*Star*man*
Full Member
Advisor with some experience - UK
Posts: 171
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Post by *Star*man* on Aug 24, 2006 22:58:27 GMT 1
Why are we suddenly advertising other blind companies on this Forum.........surely that's gonna pee off head office! ? Are you trying to get us advisors to use other suppliers? I don't understand! K The simple reason for 'other blind companies' advertised within this forum , is that we use the word 'blinds' so often the advertiser trys to target the subject that we would be most interested in . ie blinds! As this forum is Free , there is an obligation to have advertising . Its a free country , so if you want to follow a link to 'sandersons' then go and have a look ! No one is saying , buy your blinds from elsewhere - if we want to do that we all know what to do ! |
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Post by thelloydgang on Aug 24, 2006 23:23:42 GMT 1
HI Aries
Think you've got that a bit wrong about the advertising of other blind companies.......ask motters he's put them there.........he posted me a personal message explaining why these advertisements were on here and that it was a "purely selfish" reason.
There was a small discussion on here a few weeks back about whether or not to put advertising on this forum. It has been running for a year now with just one advertisement about Tax!
K
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Post by thelloydgang on Aug 24, 2006 23:31:46 GMT 1
Hi again Aries Pressed the send button a bit too quick there and forgot to say... I feel a bit uncomfortable about showing other blind sites on this Forum. If I wanted to look at other companies I would just use google. That's just the way I feel. Maybe it just me as usual!!!  Anyway, I'm off on a long weekend to "Sunny" Torquay. Will send you all a postcard! K ;D |
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Post by Blind Scout on Aug 24, 2006 23:54:47 GMT 1
I dont post anonymously, everyone knows who I am. I have spoken to both my last fsm and now my new one only this morning but all they can both say is that other companies near me are doing it so we have to even though they agree with me. As I pointed out though, those other companies are getting in excess of 20% commission and some are as much as 50% so they dont mind doing them. When our commission is only 14.68% then it would take 7 customers and 2 days work to make 100 pounds before expenses so not really a good business plan for me. I am not the only agent facing these prospects, there are others but dont post often. Red We have one local company, Shades, offering 4 for 99 using a mouse as their company logo. Another, The Blind Warehouse, use a cat, and are offering 5 for 99 with the tag line "we can eat the competition" I'm waiting for Hillary's to go one better and offer 6 for 99. Shades will then offer 7, TBW 8, we 9, Shades 10 .... When will it stop. But on saying that, I don't mention offer when I go in. If the customer asks about the 3 4 99, I shown them the fabrics, don't fit many 5" blinds as they don't fit the window styles here, so price is now 109. Invariable one window is over 1.5 so there's another 10er, and they usually then invite me to leave, or accept the deal (Acacia Burgandy the other day) or buy up. Once that crap is out of the way, then I will measure and show them the book. We also have the 50% offer but I try to steer them away from those samples, keeping to the normal offers. What ticks me of from comments here, are we are told by HO not to promote these offer fabrics unless the customer asks for them, yet the prats at CLG seem to be promoting them, with comments like ask the agents for the 3 4 99s. Do we ever sing from the same hymn sheet these days. My availability hasn't been forced, but I was asked if I could give more slots, but why bother when this week I have only had 7 appointments. I don't normally take the English Bank holidays either but they have cleared my diary. As I have no sales appointments in next week, except 1 on Friday PM, I think I shall have a quiete day. I'm fed up doing a 15 mile round trip for one appointment, then going back later that day or the next day to the same area. Cost of petrol and financial rewards are just not balancing. Maybe I can bring some fits forward? |
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Post by hereticus on Aug 25, 2006 6:34:35 GMT 1
We are we are told by HO not to promote these offer fabrics unless the customer asks for them, yet the CLG seem to be promoting them, with comments like 'ask the agents for the 3 4 99s'. Do we ever sing from the same hymn sheet these days. This comment, I think, probably exposes the central focus to the whole problem. Yes, in some areas, competitors advertise silly offers so Hillarys feel that they have to match it or beat it to get a foot in the door. Yes, our leaflets and some of our press and TV advertising carry the same message. So, yes, some customers have booked an appointment because they are tempted by an offer that seems too good to be true. However, many others who phone to book an appointment have not seen, or are not particularly motivated by, the offer. They are returning customers who want more blinds, or they have come to us by recommendation, or they have discovered Hillarys through Yellow Pages rather than through our press advertising, so they are not