Sales Lead warning..is it worth it?

[SALES LEAD WOW]

First off let me say that I am not a troll but am a 21 yr vet at UPS. I have always submitted sales leads when the opportunity presented itself and have received a few bucks on my AMEX card. I was asked to track down some more daily pickups on my route. I had one guy that owns a shoe1 store on my area. I was already doing a daily at the bookstore right next to him. So about 2-3 times a week he would meet me at my truck with a couple of internet packages. I asked him if he was interested in having a daily pickup. He said he might be interested. I asked if I could have a sales rep contact him. He was contacted by the rep and they told him that he needed to sign up for a daily pickup otherwise he needed to drop his packages off at UPS or UPS store if he did not. He reluctantly signed up for the daily pickup at a new charge of $10.00 a week thinking it may help me out and he didnt want to take it to UPS. I never got credit on my AMEX card for his new daily pickup (200 points =$10.00) and only .50 for his shipping. He was told that the driver (me) that submitted the lead would receive a "bouns" for signing him up. Last week he asked me if I received my "bonus" I told him I got .50 and it will be taxed at 30% when I redeem it. I already had over $100.00 on my card so it just added .50 to the running total. He was real upset. Today he called me into his shop and said he had a deal for me. The deal was that he was going to drop the daily pickup at $10.00 a week ($520.00 a year). His deal was that things would go back to same as it was and when he saw me he would bring me his packages. His "Bonus' to me was a free pair of shoes every 6 months up to $100.00. He pays less and I get "paid" more...Sounds like the customers are willing to do more for us than UPS. I did decline his offer because I am sure there is something in there about dishonesty. My job is worth more than free shoes. But I did tell him I was happy to pickup his prepaid packages like I had in the past. I asked my sup why I didnt get the points on my AMEX card and he told me that the customer already had an account so he didnt qualify for the new daily pickup points. And the .50 was only for the increase in volume from what he was previously shipping. I guess he shipped 2 more packages in that 90 days than in the last 90 days. Just something to remember when getting those leads. I still encourage you to get all the leads you can but make good decisions on who needs the service and who doesnt. This guy went 4 months of paying for a service he did not need.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I would talk to your BD folks and explain the situation. You should be entitled to the $10 for the new P/U account.

You were wise to turn down the offer.

Continue taking his pkgs and follow up with BD.

 

[BrownSuit]

Either you are a troll or you aren't getting the whole story.

There is no daily pickup variation at UPS that costs $10 a week.

It's $8 for customers who spend more than $60
$12 for customers that spend from $15 - $59.99
And $17 For customers who spend less than $15

In contrast if they are scheduling pickups they get charged $4 plus Fuel on Same Day Internet, $5 plus Fuel on same day Phone in pickups or $3 for Next Day Internet, or $4 for next day phone again with fuel included.

When they got to schedule the pickup and stated that they have multiple packages at the time they schedule it, they will be charged that fee for each package.

Also, you would only be credited any additional volume resulting from the daily pickup, not the accessorial charges. If it was a new account that was a daily pickup, you would receive credit for the new account.

Part of the reason your management team is out to get you new daily pickups is contrary to popular belief they are attempting to justify new routes. If there are new daily pickups, more routes can open up and better service can be offered and people can come back to the center at a decent hour. They need numbers to justify new routes.

What the money was that showed up on your Amex was likely from additional packages that the shoe store shipped during your 13 week volume check. You would receive credit for that. Daily Pickup has proven to be one way by which to grow accounts where they are prone to ship more with UPS than they would have before as the service provider is stopping by at ideally a set time. This would lead to additional volume and more money on your Amex.

So I'm leaning toward troll, but you may be just really misinformed. In which case, I wouldn't come on here and rant without being registered first.

 

[trplnkl]

Didn't read as a troll to me. I was under the impression that a daily pick up was charged $10 per week also. The break down brownsuit lined out was not known to me and I doubt many of my fellow drivers.
I also wonder if the pricing structure is different in different parts of the country.
I do agree that Sales Lead WOW needs to register though.

 

[upsgrunt]

I would talk to your BD folks and explain the situation. You should be entitled to the $10 for the new P/U account.

You were wise to turn down the offer.

Continue taking his pkgs and follow up with BD.

Upstate-

In this post you advise that it is wise to turn down the free shoe offer, but in another thread you brag about delivering Monday NDA on Saturday. Then, in your signature line there is something about integrity.

I guess I'm just confused.

Is it a case of do as I say, not as I do?

 

[brownmonster]

We are instructed to take any internet pkgs from anyone that hands them to us. I have a few situations like the original you described. Go back to the old way. The key to giving customer service is to not let mgmnt. get involved. Be sure to put the packages under prepaid and not as a seperate stop. BM PS, if someone wants to give you a pair of shoes, who are you to argue.

