[HPFGU-OTChatter] Secret Shoppers (was: Re: coercion)

[OctobersChild48 at aol.com]

Susan:

> Some corporations employ "secret shoppers" who  test
> the service to 
>  customers.
> 
Sandy:
I work in such an establishment and scored 100% on a  secret shop that 
occurred on Dec. 29, and received a gift card for  it.



Susan:
> I've read some of the criteria..there' I've read some o
> such as if a 
> customer comes within a certain  distance, the
> employees in a store 
> are required to greet the  customer.
> 
Sandy:
They tried that at one time where I work, it was called  the rule of three, 
but we do a lot of business at our store and it just wasn't  possible. It could 
take you ten minutes to walk five feet if you stopped to  greet everyone. 


Susan:
> Employees who are checking out customers are
>  required to say "did you 
> find everything you were looking for?", and  are
> required to say 
> things like "have a nice day." Or they  are required
> to say "how are 
> you doing  today?"
> 
Sandy:
I am a cashier and there are  things I am required to do. I am required to 
greet the customer, smile and make  eye contact, engage the customer, ask for 
their shoppers card, ask if they need  help with the bottom of their cart, and 
thank them. But, I and all of the rest  of the cashiers are not given a script 
to follow. We are allowed to do these  things in our own words and ways, and 
we all do so differently. 


Susan:
> I find that when I figure out that this is a
>  requirement I don't 
> bother to really respond, I just try to be  polite,
> and say just fine 
> and you?
>  
Sandy:

I am  not required to ask how people are or to tell
them to "have a nice day",  but I do both. I assure you that not everyone 
tells me they are just fine. I  get many responses when I ask how they are. If I 
get a negative response, such  as not well, or I am having a bad day, I tell 
them that I am sorry to hear  that and that I hope they feel better or things 
improve for them. When I ask  how they are it is my way of engaging them, and I 
don't expect everyone is  going to be great. I listen to what they say and 
respond accordingly.  Likewise, when I tell them to have a good day, evening or 
night, depending  upon what time of the day it is, it is because I hope they 
do. I am not  required to say that, I do so because I want to, and I do make 
exceptions. If  they have been rude or nasty, or are hanging on their cell phone 
(which I  consider the height of rudeness), I say only what I am required to 
say, which  is thank you. Thank goodness that 99.9% of the customers I wait on 
don't share  your cynical view that I am doing this because I have to. 
Perhaps my tone of  voice conveys that I am sincere in asking how they are and that 
I do truly  wish them a good day. 
Susan:

>  Employees are required not just to tell customers
> where a product is  
> located but to take them over to the product and
> point it  out...
> 
Sandy:
If I am on the floor of the store I am required to do  that. I don't have a 
problem with it. Actually, it  works better for me.  The store I work at is 
huge and we carry a lot of products. After being there  for nearly six years I 
know where everything is, but for some reason I have a  difficult time 
remembering what aisle things are in. It is easier for me to just  take the person 
there rather than wrack my brain trying to remember what aisle  the product is in. 
Out of curiosity, why would this policy bother you? We do  this to provide 
the best customer service we can.



> Susan
> Who still believes in caring, respect,  and
> compassion, which means 
> that you greet people in the way  they want to be
> greeted, and you are 
> careful not to further  marginalize people who are
> oppressed, 
> depressed or in  trouble...
> 
Sandy:
I don't understand this at all. How can I know how a  person wants to be 
greeted when I don't know them? I greet every customer with  care, respect and 
compassion. That is why I ask how they are and tell them to  have a good day. I 
know all about depression and trouble. In the last six years  I have lost my 
husband, my mother and my very beloved dog, and have been  critically injured in 
one accident and suffered minor injuries in another. If  you were standing in 
front of me and I was standing still you would not know or  suspect any of 
that. But because of what I have been through I know that life is  not all 
peaches and cream for everyone, and if , by offering a kind word, I can  make 
someone else feel better then my life is better too. I have had about a  half a 
dozen women answer my question of how are they with not so good because  their 
husband just passed away. Having gone through that myself I can tell them  that 
the first year is the absolute pits, but it does get better, and it does  get 
easier. 
 
Quite frankly, the things I am required to ask and do  aggravate the piss out 
of me. I feel like a recording that plays over and over  again. I deal with 
hundreds of customers every day. Asking how they are and  wishing them a good 
day makes it more personal for me, not just that endless  recorded message I am 
required to play. They talk to me and they tell me. I am  happy that I got 
that 100% on the secret shop; my job depends upon it, but I  hope the person who 
secret shopped me also enjoyed the time they spent in my  line because I made 
it personal.
 
Sandy

 



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