UPS customer service policies per customer revenue question

[qtrmillayrUPScustomer]

If this is not an appropiate post or in the wrong section please let me know or just delete it.

As my name states I give about a quarter million a year to UPS in my organization. I understand I am a very small customer to UPS but I am posting here to get some opinions internally to find out how much I matter to UPS. I think UPS is an amazing company that provides huge value to our economy and to the world as a whole. It is very fascinating to me to watch this company grow and see what it can offer to me as an entrepeneur. As a company as a whole UPS to me is light years ahead of the competitors in terms of growth potential and overall benefit to our society.

My question is does UPS have internal company policies to give lower quality or higher quality sales reps to different size companies? The obvious answer is yes, but where is the line drawn? I do more with UPS freight than small package and I absolutely love that the two are coming together, and it seems to be happening quickly which is great.

We used FedEx for 3 years prior to FedEx with adequite service, however because of UPS freight we decided to go all UPS. We were brought on by a great sales guy who was helpful, clearly displayed that he was there to help us and just an overall great person. He received a promotion aparently only a month or two after we switched and we where handed down to a lower sales rep on the todum pole. He is horrible, and I just can't understand his attitude. I'm a very friendly person and I absolutely love the first sales rep and our freight sales rep but our small package sales rep has such a negative attitude and it seems he is would rather fight us that help us. Its very odd to me.

I understand UPS is a very large company and i can accept the flaws, the UPS driver taking package from our warehouse that are not for him and that do not have labels and not returning them, the grumpy attitude, the I'm late and I can't wait another 30 seconds for you to put the label on the package. He is the driver and this does not bother me. I believe UPS has a very good training program and does pride themselves on customer service. I just don't understand how this sour sales rep is still employed by the company, and how he even got the job. OR, is this a typical sales rep for an organization of our size.

Also, in my eyes I get the same treatment as a customer giving $25k a year in business to UPS. Is this typical or am I suppose to be getting slightly better help? Its always us calling them for help, and they certainly do make it easy.

If anyone wants to hear the story of why I have such negative feeling towards this particular sales person I'm more than happy to write it out.

I'm hoping someone can help me understand UPS a little more, and help me decide if UPS is just going to get better as a whole in terms of small customer satisfaction, as I am a very small customer and realize it, or does FedEx have a business model which is friendlier for customers of my size.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

[cachsux]

In simplest terms there are good and bad in all positions in all companies,not just ours. Unfortunately you seem to have been assigned the latter. If it was me I would be a squeaky wheel as far up the corporate ladder as needed until you find satisfaction.

Thank you for your business.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

My question is does UPS have internal company policies to give lower quality or higher quality sales reps to different size companies? The obvious answer is yes, but where is the line drawn?

I am not about to comment on the quality of our sales reps as all of the BD (Business Development) folks that I have either worked with or come in to contact with have all been the utmost professionals when dealing with our customers. Sales reps are assigned to accounts based upon annual revenue and, yes, the more experienced sales reps are assigned to the larger accounts, which makes good business sense. UPS used to have customer support people assigned specifically to what used to be called our preferred accounts, to include a separate toll free number assigned specifically for these accounts.

I do thank you for trusting us with not only your pkg shipping needs but with your freight business as well.

I do not know what training the BD folks have to complete or what the qualifications are to become a BD employee, whether a 4 yr degree is required or not, but, as I said above, I have yet to come in to contact with what I term an incompetent BD employee. In fact, in my center, we have a bi-lingual BD account rep (English/French) and he is a perfect fit for us as our bldg is 1/2 hour from Canada and 1 hour from Montreal and many of the businesses both along the border and within our industrial parks are owned and/or run by Canadian businesses.

 

[ih8tbrn]

$250,000 a year seems pretty significant to me. But besides that, what difference should it make if it's $250,000 or $25? A customer is a customer as far as I'm concerned.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

$250,000 a year seems pretty significant to me. But besides that, what difference should it make if it's $250,000 or $25? A customer is a customer as far as I'm concerned.

OK, suppose you need new carpet for your house. You go to a carpet showroom and tell them you are going to spend $25. They will treat you with respect because you are a customer but you are more likely than not to receive any special treatment or pricing discounts. Now, if you are planning on purchasing carpeting for the 25 unit apartment complex that you are renovating, you may have to ask for help to remove the lipstick from your butt after you leave the showroom.

