Tuesday, July 29, 2008

NEWS FROM NANCY

Hi All!

With the hot weather there have been some concerns on what is appropriate (or not appropriate) to wear in the meetings so I thought I’d address this concern.

I remember back when I started working for Weight Watchers (almost 15 years ago) that we had to wear stockings in the summer with our sandals! YIKES, well we’ve come a long way baby…. bottom line is that we want to always have that “business to business casual” look going on. Some items we should not be wearing in the meeting rooms are shorts, strap tops, midriffs or spaghetti strap sundresses (with a sweater over is fine). Also, sometimes when it is soooo hot the last thing we want to do is wear make up; however, we are role models and know that our members want to be and look like us. So with this in mind, before you leave for your meetings, look in the mirror and ask, “mirror mirror on the wall how do I want to be remembered , if at all?” Okay - a little corny – I think you ladies get what I mean and guys you know I’m not asking you to put on lipstick right? Staying and looking cool is the idea!

TIME TO BRAG!!!
As you might remember from last month’s edition I asked to hear from you and “brag” about what’s happening in your meeting rooms so we could spread the news on how you’re keeping your members coming back week after week. So here’s the new segment:

I'd like to be the first to brag about an amazing team I had the pleasure of spending a morning with!

There is no wonder why their members are returning week after week. Not only do they ooze the Service Vision by welcoming each member as if they were each a friend walking in - but their efficiency makes the processing at the desk flow so effortlessly. Every week this team picks a unified task – this week’s task was for each of them to entice every member to stay for the meeting – if the member couldn’t they would – at that moment – print an address label, put it on a miss you card and after the meeting, write on the card “Sorry you stay for the meeting, have an amazing week!” What a terrific idea ! Thank you ladies for not only making your members’ experience a terrific one but collaborating every week as to how you can keep your members coming back week after week!

I know Jackie gave Kudos to all of our wonderful CHAMP MENTORS but I'd like to brag again about them. These ladies not only have spent endless amounts of hours prepping to make this training run as smoothly as possible but have shown nothing but the Service Vision to all confirming what Jackie and I already know - our territory is the Heart of NJ! Special thanks to the following AMAZING mentors - we couldn't have done this without you!!! Mary our Mentor of Mentors and our CHAMP Guru!!, Julie G, Fran G, Terry M, Joyce H, Bev K, Lois W, Pat S, Denise P, Margie M, and Pat G. You're the best!!!!!

Hugs to All,
Nancy

Friday, July 25, 2008

Miss You Cards - CHAMP

There has been some concern coming out of the CHAMP workshops, about the fact that no miss you cards will be sent out during the first four weeks of CHAMP conversion. So I'd like to review some procedures and address those concerns.

All teams should do a final round of miss you cards and terms of non-monthly pass members the week prior to their CHAMP launch date. Monthly pass holders who have not been attending, should be transferred to the "NET" file. That will leave only those members who are basically current or lifetime in the active files.

While not sending miss you cards will put many of you outside your comfort zone, our focus for the first few weeks of CHAMP must be on CHAMP and servicing our members that are currently attending our meetings. Data entry of each member is PARAMOUNT!!! Since we will now be dealing with the national database, accuracy in entering each member's record must be our main concern. If those records are not accurately and promptly entered, we will not be able to send them any miss you cards in the future if there are inaccuracies in the names or addresses.

Additional issues may arise if staff is not concentrating on getting the members' data entered into the database in favor of sending miss you cards. Miss you cards in locations already using CHAMP, are generated once all members have been processed and any data that needs to be entered has been completed. During the first four weeks of CHAMP, that time is used to enter the data of those members who attended that day. The meeting time shift will generally not allow time to process miss you cards as well.

Around week 4 of conversion, each staff member will receive an additional booklet (similar to the get acquainted guide) that will give specific directions on generating miss you cards. By that time, most of the files have been entered of anyone who has attended a meeting in the last four weeks, and the only ones at that point will be those who've missed some weeks or new enrollments or returning lifetime members. There will be plenty of time to start generating miss you cards and to send them out prior to or at the start of the fall free registration promotion. It will be very obvious at the end of conversion who has not attended a meeting in that time and a manual miss you card can be generated.

Please remember that nationally there have been many CHAMP rollouts. Please know that these are established procedures that have been field tested and time honored! Enjoy the reprieve from manual miss you card procedures and look forward to a quick and easy fix for miss you cards going forward.

Any questions or concerns, please just ask. Thanks for all you do!!!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Kudos!!!!!

There has been so much wonderful going's on in our territory that I thought it was HIGH TIME that I threw out some KUDOS!!! WooHoo!!!

Thank you to all of our wonderful leaders and receptionists that keep the Service Vision alive in our meeting rooms. Thank you for thinking outside the box when it comes to thinking of ways to keep your members coming in each week during the summer months. Whether it's talking about the 10% target, the SAS award, a contest, a trip around the world, a raffle - they are all giving the members a reason to come back week after week. BRAVO!!!

