Is Nancy's Closing for Good as Merrill Takes Over PC Products?

[Pampered Laura]

I want that job... to get paid to monitor Pampered Chef talk. How cool would that be? LOL

 

[jasonmva]

I could probably give you a referral...maybe 3

 

[Pampered Laura]

Sweet! Who do I need to shmooze?!?!

 

[GeorgiaPeach]

I emailed her and told her that I hoped that she would continue to sell to us the items that don't have the PC logo on them. Most of which are the postcards and most of the stickers, which is what I use.

Hmmmm...I did not even think about this possibility. I was just as upset as you all when I read the email. I've been with PC for 8 years and have loved talking to and seeing Nancy at conference. SO sweet and down to earth! She brings her family to help her man the booth each year, met her Mom one year

I sincerely hope that she decides to continue selling her stuff with PC references removed! I have purchased stickers from a company that sells generic kitchen, candle, basket, etc stuff. Nancy could do this and not break any PC rules.

 

[pamperedgirl3]

I want that job... to get paid to monitor Pampered Chef talk. How cool would that be? LOL

I was just thinking that! I'd love to get paid to sit around & read these messages every day--considering I do that already & don't get paid!

 

[supergirljennie]

I was just thinking that! I'd love to get paid to sit around & read these messages every day--considering I do that already & don't get paid!

You probably wouldn't be allowed to talk though.

 

[whiteyteresa]

I just checked out Nancy's website again to just take a look

If we buy off of Sticking to business, Booster, Express Yourself, we can buy off of her. 10 out of 16 labels doesn't have PC logo, the postcards with the logo on it - she could always remove it and leave it blank and before her contract ends come out with a stamper that would fit that area on her postcards so that when we need them, we could just stamp the PC stamp and then that's it.

I think that we need to contact Nancy- through e-mail - and let her know our ideas on how we can still order from her and for her not to stop selling, I am going to miss her.

Let's show Nancy a lot of support at this time and maybe she will stay in business

What do you all think?

Let's brainstorm and give suggestions here

I don't want to lose this great website (Nancy's Artwork that is).

~

 

[jenniferknapp]

I was just thinking that! I'd love to get paid to sit around & read these messages every day--considering I do that already & don't get paid!

Me too, well umm I do get paid all day to sit here....but instead of sitting on here I am supposed to be getting my work done!

 

[hoosierchef]

. She was really sweet and listened to my concerns (and some of the concerns that you guys have expressed here) and assured me that it was not an easy thing, and that there's more to it than just that.

From what I got from the conversation, I think they have marketing and business ideas to see to, and that it's really not a personal thing between the Home Office and Nancy herself...it's just "time" to move on, I guess.

Sorry Laura....have to disagree with this one. She's getting paid to smooth things out and to pretend to care what our feelings are. Sure there's more to it, but time and time again.....all you see is Big Business pushing out the little guy!

I say continue the emails and phone calls......

Of course they want it to stop. They realize they've screwed up! Our phone calls and emails are just reminding them of that! We do have a voice and we have a right to express our opinions. We are as much as part of this company as the HO execs!

PS ~ Laura, this is nothing against you personally.....k??

 

[raebates]

I would expect that they would have lurkers....they would be crazy not too....can you imaging all of the laughing from the person whose job it is to sit and read these messages all day? I bet it drives their co-workers nuts! either that or they are in a sound-proof room!

Sound-proof & padded!

 

[dianevill]

I was just thinking that! I'd love to get paid to sit around & read these messages every day--considering I do that already & don't get paid!

Me, too. My husband laughs at me because I'm on here all the time (usually just checking things out - a lurker, but not a PC one , but hitting "new posts" every few minutes -don't want to miss the fun!) My computer's in the kitchen, so every time I pass by, CS is staring me in the face (do they have therapy for that?) My home page USED to be PC. Guess what it is now? LOL.

I'm really bad at shutting down my computer at night, and one morning I got up to check new posts and I had a private message asking me if I was really on at 3 am. Nah, just too lazy!!

 

[pamperedalf]

I'm really bad at shutting down my computer at night, and one morning I got up to check new posts and I had a private message asking me if I was really on at 3 am. Nah, just too lazy!!

I am so glad I am not the only person who does this.

 

[dianevill]

It drives my husband NUTS!

 

[baychef]

eeek. Stop the presses. ....Soo... I'm jumping on the "Productive Train". Getting my thinking cap on to come up with lots of ideas that I want them to share with Merrill to get what we want out of them. Who's with me?

Laura,

I will be with you on that train...I also love Nancy, her business and how well she treats us. I use many of her products but not as many as I used to.

Speaking as an old PC goat...it is a rare occassion that HO makes changes lightly. They always keep our well being in mind. I agree with most everything that has been vented here, but I want to thank Laura for relaying what her conversation with HO was all about. We have to work with HO and Merrill. (ok...stop making the brown nose comments and gestures!!! ) This is truly how I feel.

