Advisor Survey - your views count

[rossk]

Hello everyone,

My name is Ross Kenney and I am a Regional Sales Manager for Hillarys Blinds. I have been a member of the sales management team at Hillarys for over 17 years and I have met many of you on my travels over that period.

I know that as you work hard making your advisor business a success you encounter problems that frustrate you because you deem them to be unnecessary and often costly to yourselves. You also have many good ideas that can help us all succeed going forward.

When as a business we were much smaller it was easy to understand and provide feedback from the field through your area manager (Field Sales Manager now). However, this isn't really practical now due to our size.

Therefore, early in the new year we shall be inviting you all to complete an advisor survey. In this survey you will be able to express your views and concerns in a way that will allow us to understand them more clearly.

Once we have this essential feedback we shall share your combined views with everyone, both advisor's and head office staff, along with our intended action plan.

Many of you will remember that we completed this exercise in both the Spring and Autumn of 2004 with 500 advisor's contributing. We found this very useful and made changes to the business as a result.

I hope you will all see this as a positive step and that you all look forward to being able to contribute to the development of our business.

If you have any comments or suggestions please post a reply or phone or e mail me as follows 07770 646894 or [e-mail]

Regards

Ross Kenney
Regional Sales Manager
07770 646894

[Blind Scout]

BUt arew these a waste of our time. The last survey, was onee on product quality, and I completed it after being aaked to do so by my FSM. Have I seen any results from it yet? No.

When I first joined the Hillarys advisors, I used to fill in regular surveys. I even travelled to Glasgow to take part in an Advisors think tank on product, but over the years, surveys were issued, we were asked to complete, and then sat back waiting for the results that never came. Do I get the feeling that if the replies are unfavourable, the results are lost.

[BlindWizard]

Welcome Ross

Nice to see you have joined us, more input from Hillarys will mean we get answers instead of just advisors guessing what is happening.

I will certainly answer the survey but do feel that there should be feedback regarding the result of the survey. You say "......your views and concerns in a way that will allow us to understand them more clearly". I must say many views and concerns have been expressed very clearly on this forum and answers to these would be a positive step forward.

I have been with Hillarys just over a year and noticed very quickly that the company, compared to other companies I've worked for, doesn't consult and work with the very people that have direct customer contact everyday - the Advisors. Are there any plans to discuss changes with advisors before they are instigated e.g. in another posting you say your involved with the design of a new kit bag. You have asked for views regarding the kit bag which is great but once it is designed will advisors be consulted that it is practical before it is manufactured and issued ?

I'm surprised at the comment that it is not practical to get feedback from the Field Sales Managers. They are in contact (or should be) with advisors all the time and they seem to be always in meetings at head office so why aren't they able to feedback problems in the field ?

Again nice to see you posting, a very positive step.

[nonails]

The advisor surveys are like political party marketing scams
They are worded in such a way that you cannot express the point you wish to make.
It is used to tell people what they want to hear rather than what they should hear.
You have to choose betweenoptions--none of which you will agree with, most f the time.
Remember All advisore are simple tools used to keep the lead time down to under 4 days.
Hillarys care not who does how many leads per day or per week--all they wnt is the lead seen before 72 hours passes. Of this means putting 3 people on a patch that supported one Agent well and now they all work part-time then its fine in Hillarys book.
All leads are being hit in under 72 hours.
The fact that one persons good business has become 3 persons part-time jobs doesnt matter a fig to those people who this morning were described as having the Cranium inserted Rectally....

So prove me wrong ? why dont you ? it hapened to me!!!

NoNails

[JoY]

New Bags.....

Just the obvious really....

Lighter Bag

Lighter Sample Books

Wheels idea sounds good in theory...but as someone else said..you wouldn't be able to take it into the customers house. As it is we (I'm sure we all do this), have to stand holding the bag until the customer answers the door , so that you don't put it down and get the bottom dirty.

What about a bag that easily lifts off a trolley, that we can leave outside the door. Or not have to use at all if we choose.

Or..... a choice of 2 or 3 different bags, so we can make our own choice.

[greenpesto]

The outcome of the survey WILL read:
Following our recent survey we have found that there are no problems & that we are doing a great job. The FSM's are as popular as ever & DOR's have disappeared completely.
There are only 2 Advisers that complained but will not receive leads from today.
We at Hillarys Head Office will reward ourselves with the Bonus that we refuse to pay to our Advisers.
Our survey also shows that you are all 'Ten-a penny' & that you all consider it a privilege to work for Hillarys & that you are happy with the non-existant late payments of commission & are very happy with 'Claw backs', Fines & doing Service calls for nothing.
We are unaware of any reports that a web-site has been set up by Advisers & are unaware that they are unhappy.
We are very proud of ourselves because the best idea we have come up with for 2006 is 'a bag with wheels on!!!.'
Wishing you all a prosperous New Year ( like we care! ) & look forward to recruiting too many Advisers for your area.
Regards!
Hillarys Management
Ivory Towers
Private Road No.2.

