Cellular Sales

[clownfish00]

I had an audit done by the dept of labor - the lady I was dealing with had worked there 20 years. She guaranteed there was no way there structure was legal. I would assume that's why it got changed.

[JP Whoregan]

I had an audit done by the dept of labor - the lady I was dealing with had worked there 20 years. She guaranteed there was no way there structure was legal. I would assume that's why it got changed.

Until I see or hear proof otherwise, I'm of the opinion that they are still operating an illegal "employment" model. It's easy to build "mega-stores" and pay great commissions when you are skirting what is likely tens of thousands of dollars a month in payroll taxes, by falsely identifying your employees as "contractors". Doing things like this sheds ALOT of tax burden, depending on the size of your company. I'll go as far as to say that, for as long as CSOKI has been sub-classifying their people as "contractors" instead of "employees", they have shed MILLIONS of dollars in tax obligations over the years, given the size of their company.

I wish every agent in the nation the best, and wish them to be prosperous and successful....except for CSOKI. I hope their company is eventually exposed, audited, investigated, and back-taxed into oblivion. I have NEVER experienced the level of customer fraud, duplicity, and mis-information in my community until these ***-clowns came to town. They are shaming not only themselves, but the Verizon Wireless brand in general with their practices.

[reddragonprodz]

What your suggesting is that anyone who works in that kind of business model's only motive is to be unethical? Wow. That a pretty jaded point of view.

Here is what we do for the customer after the sale:
*Program our number of our cellphone into every customer's phone.
*A follow-up call is made from our corporate headquarters in Knoxville within 24 hours to confirm the phone number of the rep who sold you the phone is there, they showed you how to set-up email, how to use the phone, etc. You can read up on it here. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/ju...-jobs-to-knox/
*A follow-up call is also encouraged from the rep many times after the sale, as well as mailing thank you cards, and asking for referrals.

The reason why we rotate store is simple, people get complacent. If you work the same store, you come to rely on store traffic as your sole source of income. If that is the case, reps only make $35-$40k/yr. That's a clerk. We don't hire clerks. We look for people that are outside reps - people that can go beyond the store walls. How do they do that? It's not door to door ground pounding, or cold-calling the yellow pages. It could be as simple as branding yourself. Pretty soon, your own friends and family ask the "phone guy/girl" of the group about their phone, how can they switch to Verizon, can you bump up my upgrade so I can get a new phone, what's the best deal you can get me. We also have a huge push since last year with our events department. We set up a booth at a events like Home & Garden Show, Boat Shows, RV Shows, State Fairs, etc. It went from a few tables with a cloth draped over them and a few phones on display, to a $100,000 trailer that unfolds into a mobile showroom that can house desks, printers, inventory, even Air Conditioning for our customers on hot or cold days.

The numbers you came up with are pretty accurate. That's a fair guess as to what is made on average per phone.

Sounds like a Commercialized(modified) MLM Business model..

[vzkelli]

I also really appreciate the fact that there's nobody breathing down my neck, ever. There's nobody micromanaging everything I do. Therefore the good reps who stick around are self-motivated, responsible and intelligent, which leads to a pretty good culture. I've made some very good friends here.

I realize all markets are different as far as how things are handled. But I find it kind of ridiculous for someone to think lack of management is a good thing. While I do think micromanaging is unneccessary and belittling, having no one to answer to can be disasterous. Now, I know that in the long run, there are people that can provide some accountability, but in my area, I have not seen it. No one to answer to, means employees are following their own rules and are being relied on to have a straight arrow measure of ethics. Money (ie. 100% commission) is a dangerous thing when you talk about ethics. If doing the right thing, (for instance, customer provided equipment being month to month) means not making money, money talks. I'd hope that people would do the right thing, but I have fixed things time and time again coming out of CSOKI stores where a customer was 1 year into a 2 year contract with customer provided equipment, with no insurance and now have a phone that doesn't work. But, its after the 6th month, so no charge backs. I guess maybe that would be a good strategy hoping that nothing happens within the first 6 months, and then after that, it doesn't matter.

