Question for non-management folks>>>

[dannyboy]

Hey UPS sales guy, you still listening?

What does it feel like to get front line action accounting of just how great we do for the customer? Not some "I feel good, and I want you to feel good, sitting around the campfire roasting smores singin Kumbya" crap that leaves everybody feeling good about themselves.

This is what we have to deal with day in and day out.

And you want us to "feel" some sort of personal responsibility for when the quarterly numbers hit the street?

Not when we do our jobs, but everyone else drops the ball.

Like the big NDA letter account I sold. Letters were a flat rate regardless of what the weight was, as long as it was documents. They shipped out at least a tote box a day, until they got surcharged to death, some as much as $100 more because of the weight that some "revenue enhancement clerk" felt they owed us.

No matter how hard we complained, nothing was ever done, and they are still with FEDEX.

Your avatar says hatin FedEx. How come you folks feed them so well at our expense? You guys are the best sales tool FedEx has.

Personally responsible my big ole hairy ....(edited by 0ver9five).

Grow up, hit the road with a driver, you might learn a thing or two about the real world we live in.

d

 

[UnconTROLLed]

This may be true, but I've bought items from a company that used to ship FedEx home. A number of times I was supposed to get my package and didn't. Their tracking would say, "business closed, no one available" or something like that. Yet I was home, I called the shipper about this a couple of times. Well guess who they ship with now? I probably wasn't the only one having a problem with deliveries.

So maybe "We get paid to pick up packages" but, if they aren't delivered, I don't think we'll be picking them up either.

You would not believe this.

I am expecting a birthday gift for my fiance. The fedex home driver just pulled into my driveway. No knock, no nothing. So I walk to the door and there I see him pulling away. I waved at him, hey come back. He saw me and gunned it.

Ironic.

 

[Delivered]

So now their delivery time varies from 11-4:30 with no set schedule they can depend on. And many times, they get picked up before they even get their deliveries. These are businesses that depended on UPS to get their packages there in the morning so they could do what they had to do to the contents, and ship it back out that same day. But because of people with your same attitude, they now belong to FedEx.


When we no longer provide a value to the customer, why should they stay. And since you and your ilk have screwed around with the delivery times of business customers (after all, we dont get paid to deliver packages) so it is convenient to your plan, they have left in droves.

Perfect point, we don't provide service anymore, we simply aim to please our mgt team and meet there "numbers" so we look good on paper.

As for UPS earnings if you give an accountant a pencil, blank sheet of paper and bottle of white out he can make 2+2= anything you want.

 

[Highwayman]

No to both questions.
Couldn't have said it better!

In my 22 years with UPS, I can point to particular decisions made by upper-level management people that have cost the company many millions of dollars in wasted time and overall inefficiency.

There is a huge amount of fat that could be trimmed from the ranks of management if only someone with enough cojones would step forward to do it.

In my building alone we are wasting tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on activities that serve no purpose other than to keep our management looking busy.

We have sups who spend hours parked at intersections in their personal vehicles doing "posture audits" of drivers to make sure they are sitting fully upright in their package cars.

We have sups doing constant, never-ending on-area-observations and OJS rides with good drivers whose only crime was to get screwed over on a timestudy.

We pay management people to write bogus, contractually irrelevant warning letters and we pay the driver plus his shop steward to sit in pointless meetings to discuss these meaningless letters. We pay management people to spend hours trying to micromanage away minutes worth of supposedly overllowed time.

We waste thousands of hours per year in the preload and hub operations due to overcrowded facilities and poorly designed equipment.

We have safety committees that accomplish nothing other than to distribute muffins and create an ever-expanding list of slogans, acronyms and commentaries for the drivers to recite on cue like trained parrots.

I cant fix these problems.They were caused by people I will never meet, who are too high up to be accountable. They will not be solved by me turning in a sales lead, participating in yet another "campaign" or anxiously awaiting the next earnings report.

 

[Highwayman]

How can you feel like part of the team when you are criticized for asking questions?

 

[soberups]

Hey UPS sales guy, you still listening?

I doubt it. His little fantasy bubble just got popped big time.

