Shop Talk
Out right purchases from indirect
so i had this couple come in today, wanting to buy a phone out right. I asked why, they said they lost thier phone. so i asked if they had insurance, no. then i asked if they'd like to see if they're eligable for an upgrade, that way it'll save them some money. they didn't want to have to sign a new agreement. and mind you, i'm down to like 9 phones, literally. so selling a phone out right is not an option when i could get a new activation out of them. so i tell them i can't sell them a phone because our stock is limited and they're for new customers only, or atleast someone upgrading. they look at me as if im lying to them.. lol.. which P*ssed me off, so i said, look, i can't sell you one, period. you can try across the street at the corpor...
(continues)
(continues)
...
point of my story is, people don't take my word for what it is. and fight me on what i know and the rules i gotta follow. just like your ignorant a$$ is right now.. 🙂 case in point
...
I wish to God all wireless carriers would get rid of their local mom & pop indirect dealers and expand their corporate retail stores. The national indirect dealers like Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal Mart. All the local mom & pop indirect dealers do is give wireless carriers an inexpensive means to acquire customers. Pay the dealer a one time commission and have the majority of the dealers pawn the customer over to a corporate store for customer service and care issues. The majority of dealers I've seen out and about carry third party/generic/non OEM accessories. Imagine buying a vehicle charger for your phone from an indirect dealer and going on vacation only to have it buy the farm. Guess what, you're screwed if you can't find the indirect ...
(continues)
(continues)
...
i agree, but at the same time, that would leave room for corporate monopoly. the other contendors are the carriers, and if the competition doesn't have good coverage to compete, your looking at inflation in already too much expensive equipment (i know thats bad english) .. anyway, with indirect and corporate to compete, it leaves room for price changes to keep customers coming from one place or another for thier equipment, because after the initial buy (and sometimes even there , ie, free phones) its a matter of who has the best deal and who will save you money out of pocket instantly. the only true difference in price that i can see right now (an im only saying from what i've seen, not what i know) is that the MIR differ. that the regular p...
(continues)
(continues)
...
Well, that was an absolutely worthless post. Why did you post about how you couldn't sell something?
What next? You're going to post a whole page on how your usual lunch was alright, not good, but not great, and how uneventful it was?
Congratulations, you made a completely worthless post....
What next? You're going to post a whole page on how your usual lunch was alright, not good, but not great, and how uneventful it was?
Congratulations, you made a completely worthless post....
...
not useless unless your a dull tool. like you seem to be pointing out. the subtext being, that when i say i can't sell something to someone. i can't. and people don't seem to get that when i say something, im not blowin smoke up thier arse.. you sir, are a moron
...
take it easy on the guy, TUT. Doesn't he have it bad enough having worked for the Shack?? 😳
...
So what? You said you can't sell something, and you couldn't. What's your point? I didn't come on PS, and gloat every time I couldn't sell anything at the 'Shack.
...
I hear what ur saying why would I want to sell a phone to someone where I dont make any money. What he is saying is not that he doesnt want to sell the phone but prop not gonna make any money on any features or accessories.
As wireless sales people esp indirect gotta make decisions that are the best ones, maybe not for the customers..
Ur 100% on this one ReaperTut
As wireless sales people esp indirect gotta make decisions that are the best ones, maybe not for the customers..
Ur 100% on this one ReaperTut
...
thank you, i appreciate your honesty. if the company or myself made money off the purchase, like it should be, then i wouldn't mind the sale. but it doesn't benefit myself nor the company.
...
Nice work giving Indirects a bad name. You make it more difficult for the rest of us out here.
You didn't want to make a sale? Fine by me, but you could have given them a much better explanation. Something like, "I am so sorry but our stock right now doesn't have much variety right now. Our corporate store however has a larger inventory and therefore will probably have more selection. They would certainly be happy to assist you."
If I were your supervisor and I found out you pulled that little stunt, I would have fired you on the spot.
You didn't want to make a sale? Fine by me, but you could have given them a much better explanation. Something like, "I am so sorry but our stock right now doesn't have much variety right now. Our corporate store however has a larger inventory and therefore will probably have more selection. They would certainly be happy to assist you."
If I were your supervisor and I found out you pulled that little stunt, I would have fired you on the spot.
...
it doesn't matter what the stock looks like. we're bound by rules as an indirect store. just like some are only allowed to carry sprint, and others just nextel. we on the other hand, are not required to sell any phone that isn't used as an upgrade or a new act. and since the guy was unwilling the use his upgrade. i was unwilling and unable to sell him the phone. besides the stock being depleted, it is up to us if we want to sacrafice a phone for just a straight transaction as opposed to doing my job and getting the company a new or extended contract. and the fact that you assume i speak for ALL indirect sites, states how simple minded your being about the situation at hand. i only spoke for my store, as i said in the post. read it again. i ...
(continues)
(continues)
...
It doesn't matter what you said on HERE. The customer is going to be on the forums reading your explanation. The customer is going to equate YOUR actions to the typical response of ANY indirect. The customer doesn't usually bother with details, especially when mad.
But if thats store policy? Well so be it. But in my mind's eye a pretty ****ty policy, espicially if the responses to your post are any indication.
But if thats store policy? Well so be it. But in my mind's eye a pretty ****ty policy, espicially if the responses to your post are any indication.
...
it looks like general populous that read the post, understand. as i may not agree with the policy of this store. its not in my best interest to mess with it, especially since i don't care one way or the other. someone may see, return customer value, others may only see short term, get a new one in, and get em out and let sprint deal with the rest. it depends on a store owners values and where they stand on issues as such. but, i can only say for certain that i was not in the wrong, given the policies i had set before me. but the same goes to say about the general public to which you refer. yes, i will hold them accountable for being ignorant if they would deem all indirect sites as having the same rules. because in saying so would say that, ...