[Augustus]

Hi Ross,

Firstly, I'd like to personally like to welcome you to the forum and I hope you can find it useful as we do.

I'm sure you will understand that this does also attract some rather colourful comments as views are very emotional when it concerns our income.

But on the flip side, if there are ideas or suggestions that you need instant feedback from, please use this forum and the wealth of experience that is available to you in our membership for all future developements.


P.

[rossk]

Hi again,

I would like to answer some of the points that Blindwizard has made.

In total there are 800 advisors spread out across the UK and Ireland. All 800 have opinions on how things should be done and how we should develop the business. This is healthy and I welcome feedback and new ideas, but you would be surprized how variable your opinions are and so to ensure we have a majority understanding we need to collect feedback in a structured way.

In the spring of 2004 we did this and fed back to you all, through a video at the team meetiings, your opinions and the actions we planned to implement as a result. We made changes and during the autumn completed another survey to update our understanding. A mistake we have made is that we should of carried on with this process to ensure that we continually gather your views. That is an error on our part and we plan to correct this in the new year.

On a personal basis I do listen to your views and they do influence decision making. An example of this is the sample bag.

In the spring survey of 2004 around half stated that they take the sample bag into every call, but the weight was unacceptable. This was fed back to the product managers and since then every new sample book has been lighter than the previous. We have reduced the weight by 7kg and when the bag is filled correctly (all books, but not 6 months stock of 'at home' magazines) it weighs 15 kg. Now we want this to be lighter still.

I should say that before designing the current bag we debated whether it was necessary to take all the sample books into every sales call. We conducted a number of mystery shopping exercises with other direct sales companies to see what they did and they all carried full sample ranges, often more kit than we do. Our conclusion was that our customers should be given the choice to decide which blind is right for them and as most do not understand the full product range, all books should be easily available in every sales call. By making them available we also benefit from increased order values.

A bag with wheels, were did that idea come from?

Well, when we designed the current bag we disgarded wheels as we believed that they would get dirty and so would soil a customers carpet etc. During the last series of advisor team meetings the feedback I received ( I attended 9 sessions - approx 90 advisors) was that a smaller bag with wheels would be an improvement. I argued against the wheels for the above reason, but advisors where very insistent that wheels would be a good idea.

We have an advisor who uses a travel case with wheels as his sample bag and so we went to see how this worked and discussed how he overcame the dirty wheel problem. From this research we have sketched a new bag design and hope to have a prototype early in the new year. We shall then meet with a number of advisors to gain their opinions and to test the new bag in the field.

If anyone wants to be involved then please give me a call. 07770 646894.

In addition to the advisor survey, in January we plan to hold a number of feedback sessions with advisors. We are planning for a session in Yorkshire with the advisors who have been testing a new price and promotion structure and we shall also be setting up two price and promotion advisor project teams - one north and one south. I am involved in all three sessions and so if you are interested in being involved then please drop me a line.

In summary, hopefully you can see that we intend to do things differently in the future and that we do hear what you are saying, but I guess it doesn't feel like we are from your position. Please give further feedback.

Regards

Ross Kenney
Regional Sales Manager
07770 646894

[BlindWizard]

Hi Ross

Thanks for your reply.

Very positive, nice to hear how more consultation/discussion is planned with Advisors; should deliver both good ideas and a more motivated salesforce.

I'm with you on the wheels marking carpets but as long as they are small it's up to the advisor if he/she uses them.

The setting up of two price and promotion advisor project teams I think is very important. I'm sure you have read how concerned advisors on this forum are regarding the offers such as 3 for £99.

Look forward to your further postings. I think nipping gossip in the bud and answering concerns of advisors will help to build this forum into a very positive tool for both advisors and Hillarys management.

regards

[filo]

Hi Ross
Nice to see your posting on this forum, but please keep it real, we have had enough crap info over this last 12-month to last a life time.
As for the bag subject a few things to consider.

1. Not everybody is 6’6” and a bodybuilder.
2. Sample books need to be small and lighter. How about 1 book with 2 or 3 sample of each product we sell, the customer can then look at this book, ask question and the decide which product she would like to see the full range of.
3. Blind samples need to be made to the minimum restrictions according to the product and good quality, not like a vertical rail I’ve got at the moment with a control 2 ins long, and we need a working sample for each product we do, photo’s and a fabric sample is not always enough.
4. We have two hands, so why not have 2 smaller bags designed to carry everything we need. The weight can then be split between the two.
I hope this is of some help, but remember the customer wants to see the fabric in the book not fight with the cover, as with the roman blind box, which take up a lot of room when open. Any way these are my ideas, I’m sure other advisors have lots more
Just log in and read.

