mikese

June 25, 2009 at 4:34am

PhelanPKell

March 20, 2009 at 7:57pm

So, here's my take on this:

 Any sales environment that has commission, is going to set goals for an employee. And any sales-oriented business is going to set goes each year based on what we at Telus refer to as "year-over-year."

 Essentially, it's the concept that you're trying to increase your sales by a certain percentage from the previous year. A logical goal for any business.

What is wrong, is that somewhere along the lines Office Depot's upper-upper management decided their employees weren't making them enough money by meeting the goals they felt were "fair" and started coming down hard on the District Managers, who came down on the Area Managers, who then brought down the wrath of the gods on the Store Manager who therein tripled that wrath and brought it down on the employees.

The end result? Employees botching sales for fear of lacking the sales and losing their jobs.

Does anyone else have the right to knock them for this? No. They have personal concerns such as families to feed, and bills to pay. Everyone who tries to fault them should try walking a mile in their shoes first. I have, at previous jobs, experienced what those employees are going through.

Fortunately for me, Telus takes great care of its employees. Bad week in sales? No problem. Your manager helps with guidance.

This is where many companies fall short, and Office Depot is obviously just another tick on the list.

lovebug653

March 18, 2009 at 3:07am

When you purchase a high ticket item get a shopping cart and load it up with all the accessories you can find.  Explain to the sales person that your company will only pay for the item itself, no warranty, no nothing "just the Item" .  Follow by explaining that the laptop or whatever will be used at home so you will purchase everything on a seperate invoice.   Follow by requesting an additional discount on top of the sale for the laptop.   You will probably get another 5% to 10%  or they may use a tax exempt ring-out.   after you purchase the laptop start looking for the credit card that is "my personal debit card" .   Ohh..  I forget it in my car............

 

Take your laptop....  get in the car..... step on the gas......  go home and load all set-up your own laptop.

 

 

ScottProdigy

March 16, 2009 at 8:51pm

I worked at Best Buy and in the Geek Squad from 2003-2007, and yes, there were goals to be met, such as 10% of revenue for service plans (extended warranties) 30% for accessories, etc. All of this is called a business plan people! It's how BB and others stay in business! All of the short sighted internet bargain hunters think there are big bucks to be made from selling JUST the laptop, but there's not much, if any markup on these items, and rebates are the only way they go "on sale"!

Now, with the article in question, lying about the stock is not good, and was something I witnessed from "some" employees during my time at BB. However, those employees were quick to go if caught, and even with the % goals, 30% accessories was not difficult to attain; it's essentially meeting 3 of 10 sales with the "complete solution" of things a new or uneducated computer user might not have.

No one was ever in jeopardy of being fired, and the store's stock was always in the open, so if it was out of stock you could SHOW the customer, and either direct them to ordering it from the warehouse, website or check stock at another BB store. Not difficult at all, and going that extra mile not only makes BB money (regardless of selling extras) but also builds repeat customers and brand loyalty by going the extra mile.

Why would ANY business want to destroy their reputation with nonsense policies that punish employees and customers at the same time? It's beyond my mind!

nutz

March 13, 2009 at 11:45pm

Office Depot, Staples, Best Buy.......the whole lot of them, these stores are great!! They are great for me to go in and look at a product that I am thinking about buying before I go home and buy it from newegg.com or some other online seller.

Thanks Big Box Stores!!

kevnology

March 13, 2009 at 8:29am

I've worked for Office Depot for the past three years. (I only work there on the weekends, so I'm not posting this commnet out of some sort of brand loyalty.) I've heard of this happening before in other markets. But I've never actually seen it done.

 I, or any of my co-workers have NEVER EVER done anything of this sort!!! I can't stress this enough. Nobody that I've ever worked with has ever been penalized for not selling an ext warrenty for any product. Are we encouraged to sell them? duh, that's one way the store profits. But at my store we dont lie to customers (even the ones we hate). Besides, the insurance companies see more of the profit than we do for the ext warrenty plans. 

 And we do pricematch. I don't know that other guy was talking about. Even though most of the time we don't have to. The BB down the street from us is usually more expensive. $280 for a 500GB MyBook? We have 'em for $119.

