Letters from Chichvarkin, or HR in the era of financial problems. From letters from Evgeny Chichvarkin to Euroset employees
BRANCH "NORTH-WEST"
INFORMATION LETTER
Saint Petersburg
This letter must be posted from June 13 to June 18, 2006 in all back rooms and on all notice boards in all countries where the Company operates.
Some leaders, apparently out of Komsomol habit or having watched enough television, misunderstand the power over people that the Company gave them. A few days ago, Art. seller "Ivanovo - 4" Levko Polina. At their point it was +32 and there was no air conditioning. Since air conditioners are a sore point every spring, if you remember the letter, it was promised to turn off the air conditioners in the offices of the branch whose administration did not take care of the points.
The reaction was harsh and immediate. The management of the ACS and the branch were a bit of a pain. The air conditioner was installed within 3-4 days. But on June 7, 2006, Polina Levko was fired for complete ignorance of the services and tariff plans operator "Megafon" and for failure to recertify. The first thought that came to mind was that management is getting rid of people who can vote. To my great surprise, the information letter contained several dozen more fines, including Levko. Levko was called by me to Moscow for certification, which she successfully passed and if I repeat the words of the employee verbatim training center: “There was nothing to worry about.” Fine of 50 USD. e., imposed on Levko will be paid by Khrustalev D., Zhdanov O., Egorova E., Fofanova E. ($50 each). Moreover: for formalism and complete misunderstanding of the principles of the company's work, Balandin A., Zhdanov O., Egorova E., Fofanova E. become interns for a period of 1 month, with passing exams to the employee of the training center indicated by me. The manager of the Regional Center branch, Khrustalev D., for real merit in raising the branch, remains to perform his duties with a black mark until the end of the summer, with the impossibility of receiving bonuses and bonuses (with a black mark) until the end of the summer. Levko P. is restored as a senior salesman at “Ivanovo - 4”, Balandin A. can remain a salesman at Ivanovo, or go as a senior salesman to another point if desired.
Conclusion: freedom of speech in a company is an achievement and an indisputable liberal value, a portal was created for this, my email and mobile phone exist for this. If somewhere there is a ban on accessing the portal under threat of dismissal, I want to know about it, the reaction will be the same, if not worse.
You need to be able to answer everyone for your screw-ups, including management. All formalists, martinets, thieves, lazy people and other assholes will sooner or later suffer a bitter fate. Levko Polina cannot be removed from work or transferred to another point for 2 years, unless there is her desire. In response to promises to bring the store and communication with people to perfect condition.
P.S. Attention managers: personal example is an ideal means of managing people. If such situations arise after June 08, I will expel all retail management, up to and including the branch manager.
E. Chichvarkin
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The crisis is forcing many managers to master a new genre - letters to employees. You can learn how to make a letter to employees intelligible from the former co-owner of Euroset, Evgeny Chichvarkin - it’s unlikely that anyone else addressed such a vivid message to his subordinates
Photo by ITAR-TASS
Moscow. December 9. IFX.RU - How to build internal corporate communications in difficult times of crisis? Many managers are forced by difficult business conditions to master a new genre - letters to employees. They call for increased operational efficiency and warn about the possible negative consequences of the financial crisis for the company and its employees.
A veteran of the epistolary genre, chairman of the board of directors and former co-owner of Euroset, Evgeny Chichvarkin, can tell you a lot about how to make a letter to employees understandable and intelligible. The latest example of his work is worthy of inclusion in textbooks on corporate communications. It is unlikely that anyone else addressed such a bright letter of anti-crisis happiness to his subordinates.
THERE WILL BE NO NEW YEAR. It is this phrase that opens the colorfully designed New Year’s letter sent to Euroset employees on behalf of Chichvarkin. In particular, lazy people will lose their favorite holiday, “because you can’t even buy a Bush ham with the lazy people’s salary, because there is no Bush anymore,” and boors, “because now, thank the eggs, you can’t hire boors." There will be nothing to celebrate for the former employees of the office, “who did not produce anything,” and for the competitors, “since our prices will be 10 rubles less, even if there is a deep minus.” “Because we need money,” explains briefly pricing policy"Euroset" Chichvarkin.
