – contribute your thoughts.
Item 6 is a real can of worms – everything to do with CLG, Diary Maintenance, Asdvisor Support, Customer Services, etc – so lets have all your comments but, as there will be many, please try to make them pithy one liners.
SUMMARY – Motters did us all a big favour in setting up this forum. Nearly 400 of us have joined up, mainly to end our isolation and share our frustrations. Now Hillarys have taken note and are doing the decent thing – we have a chance to present our vies direct to senior management, and perhaps begin to make a real difference. If 25% of the members of this forum respond with two comments against each of the six agenda items then – on, boy – we have substance and we have concensus. This is our big chance – get it right and we open a meaningful dialogue, get it wrong and we lose the initiative. We started this so let’s live up to the challenge. Every one of you has something to contribute – if you are one of the silent majority its time to stand up and be counted, and if you are one of the 23 advisors attended the seminars please reveal yourself.
Many thanks for your time in reading this, Mike
Hi. I will "out" myself after the meeting, if certain people don't allready know who I am.
i am indeed one of the 23.
The meeting has come just at the right time.
I totally agree with what you have posted, and will hopefully be able to add to the comments forthwith.
No one has grumbled more than me, but I think with good reason.
If I have a customer with a problem, I want to know about it, otherwise we can't do anything about it, and the customer spreads his ill feeling to others. Just like we do on here.
So on a positive note, this meeting has come just in time.
If I am not patronised by who we are meeting with, then I think we might just get somewhere.
We need to know how the "other side" works, for one thing.
Allright for Rossk to keep telling us we make 15 million profit a year. then we are having all these cut backs, why??
Is it all about figures adding up, accountants, etc, where do we stand exactly.
This is the main issue that wants sorting in my opinion.
Hillarys have got to remember that there are other blind companies out there, and if they dont want to loose guys with 10 or more years experience, by carrying on as they are, then something has got to change
I for one,although have talked about and nearly done it, don't want to jack in, I have enjoyed working with Hillarys, (not FOR, but WITH ) Hillarys, over the years,and would like to carry on.
So i am thankfull to have the opportunity to talk as I have been asking,and only hope that it takes us forward to a better future.