 This may happen in some markets but this not common practice in my district. Again I'm not saying this because I work there, I just find this a load of BS. Whoever says they feel "pressured" to sell the ext warrenties or they'll lose their jobs is lying, or their store really is crooked. Office Depot is not a used car lot. We get paid by the hour not on a commission. If somebody buys a plan, that's cool. If they don't that's cool too. If we have it in stock, we sell it. Bottom line. Often times we look up inventory on a product with the customer.

We'd rather have some of the customers money than none of it.

 

ResidentArse

March 12, 2009 at 9:47pm

I can totally vouch for this. This article is completely true. I cannot tell you how many times I have told him that this sort of strategy is not right. It hurts customer trust, therefore destroying any return business and/or business at all. Ironically enough our laptops are in very short supply as it is. Very rarily do we have more than 1-3 of the sale (front page) laptop in stock. I'm new to the forum but have been a No BSer for around 2 years now. This article really sparked my interest because this is proof to my manager that I am not making excuses.

mrlhxc

March 12, 2009 at 8:50pm

I used to work as a sales associate in the tech department at Office Depot, and this is exactly what were supposed to do. I never did because i was interested in making customers happy and not ripping them off.

nsk chaos

March 12, 2009 at 7:51pm

-rep for od haha. i never really liked that place. =P

Pball1224

March 12, 2009 at 7:25pm

I'm pretty sure it's safe to say these practices vary from store to store, even in the same chain, all depends on the charicter of the management in a particular store. Sometimes even varies between departments in the same store... I say this from experience.

cyber75sax

March 12, 2009 at 5:44pm

Office Depot is not the only one that does this.  Staples employees are pressured into selling their protection plans as well.  I know for a fact that managers get sizable bonuses for getting a steady percentage of plans, but the employees see nothing out of the deal.  They do, however, get their jobs hung over their heads should they fall short.

I am aware of at least one Staples manager that refuses to sell laptops if the customer does not wish to buy a protection plan, and I am sure that other stores do it as well.

Im_not_Herbert

March 12, 2009 at 5:16pm

I wonder, from anyone reading who has been an OD employee, did they pay a bonus or commission on those upsell's?  Seems it would be a better policy to appeal to their paychecks instead of trying to terrorize them.  But that would cost them money, so...

I have only gone to OD for little stuff here and there, so I dont know about how hard they push, but as for Best Buy, one of the reasons I like shopping there so much is that they *dont* hassle me about the extended warranty and all that garbage.  They ask, I say no, they leave me alone.  Just like I like it.

Vegan

March 12, 2009 at 4:13pm

Corporate bureaucracy/policies seldom make sense and are always fun to watch. Except when you have to follow them at your own job.

QUINTIX256

March 12, 2009 at 3:02pm

That image, is it an intentional pun for "feisty"?

You can have your recession. I'm not participating.

Jesterace

March 12, 2009 at 2:37pm

I recently purchased a Toshiba NB100 netbook from futureshop. They wanted to upsell the warranty plan. But I mean a $400 machine? It's not exactly cheap but if it does break and is out of warranty I imagine it'll be pretty much out of date. I couldn't justify the additional $250 they wanted to charge me for the extended warranty.

mojosico

March 13, 2009 at 1:10pm

mojo says this is BS i was in office depot one day about a month ago looking at office chairs and over heard a sales person say that the item was outa stock . 4 hours later was in there for some paper . same sales person , same laptop , AND WHAT DID YOU FIGURE THEY HAD IT IN STOCK . at the time i thought they got a delivery or something . but after reading this im not sure if office depot deserves my business anymore. guess its time to drive alittle further and use the easy button at staples, or wal-mart . its really sad that all the recession ,bailouts,lay-offs is due to corparate greed . i guess circuit city was not enough of a wakeup call . take care of the customers and all is good . soo the office depot iz baad muum'kay... allthough after doing alittle searching around it seems like several places are doing this . i have never experinced this when shopping online . SO is this the begining of the true start of a online global econamy or are we all screwed in this deeping recession.

mlee19

March 12, 2009 at 1:39pm

These are the very reasons why I seldomly shop at retail stores for electonics and tech. I mainly dispise bestbuy for all the bullshit they pull. So to hell with retail stores and hello newegg, zipzoomfly, and ewiz!

pizzaguy

March 12, 2009 at 1:32pm

Now i really want to go into an Office Depot and pretend to be interested in the extened plans, then the second they say they are in stock, change my mind and buy it without and plans

StaggeredSix

March 12, 2009 at 1:27pm

 We have an Office Depot retail store next door that is closing down. They boast that the prices are SLASHED! PRICED TO MOVE! Yeah.. right. I went in there to look at an external hard drive. $280 dollars for a 500 GB MyBook!?! When I asked a salesman about the price he said "Yup, thoes are good drives."