I am not an employee of CSOKI, nor will I ever be. I am in an area saturated by them, (I would say 8 out of 10 stores in the area are CSOKI) and I have seen nothing but shadyness come out of their stores. For instance, I have had 3 customers in the last two months come in with a phone that they were mailed by a CSOKI rep, after a phone call that said that he/she wanted to help them get a free phone. Now, after some investigation, all three of these phones were upgraded before the phone call, and the paperwork provided to the customer said "customer auth" where their signature was supposed to be. These customers were not told anything about the terms and conditions, and 2 of them were not informed that they were signing a contract at all. Now granted, we assume that most people by now know an upgrade or new phone requires a contract and such, but just for the ethics of the situation, and full disclosure purposes...you still should tell them. All of these customers coming into my store wanted to return their phones because they didn't like their Samsung Smooth or Motorola Rival. (EOL phones...a year ago) And then after the fact, I had a woman come in and start SCREAMING at me about a restocking fee...for a phone that was mailed to her and upgraded without her full consent. I'm sorry...3 angry customers multiplies by 10 when you account for the people that they will tell about their poor experience. Sure, big numbers and big paychecks now, but this kind of behavior does nothing but create a bad image for indirects all over. No wonder we get a different kind of attitude from customer service and corp employees when others are left to clean up the messes made.

On a different note, some of which has been said. Moving stores just seems backwards to me as a pretty significant amount of business in sales comes from referrals and repeat business. I don't know about any of you, but if I have to track down where the rep that I bought a phone from 2 years ago is and hopefully still have their business card with their cell phone number on it.... I am going to just find another store to go to. As a commissioned sales job, you would think that you would want your customers to be able to find you and trust that you will be there consistently. If I were 100% commission, I would want loyal customers to guarantee my pay checks. BUT, I guess that is where the shady actions aren't that big of a deal. Your angry customers, along with happy ones may not be able to find you when they need you. If you are moving all over the place to different stores, the ethics involved in building a loyal customer base, can go out the window if you so choose.

I will say, I have read that recently they have changed their business plan, and every one of their employees had to reapply for their jobs and actually be employed by the company, rather than being incorporated. I have also heard directly from a VZW account manager that they have no HR department?? Seriously? For a company as big as they are, you would think that would be a huge legal liability!

I have not heard anything about the company that can outweigh all of the BS that I have seen. $60 k or not, I can make that at my job without taking advantage of people.

[vzwinagent]

I also heard from our account manager that CSOKI was required to change their structure and legally have employees now.

[ticketsmcp]

i already said that. and not all of us can make 60k elsewhere.

[ItnStln]

I believe they opened a new store outside of Annapolis, MD. How do I go about applying for a position?

[AT&T Snatcher]

I would start by calling the store and finding out who the hiring person works and get their name and number. If you haven't done so already, you might want to visit the store and secret shop them, if you haven't already, and see how you might fit in.

[atsnyder]

As a former Verizon Wireless Indirect Account Manager, I can testify that the Cellular Sales business model was not "illegal" but innovative. They were NOT forced to change their business model. If avoiding taxes is their game, I don't think they would have a staff of almost 500 employees prior to switching their sales force to an employee model as well. They are doing this in order to provide benefits and even better support to their sales staff. Yes, they also have an HR department. They've had one for years!
During the five years I worked for Verizon, I worked directly with the owner of Cellular Sales and numerous Regional Directors. I found them to be ethical, honest and passionate about taking care of their customers and their sales force. As a matter of fact, I left Verizon and eventually went to work for Cellular Sales as small business owner. I loved my time on the sales floor. I made a great living and the employees, sales reps and few managers were and are still professional and easy to work with. To the other agents on this thread, I would encourage you to find out who the Cellular Sales Regional Directors are in your area and let them know about any customer complaints. We see direct Verizon Wireless customers and other agent customers in our stores everyday. We don't bash anyone affiliated with Verizon even when the customers do. We recognize the value in respecting our competitors and supporting the wireless industry. We are not perfect and if you have a problem with any reps or store locations please reach out. You can go to cellularsales.com enter the closest location near you, call and ask for the name and number of the Regional Director. Regardless, I hope we can all do a better job representing the wireless industry with class and help customers have the best possible experience. If you are interested in an opportunity with Cellular Sales, visit joincellularsales.com Thanks!

[vzwinagent]

I'm not sure any of us would benefit from Cellular Sales being told about a bad experience at their store. It might sound bad but us other independent dealers benefit from places like that sucking. We want them to keep sucking so we get their customers.

