Sorry Hillarys. No more favours.

[dolly]

CLG

Didnt work B.Hol Monday but still got a call on the day fromCLG. Can i do a favour? A roof referral customer needs an appt in a postcode i dont cover because of distance and at the weekend which i no longer do.( Hillarys fault)
Ok i said just this time book it in for SAT AM. This she did along with 2 more appts (soon got them removed) and when i get there this morning the conservatory is hardly built and she only wanted verticals which i couldnt properly measure for and which the local advisor could have done.
Never again Hillarys. Keep on digging your own graves wont you?

[JoY]

dolly said:

Didnt work B.Hol Monday but still got a call on the day fromCLG. Can i do a favour? A roof referral customer needs an appt in a postcode i dont cover because of distance and at the weekend which i no longer do.( Hillarys fault)
Ok i said just this time book it in for SAT AM. This she did along with 2 more appts (soon got them removed) and when i get there this morning the conservatory is hardly built and she only wanted verticals which i couldnt properly measure for and which the local advisor could have done.
Never again Hillarys. Keep on digging your own graves wont you?

I have always asked for a payment for "special favours". Just £20 to cover working outside my normal hours, or travelling to another postcode....nothing too greedy! NEVER got it of course, so they can't be too desperate to get these "favours" done.

[greenpesto]

I had one this week too!

Asked to fit blinds from an Advisor that no longer covers this area.
Even though I'd get £20 plus commission ( 10% I think! ), I've decided to ignore it because the chances are they'll not be measured properly & I'd be into a DOR for which I'll not get paid plus, all the likely 'stick' I'd get from the customer who has waited about 2 months for the blinds.

So, just like you, when you get bitten once, you don't go back to be bitten again.

No more favours from me either from now on!!!!

FU*K 'EM!!!!!!

[RED]

greenpesto said:

I had one this week too!

Asked to fit blinds from an Advisor that no longer covers this area.
Even though I'd get £20 plus commission ( 10% I think! ), I've decided to ignore it because the chances are they'll not be measured properly & I'd be into a DOR for which I'll not get paid plus, all the likely 'stick' I'd get from the customer who has waited about 2 months for the blinds.

So, just like you, when you get bitten once, you don't go back to be bitten again.

No more favours from me either from now on!!!!

FU*K 'EM!!!!!!

One of the major problems now is that you are not in control of anything.
When you were, you automatically accepted responsibility for your customers and no payment was ever expected or asked for.
It was in your own interests to keep the customer happy so they would come back to YOU and recommend YOU.
YOU had pride in your job and the satisfaction of knowing YOU had a happy customer that would come back to YOU.
That has all gone now.
Now we are no longer in control and CLG pass leads to any one that just happens to be around, we have lost that desire to keep customers happy. What is the point when your leads go elsewhere and they muck it up.
Most of the longer served advisor's still have a great pride in doing a good job but get severely knocked back by all the negative things coming at us constantly. The list is endless.
Can any one name anything positive in the last year that boosted the advisor's morale, nationwide?.
Hillary's have made it clear that a new incentive scheme is in the offing. Dont hold on to any false hopes on that one. It will well and truly be in Hillary's favor and be manipulated by your diary so that you never or hardly ever achieve it. Only a few will get any rewards.
Just my views, probably dont count for much.

Red

[hereticus]

stonehills said:

Can any one name anything positive in the last year that boosted the advisors morale, nationwide?.

Red

Just one...and that proved to be a false hope !

The announcement in January that Hillarys were to hold Advisor Feedback Seminars was the most positive thing for years. We were all inspired by the prospect, put all our effort into making a good presentation, 23 of us attended the actual meetings, the outcome seemed encouraging, even JR went on video to the team meetings to tell us how valuable our input was and to set out a programme of change. The future looked better and the morale boost was significant.

Unfortunately we all know what happened (or didn't happen so far). There is one thing worse than doing nothing, which is to promise something and then fail to deliver.

[blindsfitter]

hereticus said:

stonehills said:

Can any one name anything positive in the last year that boosted the advisors morale, nationwide?.

Red

Just one...and that proved to be a false hope !

The announcement in January that Hillarys were to hold Advisor Feedback Seminars was the most positive thing for years. We were all inspired by the prospect, put all our effort into making a good presentation, 23 of us attended the actual meetings, the outcome seemed encouraging, even JR went on video to the team meetings to tell us how valuable our input was and to set out a programme of change. The future looked better and the morale boost was significant.

Unfortunately we all know what happened (or didn't happen so far). There is one thing worse than doing nothing, which is to promise something and then fail to deliver.