I have an account that ships out a LOT of machine tools and parts to international customers. A lot of them are oversized and over 70 lbs. We are talking major revenue here.

Their contract with us expired a couple of years ago so the owner decided he wanted a quote from both us and FedEx. He was very clear to the account execs from both companies that he didnt have the time or desire to do any negotiating or bargaining; he would accept one offer and one offer alone.

We made our offer and FedEx made theirs. He chose FedEx. Our account exec then went back and tried to renegotiate and make a counter offer; the owner of the business kicked him out of his office and told him never to return.

We had an opportunity to make a fair offer, but we didnt listen to the customer or respect his wishes. Instead, we tried to nickle-and-dime him and jerk him around, so we lost the account. They still ship 1 or 2 pieces a day with us, but 99% of that high-revenue stuff is now leaving in the FedEx truck every afternoon.

I have offered to adjust my pickup and delivery times for this account to provide superior service to this customer and win that volume back. As a driver, thats pretty much all I can do.

Sales leads? No thanks....the last thing I want to do is to give the idiot who lost this account the chance to screw up again and cost us even more volume.

 

[dannyboy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by dannyboy
Hey UPS sales guy, you still listening?

I doubt it. His little fantasy bubble just got popped big time.

Well thats a shame. If he wanted to learn how to get business, and get the drivers to help, he shoulda listened to the conversation.

Problem is he thinks we are all a bunch of overpaid fat slobs that draw a paycheck that he would really want. We dont earn the money, he does with his "we get paid to pick up packages, not deliver them" mentality.

Too bad corp dont listen either. You turn the drivers loose on the customers with fair pricing and the service we can give them, and there would not be a FedEx by 2010, with or without leveling the playing field. You turn the drivers loose with competitive pricing, and I would bet we would have 650,000 employees by 2012, in spite of the recession.

But instead they choose to waste their most precious resource in an epic battle between heavy handed management, and the them and us mentality.

So instead, look for us to limp along throwing spit balls at FedEx.

Pathetic. Really.

d

 

[raceanoncr]

i am not a new salesguy, sorry. you all are a bunch of bitter old men and it gets worse every year! get over yourselves. I'll keep winning packages from the competition so we can afford to pay your over-inflated salary.

Now that hurts! HA! Boy, have we seen YOU before too! Every new class we get, we get the sales pitch and the gung-ho-let's-go-team speach.

With your "People Workshop" training, oh, you DID have that years ago, didn't you, you should win over many a competition's volume.

Good luck!

 

[raceanoncr]

Drivers in China have it tough, but they turn in sales leads that sell.

I almost cried over this one too. My late mother's words keep ringing in my ears, "Just think of all those starving kids in China. They'd love to have that broccoli".

Geez, thanks for stirring up the old memories (I said as I was wiping the tears from my cheek).

 

[tourists24]

There...... dont we all feel like one big, great team now.... thanks Sales

 

[DS]

Hey salesguy,I just know your curiosity will bring you back here .You have your answer .Do you really think all us fat overpaid cranky old drivers are so jaded and dissillusioned because we are all just lazy? I personally have a few pickups that have outright told me that if it was not for me bending over backwards to make sure they are taken care of they would switch carriers in a heartbeat.With all the overbilling,surcharges,lack of versatility and sheer arrogance they have to deal with on a daily basis,if it was not for us bitchy old drivers those quarterly revenue reports would go down the toilet faster than you can say what can brown do for you.If you want to read about all the amazing great things that is ups,try upsers.com.If,
like Jack Nicholson said to Tom Cruise in a few good men,"you cant handle the truth" comes to mind,then you may understand.The browncafe is the only place to experience the truth about ups.I think you should apologize to everyone here for being so arrogant.Sorry to go on but this irked me.

 

[dannyboy]

Boy, you know youve crossed the line when you irk the little guy!

I know he will be back, only hopes he learns something.

d

 

[Dragon]

Good. You do that. And maybe you could sell some Amway or Oxi-Clean or Sham-Wows while you are at it. Fame and fortune await!

You do know that the late Billy Mays drove a BENTLEY.....just thought you ought to know.

 

[tourists24]

You do know that the late Billy Mays drove a BENTLEY.....just thought you ought to know.

