Why are we all de-motivated?

[greenpesto]

I was feeling really down with the job today!!!!!

Normally I'll think of all the good things about this job & feel better .... NOT TODAY!!!

WHY?

Without dwelling on the past & considering how things are now I decided to make a list of what is wrong.

Upper management are no longer focused on how to make more sales but appear to be giving reasons why NOT to sell.
They are concentrating on making 'micro cuts' here & there rather than building on the bigger picture.
This has resulted in the recent changes to 'Error' charges & PL Insurance etc. without ANY thought as to how it affects those bringing in the business.
Management should have a clear understanding of what 'motivates' it's sale team & exploit it to it's fullest potential.
It is however, clearly an example of people running a business that don't actually understand what it's all about.

On top of this the FSM's no longer have the effect that they had 4 - 5 years ago & can no longer help or are scared stiff to stick their head up & speak up for fear of reprisals from their bosses.
We simply CANNOT rely on FSM's for support.

H/O staff are either undermanned or too stressed to focus on the important things. This may simply be a case of sorting a DOR or Carrier request out to avoid distress between themselves & the Advisor or for the sake of the company reputation & customer satisfaction.

We have 'offers' which undermine the essence of what this job is about. We find that we are selling ourselves short & are being forced to undermine our self-worth.

These 'offers' although at first appear to have the desired effect by bringing in countless leads we are in fact running up more costs in time & fuel for less return.
These 'Mega' offers ( cons ) are what other companies have done for years with no real gains.

We find our confidence in the diary booking to have disappeared.
We have lost confidence in what the customers are told at CLG.
We go into a sales call on the defensive because customers are price conditioned into thinking they are going to get an amazing deal of a lifetime.
We have lost confidence in our products.
e.g.
Wooden Venetians
Vertical headrails ( split bunching etc )
Vertical fabric range that does not meet the current trends.
Fabrics that are 'wafer' thin.
Increased volume of damaged goods regardless of entire rolls of tape holding them together.
DOR's in general - the fact we have to raise so many & the way they are dealt with from H/O.
The pricing structure ( Verticals in band 'C' are still a joke! )
Late delivery - fitting promises being broken!

We all have something to add to this list I am certain!

But the point is ..... we need confidence in our support .... our products ..... our feeling of self worth.

We all want the job satisfaction that this job SHOULD & COULD give us!!

HELL!!!!! ... We might even make some decent money along the way!!!!

I still want to be optimistic about our future with Hillarys .... BUT ... as long as we have pressure from the Owners/Financiers who cannot see past their bank balance ... & with Managers 'blindly' stumbling on regardless .... I fear we are on a losing streak!!!!!

[RED]

greenpesto said:

I was feeling really down with the job today!!!!!

Normally I'll think of all the good things about this job & feel better .... NOT TODAY!!!

WHY?

Without dwelling on the past & considering how things are now I decided to make a list of what is wrong.

Upper management are no longer focused on how to make more sales but appear to be giving reasons why NOT to sell.
They are concentrating on making 'micro cuts' here & there rather than building on the bigger picture.
This has resulted in the recent changes to 'Error' charges & PL Insurance etc. without ANY thought as to how it affects those bringing in the business.
Management should have a clear understanding of what 'motivates' it's sale team & exploit it to it's fullest potential.
It is however, clearly an example of people running a business that don't actually understand what it's all about.

On top of this the FSM's no longer have the effect that they had 4 - 5 years ago & can no longer help or are scared stiff to stick their head up & speak up for fear of reprisals from their bosses.
We simply CANNOT rely on FSM's for support.

H/O staff are either undermanned or too stressed to focus on the important things. This may simply be a case of sorting a DOR or Carrier request out to avoid distress between themselves & the Advisor or for the sake of the company reputation & customer satisfaction.

We have 'offers' which undermine the essence of what this job is about. We find that we are selling ourselves short & are being forced to undermine our self-worth.

These 'offers' although at first appear to have the desired effect by bringing in countless leads we are in fact running up more costs in time & fuel for less return.
These 'Mega' offers ( cons ) are what other companies have done for years with no real gains.

We find our confidence in the diary booking to have disappeared.
We have lost confidence in what the customers are told at CLG.
We go into a sales call on the defensive because customers are price conditioned into thinking they are going to get an amazing deal of a lifetime.
We have lost confidence in our products.
e.g.
Wooden Venetians
Vertical headrails ( split bunching etc )
Vertical fabric range that does not meet the current trends.
Fabrics that are 'wafer' thin.
Increased volume of damaged goods regardless of entire rolls of tape holding them together.
DOR's in general - the fact we have to raise so many & the way they are dealt with from H/O.
The pricing structure ( Verticals in band 'C' are still a joke! )

We all have something to add to this list I am certain!

But the point is ..... we need confidence in our support .... our products ..... our feeling of self worth.

We all want the job satisfaction that this job SHOULD & COULD give us!!

HELL!!!!! ... We might even make some decent money along the way!!!!

I still want to be optimistic about our future with Hillarys .... BUT ... as long as we have pressure from the Owners/Financiers who cannot see past their bank balance ... I fear we are on a losing streak!!!!!

Great post Greenpesto. I think it just about sums it up for almost the entire adviser workforce and probably the factory work force too.
Trouble is, you may as well have put it in a bottle and threw it out to sea as no one will take a blind bit of notice. Scuse the pun, not intended.
The main thing is that a positive sales-force sells well and thats what we are all in need of right now. Just one spark of something positive from Hillary's with no strings attached, just for once.

Red