Holders bad habits also risk meeting New Year in a sad mood. “To all managers! If it seems to you that there is no one else to kick out, look who is smoking near the entrance,” the appeal says. Chichvarkin also warns that if landlords do not significantly reduce rates, the number of salons will be reduced “by 1000, or even 1500.” “And several thousand ineffective employees will end up on the street,” he adds.
"The best bonus based on the results of 2008 - workplace for 2009!”, states Chichvarkin gloomily.
The author emphasizes that in these difficult times it is necessary to pay as much attention as possible to customer service. “Customer love is the real hard currency and the only value,” says the letter, a copy of which is available to IFX.RU.
"MANY SEEM that during a crisis, buyers are not interested in anything other than the price. That you can fulfill your dream and, with your gray face at the floor, be rude, mumble and mutter. This is a BIG MISCONCEPTION. Management will react very sharply, INADAPTERATELY and EVILLY to a violation of service policies (spelling and style preserved - IFX),” warns the chairman of the company’s board of directors.
And for those who try to cheat, Euroset threatens to arrange unpleasant communication with law enforcement agencies. “Whoever commits Fraud (draws up contracts (for connection to a particular cellular operator - IFX) for non-existent persons) will at least be kicked out, the money will be taken out of the last salary, and the materials for the fraud case will be handed over to the most evil policemen with a request to bring him to legal decision," the text of the letter says.
One of the most memorable visual images of Chichvarkin’s writing is a couple of medieval (apparently) lumpen people wrapped in rags, sadly wandering along the road. The picture calls on a Euroset employee to solve a simple dilemma, couched in an obscene couplet: “Either ... (an idiom that can be expressed as “work hard” - IFX), or ... (“leave immediately”).”
The actively promoted opinion that prices for mobile phones in Euroset stores are lower than those of competitors is for some reason not disputed by anyone. In fact, the market has stabilized long ago, and manufacturers work with all networks on the same terms. Competition rules force other networks to set prices no higher than Euroset. Despite its shocking image, Evgeny Chichvarkin’s company has become a recognized leader in the mobile retail market. And this despite frankly weak service. What is the phenomenon of success of a company operating on the “sell and forget” principle?
Last year’s August purges of the Ministry of Internal Affairs seemingly “whitened” supplies mobile phones to Russia. Representatives of Euroset say that, according to their estimates, there are currently no more than 20% of “gray” handsets on the market. But there are still many small companies, with a staff of 3–4 people who import mobile phones and sell them wholesale on the domestic market. An employee of one of these structures anonymously made it clear that all the “gray” schemes for transporting mobile phones across the border remained the same.
Ineradicable grayness
“Several heads at the Vyborg customs were removed, but new ones took their place. Customs officers will always take bribes. If not for this, companies like ours would not survive at all. All our small suppliers of “grey phones” have worked and continue to work. According to my estimates, the share of such pipes on the market is from 25% to 40%. Certainly, large companies, including Euroset, have to make official “white” purchases, but selling only “white” phones is simply unprofitable,” says our interlocutor. The company employee responsible for purchasing will always try to buy devices on the domestic market at a lower price than from the manufacturer. With this scheme, according to the source, on some models you can earn $100 - 150 more from each mobile phone compared to legal sales schemes. "Euroset, by the way, is also our client - it buys phones from us through a subsidiary," our interlocutor sums up.
The temptation to buy so-called operator phones is still great; foreign mobile operators can sell devices for about 10 euros to attract new subscribers. Dmitry (he asked not to indicate his last name) worked for more than six years in a small company that imported “gray” phones into the country and reflashed them in order to then sell them to large wholesalers. Not long ago, he decided to change his field of activity and got a job in a company that supplies equipment for computer networks, but his friends still import operator phones and unblock them themselves. Such devices are brought in batches from several hundred to 2000 - 3000 pieces. “We used to transport devices from the UK, United Arab Emirates, Europe. There was a supply channel through Belarus, but the key person from customs was imprisoned, but other partners remained. Now “grey” phones are mainly going to the regions,” notes Dmitry.
There is also another “gray” import scheme: large retailers simply send their representatives directly to factories in China, where they can buy a batch of devices that exactly replicate the models of leading manufacturers. And here we're talking about already about batches of counterfeits of several tens, or even hundreds of thousands of pieces.