Dare I be the first to mention it, but

"Welcome to the dark side, --nearly, Hereticus"

In jest of course!!! Do I detect the mildest possible case of jaundice??

Blindsfitter

[hereticus]

blindsfitter said:

"Welcome to the dark side, --nearly, Hereticus"

In jest of course!!! Do I detect the mildest possible case of jaundice??

Blindsfitter

Not quite on the dark side.....yet ! ... but certainly badly dissappointed and rather let down.

[russell]

hereticus said:

blindsfitter said:

"Welcome to the dark side, --nearly, Hereticus"

In jest of course!!! Do I detect the mildest possible case of jaundice??

Blindsfitter

Not quite on the dark side.....yet ! ... but certainly badly dissappointed and rather let down.

Mike is it right that your area has been earmarked for 7 new advisor's ???if so have you reminded rossk of his assurance he gave at reading that new advisor's would only be taken on with "prior consultation" with current advisor's in the area or was this just more spin

[greenpesto]

russell!!!

I think you may well find that this is a national recruitment campaign!!

Because everything is taken as 'Gospel' with regards to what the 'Stats' say ... most FSM's are panicking because the Lead to Diary was extended during the Holiday period because we were inconsiderate enough to take time off for ourselves.

In order to get the time down H/O believe that recruiting MORE Advisors is the answer.

More 'knee-jerk' reactions I'm afraid!!!!

We'll all be complaining that there are not enough leads to go around for us & the new ones before Xmas & we won't get the opportunity to earn money before the quieter periods in the New Year!!!.

[hereticus]

russell said:

Mike is it right that your area has been earmarked for 7 new advisor's ?

Mark - total news to me, but you can be sure that I intend to find out fast, and that something will hit the fan if its true. Where did you get this little nugget from ? (PM me if confidential).

We do have a brand new FSM, who I have spoken to but not yet met, though initial impressions are that he seems OK.

In Oxfordshire I would agree an urgent need for at least one new advisor and, depending on where they are situated, up to three could be justified without undermining anyone else, but seven would be excessive and, if placed indiscriminately, would cause fireworks. Maybe I won't sleep so well tonight.

[hereticus]

greenpesto said:

russell!!!

In order to get the (Lead to Diary) time down H/O believe that recruiting MORE Advisors is the answer.

IF (and I do mean if, because we don't know this for sure) the company sees the wholesale recruitment of new advisors as the means to reducing lead to diary time, then I feel that this is a very destructive and shortsighted policy.

Firstly, by the time they have recruited and trained new advisors the problem will most likely have resolved itself anyway.

Secondly, if there are too many leads to service then perhaps it is time to pull back from giveaway offers and concentrate on the quality of leads rather than the quantity - all experienced advisors can turn in more business from a handful of good leads than from a bucketful of crap leads.

Thirdly, once new advisors finally complete training and come on stream, most of them won't last more than a few months anyway and good experienced advisors are going to start leaving - either because their leads have dropped and they can't make a living, or because they are expected to go round mopping up all the new advisor's errors.

There is always a need for new recruitment to cover natural wastage and to service genuine expansion, but taking on extra advisors (as distinct from replacing leavers) should always be strategic, carefully targetted, and should involve the local team.

Finally, if the company are panicking about lead to diary times then I (and many of us) could tell them how to cut lead to diary times 'at a stroke' without any negative impact on customers or advisors. It really is quite simple.

Please remember that I opened these comments with a big 'IF', because I am responding to rumour and heresay - as far as I am aware we have no definite knowledge of any significant increase in the number of advisors or, even if true, of the reasons behind it, so it would be better to make sure of our facts before going ballistic. I remember a similar 'scare' a few months ago which actually turned out to be completely unfounded, so we should be careful.

[greenpesto]

I would add however, that it would be too early to panic!!!!

Considering what I've heard about recruiting, many people would surely be put off by the out of pocket expenses before earning money on something that a new person would not have any idea about as to how successful they are going to be.
By that I mean the cost of the Hotel when on the induction course, the cost of new kit which I was told is now chargeable for new starters, plus the 2 year contract with Vodafone etc.

SAM - £12 /month
Phone call costs
Printer - £317
Option of Insurance at £7.95 /month with £25 excess
£81.08 Printer Insurance
£60 refurbished SAM device cost
Replacement SIM card - £20
Replacement SD card - £17
or
No insurance with -
PDA cost of £414
Printer cost £247.51

On top of that there is the mis-measure fines.
£250 excess for breakages in customers homes.
£20 charge for 2nd opinions or other Advisor call out if you are on Holiday.