It has been a difficult time in our territory with the number of meetings that we have had to staff since the beginning of the year and I want to thank all our wonderful leaders - new and seasoned - for making every effort to fit the unstaffed meetings - At Works and Traditionals -into their schedule. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!!

With CHAMP coming to our Territory in July and August it has been a very hectic few months and no one knows that better than our CHAMP Mentors - Mary, Fran, Julie, Terry, Joyce, Bev, Pat, Denise, Margie, Lois, Pat and Center Location Coordinators - Diane, Fran, Lani, Bev, Jane, Tracy. Your commitment and cooperation has been outstanding despite all the schedules changes, no shows, less than stellar workmanship, etc.

I have to honestly say that this CHAMP Rollout would not have happened if it weren't for the tireless, exhausting work of MARY. I can't put into words how much it means to me that we have someone in our Territory that can take a project and just go with it with no direction at all. As a CHAMP novice myself, it has been so comforting to know that from start to finish Mary was there every step of the way. Words can not express the gratitude that Nancy and I have for Mary and how she expertly directed all the Mentors and LC's while we were undergoing the conversion to CHAMP. Thanks Mary!!!

Thank you to everyone that came to visit me during the Open Office Hours I held in Ledgewood, Riverdale, Bridgewater and Flemington. Look for additional days and locations when you can have your opportunity to come and chat!!!

Bravos to Judy and Kim on Saturday, June 6, in Ledgewood when the shopping mall lost power at the end of our 3rd meeting. They worked quickly to do the Tally on the first computer which has a battery back-up. Their efficiency allowed us to complete the Tally and upload the day's work. Before uploading, they transferred all the information to a paper tally so we were able to mail a completed Tally to corporate. Our thanks also to Pat for picking up the pieces on Sunday and faxing the stats to Corporate. Thanks to all! Julie

Hi Jackie..... I wanted to make sure you knew how helpful Mary, Jan and Mary were on Monday....Jan filled in as a leader !!!! Mary rushed over to reception and to boot on top of my car problems, CHAMP was not booting up so Mary had to come in and help with that......Thanks to all, Tracy

Thank you sooooo much Sandy and Kathy for all your perseverance in making your At Work meetings happen and helping your business grow!!! BRAVO to both of you!!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Open Office Hours

Just a reminder that I will be in the following locations for anyone that wants to chat!!!

Riverdale Wednesday June 25 2:00-4:00

Ledgewood Tuesday July 1 1:00-3:00

Flemington Wednesday July 23 2:00-4:00

Hope to see you there!!!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Summer Heat and Melting Bars

Staff Alert – Summer and Melting Bars

With summer here, the Quality Department has put together some tips to help minimize the problem of our Bars melting in the summer heat. Please know that that we are working very hard to improve all aspects of our process to minimize these problems. Those efforts include everything from modifying the Bar formulations making them more heat stable to evaluating shipment processes to minimize melting during transit. And while we realize that the approach detailed below will not solve every problem with soft bars, it should make things more manageable in the short term.


Weight Watchers coated chocolate and peanut bars are designed to melt in your mouth. If they didn’t, they would taste “waxy” and no one likes that. The temperature of our mouths is about 95 degrees F. In the summer, a car trunk or a UPS truck can get hotter than that. So, our coated bars are bound to start melting in hot weather. If, however, they are protected during storage, transported properly, and handled well, that damage can be kept to a minimum. Here is what we recommend:

• When you receive a shipment of coated bars and the weather is hot, try to let the cases or boxes sit overnight at normal room temperature before you sell or open a box. When the bars, especially the new Peanut Butter Bliss and Double Chocolate Delight bars, are hot (above 80 deg. F) they are very soft and can be easily damaged by handling. However, when they cool, they return to normal condition.

• If you store coated bars in your home or a traveling location, you should try to keep the storage area below 80 deg. F.

• If you transport coated bars in hot weather, you should try to carry them in the passenger compartment of your car, rather then the trunk. While it may not be possible, in extreme heat, you can consider carrying them in a plastic container along with a couple of ice packs you have frozen overnight. That should keep them below the melting point. If they do get warm, remember to let them cool before opening them.

• If you must sell a hot box of coated bars, let the purchaser know that they must let them cool to room temperature before opening them.

IPRO Update

iPro Online Ordering System Update

Thank You to everyone who participated in the largest deployment ever of a WW system!

Over 18,000 orders for meeting room materials and products were placed using iPro in the last four months. We thank the 3,400+ Weight Watchers staff who placed these orders. However, we know there are another 3,000 Location Coordinators, At Work Leaders, and Field Management staff who still haven’t tried iPro yet….bring it on! We are ready for you!
If you haven’t tried iPro yet, we encourage you to try it with your next order. Setting up is easy when you use the Getting Started Guide which provides step-by-step instructions for installing the Weight Watchers Field Portal on your desktop and the iProcurement Ordering System User’s Guide. That’s the user-friendly guide that provides detailed instructions on how to search for items and place and track orders using iPro.

