Top Ten Frustrations

[mendipmagpie]

Sorry all hit the wrong key
These are not in order just what comes to mind and maybe provoke discussion

1) commission delays not all due to Dawn
2) Service calls listed as sales calls
3) difficulty in contactng various h/o depts including FSM
4) free services to Hillarys,dors,gaurentee calls etc etc
5) part order deliveries/split invoices
6) proper spares ordering system.We all need a parts list
7) being treated like a hired hand instead of a self employed director-after all that is what we are some h/o staff dont seem to realise that
8) poor quality especially wwe,wv.
9) changing horses mid-stream.e.g dont discount-discount to get the order.If we knew what their plan was instead of the mushrom system we may just be able to help.
10) Be upfront re new agents on your patch,it would at least give both parties the opportunity to sort out the reason behind the extra requirement

mm

[desmorse]

One of my major frustrations is discounts. It would appear any man/woman and dog at H/O can offer discounts, but this is our livelihood, it shouldn't be at the whim of someone sat in a cosy office.

Advisor didn't turn up? We'll get someone else and give you a big discount. (Why the hell should I lose my income because another advisor couldn't be bothered to go?)

Blind late? Have a discount

Blind wrong? Have a discount as well as putting it right

Got a voucher in the post today? Yes, we'll get the order you placed 3 days ago discounted

Got a voucher? So that's another 10% off our already half price / 3 for offer. All vouchers should be subject to a minimum spend of £150.

Even had customer told they could have 4/£99 in January as CUSTOMER wasn't able to keep appointment in October.

[ACADEMY]

hi all

Where can I start


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 not ignored.

mis measures fine WHY

I had 8 DOR'S IN December which cost me time and money in fuel and I get nothing out of it but hassle and grief from customers. then I hear that all the mis measure money goes towards a christmas booze up for the office staff.

stationary ;; why no more envelopes supplied for sending Sillarys there invoices and money how tight are they getting . Sam paper another joke . more money to lay out.

January pricing is all over the place . what is it all about it's crazy . 3 blinds for £99 but gave a quote the other day for a roller blind which was £165 . woman about choked on her false teeth. why can you get 3 patio doors fitted for £99 but charge them crazy money for 1 off blinds . surely its the same amout of material !!!!!!


Area Manager :::: I won the compition in September for the best sale conversion in Scotland . he calls me up to tell me the good news then the bad news shortly followed. 1st prize see England play football na hate football. then 2 trips to the races , dont think so . He then said he would get me a case of wine STILL WAITING FOR IT.


i HOPE GOOD COMES OF THIS MEETING AS HILLARYS HAVE SOMME VERY GOOD ADVISOR WORKING FOR THEM BUT ARE NOT TREATING THEM VERY FAIR.
WHITE WINE PLEASE.

[nonails]

Mine are as follows:--

1. Commission being reduced after Hillarys agree a discount for any silly reason. Even to the point of docking my money 12 weeks after I was paid as the customer had called in 10 weeks after the job complaining of glare from white capri verticals in a conservatory. £200 discount--I lose £30 WHY?

2. DORS involve costs to me if I get a cra*py blind.
Why do I not get paid if I have time and money costs??

3. General Quality-- Why can't every blind be like a Metal Venetian. Can't remember the last DOR I raised on one--must be 3/4 years ago.

4. Why is SAM so unwieldy--Its slow, frequently loses appointments, ---you cannot change colours on a multi order -- NO salesperson was ever involved at the set up.
It was Computer persons idea of how a sales call might go, not based on practical events which occur during every sale. GET IT RIGHT Please?

5. Why no spares policy--I have a real problem keeping up with spares and ordering Hold Down Brackets for a 15mm venetian is beyond EVERYONE. I keep getting 25mm ones at the 3rd attempt.
Give them a number and we order that ---EASY

You keep telling us you are a multi-million pound Company.

When are you going to act like one??

6. Packaging---No one mentions it here. Why do rollers come with one end of the box open and possibly brackets lost or blind damaged. One of my real pet hates.
Take a second more and ensure the glue gun sticks the end flaps together and preferably does not stick the chain into a messy knot.

7. Commission Why do cheques and cash take so long to clear and pay us on??
Why, when an order has two invoices with the same number, do you only pay us on one.
Try ordering Verticals and Rollers on the same order. You get 2 invoices. Take a cheque for the balance, and you only get paid on ONE invoice.
Had this twice in DEcember--still waiting for £198.00 not paid to me. Strangely the cash is in Hillarys Bank.

