Our GSR's are SIGNIFICANTLY down over the last three years. That is also a measure of absolute service.
Sounds relative to our previous years performance? What are the "GSR's" (I assume they have a different name) like at FedEx for example? How do we compare? Being down on those is good I agree. But it doesn't make a bit of difference if we are still higher than the competition.
Finally, many customer that downgraded service due to cost have stayed with ground because the service was so good.
Evidently not enough have compared to our goals. Perhaps the goals are unrealistic?
We are not losing customers due to service (generally). Most leave for a better price.
Agreed. The market seems to be going towards "lowest price", not "best service". That's a gigantic problem for us because we are NOT the low cost provider, nor can we be with our cost structure. All the cost cutting in the world wont make up for what we pay our drivers, mechanics, and (often times) extra layers of useless middle management.
There is certainly some loss due to our ease of use and package handling (which is improving).
Agreed. UPS doesnt have the best reputation for our box handling. Having been out in the operation a time of two, I can attest to this.
If we are to talk customer complaints, I know the real world perception of UPS is we SUCK to deal with if there is a problem with your package. Especially if we break the contents because we wont pay it. FedEx on the other hand has a perception of paying with ease if the contents get broke. Combine that with our perceived package handling problems and that's bad news. Are those real issues? I don't know, perhaps you do. In the end it doesn't matter because the perception from the public affects us either way. Real or not only decides how we fix the problem. (marketing vs operational)
BTW, even an IT guy can get a sales lead. I got three producing leads this year and it had nothing to do with my job. It was just due to places I go for personal commerce.
If the "IT guy" sitting near me submits a sales lead with potential 100 packages a day, and his contact doesn't get called back, what kind of motivation does that provide the rest of us who do not have 100+ package sales leads to turn in?
Speaking of which, where is the incentive at all? The incentives they are offering us are pretty small for anything but a large sized account. Meanwhile, do you know what kind of money a salesman at UPS brings in? If its anything like "market" for a salesman, its pretty mediocre base pay, and really good if you're good. (Incentive based)
Seems to me we are being asked to pad the sales forces pockets while being given little to nothing besides a "you helped the company" pat on the back. That might have been fine and good back when I felt like a partner. Now a days, I'm not sure I care if UPS sinks or swims. I can get a job right down the street making what I make with similar benefits and job security.
Maybe, just maybe, someone in upper management should realize that if you are asking all of your employees to be salesman, then your sales force has failed. Maybe its time to take a look at our sales forces incentives to make sure they line up with what we want, and/or hire more salesman. Asking us to do it for free ain't cutting it. (see: MIP elements failure on growth)