aware of 3 for £ 99, or 50% off, or any other such offers. So what happens ? CLG go out of their way to prime the customer to expect extraordinary value, building up false expectations and unrealistic price perceptions. So the customer naturally asks for the offer price, sees the fabrics on offer and is immediately disappointed, then tries to trade up but is staggerred by the big jump in price to get something decent, decides that Hillarys are rip off merchants, and we not only lose that sale but probably lose that customer for ever more. Every time a customer says 'they gave me a price on the phone' I know that I'm in trouble, because CLG always quote the lowest possibility, ignore what the customer has asked for, and assume that discounts apply across the board. A customer can often be very specific (for example, wants a pink black out roller blind) yet CLG will quote them for Clouds fabric and also mention that there are discounts on Rollers ! How are we expected to sell when the customer has been given such false expectations. Either CLG should be banned completely from having any authority to discuss any aspect of pricing or promotions with customers on the phone - just take the customer details and book the appointment - or, perhaps better, there should be a couple of properly trained longer service members of the CLG team to whom any customer who wants to discuss price on the phone is automatically transferred. Comments made by CLG operatives frequently make our selling oppurtunities much more difficult, and are currently causing misery for those advisors in 3 for £ 99 promotion territories. |
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Post by keenasmustard on Aug 25, 2006 6:37:33 GMT 1
Red We too have had 3 for £99 and I became very despondent with the offer. I ended up telling customers that I wasn't selling 3 for £99. Some were angry so I just left others peed of at first but then agreed to look at other blinds and managed to sell up to some! I contacted head office and said I wasn't happy with 3 for £99 offer and this has now been taken out of our area. Up to a few weeks ago it was still being advertised in this area. We've now gone on to half price blinds. I'd be interested to know if you've actually spoken to your FSM or head office about the problems. My new FSM is dead set against the 3 for £99 and is now trialling half price advertising in all of his areas. If this continues ok I'm sure it'll roll out across the country. Speak to your FSM and tell him/her the issues you have with the 3 for £99. Unfortunately, you can't expect them to take any notice of this Forum if all are posting annonamously. Be upfront and honest about your feelings...........don't worry about a "backlash" from your FSM.........I certainly didn't get one. It can't be anyworse than what you are facing at the moment........the dole!  Go on.........bite the bullet and actually talk to someone from H/O........you never know.........you might be pleasantly surprised.......it can't make it any worse than it is now for you can it! Good luck and I hope you get rid of the 3 for £99 asap and get back to selling great blinds in the near future!  K ;D O karen you are such a optomist you say try talking to h/o nobody is home at h/o you say talk to fsm,fsm doesn't listen you say you asked them to stop advertising 3/99 and they did,the only thing to say to that is ........KAREN GET INTO THE REAL WORLD OF HILLARYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for a start h/o don't want to know what we think about anything we are here just to do their bidding fsm's have tunnel hearing what you say goes in one ear and out the other 3/99 50% are both crap at the moment and will only get worse because h/o can't think of anything else. you say be up front and open with hillarys that they willn't bite well let me tell you girl If you upset them bad enough they can surely break you.I know because I've been there ,Ive spoken out at meetings only to be hung out to dry for the next 3-6 months,it was only when we had a proper retail manager who would listen that things changed and people moved on and left the company. unfortunately I think he didnt fit in because of his right thinking attitude and they got rid of him and what have we got now?  ? it seems that we are being led by the four monkeys hear nowt see nowt and say nowt and don't f*cking give them owt take it all and grind them down. I have been here for about 12 years and do enjoy what I do,just like the the rest of us, its only when hillarys get involved that it goes tits up!!!!! doesn't that say something. I would like to wish all on this forum a happy lead free /hillarys free weekend because thats what i'm having.  ;D |
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dolly
Full Member
Posts: 243
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Post by dolly on Aug 25, 2006 8:18:18 GMT 1
Carrying on from what BLIND SCOUT said about other companies prices. Barring one cheap prices/ poor quality company thats been on the go years. It has been Hillarys in my area that have driven the prices down of other companies it started last November with the first "3 -£99" and has been with us nearly all this year so now i have seen other companies matching it and doing a conservatory offer for less than £300. Luckily i dont sell many of these silly deals especially when people see the choice.