Don't forget, the quality issues on many products.

There is the promise of earning £30,000 p.a. whilst selling everything at 3 for £99 ( or is it now 99 for 3p? )!!!!

A T. V. programme stated this week that NO ONE should pay out money in order to get work from a company.

Consider these & recruiting might be a bit slow!!!!!

[RED]

greenpesto said:

I would add however, that it would be too early to panic!!!!

Considering what I've heard about recruiting, many people would surely be put off by the out of pocket expenses before earning money on something that a new person would not have any idea about as to how successful they are going to be.
By that I mean the cost of the Hotel when on the induction course, the cost of new kit which I was told is now chargeable for new starters, plus the 2 year contract with Vodafone etc.

SAM - £12 /month
Phone call costs
Printer - £317
Option of Insurance at £7.95 /month with £25 excess
£81.08 Printer Insurance
£60 refurbished SAM device cost
Replacement SIM card - £20
Replacement SD card - £17
or
No insurance with -
PDA cost of £414
Printer cost £247.51

On top of that there is the mis-measure fines.
£250 excess for breakages in customers homes.
£20 charge for 2nd opinions or other Advisor call out if you are on Holiday.

Don't forget, the quality issues on many products.

There is the promise of earning £30,000 p.a. whilst selling everything at 3 for £99 ( or is it now 99 for 3p? )!!!!

A T. V. programme stated this week that NO ONE should pay out money in order to get work from a company.

Consider these & recruiting might be a bit slow!!!!!

Thats just the start up costs.
Dont forget the 50 pound a week petrol bill.
The 400 pound a year accountants bill.
The 10 pound a week in Drill bits.
The 200 pound a year in drills.
The wear and tear bill on the car. Probably i the thousands.
The wear and tear on the clothes. In the hundreds.

My average operating costs are around 600 pound a month when everything is taken into account. I only earn around 250 a week now if I am lucky. Dosent take much to work out how much we need to earn to make a living. It is fast becoming not worth doing.

[desmorse]

Somethings going wrong for you, Red.
Just looked at my last 2 years figures, both showed my operating costs at approx. 13% of my commission.
If yours is running at 60%, you need to look very closely at what you're doing, and why. 60% is unbelievably bad.
I run a dedicated van, am a heavy user of SAM and SAM phone, and have been happily using diary booking, which I know you hate, for years.
I spend no more than a couple of quid a month on drill bits. SDS bits from Cromwell tools are £1.16+VAT and last over a month. A box of 10 3.5mm HSS bits is under a tenner. I bought a Metabo rotary hammer drill 3 years ago, it's still fine. I buy a DeWalt hammer drill, about £125, every 2-3 years. And I'm doing around £300k incl. VAT each year

[russell]

hereticus said:

greenpesto said:

russell!!!

In order to get the (Lead to Diary) time down H/O believe that recruiting MORE Advisors is the answer.

IF (and I do mean if, because we don't know this for sure) the company sees the wholesale recruitment of new advisors as the means to reducing lead to diary time, then I feel that this is a very destructive and shortsighted policy.

Firstly, by the time they have recruited and trained new advisors the problem will most likely have resolved itself anyway.

Secondly, if there are too many leads to service then perhaps it is time to pull back from giveaway offers and concentrate on the quality of leads rather than the quantity - all experienced advisors can turn in more business from a handful of good leads than from a bucketful of crap leads.

Thirdly, once new advisors finally complete training and come on stream, most of them won't last more than a few months anyway and good experienced advisors are going to start leaving - either because their leads have dropped and they can't make a living, or because they are expected to go round mopping up all the new advisor's errors.

There is always a need for new recruitment to cover natural wastage and to service genuine expansion, but taking on extra advisors (as distinct from replacing leavers) should always be strategic, carefully targetted, and should involve the local team.

Finally, if the company are panicking about lead to diary times then I (and many of us) could tell them how to cut lead to diary times 'at a stroke' without any negative impact on customers or advisors. It really is quite simple.

Please remember that I opened these comments with a big 'IF', because I am responding to rumour and heresay - as far as I am aware we have no definite knowledge of any significant increase in the number of advisors or, even if true, of the reasons behind it, so it would be better to make sure of our facts before going ballistic. I remember a similar 'scare' a few months ago which actually turned out to be completely unfounded, so we should be careful.

I have taken this issue up with a high ranking source at h\o who assures me wholesale recruitment is not on the cards one reason being it does cost a fair bit of money too recruit and the pots not that full