ARE WE SEEING AN ERA OF CHANGE?

[dodgybracket]

Well ,I got the weekly newsletter today with a list of expected improvements.
Couple of goodies in there so maybe we will see an end to "evening calls only" that many of us have been getting. Time will tell.
Who suggested DVDs was a good idea?
I personally tried showing the one we have for conservatories to 2 or 3 punters who found it a huge turn-off, and made no bones of telling me they wanted blinds not a hard-sell tv presentation like Everest and many hard sell DG companies use. Mine now scares crows on my allotment.

Subtle to note that not one suggested improvement is going to cost Hillarys a single penny. Strange or what??

What about the stolen commission on the failed pre-Christmas fits that we had ripped off us, when they dished out huge compensation without even being asked for it??
I am due over £300 for this one single act of largesse by Hillarys, on 7 missed pre-Xmas promises and my FSM ( useless at the best of times) has ignored my email( copied to RossK!) and ignored my 2 follow-up messages left on voice-mail.

If I held back £300 quid of theirs they would be on my back soon enough!!!

I await the next quarterly meeting with great expectation, and unless concrete proposals are made to pay me and the rest of you that money WHICH WAS STOLEN ,then I am sure a riot will ensue on the spot.

Withholding cash balances to the value of STOLEN COMMISSION is only the start of it.

Hit them in the wallet, thats where their heart is!!


How would the FSM or ROSSK like getting their salary advice at the end of February telling them they are only being paid for 3 weeks work, instead of 4, because last December the factory missed delivery promises.

They wouldn't stand for it---SO WHY SHOULD WE??

Thieving swine the lot of them!!!!

How could anyone on Hillarys staff confess to friends down the pub where they work, if folk knew what the Company was doing to its people up at the sharp end??

Anyone disagree with any of the above--Facts is Facts!!??



Dodgybracket

[grumperbear]

l found the letter a let down. There had better be more at the meeting.

[widgepips]

i suggest you clear off

[filo]

Hi
What is all the excitement about, a few quick fixes?
None of which shouldn’t have been done anyway
Now lets see.
1, Send conservatory DVD to customers.
(This was probably on the cards anyway, seeing there a
Conservatory push this year)
2. 48- hour visibility of leads
(This maybe helpful at times, but being able to book/ change
A fit appointment is what we really need)
3. Honest Communications
(Most welcome, but how do you tell one from another)
4. Try to fill daytime slot before evening.
(Very, very welcome, if there follow this rule, no
additional appointment slots should be needed.)
5. Repeat customer given to original advisor
(This should have always been the case, but what
If a customer as had two advisors who get it, the last one
to go or the first one to go, and what happens if there can’t
book the previous advisor in 48 hours will there phone the advisor
first before passing to someone else, may these question
will answered at the team meeting unless anyone knows)
6. Give Advisors phone numbers to customer.
(I don’t get this one; my entire customers have my phone number
on there invoice, or could this be a way for customer service
instead of dealing with a complaint, their just give them our number,
was this asked for in the forum meeting, if so why.)?
7. Introduce more advisor forums.
(These are welcome, but I see there have already booked one for the
3rd march, will it be the same people, and as anyone known about
this meeting, before this update.
8. Cease the welcome pack 10% discount
( about time)
9. Ability to batch change fabric in Sam
(Any improvement to Sam is welcome)
10. No national 3 for 99 promotions
(No national, does this means none at all, or that some counties
will and others won’t, it’s a very clever way wording this
Statement, and I thought there was no gloss and spin)
11. Quality of support from customer services
(In general I don’t find them that bad, I think it the
System there are having to use that the problem,
i.e. not being able to find the right fault code, its
seems like Hillarys just want to blame the people)

[hereticus]

OK – Filo – you’ve asked the question so I’ll try to give a reasoned answer to it. You ask ‘what is all the excitement about ?’

I haven’t exactly noticed much excitement yet, which surprises me in itself because I think there should be a few more acknowledging these first signs of progress. And, whilst I think about it, your posting is an excellent example (unintentional I’m sure) of putting a negative spin on something which is really quite positive.

The excitement is, or should be about the fact that :

- our views have been listened to, acknowledged, and are already resulting in change
- some of you have been clamouring for some progress report through the weekly mailer, and you’ve now got it
- more detailed feedback from the seminars will be presented at the Team Meetings, together with action / progress reports on where we go from here
- a very useful handful of quick fixes have already been implemented, or have had implementation dates announced

Not enough for you ? Reckon you can build Rome in a day ? Never going to be happy, are you ?

In answer to your specific points from the quick fixes announced in the weekly mailer, I would comment as follows :

1) Sending the Conservatory DVD direct to customers is a company initiative and was not discussed at the seminars (not at Reading anyway) but I believe it will prove to be a good idea, preparing the customer for the sales visit and underlining Hillarys stature in the market.

2) Nearly everybody wanted more forward visibility in SAM and this is a first step. Sure it would be even better if it were 72 hours, or totally transparent, and this has not been decided against but, in the meantime, 48 hours was a useful quick fix. I agree that being able to change a fit appointment is highly desirable and is being looked at, but requires more IT programming input and was never a contender for a quick fix.

3) Honest communications, no spin, tell it the way it is – we all requested this and Hillarys are going to give it a try – don’t knock it until we’ve given them a chance for a few months. The good intention is there, and only time will tell whether this can become reality.

4) Glad you agree with this one – we pushed it hard at the seminars and the company have taken note.