We can still work with Nancy too. She has a book at her booth every year and takes our suggestions down to help us improve our business. There are several companies out there that depend on direct sales companies to survive but don't have the right to print the PC logo, etc. There are still products without a reference to PC that she can sell. Any direct seller could use some of her products. And if we worked with her, she may still be able to have a decent business.

I still will recommend to my new recruits those different companies out there that work with direct sales consultants including Nancy's Artwork.

HO HAS raised our commissions. It wasn't too many years ago that we earned 20% until we hit $15,000. Then we earned 22% and NOTHING more. It didn't matter if you sold $200 or $4,000 in products...it was no more than 22% until you hit director and on up. In seven years I have seen constant improvement. I have seen major changes, but this is a HUGE company folks!

Change is not easy. (I still use my original wooden crate and have one in the wings for when this one dies)There are still some new products I am struggling to like enough to get excited about, but as I learn more about them and listen to others, 99% of the time, I learn to love them.

Keep talking to HO constructively and things WILL more than likely get better. I miss one item from Town & Country, I will not miss VIP (mainly their owner's attitude I saw at conference last year) and I will miss everything about Nancy and her business but I still plan on seeing what we can do to help her help us.

HO does listen to us, but they have to carefully weigh what they put into action. All I can remember was last year in the product area there was a long continuous white paper with markers available for all of us to write suggestions and ideas on. I remember laughing when I saw someone had written in HUGE letters...Salad spinner. And boy did they get us an awesome salad spinner.

The UPS/FedEx change had me nervous...it has been fine. There are reasons why they have to make these changes. They are there to protect our commissions too because without us, they cease to be.

And Kelly...I do so love your exploding happy faces!!! I will be stealing a copy of them!!

 

[pamperedalf]

It drives my husband NUTS!

My DH keeps pointing out how much money we will save by just shutting down the computer. Ugh I am horrible, I am slowly getting better.

 

[baychef]

Sorry Laura....have to disagree with this one. She's getting paid to smooth things out and to pretend to care what our feelings are. Sure there's more to it, but time and time again.....all you see is Big Business pushing out the little guy!

I say continue the emails and phone calls......

Of course they want it to stop. They realize they've screwed up! Our phone calls and emails are just reminding them of that! We do have a voice and we have a right to express our opinions. We are as much as part of this company as the HO execs!

PS ~ Laura, this is nothing against you personally.....k??

You are right...this person is getting paid to smooth things out, but she is not telling us to stop communicating to them. But what Laura relayed to us is that there is more to it. In my other job, I am a manager. There are decisions that I have had to make that may not make sense to an employee from their prospective, but the decision was made for the good of the entire organization and survival of the business. And also as a manager, when a decision that is unpopular is carried out, I will listen to dissatisfaction for a short time, but then I want INPUT as to how to work with what we have to deal with. The complaining will fall on deaf ears after awhile. That doesn't mean to stop calling or e-mailing...it means give them suggestions on how they can help you.
I hope no one takes each other's comments personally...that is not what we are here for. Thank God we have an place to voice our opinions and to help each other in our businesses.

 

[AJPratt]

Well put, Ann. I am glad that whoever Laura spoke with asked for specific input. I, too, can jump on and complain, but I was also ready with some suggestions. Its tough to make a decision that everyone will be happy with. I have to admit that I know some consultants who have never ordered from Nancy's or just don't care for that style.

 

[Lisa/ChefBear]

Here's what I sentthis is what I sent to HO, I also sent a copy to Nancy.

I don't have all my up-line people, but I've got a couple so I'll do that later, we've got a meeting tonight, I'm sure it'll be the talk of the meeting.

Lisa

I'm devastated about the decision by Pampered Chef not to continue using Nancy’s artwork as a licensed Vendor.

I purchase her products allot and get great comments from my hosts/customers when they get the things I send them and I also the stickers that she has on lots of my catalogs etc. I’ve purchased allot of her stamps and use them in many ways in MY business.

I joined PC as it was a company that has family values and is great to their consultants and customers, and that I can run MY business MY way.

You tell us to promote and recruit based on the Your Business Your Way, but that’s not the truth anymore. You’ve taken allot of those choices away from us!!

I’m in this business to MAKE MONEY for my family, not have to spend a fortune on products to help with my business!!

Well, if you follow through with this action, you will have taken THE ONLY business that provides great quality merchandise for REASONABLE prices away, and in a friendly personal manner. You want us to be personal with our customers; well Nancy’s does that. Nancy’s ALWAYS goes out of her way to help us with our business and gives extras EVERY time you order and she’s fast and her shipping is very reasonable.

I have not ordered from Merrill because their costs are WAY to high in my opinion and also their shipping charges are terrible. I also have heard way to many horror stories from other consultants about problems and delays in getting their products.

