Lead On... to the death of Expres...

[FedEx916]

It has been awhile since I was in AFGS (getting to be awhile since I was in Express at all...).

Lead On is intended for employees in customer contact positions, NOT AGFS. Because all the customer contact occurs on the clock, AFGS employees CANNOT perform any gathering of information for this program.

If you have an AGFS manager trying to get people to gather sales leads off the clock, there is a MAJOR problem.

I do believe that one of the requirements of the program, is for the employee submitting the lead to be in a customer contact job code - those that aren't in customer contact job codes cannot be given any credit for potential gains in volume. Someone in DGO needs to check out the requirements of the program to confirm the above.

Yea we all thought it was anyone but AGFS who should be doing it but that didn't keep management from holding us in a 45 minute meeting where they explained the whole program to us and described how much "money" there was to be made off of it. Not a single LEAD has been turned in at our Ramp, and I doubt there will be any...

I think the only thing we were able to walk away with was that extra 45 minutes of pay from the meeting..

 

[Mr. 7]

I think the only thing we were able to walk away with was that extra 45 minutes of pay from the meeting..

These days, that's all I care about anymore.

 

[Ricochet1a]

Did some asking around among those who I KNOW are VERY familiar with rates between UPS and Ground - they've worked in FedEx Sales in the past. I was directed to the following two documents...

The current FedEx Ground rate Chart

The current UPS "Ground" rate chart

Spend just a few seconds comparing between the two (pull them up in separate tabs) - you will VERY QUICKLY notice there is absolutely NO VARIATION between the two. They are mirror images of each other. I couldn't find any difference between the two whatsoever - they are exact to the penny.

What FedEx Sales does, is to ask the potential customer: "What is the discount you are receiving for your UPS shipments?"

With that information in hand, all they have to do, is to knock off 10% from that, and give a quote that is less than UPS. Both UPS and FedEx obviously offer discounts from their ("THE") standard rate chart. FedEx will go the extra step and ask customers what discount they are receiving from UPS, then underbid that.

Everyone knows that FedEx Ground's cost structure is significantly lower from UPS's - YET they have the exact same published rate chart. This means that out of the gate, FedEx Ground is able to garner a higher margin on a particular shipment than UPS.

Because Ground has a lower cost structure (and identical rate chart to UPS), all FedEx has to do is find out the discount off of published rate that a customer is receiving from UPS, then offer an additional 10% off of that. If the customer isn't too picky about service levels (and other things), the lower EFFECTIVE rate quote of Ground will usually get the business. FedEx Ground is able to pick off the customers it really wants, by using this strategy.

Anyone in FedEx sales who states something to the contrary, is simply blowing smoke. This is how FedEx Ground is growing - and why Express is pushing its management to get the Couriers out there to beat the bushes for additional business - for GROUND. FedEx is in a situation of "absolute" competitive advantage. When this situation exists, companies make a dash to grab as much market share as they can, to increase the cash flow coming in (and profits).

 

[MrFedEx]

Did some asking around among those who I KNOW are VERY familiar with rates between UPS and Ground - they've worked in FedEx Sales in the past. I was directed to the following two documents...

The current FedEx Ground rate Chart

The current UPS "Ground" rate chart

Spend just a few seconds comparing between the two (pull them up in separate tabs) - you will VERY QUICKLY notice there is absolutely NO VARIATION between the two. They are mirror images of each other. I couldn't find any difference between the two whatsoever - they are exact to the penny.

What FedEx Sales does, is to ask the potential customer: "What is the discount you are receiving for your UPS shipments?"

With that information in hand, all they have to do, is to knock off 10% from that, and give a quote that is less than UPS. Both UPS and FedEx obviously offer discounts from their ("THE") standard rate chart. FedEx will go the extra step and ask customers what discount they are receiving from UPS, then underbid that.

Everyone knows that FedEx Ground's cost structure is significantly lower from UPS's - YET they have the exact same published rate chart. This means that out of the gate, FedEx Ground is able to garner a higher margin on a particular shipment than UPS.

Because Ground has a lower cost structure (and identical rate chart to UPS), all FedEx has to do is find out the discount off of published rate that a customer is receiving from UPS, then offer an additional 10% off of that. If the customer isn't too picky about service levels (and other things), the lower EFFECTIVE rate quote of Ground will usually get the business. FedEx Ground is able to pick off the customers it really wants, by using this strategy.

Anyone in FedEx sales who states something to the contrary, is simply blowing smoke. This is how FedEx Ground is growing - and why Express is pushing its management to get the Couriers out there to beat the bushes for additional business - for GROUND. FedEx is in a situation of "absolute" competitive advantage. When this situation exists, companies make a dash to grab as much market share as they can, to increase the cash flow coming in (and profits).

It always amazes me that UPS sat on it's hands so long with Ground. My guess is that they regret their passivity. It's also surprising how many Brown people on here think that Ground isn't a threat to their jobs.

 

[59 Dano]

Why stop at 200? But I'm talking about decisions made that are directly affecting us right now. Our leadership has made a mess of things. Again you are casting my views in the most extreme i.e. "wealthy as greedy pigs" but the truth is simply they want the power and the wealth and the perks and thus in the process of obtaining that their decisions affect countless lives. They have an obligation to do the right thing(which obviously means different things to different people) so that as few as possible are harmed by their decisions. But are they putting the nation and it's citizens above their own pursuits? I think you know the answer.

So the question is should they make decisions that do the least harm or do the most good. There is a world of difference.

 

[MrFedEx]

So the question is should they make decisions that do the least harm or do the most good. There is a world of difference.

Wow, that doesn't sound anything like "justification" for what Fred is going to do, does it? Hmmm, who do we know that has decided he has no obligations to employees, only to his own wealth and the satisfaction of his political and financial allies?