 

[over9five]

I think I would take a free pair of shoes if one of my customers offered out of the goodness of their heart, BUT....

I would NOT enter a deal to get one free pair every six months IF I pick-up their packages.

I also hope it's not true that BD coerced this customer into buying a daily p/u that he didn't need by threatening that he would have to find a drop box instead of handing his prepaids to a driver. That would be a sad (and unethical) way to get a new pickup.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Upstate-

In this post you advise that it is wise to turn down the free shoe offer, but in another thread you brag about delivering Monday NDA on Saturday. Then, in your signature line there is something about integrity.

I guess I'm just confused.

Is it a case of do as I say, not as I do?

Point taken.

 

[outta hours]

I had a running store that sold shoes on my old area. The rep for a major brand was in the store one day when I was delivering. He asked if I would try a new type of shoe that they were coming out with. He just wanted some honest feedback from me in return.

Needless to say I walked out wearing my new shoes. Too bad I didn't have any car dealerships on that route.

 

[looper804]

I would talk to your BD folks and explain the situation. You should be entitled to the $10 for the new P/U account.

He/she is not entitled to the $10 new daily pickup monies because the customer allready had an existing account(internet).Only new volume credit is given here.Years ago you did receive the $10 for any new daily pickup regardless of wether they had an existing account or not.I believe we should still get it.

 

[BrownSuit]

Didn't read as a troll to me. I was under the impression that a daily pick up was charged $10 per week also. The break down brownsuit lined out was not known to me and I doubt many of my fellow drivers.
I also wonder if the pricing structure is different in different parts of the country.
I do agree that Sales Lead WOW needs to register though.

It's across the board - It's published as a fee on Page 64 of the Daily Rate and Service Guide and I believe page 66 of the Retail Rate and Service Guide. My understanding that the later is 2 pages off.

2 years ago it was a dollar less across the board. I imagine next year it will go up another dollar across the board. Our Daily Pickup Fees are unique in that none of our competitors charge them exactly the same way that we do, in part because none of them quite have the niche that we do. Fedex is two separate companies and DHL doesn't really have the ground network to be picking up lots of packages. They were also for some time giving free pickups to customers. That all changed this summer.

As for reasons why the customer might want Daily Pickup, one is to take advantage of the Daily Rates, which are less than the Retail "Published" Rates.

What most folks don't realize is that after a period of time where you spend X amount of money, UPS automatically gives you the Daily Rates.

Another reason is to take advantage of savings through the pickup fees with not having to pay each time.

In my opinion, it's up to the driver and the Center Management Team. If they tell you to record it as an unscheduled stop, do it. If they tell you to take the package and scan it with another stop, do it. If they tell you to throw it in with the load (Not smart because you miss a pickup scan), still do it.

The driver ultimately is the one out on the road with the DIAD. Not the OCS, Not the OMS, and Not the center manager. Nobody is going to question your decisions in this area. There still is some autonomy on the road.

I seriously doubt that BD was extorting the customer or forcing them to get the Daily Pickup. I have a feeling that not enough questions were asked to understand the relationship with the driver. Also chances are if the driver told the customer he needed a daily pickup, if he had the rapport that it seems was demonstrate above, the customer would have taken him at his word and not given it a second thought.

 

[j4ck4zz]

Either you are a troll or you aren't getting the whole story.

There is no daily pickup variation at UPS that costs $10 a week.

It's $8 for customers who spend more than $60
$12 for customers that spend from $15 - $59.99
And $17 For customers who spend less than $15

In contrast if they are scheduling pickups they get charged $4 plus Fuel on Same Day Internet, $5 plus Fuel on same day Phone in pickups or $3 for Next Day Internet, or $4 for next day phone again with fuel included.

When they got to schedule the pickup and stated that they have multiple packages at the time they schedule it, they will be charged that fee for each package.

Also, you would only be credited any additional volume resulting from the daily pickup, not the accessorial charges. If it was a new account that was a daily pickup, you would receive credit for the new account.

Part of the reason your management team is out to get you new daily pickups is contrary to popular belief they are attempting to justify new routes. If there are new daily pickups, more routes can open up and better service can be offered and people can come back to the center at a decent hour. They need numbers to justify new routes.

What the money was that showed up on your Amex was likely from additional packages that the shoe store shipped during your 13 week volume check. You would receive credit for that. Daily Pickup has proven to be one way by which to grow accounts where they are prone to ship more with UPS than they would have before as the service provider is stopping by at ideally a set time. This would lead to additional volume and more money on your Amex.

So I'm leaning toward troll, but you may be just really misinformed. In which case, I wouldn't come on here and rant without being registered first.

 

[j4ck4zz]

.

