Kirby Company

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The Kirby Company is a subsidiary of the Scott Fetzer Company, part of the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate overseen by Warren Buffett. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA; it is a producer of vacuum cleaners and a multitude of home cleaning accessories. It relies entirely on door to door sales, using its advertising budget towards paying sales representatives rather than selling wholesale or through retail and television or print advertisements.

Kirby vacuum cleaners maintain a retro look reminiscent of the first model dating back to the 1920s. Kirby cleaners have earned a strong reputation due to power, versatility, and a long unit lifetime, despite a purchase price significantly higher than most competitors. Current models use Micron Magic HEPA Filtration system, and a dry foam shampoo attachment called the Carpet Shampoo System.

[edit] History

The first Kirby vacuums were designed by Jim Kirby for George Scott and Carl Fetzer after World War I. In 1970, input from Kirby Distributors, Dealers, management and customers guided Kirby engineers in developing the Kirby Classic. The model was an instant success, with soaring sales, forcing the company to expand its manufacturing facilities outside of Cleveland for the first time. In 1972, Kirby West began operations in Andrews, Texas. The facility doubled the company’s manufacturing capabilities.

[edit] Model history

[edit] Logo history

• First Logo (1935-1953) The first Kirby logo was founder Jim Kirby's own handwritten signature against a circle, and was used from 1935 to 1953.
• Second Logo (1953-1963) The follow-up Kirby logo featured a modernized Kirby cursive logo, and was still inside a circle shape.
• Third Logo (1963-1969) Although the Kirby script logo was unchanged from 1963, the shape the script is set against is now an oval instead of a circle.
• Fourth Logo (1969-1990) A very-abstract looking script of the Kirby name. The K features a stem on the upper part while the Y has this stem on its lower part, both of which extend through the lower-cased r.

[edit] Warranty

The Kirby warranty ^[1] varies depending on the model sold, and is often for three or more years. The warranty on the current model, the Sentria, is a three-year factory limited warranty with a lifetime factory rebuild agreement.

[edit] Sales representatives

Kirby uses a rank structure where newly recruited sales representatives perform sales and demonstrations, team leaders provide transportation for groups of salesmen, and district managers oversee team leaders, followed by factory managers and regional managers. Companies and sales representatives are known as independent dealers, who order vacuums directly from Kirby, compete with other Kirby companies for number of sales, and follow the Kirby doctrine.

Sales representatives are encouraged to be motivated while working at Kirby, sing motivational songs, listen to motivational speeches, and are rewarded with prizes and sales medals. The United States East Coast tends to use a more traditional door to door approach, providing one person with a vacuum and little management support. Dealers are located in several countries throughout the world.

Sales procedures vary with each dealer, but the basics include:

• "Canvassing," in which a prospective neighborhood is solicited. The target demographic is normally a middle or upper middle class home with owners who are employed and have satisfactory credit. Salesmen often pitch that they are "demonstrating" or "promoting" a free vacuuming or carpet shampoo cleaning rather than soliciting a product.
• Customers who show interest in a demonstration will allow the salesman to bring in a Kirby vacuum. The demonstration is the key selling point, designed to convince the customer that the Kirby is worth purchasing.
• The customer is asked to bring out his or her existing vacuum, and the demonstrator vacuums the floor with it.
• Next, the Kirby vacuum is used to demonstrate how much dirt has been left within the carpet. A "Dirtmeter" attachment is used in place of a vacuum bag, while "dirt pads" are placed inside the attachment. When the vacuum is turned on, dirt lands on the pad, and is shown to the customer. The salesmen frequently replaces used dirt pads with new ones, leaving evidence of dirt around the vacuumed area.

• The older vacuum is tested against the Kirby in what is known as the "Vac-kill." The Kirby is shown to have superior suction power and airflow, while the older vacuum is shown to have limited airflow and narrow suction. The older vacuum is then presented as inferior, cheap, or disposable.
• The Kirby vacuum is converted to a portable vacuum by using a handle attachment, and placed on a mattress or sofa. The Kirby picks up a combination of dust, dust mites, and dead skin known as "putrefied ash." This is shown to the customer.
• Other attachments may be demonstrated.
• A dry foam carpet shampoo attachment is used to clean the carpet.
• An initial price is offered to the customer, usually much more than that of a standard vacuum. The Kirby is presented as a long term investment or a home care system, superior to other vacuums. Either a manager is brought in to the demonstration, or the salesperson may call their manager to offer higher discounts until the customer is able to pay by cash or use a payment plan. The price should only go down to a certain level, after which the salesman will receive less commission for the sale.
• The demonstrated unit is then given to the customer.
• The customer is taught how to use the Kirby in detail and the salesman should make sure they know how to use it entirely

The presentation of dirt, skin, and the "putrefied ash" are designed to induce disgust in the buyer. Often the salesperson will suggest that the presence of this material (ordinary dust) is a danger to the health of the buyer or his or her children.