8. FSM's Regional Mgrs Mellisa, All great at talking ...
10% of FSM's just about good enough. Regional Managers.Never seen or spoken to one so why should I worry I only earn his salary for him/it.

Melissa, Thought she was going to be good . Has turned out to be a Tim Henman. Talks the talk, and doesn't do the walk ( sore knees don't stop you posting Melissa?)

9. Threats and bullying. I do not need it anymore. Now my holidays clash with some Super promotion--and I have had the veiled threat yesterday that someone will get into my area and I will lose availability. After 7 years is this the way to ttreat folk?
Melissa you didn't want a bullying ethic, They soon got you in the naughty corner and shut you up, didn't they.

Colwick Gestapo rules ok?

10. Data base==What data base.? What a slap in the face to go back to a client I sold to last Summer and at the same time priced her conservatory. She rang up and ordered it in November and the lead went to someone 23 miles away who did it, and she was told I didn't cover her area anymore.

SHE LIVES 400 YARDS AWAY.


Nonails

[grumperbear]

Ref: 15 and 25 mm hold down brackets.

On the HO spares system there is :- 15mm hold down brackets listed. But the 25mm hold down brackets are listed under brackets which opens up another menu. They are hard to find so you often get the wrong brackets as they can not find the right one.

[amberley]

Nothing much new to add here but will just list to add support
1. Commission clawbacks for Hillarys discounts - demotivating bordering on illegal and would like to see Hillarys really challenged on this. Incidentaly they do have the ability to pay commission on the full sale value even when discounted. I recently had to fit for an agent who had left without notice. Discounts had been agreed as the original fitting dates would not be met. I only agreed to fit if commission was paid on the original sale value. Hillarys agreed!
2.Quotes. Can we have some feedback please just to set our minds at rest that the quote has actually been followed up. Cannot remember when last quote was converted other than ones I have converted. Then I get a letter from quotes saying they have converted it!!
3.Payment to be made for repeated DORs for Hillarys errors
4.Parts and stationery to be ordered on line. Should free up time enabling us to get through to support team quicker. Then again.....
5.If I order a DOR its either because Hillarys have lost/misdelivered the original or its faulty and it follows that I need the replacement quickly. If I ask for it to be carriered Hillarys can't organise that at order stage and tell me I must keep ringing to check that its finished and only then can they arrange a carrier. In other words they make a thingy up but its me who has to do the chasing
6.Repeat business should always go to the same advisor or at least the customer should be given the option of waiting a few more days if necessary
7.Poor quality wooden venetians - we're now told all are being checked before they leave the factory. I thought this happened anyway or am I being naive or something?

Good luck to all advisors attending the meetings

Amberley

[keenasmustard]

has anybody thought out a time frame for all these 10 frustrations to go away.in other words how long are we going to give the team ( ) from hillarys to implement all our problems.or even just to give us an answer and will this become no 1 frustration on the next list?

[lidstone]

1) Service calls. Why is it if you have to DOR a blind for another Advisor, the blind and invoice go to them, not you? Despite you clearly stating that it is to come to you not the 1st Agent! Also there seems to be a very rare chance of seeing them on your tracking report.
2) Couldn't agree more about spares. They need to give them part numbers, so we can order them with confidence. Also it would be nice to get them in a week maximum, not months!
3) FSM. Can't get hold of mine half the time. Asked him what was the best way to contact him, e-mail he said. Tried that still no reply!
4) No more envelopes for our paperwork! Shall I just scrible the adress on the invoice, and whack a stamp on it then. More expense for Advisors!
5) Had a letter saying that wooden venetians were going to be 100% today. Guess what went to fit one this morning, and the cord lengths needed adjusting, to pull it up level. Are they having a laugh? 100% checked? I don't think so!
6)Wooden venetians.
7)Wooden venetians.
8)Wooden venetians.
9)Wooden venetians.
10)Wooden venetians.

[RED]

Here is a good one
Customer booked venetian blinds around 6th Jan.
My tracking report says on next delivery this Monday gone so I book her in for Tuesday fit.
Monday van run, guess what. No venetians.
Now this lady is moving in to her house on Saturday and wants them in, so she had booked a day off for us to fit.
After humbly apologizing we arranged a carrier to get them to me by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest so she booked another days holiday.
I wait in for two whole mornings and my wife waits in two whole afternoons and still no carrier.
I have just found out that they never went on a carrier in the first place and are still in Nottingham. So they have requested a carrier and should get them Friday, so now i have had to change my plans for Saturday and so has the customer so that if they do turn up I can get them in for her. Meanwhile I have a fitter sitting out in the wilds of Cheshire waiting for me to ring him and let him know that I am on my way with the blinds to be fitted, which have not come.
With me so far?
So up till now,

