I recently started working temporarily at this store where they set “goals” for each employee as to how many garment bags they sell and how many new customers they can get signed up for the store’s rewards program. It’s all a load of crap if you ask me.
These don’t even deserve to be called “goals” because 1. I could name about 1000 things that are more worthwhile, 2. you get no kind of reward if you actually reach this goal, and 3. it’s entirely up to the customer, not you.
The best you can do is ask if they want the bag, ask if they want to get free coupons. Obviously the latter isn’t so hard to do, but honestly, why is it such a big deal if they don’t want to buy a stupid garment bag? It probably just boils down to stupid corporate competition over which is the best store in the chain.
I don’t know how my coworkers feel about it but some of them push these bags on customers like their lives depend on it. These people have been working there about as long as I’ve been alive. They get the most sells and the highest praise from the boss, but honestly, do they really feel that much pride from these petty accomplishments in this dead-end retail job that they seem to have made their career? If so, I pity them.
The sad thing is, it’s encouraged to value these “goals” as you do your real, life-affirming goals. “CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING EMPLOYEES FOR MAKING THEIR GOALS:….” and “THE FOLLOWING EMPLOYEES HAVE NOT MET THEIR REWARDS/GARMENT BAG GOALS! NOT GOOD!” I kid you not, I have seen stuff like this posted on the boss’s office door. Completely ridiculous.
I feel extremely sorry for anyone who has been there longer than 6 months cause honestly they risk forgetting what their real goals are. Life may be pointless but doesn’t mean you have to indulge in the pointlessness by attaching your self-worth to jobs like that that require no actual knowledge or skill and suffering the inevitable breakdown you have when you cannot override the free will of enough people to get them to buy whatever the store is promoting.
Oh, how tragic. I could have changed Mary’s life if she had bought that thing. John would have been his family’s hero if he had let me take an extra 5 bucks from him.
I’m really not interested in the company’s pathetic dependency on garment bag sales. I just want some pocket change till I finish school in December, then I’m outta there. Guaranteed.
Feel free to share your retail horror stories.
2 comments
I’ve never worked at a retail store but my sister worked one day at one of those big chain clothing stores. The reason she quit is because they wanted the employees to push some type of coupon credit card onto the customers. The employers really wanted the employees to memorize and recite every benefit in detail, and act like if the customer didn’t sign up they’d be making the worst mistake of their life.
Unfortunately, due to circumstance, many people get caught in these dead-end jobs making barely anything just to survive. It sounds like the employer is shaming employees who don’t complete those ridiculous goals and pitting employees against each other. Not cool, but this is how businesses use employees for their own benefit.
That was funny, and you do make a pretty big point: corporate life tends to attempt indoctrinate it’s workers in order to make their jobs their life. Keep working there for long and you forget that it’s just a job, and first thing you know is that even your conversations on your free time become a reflection of what you did while you were on your shift. By doing that corporations make sure that their employees give their all for the store, all while paying crappy salaries and by giving no incentives. Why should they? it’s easier and cheaper to trick people into think they are achieving something important instead of spending on giving them something real (and useful) in return.
Been there, felt bad about some sketchy regulations they were trying to implant (similar to that bag thing, but bordering in illegal), done that. Some people don’t have that choice tho, and i do feel for them.