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g-LUTZ-tonous
Joined: 14 Nov 2008
Posts: 36
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:59 pm Post subject:
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There is no doubt, especially in the current & foreseeable economic forecast for this nation, that commission only is a death sentence financially. Without a base, you’re surely screwed. With a base you at Lowe’s are going to be expected to do other things which could ultimately affect your sales/gross earnings. This being said, knowledge, experience & overall sales wisdom will prove Darwin’s theory correct. The unfortunate reality is a plunge (like one off of a cliff) in new construction & excess inventory of unsold new & existing homes….equals about 30% of your customers. And the ones that we’re thinking about purchasing are holding their wallets in safety deposit box. Good night & good luck, cause if you don’t absolutely need a durable good right now, you’re not running out there to buy one & if you absolutely need one, good luck in getting credit & if there any consumers on this form, DONT get it at your retailer, that's the biggest trap!
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Towelie
Joined: 10 Jan 2009
Posts: 4
Location: Ohio
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Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:51 am Post subject:
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| mdovell wrote: |
"Do you think Lowes would prefer you to load the appliance for that customer and keep the other two waiting, or leave the other two to be waited on by the team leader?
Or do you think Lowes would prefer to have the team leader or some other CSA load it while you begin helping the next customer?'
No offense but do you honestly think that a specialist automatically will sell better than other people?
OPE has a profit margin that is low...usually 20% or less. Hardware has large amounts of 50% or more.
They eliminated the specialist position for electrical...long ago there was a specialist position in tools (we're talking a long time). they gutted the lumber specialist (commerical sales took most of the volume)
the decor specialist only exists I think if a store does 300K in sos orders a year
I can see the specialist position for inside and outside seasonal getting cut next. If there's no installs to be sold or something higher end then why sell it?
Likewise don't think specialists some some elite teir. anyone can get sos commissions as well as spiffs. You don't have to be a part of a given department to get spiffs...just past the tests.
Customers see lowes employees go all over the place so the idea that someone in a department knowing specific informatino is a bit rough at best. |
Yes, Appliance Specialists can sell appliances better than any hardware store clerk.
A sales specialist in appliances understands cut-throat competition, or at least they aught to.
They also are entitled to first dibbs..
And if any person from another department were on my sales floor, it wouldn't be for selling.. I don't go to their departments and sell floor tile.
If lowe's didn't think they were better, then they wouldn't be there.
This isn't Home Depot or Best Buy.... Lowe's has chosen to be in the appliance business for real.
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mdovell
Joined: 22 Dec 2007
Posts: 445
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Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 1:55 pm Post subject:
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I'm not talking about selling outright. I'm just saying that if no one is in a department it's not like they should either
1) deny a sale - asking the customer to come back later
or
2) act as if the sale should be held or reserved for someone else.
I've met some that act like this. As for knowing about competition that doesn't take much. A few clicks online and well that's it. If it wasn't for a gas test I would have been level 1 certified (in my state no lowes employees or contractors can hook up gas appliances anyway).
There can be cut throat competition but that lowers margin. Without margin the appliances becomes lumber (a commodity)
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Hokeez
Joined: 29 May 2008
Posts: 6
Location: Atlanta
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:19 am Post subject:
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For the OP, I work part time in appliances in my store and also go to school full time. I have fixed hours during the week (around class times) and I'm open on the weekends.
If you're familiar with the product, willing to pull your weight around the department i.e. pull appliances and work freight, you'll do just fine.
I know it's usually very hard to find an opening in the appliance department since that's where most people want to be (most commission on sales store wide).
In regards to the other posts, I don't come down to electrical and plumbing and try to weasel in some SOS faucets and lighting, so I would expect the employees in those departments to seek out an appliance employee if they spot a customer in our area. It works both ways, you rub my back I rub yours. We had an issue with one of our cabinet specialists taking appliance sales and now that she left, her replacement is even worse about it. Whenever there is a customer interested in cabinets or counter tops, I call the cabinets guys to take care of them. They should call us when there are customers inquiring about appliances. You let your most qualified associates help the customers, period. 9 times out of 10, that means the associate who works that department.
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skibunny
Joined: 01 Feb 2008
Posts: 497
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:55 pm Post subject:
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Hokeez,
The problem with the cabinet specialist in my store is that they they don't know as much about appliances when they are trying to sell them to a customer. I'm all for them being able to be back up coverage for lunches but if I'm with a plumbing customer helping them to find a pvc fitting and then return to my department the cabinet specialist should hand off the sale. The main reason is that many of them aren't sent to the appliance level 2 trainings. Many of them don't know jack about appliances. Some do. Not in my store though.
My sales manager made it very clear that we each have a certain set of selling skills and areas of expertise. That is why we are specialists in a certain area. If you can defer to someone who may know more (the add on sales or the product availability for example) then by all means know your limitations.
The department manager and csa's in appliances should also be handing off sales to the specialists. The specialists are there because Lowe's views them as being ASSetts (Appliance Sales Specialists=ASS) to the company. They are also rated on how closely they come to their individual budgets. Forget the fact that there are spiffs or commissions attached to certain products, they know what they are doing. In our district appliance sales are down from last year. However, Bosch sales are up 30% from last year. This means that we are not selling the crappy Roper or WP stuff. We are selling higher end products. THAT is why the other departments should defer to the specialists.
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Sandy Claws
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Posts: 9
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:24 am Post subject:
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Specialists smecialists. It is just a title for most of them. They are not special or better in most cases. Handing a sale to them is like throwing away money. We are all trained in SOS sales and installs, or at least should be, so we can all sell them.
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skibunny
Joined: 01 Feb 2008
Posts: 497
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Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 5:52 am Post subject:
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| Sandy Claws wrote: |
| Specialists smecialists. It is just a title for most of them. They are not special or better in most cases. Handing a sale to them is like throwing away money. We are all trained in SOS sales and installs, or at least should be, so we can all sell them. |
Not true at least in my store. There are many part time employees who are not SOS trained or able to sell an install. Handing the sales over to a specialist in that area can increase the overall sales for the store. You can try to dispute this fact but I have had 3 people in the past week sell dishwashers while trying to "help out" the department. Each one of them sold an either discontinued model that we no longer can get, the stainless steel for the price of a black one and a display that was missing the manual (*which is why they receive a discount if they take the display model) while promising the customer that they will order a manual for the SAMSUNG dishwasher. Ok, here is the deal with Samsung, they charge for their manuals so now the store is either out the money of ordering a manual for a customer that received a discount for NOT having a manual. The store loses twice in this situation. We also look like we don't know what in the hell we are doing as a company. When I got in for the day I just made certain to let the person that sold it know that they will have to call the customer and tell them that either they can download the manual online themselves or we can charge them full price for purchasing the display dishwasher and we can go ahead and order the manual for them. There are problems like this whenever people just jump over to try to earn a spiff.
There are reasons people are in different departments.
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