Advantage Training

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
61

Hi Peter

You do have my sympathy here. You started a thread with only good intentions. You have been open and honest and may possibly have been misunderstood in places.

I personally do not take bookings from brokers (with the exception of 1 guy who had booked with them then called us for a price and demanded to the broker that they place him with us). The reason is that I believe the candidate arrives basically unhappy and somehow links you in with the bad service he has received to that point. However I do not think there is anything morally wrong with taking customers from them. It could easily be argued that the trainer is salvaging a bad mistake made initially by the candidate. The trainer would of course benefit from any future recommendations from the candidate and also possibly has the opportunity to sell additional services, C+E or CPC or FLT etc.

I have said in previous posts that a far better way for the broker industry to work would be to quote the customer the same price as the training provider would, and look for a discount from the trainer for finding them a customer. The benefit to the customer in using their services would be that the broker has a list of prices and offerings from various trainers to compare them. The broker could also take the initial admin on board like licence forms, medical bookings etc to make the service appear worthwhile.

Peter Smythe:
I’m not prepared to risk my reputation for the sake of any broker so I have issued instructions to the office not to accept any more work from any broker with immediate effect.

This action speaks volumes for your desire to be seen as ethical but personally I think you you have deprived candidates of a valuable and highly regarded training option. The broker won’t care less that you no longer wish to work with them.

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Peter Smythe:
Please can I have my credibility back?

Not lost in my eyes, to be honest i would do the same …

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SimonB:
Dear Peter,

Do not be swayed by what a tiny vocal minority say on a webiste.

Only 500 people have read this thread (and most of them will be duplicates) - yet you are being forced to change your company policies. These noisy people do not represent the industry - this is just a forum where the usual suspects post the same things, do not think this represents the entire UK industry viewpoint.

If Advantage have agreed to pay you in advance for trainees to train, then take the money! If your school is good and the trainees recieve the best training - then you are doing your job. Does it matter where the money comes from? It still comes from the trainee - but it hits your bank account as ‘Advantage’, that is the only difference.

The trainees you train through Advantage may come back to you, or recommend their colleagues to train direct with you. Either way Peter Smythe Training benefits AND the trainee benefits.

Do not shoot yourself or your buisness in the foot because a lot of shouty anonymous people who spend far too much time online tell you to.

Your credibility is fully intact. You have been honest and upfront. Do not do your business a dis-service by confusing the internet with real life. The people that shout loudest online are not your prospective customers. All the people commenting on this thread have been Trucknet members for years - they are irrelvant to your business. Don’t bother with the irrational hatred online - go and do what you do well, train people and get paid for it.

Si

+1

Also you did not have to make this post if you did not want to you could have kept quiet & none of us would be any wiser about this

65

+2
whether or not you carry on with using a broker is up to you Peter, but how many of those candidates will now not see you or hear of you, and and if you give them a good service (regardless of how they came in contact with you ) they will pass this on to other future candidates and that is all good for (your) business. It’s better for them to pay that little bit more via a broker and come to you than go somewhere else and maybe not get the best training and pay more in the end. As you can see by the comments on this thread, a lot of the posters are of the inclination that they are the best and know it all, even your business and morals :open_mouth: Do you what you do best and get the candidates through their test.

66

Ever get the feeling you can’t win?!?! Pete :laughing: :laughing:

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Peter Smythe:
Ever get the feeling you can’t win?!?! Pete :laughing: :laughing:

All the time " heads you win tails I lose " :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

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My opinion is that you will be best off long term not dealing with the broker

I am sure you have mystery shopped them and heard the lies, so why would you want to be associated with the deception?

If they paid you slowly the first time what is going to stop them paying you slowly a few months down the line?

Why do they want to use you in the first place. I am sure there is cheaper close to you so why are they not using them. Brokers are not bothered with quality they are just interested in margin. Is it that they owe the other trainers money?

Every trainer should boycott the brokers which would kill their businesses in a matter of months.

Can you remember the days when there was no brokers and it was a straight fight between trainers on quality, reputation and value for money.

There are far to many people who have had their life savings swindled out of them and now think all lgv trainers are out there to rip people off.

Stick to your principles and you will win through in the end.

70

SimonB:
You can win! You seem to have a ‘win win’ situation here. Advantage pay you in advance (so you’ve got zero risk) and you get a stream of fully paid trainees. The trainees then recieve a good service, so they tell people about it. Or, as I mentioned above, they come back to you for further training.

SimonB:
Your credibility is fully intact. You have been honest and upfront. Do not do your business a dis-service by confusing the internet with real life. The people that shout loudest online are not your prospective customers. All the people commenting on this thread have been Trucknet members for years - they are irrelvant to your business. Don’t bother with the irrational hatred online - go and do what you do well, train people and get paid for it.

Simon… we often dont agree but this time it seems we do

Pete, Tell your staff you are back with Advantage and any other broker you see fit to deal with.

Simon’s business , yours and mine and I would guess every other trainer knows the current state of play. It is getting harder to take a booking. The brokers offer nothing with an ounce of benefit but many trainers dont help themselves.

In the future trainers will either join together or the brokers will become the voice of LGV. My 30 years experience tells me it will be the latter.

71

SimonB:
Dear Peter,

Do not be swayed by what a tiny vocal minority say on a webiste.

Only 500 people have read this thread (and most of them will be duplicates) - yet you are being forced to change your company policies. These noisy people do not represent the industry - this is just a forum where the usual suspects post the same things, do not think this represents the entire UK industry viewpoint.

If Advantage have agreed to pay you in advance for trainees to train, then take the money! If your school is good and the trainees recieve the best training - then you are doing your job. Does it matter where the money comes from? It still comes from the trainee - but it hits your bank account as ‘Advantage’, that is the only difference.