“I worked at Euroset for a long time,” a former office employee, a retail curator at the company, shared with Ko. – A fairly large proportion of phones sold in showrooms were “gray”. Sometimes there were even devices on display windows with logos of European operators and Chinese characters on the body. Now everything is not so obvious, but just look at the phones encrusted with Swarovski crystals - they are not certified. After the scandal with Vertu, Euroset offered Mobiado devices with a wooden case, which are also not certified, as an exclusive product.”
Selected at random, the Euroset salon at the Rimskaya metro station did not disappoint: there was a Sony Ericsson K790i on display. After studying the device and packaging, it turned out that the internal IMEI (unique identification code) of the phone displayed when calling the *#06# command did not match what was indicated on the box. This is a sure sign of a “gray” device. Igor Kozlyakovsky – product manager Sony Ericsson explained that the “gray” ones are usually the most popular, popular models. In this case, the Sony Ericsson K790i, a rare model that is in demand, turned out to be counterfeit.
Problems with gray phones arise soon after their purchase. But it turns out to be almost impossible to return money for a problem mobile phone. Even those heroes who are able to stand in line at the service center rarely achieve significant results, simply because the “gray” device often turns out to be beyond repair.
One of the Euroset customers complains that she had to take her phone in for repair twice: the mobile phone turned off spontaneously. Both times the device took 30 days to repair. Each time after repair it was given to the client with the same problems. The company's service center refused to issue a conclusion that the phone needed to be returned and offered to repair it again. The receiving manager expressed sympathy for the buyer and recommended that she simply sell the handset at half price via the Internet. According to him, other methods will not give results.
The company’s service center is ready to accept the phone for repair “until the spare parts run out,” but not to fix the breakdown. Another example is from our colleague, who bought a Siemens SL 75 phone from Euroset in February 2006. Two months later, the buttons on the device failed, dialing any number turned out to be practically impossible or required a lot of time and diligence - pressing ten times on the same number I don't have enough patience button. A day after the clamshell was repaired at the Siemens service showroom, where Euroset managers recommended contacting us, the SL 75’s liquid crystal display stopped working. Another fix, although it eliminated this drawback, however, gave rise to a new problem - a greenish spot appeared in the lower right corner of the screen. Only after the fourth examination of the device (the repair procedure took about two months - during this time the SL 75 fell in price by about 30%), the functions of the tube were restored.
Consumer flashing
Somehow Euroset as New Year's gift agreed to accept back phones to its customers that for some reason the customers wanted to return. One of the authors of this material witnessed how a huge queue lined up at a salon in Tsaritsyn, reminiscent of long-forgotten times of shortages. But people stood for hours not at all to buy something, they wanted to return their phones to Euroset. “There is an internal rule - not to accept goods back under any pretext,” says a former senior salesman at Euroset. – This is especially true for expensive purchases. When returning, the seller will be forced to fill out a lot of internal documents and also risk paying a fine.”
According to the Interregional public organization Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights " Public control", half of all complaints to them occur regarding mobile phones and other digital equipment. Moreover, almost every second device needs to be repaired or replaced. The overwhelming number of complaints, says the boss legal department OZPP “Public Control” Pavel Morozov, addressed to Euroset, Eldorado and Betalink. One of the main problems is that authorized service centers (SC) of manufacturers refuse to accept “gray” devices. The number of such phones, says Morozov, has decreased, but there are still many of them. When selling, retailers often do not show lists of authorized service centers, offering to accept the guarantee of their own service centers, advertising the quality of service in every possible way. Retailer service centers, according to Pavel Morozov, of course hide the “gray” origin of the phones, using a number of tricks that violate consumer rights: they do not indicate repair periods; exceed the maximum period allowed by law of 20 days; do not provide a similar device for the duration of repair; They carry out poor-quality repairs, after which the phone very quickly fails again. The breakdown is often attributed to improper handling of the device, and managers try to define the breakdown as a non-warranty event and demand money for repairs. In addition, craftsmen often perform flashing software instead of the necessary replacement of key units, without the consent of the consumer, which is also illegal. According to Morozov, managers of network service centers often say that they take the device for examination, but only independent expert centers have the right to conduct it and only for money. The inspection carried out by specialists from the same SC is not an examination. It is difficult to make claims for repairs under the law “On Protection of Consumer Rights” in such cases, since warranty repair free, and to demand compensation, you need to start from the cost of the service. Pavel Morozov recommends that consumers, in case of problems with a purchased device, submit it for repair only through the seller. Moreover, it is imperative to require the drawing up of an act describing all the characteristics and appearance phone indicating the absence of external damage, traces of moisture, unauthorized opening, etc. Only in this case will you protect yourself from unfounded accusations of misuse. To avoid encountering such service problems, it is best to immediately demand a replacement of the device or a refund.