They told us months ago that they would market each area individually as not all areas needed such cheap deals unlike Manchester and Glasgow. ( their words not mine) What has happened here now is that they wont be able to remove them from the area or we will be pushed out of the market even more. Saying that i always preferred Hillarys when they went on about quality not price. Thankfully those customers are still out there.
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Post by RED on Aug 25, 2006 9:24:18 GMT 1
We are we are told by HO not to promote these offer fabrics unless the customer asks for them, yet the CLG seem to be promoting them, with comments like 'ask the agents for the 3 4 99s'. Do we ever sing from the same hymn sheet these days. This comment, I think, probably exposes the central focus to the whole problem. Yes, in some areas, competitors advertise silly offers so Hillarys feel that they have to match it or beat it to get a foot in the door. Yes, our leaflets and some of our press and TV advertising carry the same message. So, yes, some customers have booked an appointment because they are tempted by an offer that seems too good to be true. However, many others who phone to book an appointment have not seen, or are not particularly motivated by, the offer. They are returning customers who want more blinds, or they have come to us by recommendation, or they have discovered Hillarys through Yellow Pages rather than through our press advertising, so they are not aware of 3 for £ 99, or 50% off, or any other such offers. So what happens ? CLG go out of their way to prime the customer to expect extraordinary value, building up false expectations and unrealistic price perceptions. So the customer naturally asks for the offer price, sees the fabrics on offer and is immediately disappointed, then tries to trade up but is staggerred by the big jump in price to get something decent, decides that Hillarys are rip off merchants, and we not only lose that sale but probably lose that customer for ever more. Every time a customer says 'they gave me a price on the phone' I know that I'm in trouble, because CLG always quote the lowest possibility, ignore what the customer has asked for, and assume that discounts apply across the board. A customer can often be very specific (for example, wants a pink black out roller blind) yet CLG will quote them for Clouds fabric and also mention that there are discounts on Rollers ! How are we expected to sell when the customer has been given such false expectations. Either CLG should be banned completely from having any authority to discuss any aspect of pricing or promotions with customers on the phone - just take the customer details and book the appointment - or, perhaps better, there should be a couple of properly trained longer service members of the CLG team to whom any customer who wants to discuss price on the phone is automatically transferred. Comments made by CLG operatives frequently make our selling oppurtunities much more difficult, and are currently causing misery for those advisors in 3 for £ 99 promotion territories. Mike, you are so spot on with your observation. Those of you that have been with Hillary's for a good number of years, prior to diary booking will remember that we never ran such silly offers. Only the two fors in good quality and 50% off. It is only in the last 2 years that we have had to resort to this sort of offer. I had the same competition then as I have now,no more, no less. So what has changed?. Why are we selling more blinds for a lot less money? or not selling at all?. Well diary booking came in 3 years ago, thats what. It is this one area that is causing all the harm to both adviser and Hillary's alike. After 3 years or so of customers being let down because of bad booking details, clg actively promoting the ludicrous offers and giving customers such a low quote and all the other things they do to upset customers and advisor's alike.As I have said before, they are the first point of call and any one knows the first point of call with a customer is the most important. Too much money has been put in to it to turn back now so we will continue on this downward spiral, until someone high up has the guts to say, stop, diary booking has not worked. It will be too late. To correct it they are doing everything bar look at the real problem, and in doing so are making it worse by upsetting advisor's and alienating customers from them by bringing in other advisor's and manipulating diary's and all the other things they are trying, but it is CLG that is the root cause. Not the people who work there but the system. It does not work nationally. I am not saying diary booking is bad, as the one good thing is the phone is not ringing every few Min's, but you know what they say about your phone not ringing if you are self employed. Yes Blind scout, I agree, it is Hillary's that