Get the picture?

 

[ih8tbrn]

No I don't. Maybe you weren't condescending enough. Try again please.

 

[trplnkl]

$250,000 a year seems pretty significant to me. But besides that, what difference should it make if it's $250,000 or $25? A customer is a customer as far as I'm concerned.

I understand where you are coming from on this. Each and every package should be handled the same. However when it comes to the overall account of a shipper, yes the amount of money they spend with us is important on a graduating scale. The more they PAY us the more attention they are likely to receive. Right or wrong that is the way business works.

 

[trplnkl]

OK, suppose you need new carpet for your house. You go to a carpet showroom and tell them you are going to spend $25. They will treat you with respect because you are a customer but you are more likely than not to receive any special treatment or pricing discounts. Now, if you are planning on purchasing carpeting for the 25 unit apartment complex that you are renovating, you may have to ask for help to remove the lipstick from your butt after you leave the showroom.

Get the picture?

UpState, what you discribed is pretty accurate, however I think part of the reply was out of line on a thread started by a customer that spends more with us in a year than you or I earn. BTW, you post directly to the customer was pretty good.

Could you and ih8tbrn please let your personal fight stay on the other threads?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Could you and ih8tbrn please let your personal fight stay on the other threads?

Trp, thank you for the compliment.

I have no issue with ih8tbrn.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

No I don't. Maybe you weren't condescending enough. Try again please.

I was simply posting to the level of my audience.

 

[BrownSuit]

As far as different levels, yes there are different levels and yes they are based on revenue commitment.It is not appropriate to share those levels in this environment.

Based on whether or not you are assigned to an Account Executive, determines whether or not you receive a Preferred Customer Team. The reason for this is simple, the Account Executive's job is to sell, not to track packages or handle complaints. In their selling, they should be reducing your need to rely on Customer Service at all and become self sufficient.

As for the main difference, the more revenue, the more frequent you should be hearing from somebody at UPS.

The only real difference between the titles is how many accounts, the revenue, potentially the type of accounts, and the experience of the individual. Your old representative likely was promoted to accounts with a higher revenue and has less of them.

Since you've come here seeking information, I'd like to ask what specifically you don't like about your sales person, feel free to PM me if you don't want to discuss it in the open. What exactly is he fighting with you about?

I would make a list of areas that they need to improve on as they focus to grow your business and ways they can keep your needs in mind. I would also ask to speak with the Area Sales Manager (his boss) and discuss it with them as well.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

UpState, what you discribed is pretty accurate, however I think part of the reply was out of line on a thread started by a customer that spends more with us in a year than you or I earn. BTW, you post directly to the customer was pretty good.

Trp, I went back and re-read what I had posted and you have a point, although I don't think I was giving away any trade secrets.

 

[dilligaf]

If this is not an appropiate post or in the wrong section please let me know or just delete it.

As my name states I give about a quarter million a year to UPS in my organization. I understand I am a very small customer to UPS but I am posting here to get some opinions internally to find out how much I matter to UPS. I think UPS is an amazing company that provides huge value to our economy and to the world as a whole. It is very fascinating to me to watch this company grow and see what it can offer to me as an entrepeneur. As a company as a whole UPS to me is light years ahead of the competitors in terms of growth potential and overall benefit to our society.

First of all, thank you for your business and your compliments.

My question is does UPS have internal company policies to give lower quality or higher quality sales reps to different size companies? The obvious answer is yes, but where is the line drawn? I do more with UPS freight than small package and I absolutely love that the two are coming together, and it seems to be happening quickly which is great.

Second, I cannot say as to the dispostion of account reps. I can say however that I as a driver, get very frustrated with our account reps because we need them to take care of our accounts and they are just not there. Not physically and most times not emotionally. I am trying to get a big acct right now and I haven't seen an acct rep in months. This acct I am not trusting to my sup to take care of.

We used FedEx for 3 years prior to FedEx with adequite service, however because of UPS freight we decided to go all UPS. We were brought on by a great sales guy who was helpful, clearly displayed that he was there to help us and just an overall great person. He received a promotion aparently only a month or two after we switched and we where handed down to a lower sales rep on the todum pole. He is horrible, and I just can't understand his attitude. I'm a very friendly person and I absolutely love the first sales rep and our freight sales rep but our small package sales rep has such a negative attitude and it seems he is would rather fight us that help us. Its very odd to me.