The price of fatigue
The policy of companies operating on the “sell and forget” principle is quite understandable - organizing normal service is an expensive and complex matter. It’s easier and much cheaper to create the appearance of caring about customers. “Ko” was provided with the 20 most striking (out of 570) reviews from “mystery shoppers” from the independent agency Nextep about the level of service in Euroset salons. This study was conducted in the fall. Of the 20 reviews studied, 7 were negative, 3 positive and 10 neutral. It is significant that “mystery shoppers” often noted the fatigue of Euroset salespeople.
Fatigue is the price that Euroset pays for market leadership. Most employees, both current and those who have left the company, say that working there is very difficult: the corporate pressure is too much. A person feels like a cog in a large conveyor belt, working hard. It is interesting that former employees of Euroset, even long after their dismissal, prefer not to give their names, citing the company’s serious security service.
Euroset, of course, is trying to look attractive in the eyes of newly hired employees. Probably because there are fewer and fewer “soldiers” willing to work for little money - there are plenty of scary stories about working at Euroset, and the new generation has not yet grown up. The company is inundated with lawsuits from former employees. The management does not stand on ceremony with them. In February this year, the entire network, which employs about 30,000 people, was distributed list of employees who most actively use the Internet for personal purposes. With photographs, full names, positions held and sites they frequently visit. Among them were girls who were accused of actively viewing porn resources. I wonder if when collecting these statistics, they took into account the fact that local computers could be infected with worm viruses that automatically generate porn traffic? In any case, such treatment can lead to psychological trauma for life, not to mention “good” fame...
The St. Petersburg network Ultra, recently absorbed by Euroset, is experiencing the consequences of a change in leadership. “Many workers simply left immediately without waiting for reforms; some are being removed now, especially from key positions,” says an employee of Ultra’s partner company. – One of the Ultra managers was sent to work from St. Petersburg to Ufa, it seems that the person simply had no choice. Of course, there is always a choice, he could write a letter of resignation according to at will, but quite difficult, having invested a lot of effort and spent more than one year on professional development, just take it and give up everything.”
“Often, layoffs of an entire department occur, along with the manager, if the plan is not fulfilled,” says former manager network development department. – I experienced three such purges: almost all employees of the development department were fired, including the vice president. I remained in my position only because I fulfilled personal plan– opened two salons a month. When this became physically impossible, I changed organizations.”
“Every employee of the company wakes up with the thought of whether he will be fired that day or not. The head of Euroset, Evgeny Chichvarkin, personally visits showrooms and checks the quality of work of sellers, the former coordinator shared with Ko retail sales. – At first glance, this looks like caring about customers. But in fact it turns out to be the opposite. Haunted salespeople rush between the instructions “everything for the client” and internal rules - do not accept sold goods by any means. It is necessary to sell those brands for which an “amnesty” has been declared at this time, ignoring the products of “anathematized” manufacturers.”
On the blog of a person under the nickname mrak_ you can find a recent story about how the father of a family tried to buy his daughter a Nokia phone of a certain model from Euroset. For half an hour he was told about the non-existent disadvantages of this tube and frequent cases of defects from the manufacturer. As a result, the man bought this phone in a nearby store of another network.
The customer-oriented service of high-tech goods that Evgeny Chichvarkin talks about often turns into a banal “pushing of chebureks” (to paraphrase the advertising slogan of Euroset): you never know what’s inside - high-quality meat or something else... Sellers of “chebureks” are trained and trained to sell exactly what their boss needs. The methods of influence are simple: surprise raids on retail outlets, inspections, fines, dismissals. “Once Chichvarkin launched a stapler at the head of a salon salesman in Pyaterochka, who was not paying attention to the visitors and was so tired that he did not even notice his appearance,” recalls an employee who witnessed one such raid by high-ranking officials. – Having issued an order, Chichvarkin personally verifies its execution. Once I used a ruler to measure the distance between telephones in the window, if it was more than 10 cm (for example, 13 cm), I fined all the store employees.”