[highwayman]

I agree with the comment about samples. We need samples of the full range. I have been trying ever since it's launce to get a working sample of the curved vertical headrail. I was promised one on several occasions by my previous FSM but surprise, surprise it never materialised. My current FSM said "It's not my responsibility to help you with things like that"!!!!!! I have asked Dale Nix in samples to be told you can only have a small piece of channel (no workings in it). The price of curved verticals is extortionate and they are very difficult to sell when all you have to show a customer are a few small black & white pictures in the handbook and a small piece of channel. The same case with romans (they are not part of the standard sample kit) we need samples of each type. What good is a small touchy, feely piece of lined fabric in the book the customer wants to see working examples and I can only get hold of one slat width sample for the wood vens. If Hillarys want us to sell the product we need to be able to properly demonstrate it to the customer. Would you buy anything without knowing what you were buying? I know I wouldn't!!!!!!!

[BlindWizard]

Filo not convinced with a couple of your suggestions.

"1 book with 2 or 3 sample of each product we sell" - As another advisor has posted elsewhere, if you give too much choice you end up leaving quotes as customer wants to think about all options or may be confused. Unless they don't know the type of blind they want or what they asked for is not practical I don't start introducing all the range. Will often give one option if they've gone cheap e.g. how about a roman if looking at vens.

Two smaller bags - Wouldn't want this a) nice to have spare hand to ring bell etc b) I carry a folder with my bits in it and c) would be more difficult to get though doorways.

Samples of each blind would be good, not sure curved vet practical that is mentioned in other posting but some nice close-up pictures of the different shapes would be good. I had a sample roman made up as I like them (good price, easy fit, no DORs), straight away my roman sales increased - show em the sample and often up sale from a cheaper type of blind they were originally thinking about.

[greenpesto]

I agree BlindWizard!
This is the sort of thing Hillarys should be focusing on!!!! Have we all got Working Samples, do we all have a sample of each blind to show the customer?.
All my samples are out of date, especially the Wooden Venetians ( remember when they used to be a qualty product?). I don't know if they still issue working samples to new Advisers, but we all need them. This is an important issue that requires urgent action from Hillarys.
Keep us ALL up to date with the latest samples.
Better 'close up' photos of products would be good.
Far more cost effective than 'SAM' or 'a bag with wheels on' .... or two bags which is even dafter!!! .... Sorry 'filo'!!!!

[farmer]

highwayman...do what i did.. i sent in an order form for a small curved.
A guy from Washington rang me to see exactly what i wanted. i told him, and it was on my van the following week...........can you believe that.

Unfortunately, I have done the same for a woodweave, nothing has turned 8 weeks later.

Had other companies around to quote for me, to see what they do. They walk in with just the relevant books, thats all

[Blind Scout]

On sample books and ranges, I have noticed that the trend is for more of the plainer fabrics, but that the colour shades are more important. Hence I find that Acacia is one of my better selling fabrics. It also has more matching VERT/ROB colourways. So reduce both these books into 1. Section book into VERT/ROB, VERT only, ROB only. After all the same fabric doesn't have to be carried twice. It also helps the customer by knowing the fabic she is lookingg at has Verrt andf Robs.

I have had a ROM sample for years now. Was a DOR, that ended up in my sample bag.

Its not only weight, but bulk, that needs to be considered for any bag. My Pilot case will see me out. I have neck and back problems, and I am not prepared for further damage by using something that is un-weildy. And I noticed Ross, that you didn't mention all the sample rails/vens/rob/ple samples in all sizes plus brackets and all the previously mentioned items for measuring and surveying; and we sometimes need a small pair of steps for the houses that have high windows.

I regularly cross paths with other blind companies. Most just walk in with one book, I think I look very professional with my pilot case, small neat, and doesn't look as if I'm there for the juration. I always have vet/ven/rob in my case, the others are in the car.

When I argued the case for my method with my FSM, It was suggsested, that I may not have the most suitable tools for the job. My car was too small, and as only a 2 door Clio, I would find it difficult to get the bag onto the back seat; as if I would. My car suit me. every thing (well almost, the steps I carry are behind my seat) is in the boot. Tool box, additional mains drill and extension cable, samples, mostly in a pilot case, sample blind rails, and a box full of what I think may not be supplied with the blinds, a selection of brackets and spare parts. Oh! And I carry a pair of slippers. That always gets me brownie points when on a building site, the carpets are white or cream, and the mud is 25mm deep on the road, and safer than blue plastic bags over the shoes.

And while on this thread, I will mention, that over the years I have been with Hillary's, I have noticed a severe reduction in the quality and/or finishing of most of the products. Everything from the screws now being supplied to long established fabrics like Capri, that has gone from a fabric that I used to recommend, now frays at the sides, and one can now "see" through. Maybe over Christmas, I shall post against the "product" section.

Remember: "The cost of failure" is very high. Wasted environment, in product, time, energy (coal/light/oil/petrol), wasted sales oportunities, unhappy customers, and increased landfill. (What happens to all these DORs?)

May we all have a happy and prosperous new year.