One thing I see come up from time to time in submissions we get from associates is the complaint that studio managers steal all the good sales.
I've gotta say, as an assistant, this was something I did. I had to. The company constantly put me in the place where I always felt that if my sales didn't go up by an average 10 dollars that week, I would be in danger of being fired.
So when a new associate came in who obviously wasn't going to last more than two weeks (hint: 95% of them) and they happen to make a $200 sale of photos I took while doing sales training, of course I'm going to enter my code in the register. This will result in the associate's average not being as good, but they have a lot of leeway during the first couple weeks. I would never take credit for a later sale when their PRS really starts to count for their own job security, but early on, who wouldn't? You've gotta do whatever it takes when it feels like you might lose your job.
If only everyone didn't always feel of the brink of being let go.
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Of course, those of us who have been there awhile KNOW those regulars that come in religously with the Pkg coupon... so of course everyone makes sure they are busy when they come up and let the Happy dumb new ppl go for it!!
As a manager, u have to fight harder for your job than the associates.... we get yelled at directly and things are expected more out of us.
Although, i cant count how many times ive talked a customer into a cololection for someone else because i know it makes the studio PRS go up.
I never once rang up a sale for an associate nor did I allow our staff to ring up sales that were not theirs. I've read the posts where people talk about this practice happening, but I'm not exactly sure how it does happen. There were times when one person would take the photography and then someone else would sell at the sale table, but at my studio, whoever sold would ring up. Otherwise, as a manager, you don't have an accurate account of what people's true selling ability is. During the entire time I was at SPS, my PRS was only bad a few weeks out of the year, but it always averaged out over the year to meet the expectations. When you work full time, it's easier to have a higher PRS because you have more total sales, therefore, it evens out over more sales. Plus the pick ups/specs would add on to my PRS and that would help too. But I never once took someone else's sale as my own. That would not feel right to me at all.
we dont take good sales...... just try to skip out for the bad ones.
when u are there more hours, u are more like to get pkgd more.... hence a lower PRS instead of a higher one.
Any district manager will tell you that sales are driven by photography. So unless the same person works with the customer from step one, you don't really have an accurate read on who has good selling capabilities. As one of the stronger photographers, I know that my pics practically sell themselves. Letting the person at the sales table who spends a minimal amount of time with the customer take credit for the sale after I have busted my behind creating great photography is practically a slap in the face.
Portraits DO NOT sell themselves. You can have the greatest photos in the world, but if you are not following the process, you will not have a great sales average consistantly. There are many factors that go into a successful sale, so don't kid yourself.
I agree that the sales process is connected to the quality of the photography but not completely dependent on it. If you are a good sales person, you can sell anything. It is all about finess, personality, and your ability to pursuade people. Even if you have the best photography there is, if you lack sales skills, you will not have a good PRS. And as for the package, I would get at least one or two per week, but my other sales would always make up for those. I'm not saying it was a piece of cake all the time, but I agree with the other post that says "there is a process"--if you do it right, you will have a decent PRS.
Great photography DOES sell itself. At $9.99 a pop usually.
Exactly. Great photography COULD sell itself but with our own company working against us and putting out those package coupons, why will it?
I have to laugh when I hear that someone actually justifies their actions for cheating on "accountability" of job performance! That expectations are SO HIGH that you had no choice but to cheat! That you had all those dreaded package customers, so you had no choice but to cheat! Give me a flippin' break! I think that ALL who think we have such unreasonable expectations as a company should go find a cushy little job, where you're allowed to perform at a dismal level, allowed to do as you please, and NEVER get your feelings hurt as everyone joins hands and sings "Kumbaya"! Good luck finding that job! I wish you realized how rediculous you sound! But then again...nothing is ever your fault, so why would you realize how rediculous you sound! Nothings your fault but cheating, huh?