SalesGuy doesnt need to drive a Bentley.... he is part of the UPS "Team"... that love keeps him going

 

[Old International]

If I ever get mouthy with DS, somebody please moderate me. I don't want the Canadian mad at me! He might reach though the 'puter and get me.......

 

[moreluck]

He'll hit you with his Creemore bottle...........

 

[dannyboy]

International

That is why I turn my computer off every night, so DS cant visit while I sleep.

d

 

[upssalesguy]

sorry kids, I have been busy at work and with my 8 month pregnant wife. I am not sure why you think you have proved anything other than you hate your jobs and the company you work for and will ALWAYS have an excuse.

i have spent many days on the road with drivers and know and respect how hard you work. I watch management get bashed on this site daily because you have no ****ing clue what we do for the customer. you have this attitude that you are the only thing that makes this company go round. I have news for your, you are not. You can have your route cut, split whatever - and it all goes back to fedex winning our packages and taking our market share. you say you are better than fedex, yet some stooge for an independant contractor can do your job just as well as you - and customers are so sick of damages, lost packages, and numerous other things that they leave UPS. yes, that is your responsibility too.

excuse me for wanting to know if you all care about the numbers. It wasnt a callout thread. I just wanted to see what the face of the company thought about potentially losing marketshare - you dont. you only care abour yourself.

I see you are enjoying your circle jerk, so keep at it. I am the throat to choke for our customers who have service issues, you should thank me. I dont need to take crap from you

just note - when we win a million dollar account - it's not becasue the driver sat in front of the CEO and won the business. its ****ing me.

speaking of, there is a new pharmacy who was shipping with fedex that needed additional tracking, technology integration and training to bring business to UPS from fedex. thanks for all your help. OH WAIT....we are a team, right? yeah, I'll take care of that.

 

[upssalesguy]

oh, i just want to say this once. the reason we charge more than fedex is because we pay our drivers the most. I think that is fine becasue we also provide the best service.

our profits need to be maintained so we can afford to take out credit and buy new equipment. We are a public company, so the dividends go back to the shareholders. you see a profit and you think that just goes in someones pocket? do you know the history of UPS? get mad at fedex being misclassified before getting mad at me for losing an account on price.

if we have an account that we make more then .10 per dollar they spend, it is a goldmine for us. You cant blame management for surcharges - they are necessary so we can keep growing and expaning.

I'm real sorry some of you have had bad experiences with sales, but just as many have had great success stories to share.

grow up. **** happens at work. my drivers have my cellphone number. call me everyday even though I am not suppose to follow up on small sales leads - but I do becasue it is right for the driver and the customer.

edit: i drive a honda accord. for gas mileage. because I dont get paid unless we grow.

 

[upssalesguy]

Hey salesguy,I just know your curiosity will bring you back here .You have your answer .Do you really think all us fat overpaid cranky old drivers are so jaded and dissillusioned because we are all just lazy? I personally have a few pickups that have outright told me that if it was not for me bending over backwards to make sure they are taken care of they would switch carriers in a heartbeat.With all the overbilling,surcharges,lack of versatility and sheer arrogance they have to deal with on a daily basis,if it was not for us bitchy old drivers those quarterly revenue reports would go down the toilet faster than you can say what can brown do for you.If you want to read about all the amazing great things that is ups,try upsers.com.If,
like Jack Nicholson said to Tom Cruise in a few good men,"you cant handle the truth" comes to mind,then you may understand.The browncafe is the only place to experience the truth about ups.I think you should apologize to everyone here for being so arrogant.Sorry to go on but this irked me.

there is plenty of arrogance in this thread, it's not all coming from me. how do you expect to make money? give away free shipping to everyone?

I do apolgize for saying bitchy drivers...but I was talking about the drivers who chose to come off that way IN THIS THREAD. nothing more.

and I know the real UPS. I am stuck in the middle. Brown Cafe is not the real UPS - if you think it is, this company is going down in flames. I can't accept that. I think things can be fixed, but all i hear on here are greivances and poor management. How about the driver in my center that got fired for falsifying pickup records? he screwed over his entire center and lost two accounts...but he is back at work 3 months later. that must be the real UPS.