Your future and that of Vorwerk Folletto

Things haven't been going very well at Vorwerk lately, in recent years there has been less and less turnover and it is rumored thatsomething can change, the method of selling products could be revolutionized, currently only door to door.

As some are aware, Vorwerk Folletto was born in Germany as a vacuum cleaner company way back in the day 1930, after eight years the Kobold vacuum cleaner was offered under the name "Folletto" also in Italy, always with the door-to-door sales method, Vorwerk is the surname of the founders and Kobold is the Italian translation of Folletto. In Italy it took several years to get going, in the first decades we worked almost exclusively in northern Italy, while in Germany it already had a strong group of collaborators and was present in many cities.

The market changes and perhaps Vorwerk should change too, these communications start fromFinancial Time, where given the sharp declines in sales and the market position of Vorwerk Folletto in Germany, proposes that the appropriate solution would begive the customer a point of reference for purchasing, assistance and spare parts for the Folletto vacuum cleaner, not only through representation as happens now, but also with Vorwerk Folletto stores located in the cities. Customers do not have a single Folletto Agent of reference, they often find themselves buying from representatives they are seeing for the first time, this does not bring confidence to the customer who finds himself preferring the supermarket to buy a vacuum cleaner.

In ten years in Germany, Vorwerk Kobold has halved its earnings bringing himself from 400 million euros of annual turnover, just 200 million euros, with the 9% of market shareit ranks third in Germany after the Siemens and Miele vacuum cleaner brands.

Even if it's sad to know, Vorwerk Folletto in Germany also had to align itself with the current job market, hathirty employees have been fired and others are expected soon 150 layoffs, many Kobold Agents have already abandoned the boat thus reducing the number of sellers already reduced compared to a few years ago.

It seems that the process of change is beginning here too, for those who remember, Previously, Original Spare Parts could only be purchased through the Folletto Agent, however, for a few years they can also be found in various authorized shops near your home. Around the year 2000 the Vorwerk s.a.s. company was spun off. in: Vorwerk Manufacturing srl in Arcore where some products are built and Vorwerk Folletto srl in Milan, which is the commercial and customer assistance part where the Folletto Agents depend.The employment contract for the "Group Leader" was also changed, that givesemployee Vorwerk s.a.s. in the role ofSales Assistant, has becomeSales Manager and therefore freelancer andwithout a fixed salary.

It seems like everything is moving gradually, when the Folletto VK vacuum cleaner came out 135 the sale in combination with the courtesy service which included the purchase of three packs of Original Spare Parts included in the final price. Folletto Agents were told it was to knock down the competition, but I think it was more to build customer loyalty. First the courtesy service it was voluntary or almost, Agent Folletto was almost obliged to include it in the sale, but with the entry on the market of the new Vorwerk Folletto VK system 140, three packs of spare parts were no longer enough, now there are five packs, and it is no longer voluntary, the purchase is obligatory!

In this way, for five years Agent Folletto has fewer cards to play in order to enter the house, and if Vorwerk with the new Folletto VK vacuum cleaner 140 uses the same technique as those who bought the Folletto VK 135, who at the end of the three years telephoned the customer via the call center to propose a new one discounted three-year subscription of 33% (offer that no seller could make), increases the loyalty of new customers, reaching ten years without needing authorized Original Spare Parts centres, nor of the seller Vorwerk Folletto.

I don't think it's a short-term change, even if it has already invoiced in Italy 395 million euros... and it doesn't look good.

I believe that every Folletto Agent does not find a shop like Vorwerk Contempora on their doorstep (the Thermomix, Thermomix), you need to start communicating with colleagues and better understand the work situation, and mainly the future that can be envisaged.

There are also official requests from the unions directed at Vorwerk Folletto, you ask at various points to improve the working and economic situation of each seller, there is also talk of the alignment between cash and installment payments.

The customer is faced with several sides in his favor, a consultant for demonstration and a shop for purchases!

Source: Collection of news from German online newspapers

Post published on 19 August 2010