I understand UPS is a very large company and i can accept the flaws, the UPS driver taking package from our warehouse that are not for him and that do not have labels and not returning them, the grumpy attitude, the I'm late and I can't wait another 30 seconds for you to put the label on the package. He is the driver and this does not bother me. I believe UPS has a very good training program and does pride themselves on customer service. I just don't understand how this sour sales rep is still employed by the company, and how he even got the job. OR, is this a typical sales rep for an organization of our size.

Third, I try, as a driver to not let my 'attitude' show to my customers. I try to keep my grumpy attitude to myself and just show the smile. I am not always successful in this endeavor. I do, however always try to accomadate the customer. Even if that means that I am a little late down the line. I truly believe that many drivers do the same. So, I thank you for not taking it personally when I am having a bad day.

Also, in my eyes I get the same treatment as a customer giving $25k a year in business to UPS. Is this typical or am I suppose to be getting slightly better help? Its always us calling them for help, and they certainly do make it easy.

Every customer is important. Every customer should be treated as if they are giving 25K/yr to us.

If anyone wants to hear the story of why I have such negative feeling towards this particular sales person I'm more than happy to write it out.

I'm hoping someone can help me understand UPS a little more, and help me decide if UPS is just going to get better as a whole in terms of small customer satisfaction, as I am a very small customer and realize it, or does FedEx have a business model which is friendlier for customers of my size.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

I would, if you haven't already, start by filing concerns with corporate. Unfortunately I do not know all the ins and outs of this side of our business. If you have a good working relationship with your driver, bring the driver into this. The squeaky wheel gets the grease sort of mentality seems to work the best. As a driver I value your business and would bend over backwards to make sure you are happy. This includes bitching at my sup every day until any issue was resolved.

I hope this issue can be resolved for you!

 

[satellitedriver]

As my name states I give about a quarter million a year to UPS in my organization.

You give money to UPS?
Customers pay us for service and should receive it.




i can accept the flaws, the UPS driver taking package from our warehouse that are not for him and that do not have labels and not returning them, the grumpy attitude, the I'm late and I can't wait another 30 seconds for you to put the label on the package.

That is a strong statement and in my opinion, BS.
You are stating that the driver is stealing pkgs.
You easily could prove your claim, if your local center had boxes stacked up with no labels on them.
Every decently run warehouse/business has staging areas.
Completed orders are in one pile and the rest are in a different area waiting for completion.
You must have a sloppy operation.


I'm hoping someone can help me understand UPS a little more, and help me decide if UPS is just going to get better as a whole in terms of small customer satisfaction, as I am a very small customer and realize it, or does FedEx have a business model which is friendlier for customers of my size.

If you had an account that spent $250,000 a year with UPS, then you would not be a small customer and we would bend over backwards to please you.


Your thoughts are appreciated.

I call your post bogus.
You asked for thoughts and you now have mine.

 

[ih8tbrn]

I call your post bogus.
You asked for thoughts and you now have mine.

Well.......we haven't heard from BBAG or one of his many aliases in awhile. This type of post would be right up his alley.

 

[dilligaf]

I call your post bogus.
You asked for thoughts and you now have mine.

Sat? Know something the rest of us don't?

 

[satellitedriver]

Sat? Know something the rest of us don't?

Nope,
If it looks like a Tootsie Roll, smells like a Tootsie Roll and tastes like a Tootsie Roll, then you have a good chance it is a Tootsie Roll.
My antennae tingled by the structure and the verbiage, of the post.
No ticked off customer posts in this formal manner.
I may be wrong, but it just didn't smell right to me.

 

[dilligaf]

Nope,
If it looks like a Tootsie Roll, smells like a Tootsie Roll and tastes like a Tootsie Roll, then you have a good chance it is a Tootsie Roll.
My antennae tingled by the structure and the verbiage, of the post.
No ticked off customer posts in this formal manner.
I may be wrong, but it just didn't smell right to me.

Well it's been more than 24 hrs since the post, so now I'm wondering.

 

[33in2togo]

250 k poster- Call the 1-800 # and tell them you need to meet with the area sales manager (ASM) The ASM will want to help you and could use it as a training method for this sales person. If the rep is new to larger accounts they may just need some coaching / training. In any event the customer is the most important part of this equation. We do appreciate you sticking with UPS and wanting to work this out.

 

[outta hours]