independent agents...
anyone else other than the 40 of us agents in indiana get to go to the meeting stating that "we asked you to get your gross adds up, you did, we asked you to sell higher plans, you have, we asked you to push more features, you have, but now we are letting you know that starting june 1st you have 90 days to get your feature average to 13.50 per opp or you will no longer be allowed to be an agent for cingular wireless"?
i find this to be a crock of sh**, i mean not everyone wants a $100 per month phone bill, especially since the coverage is not exactly that great anywhere except major cities in this area. my store has been awarded for lowest churn 7 times since 2001(not perfect but better than alot of stores. we have also become known as "the...
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i find this to be a crock of sh**, i mean not everyone wants a $100 per month phone bill, especially since the coverage is not exactly that great anywhere except major cities in this area. my store has been awarded for lowest churn 7 times since 2001(not perfect but better than alot of stores. we have also become known as "the...
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i havent heard such a thing yet i'm in central, pa.
i will say though we have a mandatory meeting at the cingulat call cent next week thats pertains to sales and what not.
i hope they dont go that route with us because the company owned store in the same mall does good and we do just as good and we've only been here for barely 2 months. and our customer service is far more upstanding than theirs. (atleast thats what most of the customers they reject for whatever reason come to our store saying)
this past month we've had about 40 people say to us something like: "those guys up there are rude. they dont pay attention to you unless yo say you are buying this that or the other. we'll but from you"
i will say though we have a mandatory meeting at the cingulat call cent next week thats pertains to sales and what not.
i hope they dont go that route with us because the company owned store in the same mall does good and we do just as good and we've only been here for barely 2 months. and our customer service is far more upstanding than theirs. (atleast thats what most of the customers they reject for whatever reason come to our store saying)
this past month we've had about 40 people say to us something like: "those guys up there are rude. they dont pay attention to you unless yo say you are buying this that or the other. we'll but from you"
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We first heard of this happening in Kansas about 3 months ago. Don't worry, it will get you, too. You might want to start looking for alternatives. Cingular will end up DUMPING ALL their independent agents. We are the ones who were major players in building this company. Now, they think they do not need us anymore. Once this happens and people have no choice other than the rude, non-customer friendly, retail stores, the other major carriers will reap the benefits of Cingular's shortsighted business plan. I know of two phone lines (one over ten years, the other over nine) that will be leaving. If I know the customers like I think I do, they will move also.
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This same thing is also happening in Western Kentucky. We have been a exclusive Cingular dealer for over 8 years. Cingular wants to get rid of all exclusive dealers who do not have app 10 or more stores. They do not like to pay residuals. They only want the large dealers and the non-exclusive dealers like Walmart and Radio Shack-they do not get paid residuals. I hope some dealer has the clout to start a lawsuit in hopes that it will become a class action lawsuit to try to hold Cingular's feet to the fire. Your description of the situation is EXACTLY the same as what we are going thru as of 6/01. I will not matter how much you get your features up to; they will change the rules. I know for a fact that the retail stores are having a MASSIVE tu...
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yep, its spreading. i think they have lost their minds trying to get rid of so many agents. when enough people get mad and become agents for other companies i really hope they feel the effects of their own stupidity. it has always been screw the customer but i guess they like how screwing people feels so they are moving on to their own!
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it's not to hard to get $10.00 feature revenue per phone, at least not with us. We can discount the phone 20.00 for data features of 10.00 or more. Those features sell themselves and you can add ins. answer tones, 7-7-7 and easily have over 15.00 per phone. All you have to do is you're job and sell the value of the feature
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Then the person goes home and calls in and drops the feature. The majority of the customers that we deal with want a phone plan where they can call someone. They do not want or need the media plans, 7 to7, data plans, or text messages. They are happy with the 450r plans @ 39.99. It is Cingular , in their greed, who has determined that they WILL AND MUST have all these add on features. If Cingular thinks they should have these features, why do they not make them a part of the plan and price???
Cingular has decided that agents MUST "bait and switch" in oeder to stay in business. They do not want honest dealers that give the customer what they want, but instead, we are susposed to give them what Cingular says we must put on their account. As y...
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Cingular has decided that agents MUST "bait and switch" in oeder to stay in business. They do not want honest dealers that give the customer what they want, but instead, we are susposed to give them what Cingular says we must put on their account. As y...
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which is why most of the carriers fall behind uscellular in customer service. Granted their phones aren't "cool". But customers love us for our service and customer service. And it's bs that cingular is going to make agent locations push all this and if they don't reach their goal, drop them. It's another example of what greed does.
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😲 😳 👿 man cingular seems to love to give the small guys the shaft. That is bullcrap just really shows how the company is i guess. Trying to give you the royal screw without any ky. 😡
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An opinion about agents or company owned locations can be formed either way. There are quotas to be made by sales reps (and their bosses), contests to be won and bonuses to be had on both sides of the coin. Your best judge will be dealing with your sales rep on your plan, following up as your needs change and getting the best deal you can for your situation. Looking at your bill and understanding it is a huge help too. This doesn't just apply to cellular....it happens in all fields of sales. 😁
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Are any of you here actually OWNERS of these stores or is this just all heresay?