[JP Whoregan]

As a former Verizon Wireless Indirect Account Manager, I can testify that the Cellular Sales business model was not "illegal" but innovative. They were NOT forced to change their business model. If avoiding taxes is their game, I don't think they would have a staff of almost 500 employees prior to switching their sales force to an employee model as well. They are doing this in order to provide benefits and even better support to their sales staff. Yes, they also have an HR department. They've had one for years!
During the five years I worked for Verizon, I worked directly with the owner of Cellular Sales and numerous Regional Directors. I found them to be ethical, honest and passionate about taking care of their customers and their sales force. As a matter of fact, I left Verizon and eventually went to work for Cellular Sales as small business owner. I loved my time on the sales floor. I made a great living and the employees, sales reps and few managers were and are still professional and easy to work with. To the other agents on this thread, I would encourage you to find out who the Cellular Sales Regional Directors are in your area and let them know about any customer complaints. We see direct Verizon Wireless customers and other agent customers in our stores everyday. We don't bash anyone affiliated with Verizon even when the customers do. We recognize the value in respecting our competitors and supporting the wireless industry. We are not perfect and if you have a problem with any reps or store locations please reach out. You can go to cellularsales.com enter the closest location near you, call and ask for the name and number of the Regional Director. Regardless, I hope we can all do a better job representing the wireless industry with class and help customers have the best possible experience. If you are interested in an opportunity with Cellular Sales, visit joincellularsales.com Thanks!

THIS ADVERTISEMENT brought to you in part by atsnyder and Cellular Sales of Cocksville!!!


Sorry dude, but from the customer experiences I've had to diffuse since THESE CLOWNS came to my town, I have to respectfully submit that your entire post is either a troll, one from the company, or one from a current employee. I just had a customer TODAY who told me he went to the local Cellular Sales of Cocksville store in my neighborhood with a malfunctioning LG Revolution he bought from THEIR STORE (wouldn't charge, continuous rebooting), and they pretty much told him he was screwed since he had no upgrades on his account. When he finally found his way into my store, I called warranty for him, got his phone replaced, and he was thrilled with the service we gave him. He told me, "that store up the road told me I was pretty much screwed, can you guys help me?"

After I was done helping him, he said, "I am stationed at the Air Force Base around here, I will tell all of my friends about your store, thank you so much!"

I've had NO PROBLEMS OR ISSUES with ANY of the competitor agents in my area (Flexicom, Moorehead, etc) EXCEPT FOR Cellular Sales of Cocksville. People are getting SCREWED, lied to, and deceived by them, and Verizon chooses to turn a blind eye because their numbers satiate. Sorry, but CSOKI SUCKS. End of story. I wish NO ill will against any other agent.

[VZWINDIRECTGUY]

Actually I have had similar issues with Moorehead, customers coming in with things you would never believe. They even go as far as trying to get you in trouble by lying to the customer and making crazy accusations about your store. I have had it happen more than once where a customer will come in wanting a refund because of some crazy claim made by a moorehead dealer.

[vzwinagent]

I agree about Moorehead. People have had horrible experiences.

[zapperdaddy]

You are all missing the point. The real problem is with the type of indirect distribution channel VZW is creating. Moorehead, CSOK, Wireless Zone, ZCom (RIP) - all rely heavily on a franchise or sub-agent model. This means that VZW is giving up control in a channel that they don't trust to begin with. And with more hands grabbing at the pie (Master Agent taking their cut off the top) that leaves even less money at the point of sale for well trained salespeople, fair pricing, customer service, etc. I know many agents who were forced to sign with Moorehead at the threat of losing their VZW contract altogether, who are now ready to go under. And these were agents that ran a good business and were profitable. The business model doesn't work, but VZW doesn't get it. All they are doing is searching for the next great dealer. In our market, Go Wireless was the savior 3 years ago. Then it was A Wireless. Now CSOK. Go and A Wireless are closing stores, Wireless Zone is not being allowed to expand, ZCom had their contract canceled, and now CSOK is being forced to change a business model that the whole world knew was illegal. It was one thing when they were operating down south and under the radar. Now that they are the favored child and expanding rapidly, too many people are taking a critical look at what they do and they are being forced to change. Don't be too surprised if their is a penalty assessed for unpaid employee taxes. Then who will be the favored child?

[VZWINDIRECTGUY]

I do agree that verizon does the whole flavor of the week agent thing, but it never lasts. Its not just about master agents, the honest truth is the stores that are run the best are the ones that the actual owner of the store works in, that is just the truth. Whether you franchise your stores or hire employees they will never be run as well. No one is going to be as committed to the community and the longevity of the location as the store owner who works in it.