The CPI business model is more or less the following: bring in people, take great photos, use sales tactics to sell them sheets at 14.99 each, bring them back.
Is this sustainable? I mean, yes, it's incredibly profitable to sell a product at 14.99 that costs you about 17 cents in raw materials, but it doesn't help if you only get a few customers a day. And, thanks to coupons (which will be another day's entry so save up those comments!), some customers pay just 9.99 for their entire package of photos that it took your associate an hour to take.
Times are tough and people are learning how to spend less. I know that the people at Sears take great photos, but how can you continue to convince people that your photos are so great that, rather than spending .26 cents for a cute 4x6 print that they took at Walgreens, they should instead pay many times that for a sheet of 4 3.5x5's, all with the same pose.
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14 comments:
Well, our sheets are now $16.99 each, we just charge 1 flat rate for all photos now..... No enhanced AND un-enhanced, just ONE rate.
And to be honest, its helping. For those who come in with a BOGO coupon, we have conned them out of double what they would of originally spent, thus raising our PRS in the process.
Why they keep coming back though, i do not know. Probably because every month we call and Harrass the crap out of them until they do.
$16.99 per sheet? Don't almost all customers have a coupon for $3.99 per sheet? Most customers will not use their bogo card when they can get a better deal by using any one of the 40 or 50 different coupons sent to them by the morons in St. Louis. Once again, CPI is it's own worst enemy.
Ive never seen a $3.99 sheet coupon.
We have a Buy 6 at reg price and then they are $2.99 thereafter. BUT, not all of those say buy 6 at $7.99...... so we make them buy 6 at $16.99 and then the ORIGINALS are $2.99 after that.
Our studio PRS right now is like $130 something because we started doing this $16.99 a sheet. People dont question it since everything is going up in price right now and even on coupons it says "Prices and restrictions subject to change"
Reading these comments strikes up the stress in me that I used to feel when I was an employee and I knew that I wasn't giving all customers the same price or deal (if they had a coupon, tell them one thing, if not, another, etc). It would really help if everything was consistent and you didn't have to feel like you were lying to customers. That is not good business.
To the 4th poster: NOTHING about this Company is Good Business......
If customers only knew...that their determination to save a little money in these tough times could cost studio employees their jobs.
You know what really sucks? If you're a great photographer and have been around for a while, people will request you. Including the $9.99 pkg. customer. And if you get enough of these requests, it will impact your individual numbers in a negative way. Your job will be threatened. This is your reward for providing excellent service and creating customer loyalty. Dumbass.
I feel that if you are doing your job and doing your best and you get a low sale, you just take one for the team. You can't get fired for doing your job, I don't care how low your numbers are. If you do, that is one hell of an HR issue. Also, I hat this "sucker" customers into a higher price. I always felt honesty was the right way to go, and it shows for me. I run a $125-$130 on an average basis and I've NEVER told customers $16.99 per sheet and forced them that way. Karma people, karma.
I'm an AM and I have TONS of people who request me, especially since our studio has had a high turnover as of late (mostly b/c of a CRAZY SM who lies to customers). Anyway, my PRS is getting KILLED b/c I have about six customers who come in monthly or more that always get the package and nothing more. I love them and want to continue taking their pictures, but am almost at the point of not giving them my schedule so that I have a chance to get my numbers up.
THIS SUCKS.
Take one for the "team'? There is No team. This company makes sure its every man for himself. and if its Karma your worried about, then this whole company is going under for treating its employees like crap.
"You can't get fired for doing your job, I don't care how low your numbers are".......... That is EXACTLY what happens. where have you been?!
I want to work where you do.... because it sounds NOTHING like the company ive been working for the past 2years.
YOU CAN BE FIRED FOR DOING YOUR JOB!!! I was fired for low studio numbers...I did everything in my power to get the numbers up. I was a loyal employee for 15 years. I worked holidays and nearly every weekend; hell, I didn't even take a sick day my first 5 years. I hung in through all the changes and daily BS. My reward? A DM who lied about studio visits, posted my job online before beginning any corrective action, talked smack about other studio managers to me, and played favorites on a regular basis. Don't kid yourself. You are ALWAYS REPLACEABLE.
the problem with this job is the company feels we are easily replaced. on a recent conference call we were told to interview people weekly so those who are underperforming can be replaced immediatley. you CAN and DO get fired for low numbers.and good luck actually getting people to take the job at the lousy starting pay. we are so easily replaced and yet it takes a dedicated person to fully do this job and give good customer svc. we hire any old person off the street and expect a miracle. thats why this company is in the toilet. START WITH THE EMPLOYEES. find your sales rising. (oh look i wrote in caps that means IT WILL be done right?)
my studio had a 5 person staff (including mgr and asst mgr) after xmas. 2 were in school and we kept for weekends for the upcoming communion/easter season. we were told to let them go because they didnt have open availability and a low PRS. so with this new beta test its said a mgr gets about 32 hours an asst mgr should get around 20 hrs a week. maybe more if the PRS is high. so let me get this straight we have to pay bills and buy groceries on part time hours yet we cant look for another part time to support ourselves because we have to have "open availability" how can we fix the business when we are too busy wondering if the electric is going to get shut off today? i was making just enough to get my bills paid with nothing left to put in the bank at the end of the month. im terrified enough in this economy. the least my company could have done is ease my fears a little by keeping full time hours actual full time hours. and by the way if im making less than 32 hours does that mean i lose my benefits and paid time off too? why should i try to fix the company when they did their very best to screw the part of the machine that MAKES the money.
Recently CPI has changed the hours of operations on some "test" studios (soon to be changed in all studios.) In my studio our new hours will mean we are only OPEN 35 hours out of the week. That means, as a studio manager, I have to work every single hour we are open every single day. It's ridiculous! It also means that my assistant manager's hours will be cut down to practically nothing and my other staff... well... sorry?
To top all that off, we were recently told on a conference call that if we drop below 32 hours a week, then the shorted time will be taken from our PTO time. So if I decide one week to only work 5 days, then whatever hours I'm short will come out of the measly PTO time I have. We are forbidden from taking unpaid time off. I think that too is ridiculous. We aren't salary workers. We are hourly. If we want to work less hours, it means they just pay us less! We used to be able to take unpaid PTO with DM's approval provided our studio was covered. Now, we have to basically work 6 days a week with no break but measly pay.
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