The role of Evgeny Chichvarkin, who has been nurturing the image of a tough but fair boss for many years, is generally indicative. It was he who initially relied on humor “below the belt” and strong words, promoting the advertising image of the company to the masses. How the girls blushed in embarrassment when they saw the catchphrase “the prices are just wow” on mugs or T-shirts. But market analysts for the most part reacted favorably to this advertising innovation. For some reason, no one remembered the simple truth: in polite society they don’t express themselves like that.
Chichvarkin, speaking in his language, “gave up on decency” for the sake of the prosperity of his native company. Business is a jungle where the fittest survive. His letters for internal use, which were leaked online - and it doesn’t matter whether their author was Evgeny himself or the fruit of the collective mind of his subordinates - fueled the “fair image” of the leader in the eyes of the public and in the subordinate team. For those who are not familiar with the work of the head of the company, here are a few characteristic excerpts: “Starting May 11, we will drench everyone with advertising. This is the peak of activity. When competitors see the word “Euroset”, they must understand that they are fucked! Another quote, this time from a letter that expressed Euroset’s tense relationship with Samsung: “And the worst thing: since September 1, not a single employee in the company has left Samsung phone for personal use. Everything can be sold through retail network like a used one and take all the money for yourself. This is a matter of principle. This is a test of loyalty. If you don’t like it, wow... But from the first of September, Samsung will fly into the wall, and proud admirers of the Labor Code will go out the door.”
The figurative style of these letters, according to psychologists, quite clearly reveals the portrait of the chairman of the board of directors of Euroset. “A young optimistic person, a player by nature, with well-developed imaginative thinking. He values his personal time highly, and he constantly lacks it. We can say that he lives in constant time pressure,” says psychologist Elena Yankovaya. According to her, Chichvarkin is purposeful, has a general idea of what he wants to achieve, but he shies away from drawing up a plan on paper. “He doesn’t like to write,” continues Yankovaya. – Judging by the letters, it is difficult for him to clearly and clearly formulate thoughts on paper, translating them into direct instructions. Employees must catch everything on the fly, otherwise they are relegated to the category of mentally disabled.”
According to the psychologist, Chichvarkin is educated and familiar with the basic techniques of marketing and management, but from the entire course he took away two basic principles: “carrot and stick” and “divide and conquer.” He applies the latter as own employees, and to competitors. In his work he often relies on his own life experience, not taking into account the fact that each person has his own. He doesn’t like to delve into little things and details... He just feels sorry for wasting his precious time on this.
Doctor medical sciences, member of the International Association of Emergency Psychiatry Mikhail Vinogradov, in turn, notes that the letters were most likely prepared by several people. But the task of presentation style, manner of communication with subordinates, and “okay” for profanity was set by Chichvarkin himself. Vinogradov classifies him as a rude, primitively impudent individual who disregards norms. “A kind of cave type who suddenly emerged from the darkness of centuries. A short excursion into history. Since the time of Peter the Russian merchants have been clearly divided into two directions. The first was represented by boors, rude people, impudent and arrogant types who immediately seized the main positions and quickly became rich. A bright representative of this cohort is Demidov. The second direction emerged only a century and a half later - from people who think, have an analytical mindset, striving for a high culture of production, communication and to improve their own personality. Ryabushinsky, Mamontov, Tretyakov, Morozov and many others among them. It was thanks to them that boorish merchants went down in history,” notes the psychologist. However, the analysis of Evgeny Chichvarkin’s letters, according to Vinogradov, takes us back to the time of Peter: with swearing, poking, the formation of internal denunciation, snitching, authoritarianism bordering on dictatorship. “A down-to-earth communication style also shapes a down-to-earth work style. Rudeness always breeds only rudeness. At all levels within the team and with consumers of services,” sums up Vinogradov.
Nevertheless, the company, despite the “non-print marketing”, found its quite numerous buyer. Euroset knows very well who their clients are and how to attract them. “Low” prices, humor below the belt, promotions with appropriate attitude towards customers: for example, strip naked in public and get a phone for free. Pensioners who have the opportunity to attend exhibitions for free also love the company - they are attracted by the free yellow buckets, basins and rubber boots which are so useful on the farm.
The strategy of the owners of Euroset looks obvious: maximum profit by any means necessary. The success of the leader in the mobile retail market turns out to be simple - conditionally low prices, harsh treatment of staff and minimal service. Maybe in a century and a half it will be different.
