Friday, May 25, 2012

Dear Department Store Trainers, I beg you....

Dear Department Store Trainers,

Hello. I beg you... to train your employees more on common sense and courtesy then on the decision tree dialogue.

Today I was in a very popular department store, although truth be told, I only visit once a year on average (I'm just not a big department store shopper). The friendly (good point) clerk greeted me and proceeded to ask if I wanted to use my department store credit card today. "No." I replied. "Would I like to save 5%?" She asked. "No," again I replied. After all, 5% of the whopping $20 I was spending seemed silly - especially since I didn't need another credit card EVER. So, all of this would have been fine by me, this dialogue. Until... she asked me again, twice, if I wanted a credit card... just in different ways. One instance was a simply ploy, telling me that it only took 90 seconds to apply and begin reaping the rewards. The other was asking if I was "sure" that I didn't want to apply and save big. I'M SURE!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you. (trying to continue to be pleasant through the teeth that are clenched together as the steam begins to blow)

It only went downhill from there. "Do I have email?" she asked. "No." I replied. That garnered a funny look. Of course I have email. I just didn't want to give it to her. Then, she went on to ask for my zip code, as if it was required. "You don't need that," I responded. She was as done with me as I her. :) Finally I sighed.

Marketing I get. I love it in fact. Upselling I get too. Rudeness and badgering are beyond my ability to accept, with a smile.

When your employee encounters someone who is reluctant to open a charge account to save $1, don't ask them 3 times. And, when meeting reluctance, ask, only once and nicely, "may we have your email to send you coupons in the future...."? The defining characteristic there is ASKING and OFFERING RATIONALE THAT IS A BENEFIT FOR THE CUSTOMER. It's not rocket science people, just common sense and courtesy. But, dare I ask for that in this day and age.....

The morale of this story is that this episode has now decreased my pilgrimage to this department store, Kohl's if you must know, down from once a year to NEVER AGAIN. My peace of mind and my wallet will thank me.

Many thanks and most sincerely,

Lisa Spahr
Customer (once upon a time) and business coach (one who practices what she preaches)

1 comment:

lucidkim said...

I've never had that happen at Kohls but plenty of other places - and yes, crazy annoying. I hate looking at the Nooks at Barnes & Nobles because I suddenly feel like I'm in a used car lot - the vulture/employee zooms in if my eyeball even glances over the Nooks. So I don't look at them and likely never will. The incident you described at Kohls makes me laugh a little as I think of that employee in a training session and likely she was so proud of herself for using EVERY technique they taught her...and likely baffled why she failed to get you to sign up for a card.