You can’t say that Merrill is in any way comparable to Nancy’s with quality or the care she gives to her business. She’s about being a regular person just trying to make a go of it and not a huge corporation like Merrill seems to be.

If you decide to go through with this decision, I will be VERY disappointed, as will MANY others!!

I can’t tell you the number of postcards I’ve received from my director congratulating me on my business and how well I’m doing.

Again, I’m so hoping that when allot of us consultants complain about this decision, that you will listen to us, as you’re taking our business decisions away from us.

Thanking you in advance for your cooperation in this matter,

Lisa McVaugh,
Independent Pampered Chef Consultant #

CC: Nancy’s Artwork

 

[varga11]

I think if you haven't let them know you are not happy then you should. If they truly take us into consideration then they should have been prepared for our feed back on this issue.
I really hope that they spoke to consultants before ending the contract and not just had it be a higher end decision. I doubt it through.
From talking to people at Nancy's and from what someone said about Nancy being sad and hurt I don't know if Nancy would take PC back!

 

[pcchris]

You know, we never did get the "other side of the story" with VIP, think we'll hear Nancy's side? There is 2 sides (at least) to every story...but we dont have a clue to the Nancy's side. I'm certainly not going to jump head first onto the HO bandwagon, and I am upset about losing Nancy. So, I guess I'm trying not to take sides on this. I did order a ton of stuff today from Nancy, so I'm set for a while. I don't like Merrill's stuff, or their prices, so I dont need to order from them. This is my choice. (I still think we should boycott Merrill). DO you think HO will take all the feedback seriously enough to change their minds? I doubt it. All we can do is roll with the changes. We don't have to like it, but see what happens down the road. Sorry for the babbling, and thanks for reading!

 

[Stampaholic1961]

I have never ordered from Merrill & don't really plan to. I emailed them once with a question & never got a response from them. I don't like their prices or their products & don't like the horror stories of people who have ordered from them. I told HO this as well.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I'm just not a "bandwagon" kind of gal.......I'm more of a "let the chips fall where they may" person. I'm not jumping on a bandwagon, when that wagon (Merrill) has up to this point been a disappointment. Why would I all of a sudden want to be positive and excited about a company that has done nothing to earn my loyalty and trust?

I can offer suggestions and specifics to HO about what I would like to see from Merrill - but I'm skeptical about how much good it will do. At this point, I am adopting a "wait and see" attitude, and placing a big order with Nancy so that I don't have to completely change the way that I do business anytime soon. I use her products every single day in my business, and they have been instrumental in any success as a consultant that I have had.

Soooo, although I was extremely excited about earning the $300 conference cash, and thinking I could use it at the Vendors Booths (now VENDOR booth), now I'm thinking I'll probably be spending it on some fun shopping in Chicago! $300 won't get me very far at the Merrill Booth, anyway.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Wow, I don't think it's right to put Nancy out of business either and I really like her products; however, I only like her stickers. I use them on the inside of my host folders. To be honest, I never did like her post cards (from the first day my Director showed them to me at my training). I didn't think they were professional looking and never ordered them.

When I first looked at the Merrill product line I was thrilled! I think they look so professional and modern. I want my hosts to know I run a real business. I have purchased a lot of their products and I LOVE everything I have received. I have also received everything in a timely manner. Some products do take longer because they are custom printed and have to be added to the production line, then printed before sending out!! I just placed an order last week and got my non-custom items in two days!! I like the fact that they don't make me wait for everything until my custom printing is done. I don't think the prices are that bad and they are really good if you purchase in large quantities (a lot of the expense is in the set-up). Believe me though, I understand that is hard to do on a small budget - many months we don't make a lot in commission!

I personally am looking forward to seeing what Merrill has to offer in the future.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I have to admit that I know some consultants who have never ordered from Nancy's or just don't care for that style.

At least, they had that choice. Now, the choice has been made for them. I don't like a selection of A, B and C where A and C aren't available.

 

[Pampered Laura]

I really hope that they spoke to consultants before ending the contract and not just had it be a higher end decision. I doubt it through.

The Home Office has Consultants in place on Committees that they always discuss stuff like this with.

 

[DebbieSAChef]

I agree

At least, they had that choice. Now, the choice has been made for them. I don't like a selection of A, B and C where A and C aren't available.

It's horrible that there will be no more vendor competition. At least we had a choice to pick and choose what we liked from the vendors we had. Now we have to shell out big bucks to get that logo. I would rather stick to making my own or Vistaprint. I know companies think they are doing everyone a favor by going with the new guys who make everything look so professional but some of us do this as a hobby and don't want to spend big bucks on things like postcards, stickers and shirts.

Just my two cents!

Debbie

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Kinda like voting in Cuba.