In the midwestern portion of the United States, distributerships employ telemarketers who call potential customers telling that they have won a free shampooing for one room of their house, and indicate that the demonstration will be accompanied by a short (15 to 30 minutes) sales presentation. Salespersons are handed slips of paper with appointments written on them and with their own cars drive to these appointments where before shampooing a room of the house, put on a 1 to 2 hour sales presentation similar to that described above. Whether or not a unit is sold, the customer is asked for a list of names and telephone numbers of friends or family members. These names and telephone numbers are later given to the telemarketers who will then make more appointments.

[edit] Complaints

First offer made by Kirby sales rep.

Second offer made by Kirby sales rep. A third offer was made which lowered the price to $995, but this was verbal only since it was a "secret" between the rep and client.

Consumer Reports has been criticial of the Kirby vacuum cleaner, saying that its experts have found vacuum cleaners as cheap as $250 that have done a cleaning job equal to that of a Kirby one, but at a fraction of the price. ^[2].

Some customers have complained about Kirby sales techniques. Complaints have included overly aggressive sales tactics and sales to those who cannot afford or operate the Kirby, such as senior citizens or low-income families. Several primetime TV shows have aired in recent years, describing Kirby's controversial sales tactics. ABC's Primetime did some research and found over 1,000 consumer complaints regarding Kirby sales representatives. ^[2]

The starting price, often above $2,000 USD, is lowered several times before the "sales team" decides to leave, at which point the price ends up in the neighborhood of $1100 - $1500 USD. Due to the nature of their door-to-door sales tactics, a new purchaser may find that a neighbor that has also bought a new Kirby on the same day, and paid twice as much for exactly the same product, causing the customer to feel violated by the distributor. Customers who finance the vacuum cleaner through Kirby's preferred lender will find that the loan comes with a substantial finance charge of around $350 and a rate of around 18% for a total purchase price of nearly $2000.

Kirby buyers can quite often find new or unused units for sale on the online auctions website eBay for $600 or less; however, these units are unauthorized by Kirby. They usually originate from distributors that have left the business and are selling their remaining units at wholesale prices. Occasionally, Kirby distributors that are currently in business will sell their units on eBay. The Kirby Company itself is known to buy or have another distributor buy units off of the internet to trace back the serial number. Once the units are traced back to a Kirby distributor that is currently in operation, Kirby usually terminates the distributor, due to the company's strong preference not to have its machines sold on the Internet or at wholesale prices. There were at least five Kirby distributors terminated as of March 2006 for selling Kirby vacuum cleaners on the internet.

Some recent complaints have also risen from the strategies that some distributors use to recruit new dealers. Often advertisements will reference "Assembly/Customer Service/$2000/month" even though the job consists of little assembly or customer service. The new dealer is guaranteed $2000 for their first month only, relying on commission thereafter. Prospective dealers are often not told of the door-to-door nature of the business until the first day of training.

Technically speaking, Kirby dealers cannot be terminated, although if the Kirby company wishes to cancel a distributor's stock of Kirby vacuum cleaners, they are allowed the right to do so. Every Kirby sales representative (except for Kirby's corporate employees) is an independent contractor. Kirby distributors are intended by the Kirby Company to abide by certain rules laid out by Kirby, but the distributors usually do their business with free will, as they are (for the most part) self-employed.

[edit] References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ ^{a b} Vacuum Cleaners: Upright Vacuum Cleaners. Consumer Reports. Consumersearch.com.

[edit] See also

• Jim Kirby
• Vacuum Cleaner
• Kirby (Nintendo) The Nintendo character has the ability to suck and swallow most enemies.

[edit] External links

• The Kirby Company Website
  • The Kirby Story
• Kirby at the Online Vacuum Cleaner Museum
• Discussion of Kirby Sales Techniques
  • Discussion from the Perspective of a Former Employee
  • Discussion of Salesperson Recruitment