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Post by farmer on Mar 8, 2006 20:45:36 GMT 1
after reading recent postings, over the last few days, i am questioning myself to how good a salesman i am.....
Never had any training, etc,etc,
So for the "salesman/women out there can I ask what you would have done in this situation..
called at customer, 4 x acacia beige rollers 55cmx 99cm our price £59 each.
1 x acacia beige vertical allready fitted by a MiKe Goldrick Blinds CO: (they are supplied by hillarys via Arena.
customer rang Hillarys to se if we were cheaper than Mr Goldrick.
I quoted £59 x 4 =£236.
Mr Goldrick had quoted £27 x 4 =£108. FOR EXACTLY THE SAME BLIND
Ah but we have a price promise I say, bleat on about our quality etc ,etc,................................
......................but............................"you are talking about the same product, they can deliver in 5 days customer tells me................ 2year guarantee."etc...
er.........er..........er....
so come on you guys what would you have done here.
This is a genuine question, not anything negative, or moaning etc. i am curious as to see how you guys would have dealt with it.......
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Post by farmer on Mar 8, 2006 20:48:12 GMT 1
after reading recent postings, over the last few days, i am questioning myself to how good a salesman i am..... Never had any training, etc,etc, So for the "salesman/women out there can I ask what you would have done in this situation.. called at customer, 4 x acacia beige rollers 55cmx 99cm our price £59 each. 1 x acacia beige vertical allready fitted by a MiKe Goldrick Blinds CO: (they are supplied by hillarys via Arena. customer rang Hillarys to se if we were cheaper than Mr Goldrick. I quoted £59 x 4 =£236. Mr Goldrick had quoted £27 x 4 =£108. FOR EXACTLY THE SAME BLIND Ah but we have a price promise I say, bleat on about our quality etc ,etc,................................ ......................but............................"you are talking about the same product, they can deliver in 5 days customer tells me................ 2year guarantee."etc... er.........er..........er.... so come on you guys what would you have done here. This is a genuine question, not anything negative, or moaning etc. i am curious as to see how you guys would have dealt with it....... Just to let you know, before I left, her grandmother who i had fitted blinds for, and she had passed Hillarys name this customer, rang me later, and ordered the blinds over the phone, after her grandaughter discussed the situation with her. So how would you guys have closed this one then........ |
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Post by desmorse on Mar 8, 2006 22:10:16 GMT 1
Tricky one, farmer.
you can only ask if the other company have been around for years, like Hillarys, and how good their back up is. Two year warranty sounds great, but how good are they at honoring it? We, on the other hand, have a proven track record with your relative, and we can all give personal examples of when Hillarys have bent over backwards to look after a customer.
Funnily enough, I had similar situation yesterday. Customer wanted 3 verts in symphony pearl, SAM came up with over £900. I know the customer, pleasant but tight, and she'd already said the 3 for £419 was totally out of the question, so I tentatively tried £349. She then said Blinds Direct had quoted £225 for symphony pearl, but couldn't do it for 3 weeks as ever so busy (yeah right!). Checked it wasn't a plastic headrail, showed price promise card and offered to do it for £224 as "you've been a Hillarys customer before, and we'd like to keep you as a Hillarys customer, even if we lose money". She asked why they could do it so cheap compared to us, I said I know (I lied) but do not like to criticise other companies.
I got the order, but it's hardly worth shouting about
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Post by pyramid on Mar 8, 2006 23:36:34 GMT 1
Am I missing something ? How can you quote £349 for £900 order when yesterday I had a customer who baulked at £840 for three blinds and when I rang the quotes team for a lower price I was given £610 as absolute rock bottom figure. Surprisingly they are still thinking about it. Just to show it's a funny old game, today is likely (after a couple of phone calls )to be 100% conversion with only one less than 10% discount.