 

  I promptly walked out and headded down to the local Best Buy and grabbed one for about $100 after taxes.

 

 Later I called and asked them about the drive. The man on the other end of the call said "Yea, they are $280." I said "Really? Do you price match with Best Buy? They are selling the same drive for a hundred bucks."

 "No we don't price match."

 

 

Good deal, eh? Now I'm thinking this $120 pack of 24 number 2's was actually a bargin there.

 

 

Crack addict by night, IT Manager by day.

AntiHero

March 12, 2009 at 12:38pm

That's pathetic. Punishing someone for not selling a warranty? Many people who buy computers are confident in their abilities to take care of them correctly, and have family members who can fix them. I am that designated family member, i buy a laptop, or a piece of hardware, you can keep the warranty. I'll do the whole company registration so if it failed (take a video card for example) i could send it to the manufacturer, and get it repaired/replaced, no store guff. If hardware fries, they say you did it...every time. Bought a warranty one time about 6 months ago, hard drive failed in 4 months, they all of a sudden up and told me "Since your laptop is acer, we cannot do anything on it, you have to send it to acer yourself" What kind of warranty is that? Doesn't even allow me to have a replacement machine or refund. I got my damn warranty fee back though.

Pball1224

March 12, 2009 at 12:16pm

I used to work at Best Buy. They had accessory and service plan attachment goals, but at the associate level it was rare to see someone in trouble for not meeting goals, but it did happen once in a while. They we not super strict about it. I did, however, know of many supervisors getting moved around to other departments, or demoted for the department as a whole frequently missing attachment goals. But what's been reported at OD rarely happened at BBY, lying about stock was real bad, nearly a firable offense. Who goes to OD to buy a laptop anyway? I used to like Comp USA or Best Buy for retail stores, or just buy direct from manufacturer's website, no hastle that way.

comptech08

March 12, 2009 at 11:02am

This article is very true. I had an Interview with office depot last summer and the manager said those things. I didn't say anything about it to the manager but in my mind i was like what? Office depot is not going to last much longer.

MrO

March 12, 2009 at 10:32am

Why not just string the sales people along, let them push the extras, then change your mind at the last minute when you get to the register to pay for everything. 

periodhyphenund...

March 12, 2009 at 10:31am

Avoid the out of stock Bull by feeding them the same BullCrap they feed you!

Tell the employee that you want the extended warranty and all the extras, then change your mind and only buy the computer after they have shown you that it "IS" in stock.

 

QUINTIX256

March 12, 2009 at 10:18am

Office Depot sucks and Circuit City is out (thank God). That leaves Best Buy and Staples. How are those two, or should I stick with Newegg and Directron?

You can have your recession. I'm not participating.

Renegade

March 12, 2009 at 9:54am

I used to work for CC from 1995 to 2000 in the computer department. It wasn't that bad back then. Yea, there wasn't alot of mark up on computers but like the earlier guy said, we had to sell warranties to make money. When CC started firing all the comission sales people ( for bs reasons ususally) and hired hourly people to mimic BB, I went to OD. I worked there 2 weeks and then quit. It was bad. Just like he said, there was way too much pressure like I have never seen anywhere else. I'm really surprised they haven't gotten rid of the computer department by now. And we all know what happened to CC. Heh.

Svetty Parabols

March 12, 2009 at 9:32am

and your company ends up with j*zz on their face.

neo1piv14

March 12, 2009 at 9:01am

I used to work for Circuit City about a year back, and it was the same story there. Our manager told us that we didn't even make much money off the computers we sold, and that it was the warranty and services that made us the money. I think it was 20 or 15 percent that we were required to sell, and they would write you up, cut your hours, and even terminate you if you consistently didn't sell enough services. It got to the point where you'd have to chose between selling someone a good computer that they'd actually like or selling someone a piece of crap with a warranty and home installation. 

nekollx

March 12, 2009 at 8:04am

HELLO Circut City!