The trainees you train through Advantage may come back to you, or recommend their colleagues to train direct with you. Either way Peter Smythe Training benefits AND the trainee benefits.

Do not shoot yourself or your buisness in the foot because a lot of shouty anonymous people who spend far too much time online tell you to.

Your credibility is fully intact. You have been honest and upfront. Do not do your business a dis-service by confusing the internet with real life. The people that shout loudest online are not your prospective customers. All the people commenting on this thread have been Trucknet members for years - they are irrelvant to your business. Don’t bother with the irrational hatred online - go and do what you do well, train people and get paid for it.

Si

SimonB.

Your post amuses me as most of your other Trucknet posts have been against brokers, in fact you have had many links removed from various sites on the web. You mention that “we have worked for Advantage” saying the same thing that Peter said, that Advantage were slow payers, but have recently improved. It seems like it is you who has changed your mind about the brokerage industry.

Maybe you haven’t realised but the internet is a very powerful tool, both for telesales marketers and the punter, they can read posts from lots of shouty anonymous people like me who warn them of the dangers. Unwary people can read glitzy businesslike websites and make their decisions from a £99.99 or maybe even a free site.

I am one of your shouty people who has been here for years and have helped several new drivers make a considered choice, either through email, pm or telephone. I have spent a lot of hours reading the trucknet reports, reading the stories and reading the newspapers. Peter Smythe impresses me as a trainer and there are others, here in the East Midlands I advise people to use Peter or Rick at Data Academy

Apart from the posts you have deleted, can you remember how many brokers you have had bad words about. I can because I have counted them.

Highway
Qualitas
Sterling
Network
1st Class
Active Logistic
Blackwater
Direct
Flair
Focus
Pathway
TRG
HGV Express
Highlife
EasyasHGV
HGV Training Academy

SimonB:
Hi…

Yes I am new to trucknet…joined in 2009 cos I’m thinking about getting my LGV.

Why can’t i mention that site? It’s a genuine site thats in the public domain…it is a ‘consumer protest site’.

This doesn’t make sense. Is www,amazon,co.uk banned from being listed on trucknet? On there you can leave bad reviews about things…thats what we can do as consumers.

Why is the sterling site banned from being mentioned? Its not illegal. Its just a website. Who says its illegal?

It is a very informative site with loads of opinions and sterling have answered back as well.

Si.

From your strong support of Advantage can I surmise that you now work for them?

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SimonB:
No I don’t work for them.

After getting my licence I worked with the school doing marketing / websites etc. That school was approached by Advantage and now has 100% of it’s business through them. So in a way I work with them but not directly.

Are you prepared to say who you do work for :question:

If we know that then perhaps we can see where you are coming from …

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SimonB:
I worked for Robinsons Training in Purfleet, Essex.

Si

Who you working for now? (if you wish to tell us)

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SimonB:
I worked for Robinsons Training in Purfleet, Essex.

Si

The Advantage website is as full of crap as the other brokers. The head office is above a mobile phone shop in London W1

I found some interesting information about the MD so it not surprising.

Marc Benardout stood for the Conservatives in 2006 and got 1129 votes

Marketing Manager for Clearstone Recruitment aka Clearstone HGV

companiesintheuk.co.uk/ltd/a … g-services

companycheck.co.uk/company/06296364

77

SimonB:
I worked for Robinsons Training in Purfleet, Essex.

I have known Steve for a while now, since he started in fact, and he has always seemed a decent guy. Are you the trainer I met at Purfleet when I was there with a couple of CPC4’s recently?

Wheel Nut:
Apart from the posts you have deleted, can you remember how many brokers you have had bad words about. I can because I have counted them.

Highway
Qualitas
Sterling
Network
1st Class
Active Logistic
Blackwater
Direct
Flair
Focus
Pathway
TRG
HGV Express
Highlife
EasyasHGV
HGV Training Academy

I would like it known that Flair has NEVER acted in the capacity of a broker. We have NEVER sent a customer to another company for their training. For the sake of clarity NEVER means not even once ever.

78

LGVTrainer:

SimonB:
I worked for Robinsons Training in Purfleet, Essex.

I have known Steve for a while now, since he started in fact, and he has always seemed a decent guy. Are you the trainer I met at Purfleet when I was there with a couple of CPC4’s recently?

Wheel Nut:
Apart from the posts you have deleted, can you remember how many brokers you have had bad words about. I can because I have counted them.

Highway
Qualitas
Sterling
Network
1st Class
Active Logistic
Blackwater
Direct
Flair
Focus
Pathway
TRG
HGV Express
Highlife
EasyasHGV
HGV Training Academy

I would like it known that Flair has NEVER acted in the capacity of a broker. We have NEVER sent a customer to another company for their training. For the sake of clarity NEVER means not even once ever.

Sorry John. Flair was in the list as Simon had it on his hit list in his many posts and it was also mentioned along with “the other company”

Apart from the posts you have deleted, can you remember how many trainers & brokers you have had bad words about. I can because I have counted them.

79

From my recollection, flair and qualitas (when not trading under the sterling banner) have never been brokers - am I wrong?

To be fair, sterling and qualitas did the greatest majority of the training in their own vehicles and only farmed out the odd bit of work when they had no vehicles in particular areas - I’m fairly certain that is correct

80

Rog

I have stated above that Flair has never acted as broker.

Sterling operated in excess of 30 vehicles from their own locations but did subcontract in Wales (Red Dragon) and Scotland (Lagta) I think both these are on this sites recommended list. There may have been the odd course elsewhere as well but generally not.