The customer has waisted 2 days holidays.
I have lost 2 mornings work.
I will loose the Saturday morning taking out a bathroom sink which needs doing so that I can fit them, if they turn up.
My wife has lost 2 afternoons doing things she should have done and my fitter, who at this moment is un-contactable is god knows where, sitting waiting to hear from me.
And we still have not fitted or got the blinds.
It is about time communication levels were raised as this is totally unacceptable.
They will probably offer her a discout for the late fitting which will reduce my earnings on the order, but not even a sorry for me, my wife and fitter.
Red

[pyramid]

Following some recent nonsense with spare parts ordering it is obvious we need a spare parts list so that EVERYONE can identify what is required.e.g when I tried to give advisor support the code on my(none) delivery sheet I was told 'no need we have our own codes'
Also as an aside I met with another advisor who had been visited by our FSM just before Christmas. He had been bullied about his sales performance. Might have been a coincidence but the FSM was accompanied by his gaffer , none other than you know who.
It's been quiet on here about the board meeting .Any news yet?

[dodgybracket]

pyramid said:

Following some recent nonsense with spare parts ordering it is obvious we need a spare parts list so that EVERYONE can identify what is required.e.g when I tried to give advisor support the code on my(none) delivery sheet I was told 'no need we have our own codes'
Also as an aside I met with another advisor who had been visited by our FSM just before Christmas. He had been bullied about his sales performance. Might have been a coincidence but the FSM was accompanied by his gaffer , none other than you know who.
It's been quiet on here about the board meeting .Any news yet?

Way over my head, Son, Do you mean the "Melissa thing"?
If so, we should be told.....

Perhaps it was a case of the FSM showing off to its boss, and not caring which Agent got a verbal slapping.
Its called"passing the s**t down the line"


Can we finally have an answer Is Melissa abouit or not?

I know Bear always has the smart answer, but I did think she might have been the catalyst for change.
Was she ever at the 2 meetings, North & South??
If not, then she probably is a goner.

I wonder what we will get next?

Strange , isn't it, we keep going, but its musical chairs in the Colwick Castle in the Air??

Dodgybracket

[pyramid]

Didn't mean to be so deep Dodgybracket just meant to show that the FSM felt he had to wave the big stick because he was being monitored. If the the winds of change are blowing they had not started prior to Christmas. The gaffer was not Mellissa-she was on the sick when this occured.He was male.

[RED]

I have just come back from doing a quote for 10 vertical blinds.
Now we are not talking small windows here. Two patio doors and six 7-foot long blinds and a few smaller ones. I had not even got my tape measure out before the lady told me, and I quote “ I have had a price of £210, so if you can not beat this price then don’t bother measuring.”
That saved me a lot of time as I would not have even tried to come anywhere near this price as they were all top fit in to concrete lintels. This was not one of your usually cheap companies either, it is a well established mid price company.
This leads me to a few conclusions.

1/ They are desperate for the work so the market is more depressed than I thought.
2/ They are going the same way as all the other cheap companies and the same as Hillary’s.

These cheap and nasty companies that abound the length and breadth of the land are doing no one any favors. If you fit 10 blinds in a house for £210 then that is it. They will not want blinds again for at least 5 years, if at all. They must all have been to the Nick Leason book keeping and business management courses.


So in conclusion, this company may well be trying to get rid of all these other cheap local companies in the short term so that in the long term they can up the price again and make a decent living.
This I feel is probably the main aim of Hillary’s, by selling cheap blinds for a while we may get rid of a lot of the local competition. They, like us do not want to sell at a loss but have been forced in to a position of doing this by the cowboy companies.
I have noticed a drop in the amount of small business, cheap offers around in my area in the past 2 months so may be the tactic is working and a lot of them have gone bust, who knows. Only time will tell.
Red

[grumperbear]

The fsm's figures are wrong.
They have a history of not getting it right. Even when you tell them its wrong, they do not correct it. Just look at the self management reports.

The figures are WRONG.
You have to learn to stand up and say that their figures are wrong. They simply do not produce accurate figures.Never have and never will.

[simmo]

I dont know what all the fuss is about,

1 My fsm regularly phones me to see if im alright, he even calls from time to time to take me for lunch and is always available 24/7.

2 As for spare parts service support normally contact me to see if there is anything i require, and then make sure i receive them promptly.

3 The sam device i have even makes me a cup of tea.

4 As for dors could someone tell me what they are please.

I really dont know what all the fuss is about.

by for now

pinochio.