Hot News re Advisor Feedback Seminars

[gordon]

Frustrations

• Appalling quality of wooden venetians. I find it extraordinary that a company trying to reduce overheads can waste so much money by sending out defective blinds that ultimately end up in the bin. I think there are signs of improvement however.
• Poor communication. Too long spent on hold whilst waiting for the ‘phone to be answered. Emails sent that result in no action being taken. Lack of communication between departments or acceptance of responsibility (where does the buck stop?). Not being informed of cancelled appointments (I always ‘phone when on way now).
• No payment for revisits eg in the case of DOR’s where blinds defective. No payment for service calls where product at fault (payment is received for sorting out jobs for other agents customers?!)
• Reduction in commission resulting from Hillarys giving discounts for a multitude of reasons eg delays in manufacture, defective blinds etc etc.
• ‘3 for £99’ and similar offers. This may generate leads, but taking account of the fact that Hillarys hope that the customer trades up, my experience indicates that this is not the case. The type of customer attracted by this type of advertising (wipe your feet as you leave!). I believe offers of this type devalue the Hillarys image. I’m also doing this to make a living; there is no money in selling/fitting this type of absurd offer.

Some Ideas

• Roller blind swatches are numbered so that they can be relocated correctly and easily after being removed from the sample book. Why not the others?
• Number the fabrics as well as their names (point one above), that way fabrics on special offer can be identified quickly and easily when showing a customer.
• There has been much talk about pre-addressed Hillarys envelopes being no longer available. I am sure if a Freepost facility was provided Hillarys cashflow would be improved as advisors would be happier to post invoices and balance cheques as they are received rather than saving up and posting eg once a week.

[JoY]

Gordon,


Your "some ideas" are brilliant. They should definetly be brought up at the meetings.

[john]

You have my best wishes , I only hope your optimism is founded.
If there past record is anything to go by,??

[greenpesto]

As I have lost track of who is collecting info on Topics 1 - 6 I'll post a mix of thoughts here & let 'who-ever' take what info they need. For those I did PM directly I will apologise if I duplicate 1 or 2 here.
In no particular order or topic here are my frustrations & Ideas:

1. Mis-measure fines - O.K for Persistent offenders or new guys. Not for Experienced Advisers that rarely make mistakes. Very de- motivating.
2. Claw back under the Hillarys way - Unfair, Unnecessary AND de-motivating.
3.Lead allocation - Original selling Adviser MUST have priority to customer & repeat business.
This must include LESS emphasis on 48 hour booking instead of customers request to have original Adviser.
4. MORE emphasis on daytime availability to customer. Most will take these times & conversion is better than prime time evening/weekend calls.
5. More emphasis on booking up diary of Full-timers & Higher performers.
6. 'Up link' through Hillarys chain via FSM to improve significantly ...or... have the ability to side step FSM altogether.
7. FSM's to be given back the ability to make decisions & make 'Gratia' payments etc to help Advisers (e.g. for those that have helped the FSM or cust/care out ). 8. CLG (CLC???) to be split into smaller 'cells' & to dedicate them to specific ares to look after Advisers ( as we did with the shops ) .
9. Hillarys to look at the possibility of re-introducing realistic achievable bonuses. They must consider the impact of the massive drop in income they are creating for the 'SALES TEAM'
( Us!!! ).
10. Stopping this stupid over recruiting of Advisers.
11. FSM's to STOP threatening in order to get their own way or for forced compliance.
12.Their is a need in places to stop some Advisers covering too big an area which in turn can give a poorer performance.
13. We need a simpler price list URGENTLY!!!!!
Price tables of 5 & above are unrealistic.
14.A home computer software to in-put orders rather than using the very expensive ( for us ) SAM.
15. Hillarys to stop this idea of eliminating order pads completely. We only need Duplicate pads for most cases these days. BUT WE STILL NEED THEM!!!!!!!!!
16.More matching fabrics in the Verts/Roll/Pleats ranges.
17. Re-introduction of A4 leaflets with Adviser's tel nos. Hillarys H/O Freephone no. to be very low-key on these.
18. Proper & regular 'Commission Statements' is essential for any business. 'HILLARYS ... ' it is your legal obligation to supply them.

Are these relevant?

[plymouth]

Hi jo, do you think they will listen, or listen and do nothing

[pyramid]

Just to add a comment to Greenpesto's list . For item two could we get a definitive answer as to whether this is actually legal? I've not been here long enough to have the pleasure of a claw back yet, but there are five woodens outstanding from more than four weeks ago so you never know.