(continues)
(continues)
...
Hey maybe your manager should get a heads up that if you charge more for a phone than it costs, you make money. Generally more than any activation or upgrade with markup. Anyway, if your store can only afford nine phones at a time it's only a matter of time before it closes.
...
its not that. we don't mark up ones. maybe accessories. as for phones, we got slammed from black friday and the brightpoint f-ed up our orders and we didn't get those. then holiday shopping. we just haven't seemed to be able to get our shipments either on time, or at all. but, at the same time, we do pay for our phones upfront. which that alone limits our stock. we generally ahve a good amount of phones in, i can only say for certain that i personally have not seen a shipment of phones come in from our supplier in atleast 3 weeks. BP, seems to be having issues. but your right on the other hand, it is only a amtter of time a shop is shut down due to stock UNLESS, and i say unless, they are smart about what phones they think will sell good, or...
(continues)
(continues)
...
I understand not getting phones in, back to managerial duties we ordered phones in August and stockpiled to prepare for Christmas. We prepay as well but maybe I'm just spoiled by having a store willing to throw down $60,000 on phones anytime we say hey we're out of something. That and we do markup, quite considerably actually for anyone purchasing outright. Highest markup is 73% I think, but even enough to cover what you would get off an activation is what I would recommend.
...
again, not my responsibility, but i would love to be able to sell a phone out right if i could mark it up.. we would get return shoppers that may bring in friends because we'd be willing to do things some store (like ours at the moment) won't
...
Sounds like you work for a crappy indirect company. But hey, gotta make a profit I guess.
...
ain't no profit here man, specially having hands tied like ours. we did take out a couple of nextel stores in this city. but at what cost? being able to sell phones outright? i agree its jacked up. but i can't sell a phone if im told not to. im not giving up my job over a dumb rule. i'd rather quit like im going to. ;) i like having the last word
...
Thats what I'm saying, the profit that phone posseses is in you selling it with an activation not outright. We mark ours up atleast 30 bucks or higher so we aren't losing money.
...
can't mark it up with sprint branded SRP's... whose going to pay higher when they can see it's not that...
...
and for a second, i almost thought that this whole site was registered to morons. thank you chainsaw, you made me not lose hope. i enjoy the occasional slandering that goes on this site, but the ignorance overwhelmed me. did you read the other posts on this thread?
...
yeah some of them, but I knew they were coming before they even responded. take it with a grain of salt. If your store is more profitable because you saved that phone for an activation, then that was the right thing to do. Its sad that indirects are so cash poor these days to even keep phones in their inventory. I'm greatful to work for one of the best indirects in the country for operations(maybe not for pay 😉 )
...
yea, well, i like being able to rant because i want to, not because i got explain something that shouldn't need explaining. but this job is only as a favor for a friend, not need. so, i take alot of what people have to say seriously only because im defending what little honor i got left.. as i kinda lie to people when i boast who has the best this or that, im a verizon customer as it suits my needs almost to a T, but to each thier own, and i sell sprint. :\ you do the math
...
OK so are you paid solely on commission or do you get some sort of hourly wage as well? If its just commission it doesn't make it right but i can kind of understand where your coming from i guess. But even if you only make $5/hr where in the world do you think that $5/hr comes from huh? From the phones that you were hired to sell, whether it be upgrade new activation or purchased outright. Besides who knows maybe you being nice and helping out could have brought you a ton of new business from referrals, plus them coming back in the future. You cant always just think about the here and now, you have to think about the future too, and how your actions effect the future. 🙂
...
if there company is like ours we would get fired if we sold a phone outright
...
Thats totally understandable, it just sounds like the op was wanting to be a jerk. If i was that customer and he said look, i can't do it because its against policy, I'd understand. Mainly cause I'm in the industry and i know how things go. But just saying no I'm not gonna do it and thats it, is rude and bad business practices. but thats just my opinion
...
i explained that i wasn't allowed to do it. usually thats because of a policy in place. if i neglected to use the word policy, then truly my customer service was incorectly done and i was out of line. but i do believe i explained the situation.
...
i would probably be fired to, for depleting our stock on stuff that doesn't help sprint or our company. i dunno about other indrect sites. but we pay for our stock up front. which means, if we get a kickback for getting new contracts signed, wouldn't mean the company would lose money for selling a newer phone outright?
...
its only hourly. there is no "real" commision. only stipulation. that if you hit your mark, you make more an hour. if you don't you make less. like at the moment of the new month, i am at $8/hr .. when i hit my qouta of new activations (upgrades don't count), then i make $14/hr .. with that being said, can you see now, why we wouldn't sell our phones outright?
...
So, what's next. Telling someone you can't sell them an add-a-line on their account, because someone else wanting to sign up on a brand new $79.99 plan may want to come in and that means more money for you?
I'd sell phones outright all day long if I could. I don't care. But then again, I make 7.5% of the profit everytime I sell one.
I'd sell phones outright all day long if I could. I don't care. But then again, I make 7.5% of the profit everytime I sell one.
...
thats the difference. neither myself nor my company makes money by simple sales. we get paid per contract, and by we i mean the company in which i am employed. i, on the other hand, only get paid hourly, and my hourly wage only changes if and when i bring X amount of new activations to sprint or nextel in a 30 day period. upgrades do not count, and it doesn't matter if i sell phones out the wazu outright. i've actually averaged 2x the amout of upgrades to new activations.
...
