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Post by JoY on Jan 18, 2006 14:51:15 GMT 1
I have a FREEPOST address for Hillarys.... ;D I am not suggesting anyone uses it, of course,.....just thought you might like to know it!!  FREEPOST NG1 963 |
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Post by keenasmustard on Jan 18, 2006 16:58:09 GMT 1
yes its NG1963
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Post by keenasmustard on Jan 18, 2006 16:59:49 GMT 1
sorry i forgot the freepost bit
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Post by grumperbear on Jan 18, 2006 18:29:37 GMT 1
This Freepost address has been around a long time.
l don't think you are allowed to use it.
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Post by JoY on Jan 18, 2006 19:03:38 GMT 1
This Freepost address has been around a long time. l don't think you are allowed to use it. IS anyone using it? Have we been told NOT to use it? |
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j
Junior Member
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Post by j on Apr 8, 2006 14:07:03 GMT 1
They said to use it when they asked for something, or posting your local papers so they can have a look at the more attractive adverts from competitors stating facts without misleading the public.
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Post by desmorse on Apr 8, 2006 15:48:51 GMT 1
............so they can have a look at the more attractive adverts from competitors stating facts without misleading the public. One of my main local competitors has used 2 for very low cost for years. They rarely sell them, there is always a reason why it doesn't apply to this particular customer - only for commercial applications/windows too big/windows too small/wrong colour/sold out. One of my customers had them quote 2 five sided bays. Quoted her £900+ for 10 verts. Customer said "but on your van, it says 3/£129. So 9 is £387 plus 1 more. That's not £900" Doesn't apply to bays, she was told. And this is a company that's grown from 1 pokey shop to 4 showrooms and their own manufacturing plant in around 8 years. Is that the sort of attractive, honest advertising you mean? |
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Post by dibsdobs on Apr 8, 2006 17:50:23 GMT 1
Grey van man said:-
And this is a company that's grown from 1 pokey shop to 4 showrooms and their own manufacturing plant in around 8 years.
This surely tells us all we need to know!
Forget dodgy adverts (Hillary's adverts are just as misleading) and cash flow problems, look what has been achieved.
This is a real wake up call to large advisers who have grown from there own efforts, for relatively small returns.
There is another way!
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Post by farmer on Apr 9, 2006 10:49:07 GMT 1
Grey van man said:- And this is a company that's grown from 1 pokey shop to 4 showrooms and their own manufacturing plant in around 8 years. This surely tells us all we need to know! Forget dodgy adverts (Hillary's adverts are just as misleading) and cash flow problems, look what has been achieved. This is a real wake up call to large advisers who have grown from there own efforts, for relatively small returns. There is another way! It is a well known fact, Hillarys do not want big strong efficient agencies. they have been taken to the cleaners financially more than once. Is this why they are always taking on new advisors ? If i was running Hillarys, i would much rather have 100 well run profitable, people who can run a business, rather than 500 part time, dont give a nuts, as long as the money is there agencies. i wonder if Mr Risman realises this I know as Mr John Paul Getty said, a little of a lot, is better than a lot of a little, but I think the blind industry is a little different. Incentives are needed, as we know. By taking away bonus to 3rd stage agents by the back door is criminal. The bonus was suppossed to help pay for a fitter, as I was told by Tony Boyd, (now left hasn't he). So now we are again doing more to get less. How is it that in our local paper, Jamesons blinds, Abbacus blinds, Yorkshire Blinds, can run a box advert for £43 per week, to keep their long running businesses going. Hillarys are telling me that each lead we get cost £40.!!!  CAN ANYONE AT HILLARYS EXPLAIN PLEASE. |
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Post by greenpesto on Apr 9, 2006 12:31:51 GMT 1
Farmer said:How is it that in our local paper, Jamesons blinds, Abbacus blinds, Yorkshire Blinds, can run a box advert for £43 per week, to keep their long running businesses going. Hillarys are telling me that each lead we get cost £40.!!!CAN ANYONE AT HILLARYS EXPLAIN PLEASE.__________________________________________________________ If you think about this .... Hillarys made a big jump from the original cost per lead when they decided they no longer wanted to pay 3rd stage bonus. This big jump made the calculations for Bonus unachievable for most people. However, when a few started to hit it again they then altered it all to take into account 'Lead effects' & other 'bullsh1t' so that it made it even harder. The other argument they will make is that with the cost of leads it is OUR fault they are so high & therefore will not pay us more commission & will try to justify the need for 'clawbacks'!!!! All 'Boll0cks' as we know but this is after all ... 'Hillarys!!!'
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Post by hereticus on Apr 9, 2006 14:24:26 GMT 1
Totally agree that the cost of lead generation is whatever they want it to be at the time, according to whatever other actions are being justified, but the £ 40.00 figure is probably not far wrong.
Hillarys turnover last year was about one million blinds, value around £ 90M, and the figure that I've heard from various sources is that the advertising budget is around £ 12M - 15M, which is about 16% of turnover. Assuming an average of 2.5 blinds per order and an average price per blind of £ 90.00 (see above), then average order value would be £ 225.00, of which 16% advertising cost = £ 36.00, so not far off the mark really.
Of course, to use a quotation widely attributed to Lord Lever of Unilever fame - 'I know that half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, I just wish I knew which half', and this was one of the reasons that Hillarys introduced freephone numbers, because it enables them to monitor leads from different media and thereby make value judgments regarding advertising.
However, if every lead costs £ 40.00 then, with an 80% average conversion rate, every order costs £ 50.00 before you get through the door. Selling, for example, 3 4 99 this leaves £ 49.00 to cover everything else. Take out the VAT at 17.5%, then the advisors commission at 15% (I know it's 14.68% but trying to keep the sums simple), leaves £ 36.00 to cover materials, labour, distribution, and overhead. This just proves that 3 4 99 is a 'loss leader' and, unless being specifically targetted to take out competition, is unsustainable in anything but the short term.
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Post by greenpesto on Apr 9, 2006 16:14:39 GMT 1
Therefore!!!!! If I generate my own lead then it has cost Hillarys NOTHING!!!!!! Should I not get a share in that £40 extra profit? ?? |
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Post by hereticus on Apr 9, 2006 19:04:48 GMT 1
Hey...I'd forgotten what fun it could be to play with statistics. Following on from my earlier post.....
If Hillarys make one million blinds a year with an average of 2.5 blinds per order, that's 400000 orders per year = 7700 orders per week. A full strength sales force is reckoned to be 880 agents, so that's an average of 8.7 orders per agent per week. Given an average order value of £ 225.00, that makes £ 2000 sales per agent per week = about £ 295 commission.
Hopefully a lot of us are doing much better than that, but what about the poor souls trading below average ?
Also, it makes a bit of a mockery of the advertising for recruiting new advisors which states how much they can expect to earn per hour. I'm not sure of the figure but seem to recall it as around £ 22.00 an hour so surely the ads should also say don't expect to work more than 13 hours a week ?
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Post by kakalanka on Apr 9, 2006 20:15:30 GMT 1
Halleluliah!!!!!!!!!!(is that PLC?)
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Post by kakalanka on Apr 9, 2006 20:18:22 GMT 1
I mean PC.......................Freudian slip..........
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