are driving the price down nationally. Not all these smaller regional and local companies,but Hillary's. For instance, if a local garage sells petrol at buy 1 get one free it will only impact the local area, but if shell did it, Well the whole country would then be buying one getting one free. OK that may be a far fetched scenario but it is just to explain the situation. It could have been a loaf of bread or a double decker bus. I like most of you are neither a economist, a sales manager or a advertising expert but then it seems, neither are the people at Hillary's these days. We can see the problems? why cant they. There are a great many customers out there that will not touch these cheap as chips companies with a barge pole. They are the ones we used to target, and get. They now look on Hillary's as one of these cheap as chips setups, so assume the quality is not good, I know I would. Therefore we are attracting more and more of the people that only want cheap and loosing more and more of the customers that want quality and are prepared to pay for it. This process is getting to an irreversible point and soon we will not be able to sell quality. Remember when most of what you sold was good quality Jacquards. Now you are pleased if you sell up to clouds or Capri. Sad, but true. Red |
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Post by desmorse on Aug 25, 2006 10:36:57 GMT 1
Before Hillarys introduced 3/£99, we had a couple of local companies in a 3/ price war. It started at £149 and came down to £119. None were stupid enough to price at £99 until Hillarys did, then they had to follow.
Not to worry, we're told. They can't survive, we're after market share, they'll soon be out of business.
So what is the main, local competitor advertising now instead of 3/£99?
No stupid prices - just good quality at good prices
No "here today-gone tomorrow" local agents (wonder who that's aimed at?)
When we had £3/99, my average order value for last November to February was £365. We dropped that and introduced the GBB principle, and for April to July, my AOV has been £537.
I've not done anything different, I've dressed the same, I've spoken the same, I've sold the same. The only difference is the quality of the lead and type of customer I've visited. Although a different time of year, comparing winter with spring, I don't think that accounts for the big difference, they'd still buy cheap whatever the weather.
Surely that's enough proof for any company of where it's real market is
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Post by thelloydgang on Aug 25, 2006 10:42:20 GMT 1
Right Keenasmustard.............you've made me real mad with your comments BOY!
All I'm gonna say is my business is ticking over fine.......the 3 for £99 was dropped in my area and I do live in the real world. I'm not so consumed with constantly complaining about Hillarys like yourself and others..........get of your backside and do something about it if you're not happy and stop insulting me with your ramblings on!!
The not such a GIRL!
K
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Post by RED on Aug 25, 2006 11:10:44 GMT 1
Right Keenasmustard.............you've made me real mad with your comments BOY! All I'm gonna say is my business is ticking over fine.......the 3 for £99 was dropped in my area and I do live in the real world. I'm not so consumed with constantly complaining about Hillarys like yourself and others..........get of your backside and do something about it if you're not happy and stop insulting me with your ramblings on!! The not such a GIRL! K Hi Karen, dont get so upset. I dont think it was meant in any derogatory way. The thing is, some of you are doing OK, and good luck to you, but if the ones doing OK and find everything OK would post and let the rest of us know then maybe we would think we are doing something wrong but to be honest, I think there are more doing badly than doing well. There are very few that post that say everything is going well so maybe we should hear from them to get a better picture, or is that there is not that many so not many positive postings. Red |
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dolly
Full Member
Posts: 243
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Post by dolly on Aug 25, 2006 12:12:30 GMT 1
We are not being negative for negative's sake. There is a great deal right about this job, but also a h#ll of alot wrong. Alot of the new ideas have made things better/easier. But alot of the good/old things that worked have been taken away.
As with any management/ worker situation the management are the money men and we are on the ground knowing more of the real situations/problems. But the main frustration is being able to do very little about it.
We all know the problems and mostly the solutions so to all the positively minded out there please dont class constructive criticism as pure negativity.