As with any new system going out to so many people, some individuals encounter problems or have questions. We have a team of your dedicated workers here to support you through this transition. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Inventory Services at InvServ@weightwatchers.com, or call the Help Desk at 1-877-FIELDWW (343-5399).
In order to properly manage and respond to issues, all issues must first be reported to the Help Desk. A Help Desk ticket will be responded to within 1 - 2 days. Every effort is made to respond and close issues even more quickly than that. (If you have a tight deadline to place an order, remember that you can always place an order using e-mail, phone, or fax.) Did you know? The resolution to your Help Desk ticket is contained in the e-mail you receive with the status of Closed or Resolved. The resolution to the issue is documented in the section “Incident Worklog.” If you are unclear of that resolution, reply back on that e-mail stating your question.

iPro Performance Enhancement:
An enhancement was made to the iPro Portal on 05/21/08 that greatly improved the speed of iPro. It significantly reduces the wait time of clicking and moving through the application to place your orders. We have been receiving lots of positive feedback on this enhanced performance. So, if you experienced performance issues in the past, or have held off using iPro, now is the time to give it a try.

Training Reminder:
A taped webcast of the iPro Webinar Training sessions is still available. If you were unable to attend one of the live webinars, please think about taking advantage of this 30 minute demonstration. It is always available and accessible via the internet! You can find the details on the Portal landing page “User Support Materials/ Training” section or attend training by going to the following internet address:
http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=103480&s=1&k=05D23EBCD8A42609C430C53B466DDD12

Field System Request (FSR) Process:
The FSR process is the way to get users into and out of iPro. A user only needs one FSR form completed by their Territory Manager when they take on ordering responsibilities. Once provisioned for iPro, the user has the ability to order for all their locations. The FSR does not change the NOC or At Work Leader Start form process. Once an FSR form has been submitted to the Help Desk, the following will occur:

The Territory Manager who submitted the FSR form will receive an e-mail that a ticket has been opened. The user will be provisioned, be mailed training materials, and receive an e-mail containing their username and password. The Territory Manager will receive an e-mail that the ticket is closed and the Incident Worklog will contain the user’s password information.

Frequently Asked Questions

The team has compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions since deployment. Please read through these to see if any apply to you.

What do I do when my password expires? It is important to note that, for security reasons, iPro passwords must be reset every 60 days. If you need to reset your password, you simply click on the link titled, “Forgot or Change Password,” and then follow the detailed instructions in the User’s Guide.

What do I do when I get an “Account Disabled” message? This message will appear when you have incorrectly entered your password 3 times. Once your account is disabled, you will need to contact the Help Desk to have it reset.

How do I add or change my e-mail address? An email address is necessary to receive order and shipping email confirmations. Not every Location Coordinator/At Work Leader has an email address on file. If you would like to submit an email address, your Territory Manager can do so by using the Field System Request (FSR) form to add or change email addresses.

What do I do if my default internet browser is not working after I install the WW Field Portal? During the installation of the WW Field Portal, some users received a default browser change. The Help Desk can instruct you on getting back to your original settings. Instructions are also posted on the Portal’s User Support Materials/Training section area.

How do I change the location and/or delivery address for my orders? If you have questions regarding the steps you need to follow to change the Subinventory/Deliver_to address for your order, please refer to pages 16 – 19 of the iProcurment Ordering System User’s Guide. If you still need help, contact the Help Desk.

A small number of users have encountered system errors on iPro that the IT technical team is in the process of resolving. If you receive one of the following error messages please contact the Help Desk.

What do I do if I get a “No Approver Found” message at checkout? There is a set up issue with your user account. Please contact the Help Desk if you receive this error message.

What do I do if I get a “JSP Error” message? IT is currently working on correcting this issue. For now, you will need to phone, fax or email the order when it ends in error.

What do I do if I get a “You have encountered an Unexpected Error” message when I checkout? IT is currently working on correcting this issue. In the meantime, please contact the Help Desk to let them know you have encountered this error.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Welcome To Our New Blog!!!!

Hi All!

I'm so excited to introduce you to our territory's new way of communicating!!! Beginning today instead of the HEART newsletter Nancy and I will post important info to this blog and then send the link to you when there is something new for you to read. As some of you have been having difficulty opening the newsletter as an attachment I'm happy to say that as long as you have the internet you should have no problem getting to the Blog. Look for info regarding Staff Meetings, Workshops and Trainings, updates, Kudos and more. All info on the Blog will be archived so you will be able to catch up on previous postings if necessary. This is a work in progress so any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Let us know what you think!!!

Jackie & Nancy