 

[trplnkl]

It's across the board - It's published as a fee on Page 64 of the Daily Rate and Service Guide and I believe page 66 of the Retail Rate and Service Guide. My understanding that the later is 2 pages off.

So you see here is why I feel it isn't a good idea to push drivers to come up with sales leads. We are not furnished with all the info we need. Every time I have asked a customer if I could have BD come see them about a daily PU I get questions I have no answer for. I don't have time for an in depth discussion about the services and the rates. It's almost guaranteed that the simple question of " can I have BD contact your" turns into a minimum five minute discussion.

 

[atatbl]

Allow me to recommend a website that I have been using over the past few months to generate fresh sales, business development, and marketing leads. Salesconx is a B2B referral marketplace where you can find people who will introduce you to prospective customers for your service. Tell the people in the Salesconx network who you would like to be introduced to, and wait for their responses. What you get in return are warm leads and more business.

Salesconx raised $1.5 million in venture capital last month and is really starting to grow. Please give it a try. http://www.salesconx.com/new.php

How long are you going to stay online to see if anyone bites on your BS cold posting technique? Oh, that's right, you don't think it's technically "cold" because your tools found a hit for the keywords sales + lead. If it's a bot, why keep it logged in? If it's not a bot, you must not realize that this forum does not move quickly.

 

[chev]

Allow me to recommend a website that I have been using over the past few months to generate fresh sales, business development, and marketing leads. Salesconx is a B2B referral marketplace where you can find people who will introduce you to prospective customers for your service. Tell the people in the Salesconx network who you would like to be introduced to, and wait for their responses. What you get in return are warm leads and more business.

Salesconx raised $1.5 million in venture capital last month and is really starting to grow. Please give it a try. http://www.salesconx.com/new.php

jagoff has no idea....
Personally, I always hated this sales lead crap when I was in delivery. I know it helps grow the business, thereby creating new routs and jobs, but I just never seemed to have the time to stop and talk that long about a subject that I was so poorly informed about. Like I would really know what the friggin rates are. So, I agree with trplnkl on this one. Maybe if we had the proper tools to do the job, it would go a lot smoother.

 

[upsdude]

I had a running store that sold shoes on my old area. The rep for a major brand was in the store one day when I was delivering. He asked if I would try a new type of shoe that they were coming out with. He just wanted some honest feedback from me in return.

Needless to say I walked out wearing my new shoes. Too bad I didn't have any car dealerships on that route.

I have 6 car dealerships on my route, you need a ride to the shoe store?

 

[dannyboy]

Part of the reason your management team is out to get you new daily pickups is contrary to popular belief they are attempting to justify new routes. If there are new daily pickups, more routes can open up and better service can be offered and people can come back to the center at a decent hour. They need numbers to justify new routes.

most of us were not born yesterday. if the center has 9-10 hours of additional work, they might or might not cut in a new route. they will dispatch 9.5-11 everyday regardless of what the volume does. and if the volume drops even the slightest, areas are cut. adding new routes really has no effect on the time drivers getting in when the volume goes up.

get the district manager or ups ceo to put that in writing, and watch the growth. otherwise its just empty talk.

as far as the rest of the post, i agree. the driver should take the packages and scan them in. counting it as a pickup stop varys from area to area. in our center we were told to count that as an unscheduled pickup stop.

as far as the additional surcharges, they are only charged if you schedule a pickup, if you drop it off, or meet the driver, there are none.

as for the shoe offer, yes, if ups found out about it, you would be fired. especially if you made a special trip in there to pick up the packages, unless he asked you to get them for him in advance.

personally i always turned in every lead. but many were botched by bd. and many also have grudges against ups, and have gone to other carriers. but it seems that there are fewer choices.

d

 

[BigBrownSanta]

The OP has brought up one of the reasons why I don't actively pursue sales leads. I have had way too many leads returned as "already a shipper". That and what TRPNKL said about not having enough info to answer questions would be two reasons I don't turn in sales leads but instead give out the 800 number.

It's my understanding that PU's are charged per package. The UPS website says $6 per package. Brownsuit broke it down a little differently. My question is, does that $8 per week PU fee waive the $6 per package fee if the shipper has a scheduled PU account? Or, do they pay both the $8 weekly fee and the $6 per package fee?

 

[Cementups]

We've been told that we will be talked to if we don't put in sales leads with the exit of DHL. I told them fat chnce on getting one from me ssince I deliver a rural area. I told them that not too many cows and ducks ship packaes on a daily basis. Adn I've already exhausted all my resources on the at-home businesses that i have.

On a good note though, I have a guy that ships for 2 months out of the year every year, right on schedule. so every year since he knows I get commission on what he ships, he calls me and lets me know he will be ready to ship soon so that I can turn in a sales lead and get my 1 per year in.