 

[ivykeep]

I haven't actually made it all the way through the thread (clearly very passionate people on this topic), but as long as Nancy doesn't use the PC logo, she can continue her business and consultants can use her products -- it will just be through word of mouth instead of listed as a text link on the CC.

Just like Stickingtobusiness.com has Pampered Chef items without ever calling them that or using the logo. Lots of Nancy's stuff has logo's like the whisk that is not specific to PC (just kitchen stuff).

If I'm reading the usage of the logo correctly, we can't give it to an outside printer to do as business cards, but we can use it in our own printed items (that is we can buy blank card stock and print our own business cards and post cards).

It can be very devestating for a small company to lose a big sponsored client, but unfortunately that is the way of business. I expect that consultants who started as one of Doris' first consultants had periods of unhappiness (and I presume many of them left over time) -- times change and businesses change.

It also doesn't mean that they can't change back... perhaps PC isn't willing to change their mind right now, but 6 months from now if there are specific problems or complaints that may change.

Merrill may make the prices more reasonable as part of their deal with PC (probably not, but maybe) or we may learn next year at conference that we are getting a brand new vendor. If you are unhappy with your product or services from Merrill, make SURE to let the HO know about the specifics.

 

[ivykeep]

eeek. Stop the presses. I just got a phone call from the Home Office. Apparently the home office has a lurker on the board and/or someone emailed them my post about "who to contact" LOL
She asked me to NOT encourage an email campaign. She did say that personal letters were welcome, and that creative/concrete/constructive ideas were best.

See, I called this morning to lodge a complaint. I asked the best route to take --- email vs. phone. The Solution Center told me "Please don't call, that clogs up our queue"... and that EMAIL was the best route to take in voicing our opinion on this, but apparently that is wrong wrong wrong.

The home office has noted that the field is not happy - but it's not going to change. Here's what we CAN do to move forward and be productive. We need to let the home office know what we DO want, instead of what we don't.

Email through CC>Managing Your Business>Home Office Emails>Licensed Vendors>

They may not have a lurker -- they may simply have noticed that they got your email first and then a bunch of emails extremely similar to yours from cut and pastes of people here and connected the dots Generally, when people use the same words and text simply dilutes the message.

Then again, I expect as popular as the board is, that HO is aware of it and did have someone check it out.

I already sent my own email --

I was disappointed to hear today that Pampered Chef was ending the licensing agreement with Nancy's Artworks since I appreciated having a choice and options on my supplies. Merrill's postcards and business cards are very "slick" but at times the comfort of the "Homey-ness" of Nancy's can work better in certain circumstances and with certain clients. There is definitely a market for Nancy's style since there are a number of non-licensed vendors who offer non-proprietary items that LOTS of consultants use because their prices are MUCH more attractive and affordable. I suspect that these non-licensed vendors (who offer very cute products that have a cute kitchen flavor, but don't feature the logo or specific Pampered Chef words or tagline) will see a rise in their business as consultants seek more affordable alternatives.

While Pampered Chef is a great company to work for, and clearly has the right to project a corporate image, I think limiting our choices will tend to make those consultant who need to watch every penny seek other alternatives to save money.

Personally, I ordered Help Whip Cancer postcards from Merrill and was disappointed with the quality -- you could clearly see print lines on part of the post card and quite frankly, I could have printed them myself for a similar price and quality once shipping was factored in. Merrill is a very large company and does NOT have a good reputation amoung consultants of a number of direct sales companies (like Creative Memories, I have a number of friends who sell CM and intensely dislike Merrill). The non-paper merchandise that Merrill sells is completely overpriced (like the water bottles) and if I wasn't restricted to not being able to use the Pampered Chef logo, I could have a similar item printed locally for about 50% of the cost.

I was also very unhappy with the Ad generator -- they charged $2.99 to generate "unlimited" ads, but despite repeated attempts I was only able to generate 3 (even though I tried to generate many more than that) and those three were not usable at all, so it was a complete waste of time, energy and money.

I'm sure that the products they design will be nice and I'm sure that all of the consultants will get over this jarring change, but it is alarming to hear that someone who has been a loyal supporter of Pampered Chef for 13 years has been let go.

Choice is always important -- Pampered Chef offers the opportunity to order through Office Depot at a "discount" through the Pampered Chef account, however, I have often found that I can purchase the same products cheaper at Staples (or even at Office Depot using my other account because I can use the coupons and get the sale prices that aren't offered through the Pampered Chef Office Depot link). The ability to shop around gives consultants the opportunity to get exactly what they want at the most competitive prices. By limiting us to one licensed merchandise vendor, there is no incentive to keep the prices affordable.

I imagine that you have been inundated with calls and emails about this issue and realize that my voice doesn't make a difference in the grand scheme of the business decisions made by upper management, but felt compelled to voice my opinion.​

 

[Chef Kearns]

Well said Laura! Hopefully someone will listen.