5) Again, of course there are some difficulties in implementation, but Hillarys have acknowledged the problem and are attempting to resolve it, giving IT programming priority to this subject. The questions and conflicts which you have pointed out will no doubt be resolved as part of this exercise.

6) This was discussed at the seminars and again Hillarys have taken note. It was not so much a case of giving out advisor phone numbers automatically, more a case that recent policy has been to steadfastly refuse to give out an advisor’s phone number under any cirumstances so that customers trying to speak to one of us direct were not being allowed. This will now change, I think for the best. If you don’t want it, you don’t have to consent but I bet most will.

7) The more advisor feedback the better. I know nothing about the one on 3 March so clearly it does not involve the same group of advisors. However, whoever has been invited to this one I hope that they will request views through this forum and then put the same degree of time, effort, and commitment into it as the original advisors did for the seminars.

8) See what I mean ? This is a real result but instead of saying ‘great – at last’ (positive spin), you had to grudgingly say ‘about time’ (negative spin). Haven’t you heard, it uses fewer facial muscles to smile than to frown.

9) Glad you agree, and lots more SAM improvements to follow.

10) It means exactly what it says. Many of us hated 3 for 99, feeling that it was completely negative, but advisors in some parts of the country loved it because it gave them a fighting chance against stiff local competition. In future Hillarys will use this sort of aggressive pricing only where the local market and the local advisors see it as a necessary and useful tactic.

11) Through this forum and at the seminars we made a lot of points, both frustrations and ideas, which fall into this general area of ‘quality of support’ and the announcement in the mailer simply confirms that all of our points are being looked at under a wide ranging review. Surely this is a positive step ?

You have all been looking for evidence that the seminars were genuine, that the company listened, and that change would come. Now you are seeing genuine evidence of the first fruits of our labours, with lots more to come, so why are you still being negative ? I just don’t get it, some people are never happy – we shouldn’t be breaking out the champagne yet, but maybe we should be getting some in ready.

[nonails]

Agree with Hereticus, At least someone is listening and trying to show a positive response.

How far they will be allowed to do this will be evidenced by the announcements at the Qtrly meetings coming up.

It would be more than good to see a positive mover on the "stolen" commission especially that which arose from missed December deliveries, and touched on strongly today by members.

Requests direct to RossK on this by several colleagues have been knocked across to FSM's and there they die a death.....
If that is progress.....?

THAT NEEDS ADDRESSING.


Why should agents whose money was docked because hILLARYS GAVE AWAY BIG DISCOUNTS IN THESE CASES, HAVE TO JUSTIFY IN EMAILS AND FAXES each CASE each AMOUNT DISCOUNTED, wHY EACH DELIVERY DATE WAS FITTED LATE AND WHY THEY TOOK 4 DAYS AFTER DELIVERY TO FIT THE JOB???
To then send all that in an email to an FSM who so far appears to have binned the info as no response now after a month.

Thats progress???

Ihad better get me one of the new dictionaries then?

Why not make a sibgle gesture to us on "Stolen Money Hillarys?"


Nonails

[inkjet]

The ones that excited me

Were honest Communications. ( This means Hillarys have admited they were being dishonest,in the past) Does thisa mean FSM will stop Spinning.?


48hr lead toDiary Excellent ccant understand why we cannot have full details straight away.


Evening appoiintments given to those that really must have one,


What did dissapoint me was the fact that The Forum was made up entirley of High Turnover Full Time Agents Advisors, who probably get enough leads etc and perhaps employ fiiters.


Where my dicontent has been in the past is spending a afternoon or morning traveling miles to service one lead and not getting another in that area.


If my productivity was good with the Aid of this Forum I could overcome all other problems.

But at the End of the Day it boils down to how well your time is used.

[desmorse]

As one who has been consistently asking for a limited feed back, I'm really please with the mailer. Nothing definite and world shattering, but a d**n good start.
Only concerns,
1 Why lead visibility is still restricted. Am I that untrustworthy and incompetent?
2 Leads being passed back to original advisor has been an objective for the last 2 years. I actually saw the system in use over a year ago, but apparently it still doesn't work. I believe a customer should be offered the original advisor, but if longer than say 4 days, then be offered the option of a different person sooner. A returning customer is hardly a HOT 4 DAY LEAD

[JoY]

Guess who this is??

[grumperbear]

Hey!

How did you get my photo?

Who gave you permission to post it on this forum.

Help. The fsm will see it and know who l am.


.

[q]

Read the weekly mailer this morning, is this the first green shoots of change? I sincerely hope so. I look forward to the quarterly meeting and to what the FSM has to say (more honest communications!).

[JoY]

grumperbear said:

Hey!

How did you get my photo?

Who gave you permission to post it on this forum.

Help. The fsm will see it and know who l am.


.

I was thinking of the other bear we have......but if the cap fits etc....... ;D

[BlindWizard]

I'm not over excited about it but it is a start so don't knock it otherwise this new openness can't grow to trust between the advisors and management

Hereticus "spin" on the items seems to be a fair assessment .

Yep can't see why they will only let us see 48hrs future detailed info, the info is there and I would think it takes more programming to stop us seeing it. (anyway we all know we can just change the date and see it anyway ;D)

The team meetings should be interesting. If "gloss and spin now banished" (give em their due to admit it was there) then FSMs should b able to talk without a script.

Give them a chance it's in all our interests to prove we are keen to move forward.

[Augustus]

I'm not sure the fsm's would know what to say without a script !!!


P.