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The Kirby Corporation 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 salesmen rather than selling Wholesale , Retail or through television or print advertisements. Kirby vacuum cleaners maintain a retro look reminiscent of the first model dating back to the 1930s. Kirby cleaners have earned a strong reputation due to power, versatility, and a long unit life time, despite a purchase price significantly higher than most competitors. Current models use Micron Magic HEPA Filtration system, and a Circular-Dri Foam shampoo attachment. The first Kirby vacuums were designed by Jim Kirby for George Scott and Carl Fetzer after World War I . EXPANSION In 1970, input from Kirby Distributors, Dealers, management and customers guided Kirby engineers in developing the Kirby Classic. Sales soared, 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. WARRANTY The Kirby warranty varies depending on the model sold, and is often for three or more years. The warranty on the current model, the Ultimate-G Diamond Edition is a lifetime warranty. SALES Kirby uses a Rank structure where newly recruited salesmen perform sales and demonstrations, team leaders provide transportation for groups of salesmen, district managers oversee team leaders, followed by factory managers and regional managers. Companies and salesmen 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. Salesmen 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:
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. COMPLAINTS As the procedures of independent dealers may vary from area to area, some customers have complained about Kirby sales techniques. Complaints have included aggressive sales tactics and sales to those who cannot afford or operate the Kirby, such as senior citizens or low-income families. 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 often finds out that a neighbor has also bought a new Kirby on the same day, and paid twice as much for exactly the same product. This typically leads to a feeling of being ripped off or "conned" out of hard earned money. Kirby has attempted to eliminate this behavior, urging dealers to follow exact Kirby procedures in order to avoid a bad reputation. Dealers who engage in these aggressive tactics are eliminated from Sales Contests when complaints are received, and are often terminated from the company. This deters these types of continued behavior within the organization. Some recent complaints have also arisen 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. KIRBY MODEL HISTORY
LOGOS 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. |
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