i have to laugh at people getting nasty at others when have the same crappy job we do. no cheating cant be justified but the reason should be questioned. why feel the need if our job wasnt threatened by our customers be it surveys or sales our jobs depend on OTHER people. things we cant control. we could take 50 WOW photos and top down sell till we are blue in the face. the truth is photos have become an obligation to parents rather than a memory. so they arent going to spend the big bux and good people get fired. i lost 3 good ppl from my studio with this beta test simply because their PRS was low in JANUARY! no one wants to perform at a "dismal level" but no one wants to wonder if they are going to show up and find they are no longer on the schedule either. when it pinches your pocket its no longer a game. this is at the end run a JOB and the ivory tower has seems to have forgotten that. i have said if i wanted to be a telemarketer i could make twice my paycheck and set my own hours AND get commission. if i wanted to be a janitor id work at the hospital and get better benefits. hell the local DISCOUNT supermarket near me hires cashiers STARTING at 11.25 an hour at guaranteed full time. most of us that have been doing this for years are still here because we love being photographers. we could make a hell of a lot more and get more respect elsewhere. we are the legs this whole company stands on and someone up top should get that through their brain. most studios are down to 3 employees one gets sick or quits theres no one else to work. and i dont know about anyone else but there werent a whole lot of hiring prospects in my area during the holidays pickins are slim. most of my interviews decided not to take the job because of the measly pay. the ones who did were silly HS kids who drove away my customer base with their awful people skills and my studio now suffers. most of my customers will not buy anymore portrait studis because of the crappy workmanship of the frames. others wont come back because their photos went missing or showed up late,damaged,bent or with purple lines drawn on them. (i still havent figured that one out) we do not get any of the recognition we used to. we didnt even get the old "xmas care pckg" of granola bars chips etc this year. we ALL work hard and get stepped on yet we are still here!!! (unless we get fired for making too much money) so what is the company doing really. its a vicious circle that needs to be about photography first then employees, if we were treated better we wouldnt resent being there..and actually enjoy our job rather than live in fear of the unemployment line...especially in this economy.
sincerely,
disgruntled long winded employee
So you know......... we had a whole shipment with Purple lines on em as well. Yet, WE as a studio still had to take it from OUR profit.
I am a current employee in upper management and things are not getting ANY better, only worse. Since hiring Jim Mills and Kellee Pfifer, PRS has become a major topic. They have gone to the extend of yelling and degrading TMs,DMs and even studio managers in front of their peers, because we have people who are running lower numbers, and heaven forbid we have not terminated them immediatly after having a bad week. The thought of retraining people(even those who were hired just before Christmas and got the minimal training to begin with) is out of the question. No, we are terminate them and find replacements. Like we can find people who will work for 7.50( and that is on the high end in some of the studios across the country) and get 10 hours max. GOOD LUCK.
I feel for all of you that struggled at all levels with this company, and only pray things will change. I miss the old CPI, when we believed in recognizing our top performers and developing those who struggled. Heck, this year we are not even allowed to have awards ceromonies at any level. How is that for recognition! I am sorry that any of you had to feel the need to "fudge" your numbers to keep your job. We failed you as a company, and I really do appologize. At the same token, I say "we" as if I am Home Office and I am not. I too am constantly worried that my job is on the line, and feel the pressure that the two new additions (Jim & Kellee)have placed on us. I am glad I found this site just to speak my mind. I love what I do, and I have for a long time. I love watching associates and managers grow from when the were hired or promoted to becoming tops in the company, but that has been taken from me, and I miss it. Now it is just like our customers at Christmas lately with the lack of staff we have had, a cattle herd. We are not developing anyone, we hire them, give them the bare bones training, and give them 30-90 days to sink or swim. That is not fair to our managers, our employees and definatly not fair to our customers.
I hope Renato himself reads these comments, because we need to go back to the days of developing a staff and creating future managers in all studios. And you cannot get there by the constant turn over. And you certainly will not get there by having people like Jim Mills and Kellee Pfifer come in and take a hatchet to our company and degrade all employees, whether they are on the top or bottom, they will find something they can complain about.
For those of you still employed by CPI, hang in there. It was not always a bad place to work, and I hope some day it will get back there.And please do not "fudge" numbers, ask for help. Any good leader will help you get through a tough time!
At our studio, "sale stealing" is HIGHLY frowned upon. We have a key associate who constantly blames my manager & I on stealing her sales. I rarely work with the woman (who coincidentally has been with the company for 10 years vs my managers 2 & my 1). The whole slanderous accusation started when she got 2 action plans for her PRS being below the company's average. The company's at the time was $93 per sale (which is down over $20 since I started with the company nearly a year ago!) Her 4 wk numbers averaged $65 to $70. Explain to me how a woman can consistently run a sales average $30 down from the company... not to mention $55-$60 down for the studio... can keep her job, when my manager & I run $145-$160 PRS for 4wks & we get a write up when she drags our PRS down to $100, which is still above the company!? Confusing??
I am no longer with the company but my manager used to steal sales all the time. even if we rang the customer up ourselves, she would go behind our backs and go into the SAS computer and put it under her name, boosting her own PRS. every week we had to watch over our sales like a hawk and it was so hard to bust her because she would pretend it was a mistake. she has a lot of connections to the upper level managers so getting her fired is nearly impossible. this lady can get away with murder if she wanted to. CPI is a horrible company in general...I could go on and on. and yes, they DO screw over their employees.
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