[golfsthegame]

Greenpesto it is not only you. I agree wholeheartedly with all your comments. Lets hope that them that count? see our point of view.

[blindmanbill]

Hi everyone
I have just read Greenpesto's list of points and must agree with all of them.
My additions to that list would be the absolute urgency behind the need for a spare parts catalogue, so that the 'right bit' can be ordered first time so that minor
DOR's can be sorted swiftly. To follow this up, a system for reporting back any such DOR's would be useful for anyone in the quality control dept. (if such a dept still exists).
With regard to Greenpeato's point 8, my partner and I have often discussed the merits of a regional call centre or even a smaller 'cell' or district call centre which would be open for advisers to 'drop in' at to meet the staff handling the calls on a regular basis so that a better working relationship could be fostered bewtween 'us and them' that book our diaries. This would still give Hillarys the monitoring element of a call centre , and whatever other control they feel they need, but also give the most important people ( the customers) the benefit of talking to someone relatively local who would be bound to get to know the area better than the one national call centre.
I am sure that with todays IT and communications this should be an absolute breeze to set up.
Another idea ,to develop Greenpestos point 14 , I am going to post in another thread,"communications" ('cause phugly is waiting for some response to that!).
I just hope that these two meetings are not going to be just a whitewash to shut us up, we need to make sure they listen and FOLLOW UP with ACTION.

[greenpesto]

Blindmanbill!

I've never worked for 'Bettaware' or 'Cleanezee' but I know they have used a Home computer software package for years that allows anyone with a 'log on' ID to access their orders, make payments etc.
This should have been Hillarys priority from day one.
I've had SAM now for a few months & I still hate it!!!!
It is not the sales tool we really need.
The Home computer would still give them the lower running costs without burdening the Adviser sales force with extra expenditure.

Instead of SAM we could also do with 'up to date' working Samples of our blinds & a better product range which would create the business growth Hillarys so desperately wants. That & the proper incentives for us to get more business.

[hereticus]

Thanks, everyone - what a great night's input that was, with some very interesting new thoughts, ideas, and examples which are a big help towards the seminars.

And what a sad lot we are ? Blind Scout was still online posting at 2.00 am (3.00 am according to the system) and I was up checking responses at 6.15 am (7.15 am on the system) - so does this mean that Hillarys agents now provide cover twenty hours a day ?

Seriously, that was a good session last night, please keep it coming.

[grumperbear]

l agree with greenpesto's post. l think he has covered most of what we all feel. Lots of things will have to change, if they carry on like they are they will have so many long time advisors quit.

[grumperbear]

Hillary's must realise that they have pushed things to far, and they should view these meetings as a recovery.
At the moment they lack credibility, nearly everything they say is a distortion of the truth, and it some cases a d**n right lie. They should look to the future and see how they can recover their credibility. They are going to have to give more and take less, they should start being up-front. Some of the information they send out is so wrong, that it just ends up in the bin. Which is exactly were Hillarys will be if they don't change.

[russell]

there have been some great posts both positive and negative in the last few days especialy on repeat customers i also strongly feel customer/advisor loyalty should come before lead to diary as we all know lead to diary is not so much about keeping the sale hot but massarging figures for heads of dept if the customer has dealt with the advisor before the point they are returning to us must mean they were happy with the service the customers DO NOT MIND waiting a few days longer to get the person they had before this is a fact and i will stress this at reading

[grumperbear]

Yes, things like customer loyalty coming back to the original agent are things that are so easy to set up. But at the moment Hillarys agenda says the customer must be seen within 4 days. Any agent will do. l had a customer last week who said " oh, l'm glad its you, and not that puppet we had a few months ago" Turns out he was very late, hadn't a clue, and after measuring the whole house never gave them a price, = no sale and no commission for him.

Payment for dors.
Payment for under warranty calls
How many times have you done a job for customer care and then had to chase and re-chase the promised payments.

Sam does not save me money as promised.

Bonus calculations that are wrong.

e-mails and phone calls that are not replied to.

Waiting on the phone for service support to anwser. Vodafone will answer within a few rings.

Spare parts, should be easy for a multi-million pound business.

[agentcruise114313]

grumperbear wrote:-

"Bonus calculations that are wrong."


Over the last 2 years l have claimed back over £1400 in wrongly calculated bonus payments. Payments from as little as £15 up to £600. On all the times that l have claimed they are incorrect l have won my case 75% of the time. lt always worth checking and calculating your bonus. After all it is your money.