America Needs To Get Back To Making Goods, Not Repairing Overseas Junk

Well, it looks like we will be waiting for health-care reform for awhile now. Since the people have let it be known that JOBS are the priority, the administration and our Representatives have changed tactics.

I think it’s important that we understand, the best way to get people back to work, is to ensure that jobs stop leaving the U.S.  In my profession as a Business Development Specialist, I travel around the state talking to various companies. Many of these organizations have sent work overseas to China or Indonesia. Some of it is for initial manufacturing and some for further processing of goods. One thing that I hear often, is that the quality sucks and improvements must be made once the goods return here. Some companies have set up entire processing areas just to fix the problems coming back.

What I don’t understand is, why they continue to send the work out, knowing what to expect on the return. I think that the low cost of manufacturing overseas is just part of the problem. When we export goods to other countries, we pay taxes and tariffs that drive up the price of the finished product to be sold overseas. That makes our goods much less competitive. When other countries import goods to the U.S.,we make it easy for them by not charging those same taxes and tariffs and therefore Chinese goods have a better price point then American made products.

Having trade relations with numerous countries may be good when considering a diversity of products available to our consumers, but do we really need to have junk flooding the market, which, in many cases is unsafe or unhealthy for the consumer.

What we need to do is make laws that encourage American products to be designed and produced right here in the U.S. Give businesses reasonable tax breaks and incentives to keep jobs at home. Stop overtaxing companies that do well and bring jobs home to the U.S. Make it as attractive as possible to do business here and maybe other countries will start producing here in the U.S., in order to ease distribution and get true quality products.

All I’ve heard lately is that we need to put more money into infrastructure like bridges, buildings and now rail systems. Well from what I’ve seen, the people who get theses contracts, at least here in South Carolina, are using the same people they already had on the employment roles and if they don’t have enough they sub-contract. In reality, there are no new jobs, just some folks getting more hours on the jobs they already had.

We need American to get back to making things, before we become a strictly service nation, where we do nothing but repair products from overseas.

Don’t Panic, There is Always the Gift Card for Christmas

Like many of you, I have taken a second job to help make ends meet. This one is in retail sales, at Sears in the home improvement section, which covers tools, lawn and garden and fitness equipment. It’s really pretty interesting and I’m actually having fun interacting with the customers and helping them with their purchases.

Most of the men, who come to buy for their significant others, seem to be heading for the fitness equipment. They are buying ellipticals and treadmills as well as workout mats and lightweight dumbbells. I wonder if it’s what their wives and girlfriends asked for or is it really a hint from the purchaser?  Men buying for men is fascinating too. They seem to know what their dad, father-in-law, brother or buddy wants or needs but they don’t want the receiver to have more than the purchaser. In a lot of cases they buy two so they can have one as well, and that way they are always ahead in the ” I have that” department.

Major purchases for male relatives, such as compressors, blowers and 206 piece tool sets, seem to be carefully planned in case they need to borrow them in the future.

The ladies depend a lot on the salesman for advice especially in the tool department.  However, I think the majority ask for something they recently saw on TV or heard their mates mention while browsing the sales fliers in the newspaper. A lot of women come in and get advice and options and then leave with the information, only to return later with a definite purchase in mind.

I like helping the members of both sexes who seem totally confused about what to get. Usually, I’ll ask what the person they are buying for does in their spare time. If they are really handy and seem to have every tool in existence, I will lead them to the newest tool on the market which at this time is the automatic, wireless nailer, the new Craftsmen muti-tool or the Ready Wrench, which is really 16 sockets on one tool.

One thing I’ve noticed, as it gets closer to Christmas, is that we are selling more and more gifts cards, but only women seem to buy them. Some seem to be afraid of buying a tool  that the giftee already has or doesn’t want, while others think you can’t go wrong with a gift card. In some cases they simply waited too long and the item they really wanted is no longer available, so they get a gift card instead.

Although I think gift cards are a great idea, I don’t like the ones that limit you to a certain store. If you are going to give a gift card make sure it’s of the Visa or Mastercard variety that lets you use it anywhere. On the other hand, you can always give cash.

If you want to buy me something, just get a tool. I don’t care what kind of tool, even if there is only a small chance I’ll ever use it. At least if I do need it, I’ll have it. It doesn’t matter that I already have a particular tool, you can always use a second one.

Well time to go. I have to finish my Christmas shopping for my wife. It’s easy for me to shop for my wife. I just listen to all the hints she drops throughout the year and then wait until a couple of days before the event, such as birthday, anniversary or Christmas, and then go and get it. I wait until a couple of days before just in case she changes her mind and suddenly wants something she just saw on TV or the Internet.

Please don’t forget, the real reason for Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Jesus and not just to give and receive gifts. Well, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year

Use Mystery Shoppers to Monitor Government Employees

Mystery shoppers are a good way for companies to keep check on their employees to see if they are providing good service. It is especially effective if the employees know that the company uses “Mystery Shoppers” and that they may show up at any time. Naturally, not knowing who the mystery shoppers are, most employees will be more aware of how they treat customers. However, you will always have some who will continue to have bad attitudes and perform badly anyway and you probably don’t want them there in the first place.

Sometimes it amazes me that some people are able to keep customer service jobs. Their attitudes and obvious dislike for their positions make the entire store undesirable, yet they are there time after time. Personally, I think that if you fired a random employee at least once a quarter, it would get the attention of all the others and you would have a better overall team. I digress.

I think most of you will agree that the worst customer service representatives seem to work for the government, local and federal. Maybe we should use mystery shoppers to ascertain the effectiveness of customer service in various offices. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) comes to mind immediately. Most of the employees there have been there for years, some since the invention of the automobile, and they don’t even care if you are there or not. Many of them act as if you are lucky they came in to serve you today.

So why not have mystery shoppers to grade the employee and a point system for keeping their job.  As long as they maintain a certain number of points, in a given period, they can keep working. However, if due to valid complaints and mystery shopper ratings, they go below the needed points, then they are fired and someone else can get employment. I think we would see a definite improvement in customer service. After a one (1) year test program we could expand it to other government agencies.

If you’d like to learn about being a Mystery Shopper, go to my site www.mystery-shop.TellMeAboutThat.com.