2. Today we’re going to talk
to other dealers, just like
you about…
Employee
Commission & Carrier Commission
what works & new sources of
revenue
3. “being with "like" retailers is such a treat
and i would like to see the
knowledge/expertise of those retailers
made more available”
- 2011 Summit Attendee
4. Meet our panel members
Dean Leja
Vice-President, Cellular & More
7 Verizon Wireless Locations
Michigan Market
5. Meet our panel members
Mark Butler
Owner, Product Center
31 AT&T Locations
New York Market
6. Meet our panel members
Scott Levinson
Chief Operating Officer, A-Wireless
120 Verizon Wireless Locations
Nationwide
7. Meet our panel members
Mike Prendergast
Chief Operating Officer, MobileComm
46 AT&T Locations
Florida and Pennsylvania Market
8.
9.
10. Q: Can you describe your current
employee compensation plan?
What works about it? What doesn’t
work about it?
11.
12. Q:
What steps do you take to ensure you
have more success in finding the right
employees the first time? How do you
identify those that are not performing,
and how do you handle under
performers?
13. Its no secret that with carrier
Q: commission cuts, margins are
tighter than ever. What
additional products or
services are you bringing into
your stores to increase sales?
14.
15.
16. What do your sales
Q: strategies look like for
maximizing existing
product lines?
17.
18. Q: Going into the upcoming
holiday season, what is
your #1 focus?
ERIC NOTES: do these stats reflect specifically Retail environment workers? If not, can we get specific Retail environment worker stats? Also, given that the average Wireless Retail employee is Generation “y” how are they specifically motivated to stay in or leave a job?
How do you know if a comp plan is working? How do you measure it’s success?STACY: Find out how long each panelist has had comp structure, find one who had something go wrong and what is what. Go through the question for each, then go back to someone who failed ex: “Mike, I know you recently changed comp plans, can you explain why?”If someone pays volume, I wonder if we plug milestones here?Ex: if I work for you…what about this comp plan works?ERIC NOTE: as part of the question, also ask “What DOESN’T work about the comp plan?” to warn the audience there may be pitfalls to watch for. Also, see my notes to Q2 slide – if you expand on this question by also asking what are the other elements of incentives and compensation, you should be able to get Q2 answered here too at the same time.
With changing question 2, maybe this can be a retention slide?
ERIC NOTES: I think this question will get answered already by Question 1 – if you ask each panelist to expand on their ENTIRE comp plan and incentive packages in Question 1, you’ll get this question answered already as part of that discussion. Perhaps for an alternative Question 2 then, you might ask them: “What steps do you take to ensure you have more success in finding the right employees the first time? How do you identify those that are not performing or are not a fit to your organization, and how do you handle under performers?” This will get them talking about their hiring/screening activities, performance management etc.Panel – Scott LevinsonPanel – Mike PPanel – Dean L
This could be accessories or carrier featuresIn addition to new products, it could be a re-focused energy on existing products or services. Ex: Handset Protection, Trade-in, GP/Hour etc.Mark B – No more gross ad’s exist, the carriers own them all. Every customer already has a phone, what are you going to be sell them now?ERIC NOTES: Maybe ask them as well if they do any analysis to determine what mix of products (plans, features, handsets, etc) in fact gets them the best margins, have the lowest return rates, and appeal to their customers the most? Do they build their comp models around this knowledge, and how do they motivate their employees to focus on selling the right things for the right customer opportunities?Panel – Mark ButlerPanel – Mike PPanel – Dean L
There’s no doubt, tablet sales are on the rise.We’re in a world where there are more phones than people. I think Mark said it, that we are no longer just operating wireless stores, we have to adapt to the needs of our customers. With tablet sales set to more than quadruple in the next 4 years its definitely worth talking about. ERIC
It seems like summer just ended and we are planning for hopefully a bigger and better holiday season than last year. As we all know, the holiday season can be a make it or break it for a retailer, even in our industry. The holiday season is soo important, it can actually represent up to 40% of a retailers annual sales.
Ask sub-question ERIC NOTES: I would go broader than just focussing on Tablets as a vehicle for additional sales. Tablets have been around for some time now, and Dealers have been forced to market them – but it doesn’t sound like it’s the “winner” product they were hoping for. Maybe use Tablets as an example, but focus the question on ‘What do your sales and marketing strategies look like to maximize existing product lines like features, plans, handsets? What is your strategy for complementary products like Tablets look like? What other emerging product lines do you see in the near future and how can you capitalize on them?”Sub Question:Do you have a tablet strategy?Panel – Scott LevinsonPanel – Dean LejaPanel – Mark Butler
Know your shoppers….They are still shopping online. In fact, 36% plan on doing all holiday shopping online this year. 55% of consumers who shop in store vs online plan on shopping post holiday because of the discounted pricing. This clearly indicates that a post holiday strategy makes sense.Timing wise, know what 40% of consumers who plan on shopping in store vs online will begin shopping right away…before halloween.And of course…there’s people like me. The last minute shopper. I’ll spend more for convenience and that isnt going away. So charge me more, I’ll allow it and I’ll pay for it.
ERIC NOTES: Also ask them what they see the consumer trends shaping up to be for this holiday season? How can they ensure their operations are tweaked and in line to ensure they fully capitalize on any holiday trends?Panel – Mike PPanel – Mark BPanel – Scott L