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Post by JoY on Mar 9, 2006 9:40:41 GMT 1
Am I missing something ? How can you quote £349 for £900 order when yesterday I had a customer who baulked at £840 for three blinds and when I rang the quotes team for a lower price I was given £610 as absolute rock bottom figure. Surprisingly they are still thinking about it. Just to show it's a funny old game, today is likely (after a couple of phone calls )to be 100% conversion with only one less than 10% discount. Symphony are in the" 5 blinds for" conservatory offer. Just start the order with the prefix CN and no problem...  |
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Post by farmer on Mar 9, 2006 9:44:09 GMT 1
after reading recent postings, over the last few days, i am questioning myself to how good a salesman i am..... Never had any training, etc,etc, So for the "salesman/women out there can I ask what you would have done in this situation.. called at customer, 4 x acacia beige rollers 55cmx 99cm our price £59 each. 1 x acacia beige vertical allready fitted by a MiKe Goldrick Blinds CO: (they are supplied by hillarys via Arena. customer rang Hillarys to se if we were cheaper than Mr Goldrick. I quoted £59 x 4 =£236. Mr Goldrick had quoted £27 x 4 =£108. FOR EXACTLY THE SAME BLIND Ah but we have a price promise I say, bleat on about our quality etc ,etc,................................ ......................but............................"you are talking about the same product, they can deliver in 5 days customer tells me................ 2year guarantee."etc... er.........er..........er.... so come on you guys what would you have done here. This is a genuine question, not anything negative, or moaning etc. i am curious as to see how you guys would have dealt with it....... I give in .. just how do we compete? This question should be directed to the Hillarys Board for a immediate response. NOBODY hold your breath. After an almost identical scenario a month or so back, i did put the question to my f.s.m.. I was told to push on our quality....... Unfortunately, it is no longer a selling point against other companies, as they are better than ours now. just look at Delta Blinds, Swift Blinds, etc. (and I haven't seen this new delta headrail thingy yet!!!!). With regards to discounting. After attending the conservatory specialists meeting, we were given an "overcoming objections "leaflet, where it basically says, give whatever discount you need to get the sale, it usually averages itself out after a week or so.... Only in last weels mailer, it is bluntly saying NOT to discount on wooden venetians. So with all the mixed messages flying about, just what are we suppossed to do. I still think Hillarys have slightly the upper hand, mainly because of our longevity it trading. advertising power, (although this can work against us sometimes, ie, we are paying for the advertising scenario), and good name. I don't know about you guys, but around this area, we seem to have more little companies(if you can call them that) starting to come out of the woodwork, and quoting blinds for next to nothing. my earlier posting was a good example of the price we are up against. looking at a trade price list, which are easy enough to get hold of, this guy, out of the £108 order, could easily have been making a profit of £60. Big difference from our £15 commission. Never mind what Hillarys make from that same £108 order, after all their costs. from my point of view, i would just like a clear message of what we are suppossed to do. Discount or not , sell or not. every groceries shop sells baked beans, why do some sell more than others  I know Hillarys are working on the new regime, but come on we need some clear and precise directives. NOW. |
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Post by desmorse on Mar 9, 2006 15:17:29 GMT 1
Am I missing something ? How can you quote £349 for £900 order when yesterday I had a customer who baulked at £840 for three blinds and when I rang the quotes team for a lower price I was given £610 as absolute rock bottom figure. Surprisingly they are still thinking about it. Just to show it's a funny old game, today is likely (after a couple of phone calls )to be 100% conversion with only one less than 10% discount. Put it through as a conservatory. There are some very cheap "conservatory sides only" deals on blossom, symphony, and florence all of which show full price on SAM. If Hillarys can do upto 5 blinds in a conservatory for £349 to £399, then they can do 3 in the house for that price if they want to. |
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Post by desmorse on Mar 12, 2006 17:19:15 GMT 1
Am I missing something ? How can you quote £349 for £900 order when yesterday I had a customer who baulked at £840 for three blinds and when I rang the quotes team for a lower price I was given £610 as absolute rock bottom figure. Surprisingly they are still thinking about it. Just to show it's a funny old game, today is likely (after a couple of phone calls )to be 100% conversion with only one less than 10% discount. Took an order for 5 verts in florence for 3*3mt conservatory today. "Do all your conservatory sides" offer £449. SAM price £1,770 Guess I'll get a call about too much discounting now, unless they have a way of identifying these offers at H/O |
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Bear
Full Member
Posts: 230
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Post by Bear on Mar 13, 2006 11:04:40 GMT 1
Am I missing something ? How can you quote £349 for £900 order when yesterday I had a customer who baulked at £840 for three blinds and when I rang the quotes team for a lower price I was given £610 as absolute rock bottom figure. Surprisingly they are still thinking about it. Just to show it's a funny old game, today is likely (after a couple of phone calls )to be 100% conversion with only one less than 10% discount. Took an order for 5 verts in florence for 3*3mt conservatory today. "Do all your conservatory sides" offer £449. SAM price £1,770 Guess I'll get a call about too much discounting now, unless they have a way of identifying these offers at H/O If you put the prefix CNN in when ordering on paper or state on the first page of SAM that the blinds are for a conservatory, then you can sell WHATEVER blinds are on the "conservatory" offer at the "Special" Price. I have done this twice in the last 6-ish months--nearly all the blinds were different lengths, and in total I seem to remember one had 7 blinds and one had 8!!! Remember conservatories in theory can have different drops and be different shapes so you can safely order using the "Conservatory Offer" using the prefix as shown above. It might come to £1700 on SAM before discounts but if you can get the client to agree to having a conservatory fabric, then fill yer boots. No one at Colwick has the brains, experience or knowledge to know whats happening, and never expect an FSM to come out and check!!!! Result you get a sale, customers is happy, Hillarys couldn't give a stuff, and you now know how hugely overpriced our blinds are!! Bear |
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