I know what my meeting was about, I was there. It was an OWNERS/PRINCIPALS only meeting. The minimum requirements are not that high number one (Cingular North Texas has the HIGHEST features/opp in the nation) and as an owner my current store exceeds their goals. There are GOALS and there are MINIMUMS. My GOAL for my employees is $13 per opp. They make a handsome bonus when they hit that GOAL. Their minimum (and the minimum per my contract) is much less.
I have been around employees (as an employee and manager) for 14 years who exaggerate their goals to get the "whoa is me" reply. I never get why they do it but I am willing to bet this is the current...
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I know what my meeting was about, I was there. It was an OWNERS/PRINCIPALS only meeting. The minimum requirements are not that high number one (Cingular North Texas has the HIGHEST features/opp in the nation) and as an owner my current store exceeds their goals. There are GOALS and there are MINIMUMS. My GOAL for my employees is $13 per opp. They make a handsome bonus when they hit that GOAL. Their minimum (and the minimum per my contract) is much less.
I have been around employees (as an employee and manager) for 14 years who exaggerate their goals to get the "whoa is me" reply. I never get why they do it but I am willing to bet this is the current...
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THIS IS NOT HEARSAY. I MANAGE A STORE AND HAVE A DIRECT LINE TO THE OWNER. WHEN THEY CALL YOU IN AND TELL YOU 60 DAYS OR ELSE, THERE IS NO RUMOR TO THAT; JUST COLD, HARD FACTS. JUST WAIT, YOUR TIME IS COMING!!!!!!
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I'm a manager of 2 stores in market 35, S Carolina. I recently attended an owners/principals only meeting with my boss. Cingular really was stressing the importance of meeting feature revenue. Never did they threaten anyone with store closure or having their contract pulled.
What they have recently told us is that we have to get our feature revenue, rate plan average, and mystery shop scores up, or they withhold money that they were going to give the company to help open 2 new stores. Not sure of the details of how that works, as I'm not on that level and don't need to know, but we are definitely feeling the heat on feature revenue.
I have been told by my boss and by Cingular RAE's that Cingular is looking to close some of the unde...
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What they have recently told us is that we have to get our feature revenue, rate plan average, and mystery shop scores up, or they withhold money that they were going to give the company to help open 2 new stores. Not sure of the details of how that works, as I'm not on that level and don't need to know, but we are definitely feeling the heat on feature revenue.
I have been told by my boss and by Cingular RAE's that Cingular is looking to close some of the unde...
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That sounds like the same meeting I attended. Pressure, yes. Threats to close agent stores, no. Cingular cannot close an agent store. The CAN take your Cingular sign and make you name yourself something else.
As far as the features, training is a huge thing here. Every top performing store has live phones (we have six live phones at all times). I personally also let store employees carry whatever phone they wish in order to better educate themselves. And my reps are paid 25% on features plus a $200 bonus for hitting their goal on feature sales. We focus on customer education. People don't generally walk out without knowing how to use what they bought, phone or feature.
As far as the features, training is a huge thing here. Every top performing store has live phones (we have six live phones at all times). I personally also let store employees carry whatever phone they wish in order to better educate themselves. And my reps are paid 25% on features plus a $200 bonus for hitting their goal on feature sales. We focus on customer education. People don't generally walk out without knowing how to use what they bought, phone or feature.
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they want us to hit $8 as of now and the company i work for just gave us some real nice incentive to hit it. so now employees are looking at customers bill even when they come in just to pay the bill. because everything is averages if you sell someone a feature without a plan it makes up for someone that does not want/need one.
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Yeah that's a good approach, we've been doing that for awhile too. It really helps.
The main thing I emphasize to my reps is that every customer is a money making opportunity, so don't let YOUR money walk out the door.
The main thing I emphasize to my reps is that every customer is a money making opportunity, so don't let YOUR money walk out the door.
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I too think customer education is the key, both from a pay per use perspective and a package feature. Once they see the value, they are much more likely to buy.
I love the live phones idea. I will have to ask my boss (again) about putting live phones in our stores.
Thanks for the input!
I love the live phones idea. I will have to ask my boss (again) about putting live phones in our stores.
Thanks for the input!
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Agents suck anyways so we dont need them. I work in a company owned store and i guarantee almost half of our customers come in mad from an agent store bc they dont tell them everything they are supposed to.
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All i have to say is that our agent store is in a little town. Next to a nice big Verizon corporate store. If they ever end up shutting us down the next Cingular store that is corporate is oh 45 mins from us. People around here are not going to drive there when Verizon is right next to us. They will get so mad at at&t and transfer their account to Verizon.
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OK i just realized this was from like 2006 post, ok if we are not shut down right now..i think we are going to be ok.
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