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Post by keenasmustard on Aug 25, 2006 12:33:25 GMT 1
oops did I say something wrong ;D I have this problem sometimes with Mrs mustard and when she's riled she can be a real hot hand full ;D I didn't say my business was not ticking over, in fact my fsm said at our recent meeting that I had the best sales figures in the region.(still he probably Say's that to all the advisor's). yes I am busy as busy as I want to be. But not as busy as Hillary's want me to be. You say I and a few others are consumed with constant complaining about Hillary's and say we should as you put it"get off your backsides and do something about it" apart from this forum to voice our opinions what else have we got. tried fsm as I said tunnel hearing with the phrase its only you nobody else as a problem. the meetings that the valiant few went to on our behalf ,and these guys did a sterling job but what did it really get us.I'm not knocking the effort they put in they deserve all the credit and rightly so. but who as let the side down in a very big way only the ones that they had the meeting with the management. You have got realize that the management only do what the management wants to do,not what we ask them to do, they are not interested in anything we say or suggest. so Karen who is left? ? only you and the other 515 or so members of this forum,I just wish more members would give their views/thoughts the 3 4 99 will be around for ever now that its taken over from clouds as the crap fabric.if its out of your area don't worry it will be back. diary booking will stay because its all tied in to SAM ,get rid of this and the other becomes obsolete or just a phone.. the saying is dont change things unless they are broken,Hillary's are just severely cracked but things need to be looked at and very sooon. I'm sorry Karen if I made you MAD but I thought you had to be MAD to work at Hillary's in the first place Also I'm sorry if I ramble on but don't all men (thats what Mrs m Say's) |
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Post by thelloydgang on Aug 25, 2006 12:42:17 GMT 1
Hi Red Firstly, I think I've every right to be upset with Keenasmustard posting about me, particularly as I don't have a clue who he is! By the way, I still don't know who you are Red! Secondly, I to have same frustrations as many of you but what I've been trying to say is that I try to look at the positive side of the business rather than dwell on the negative side and I'm sure that helps with my attitude towards selling blinds. If I have any frustrations with Hillarys, I might post about them here and agree with others but I always inform head office of how I'm feeling..................I would never post anything on here that I wouldn't talk to them about. Some of my frustrations have been dealt with, like 3 for £99, Keenasmustard! Others haven't like Service calls although I'm almost there now...............I've requested that none are booked into my diary and that we must be contacted first and this normally is the case now! Sometimes it just takes a friendly phone call to put something right for me, other times it doesn't work. But I truly feel that by staying positive it helps me to sell more and believe it or not very rarely any of the blinds are in the offers! Right, I'm definately off to Torquay now so won't be posting till next week! Bye everyone and happy selling on Bank Holiday Weekend! ;D Will be thinking of you all whilst sipping my cocktail overlooking the sea!!! K |
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Post by keenasmustard on Aug 25, 2006 13:38:42 GMT 1
Hi Red Firstly, I think I've every right to be upset with Keenasmustard posting about me, particularly as I don't have a clue who he is! By the way, I still don't know who you are Red! Secondly, I to have same frustrations as many of you but what I've been trying to say is that I try to look at the positive side of the business rather than dwell on the negative side and I'm sure that helps with my attitude towards selling blinds. If I have any frustrations with Hillarys, I might post about them here and agree with others but I always inform head office of how I'm feeling..................I would never post anything on here that I wouldn't talk to them about. Some of my frustrations have been dealt with, like 3 for £99, Keenasmustard! Others haven't like Service calls although I'm almost there now...............I've requested that none are booked into my diary and that we must be contacted first and this normally is the case now! Sometimes it just takes a friendly phone call to put something right for me, other times it doesn't work. But I truly feel that by staying positive it helps me to sell more and believe it or not very rarely any of the blinds are in the offers! Right, I'm definately off to Torquay now so won't be posting till next week! Bye everyone and happy selling on Bank Holiday Weekend! ;D Will be thinking of you all whilst sipping my cocktail overlooking the sea!!! K lets hope it doesn't rain in Torquay  |
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