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So, last weekend was insanely busy because it was the first really bad weather weekend, so since no one can go outside and play they come to the bookstore and play. :P And lucky us, that was the day the Secret Shopper came in. We passed (Yay!), but the shopper was definitely not the brightest bulb. We had a Book Fair that day for the Gale History Center (something like that) and someone made up these great stickes for all of us to wear that said
"Have you seen the
GALE
History Center?"
Pretty much just like that. Yeah, stupid, I know.
So, the secret shopper didn't actually read these stickers. They just saw them and assumed that every employee that day was named Gale. Seriously.
I don't know what they thought those large tags hanging around everyone's necks were. But there's a place on the form to put the name of the employee that helped you, and they put "Gale". On each line. And the shopper has to be helped by 2 or 3 employees. (Supposed to be 2 customer service and 1 cashier, but sometimes they don't bother finding a 2nd cs person).
And then, for one of the steps of the Secret Shop, the shopper is supposed to go to the shelf, find a book, and then ask one of us for that book. (This is to make sure they ask for a book we actually have in the store) This shopper asked for the book "Madeline in Paris". There's no such thing. There's a "Madeline in London", and just plain "Madeline", because she LIVES in Paris.
And on a related note, I really hate our Book Fairs. The way they are SUPPOSED to work is that the school or organization or whatever sets up a date with us, then advertises like mad with students/patrons/etc. that we are doing a Book Fair where a percentage of our proceeds on that day will go to them. They are supposed to distribute vouchers, and then when people bring them in (drawn in by the organization's work on promoting the event), we fill out the vouchers and donate the %. We win, because we get extra business and advertising we wouldn't have, they win, cuz they get $. Instead, the way we've been doing it lately is that the organizations set up a little display table right inside the front door, with all sorts of info about whatever-it-is-they-do. Then they have a volunteer or two that grab each customer as they come in the door, explains their cause and hands them a voucher. So A. They don't drum up extra business, they just skim their % off what we were already going to make, B. They bug the customers (at least, it'd bug me to walk into a bookstore and get some spiel about something completely unrelated to books), and C. We get vouchers left ALL OVER the store.
"Have you seen the
GALE
History Center?"
Pretty much just like that. Yeah, stupid, I know.
So, the secret shopper didn't actually read these stickers. They just saw them and assumed that every employee that day was named Gale. Seriously.
I don't know what they thought those large tags hanging around everyone's necks were. But there's a place on the form to put the name of the employee that helped you, and they put "Gale". On each line. And the shopper has to be helped by 2 or 3 employees. (Supposed to be 2 customer service and 1 cashier, but sometimes they don't bother finding a 2nd cs person).And then, for one of the steps of the Secret Shop, the shopper is supposed to go to the shelf, find a book, and then ask one of us for that book. (This is to make sure they ask for a book we actually have in the store) This shopper asked for the book "Madeline in Paris". There's no such thing. There's a "Madeline in London", and just plain "Madeline", because she LIVES in Paris.
And on a related note, I really hate our Book Fairs. The way they are SUPPOSED to work is that the school or organization or whatever sets up a date with us, then advertises like mad with students/patrons/etc. that we are doing a Book Fair where a percentage of our proceeds on that day will go to them. They are supposed to distribute vouchers, and then when people bring them in (drawn in by the organization's work on promoting the event), we fill out the vouchers and donate the %. We win, because we get extra business and advertising we wouldn't have, they win, cuz they get $. Instead, the way we've been doing it lately is that the organizations set up a little display table right inside the front door, with all sorts of info about whatever-it-is-they-do. Then they have a volunteer or two that grab each customer as they come in the door, explains their cause and hands them a voucher. So A. They don't drum up extra business, they just skim their % off what we were already going to make, B. They bug the customers (at least, it'd bug me to walk into a bookstore and get some spiel about something completely unrelated to books), and C. We get vouchers left ALL OVER the store.
??
you! Anyways, knowing that she was one, I wanted to get on this shop! There are certain things we are required to do. One is to "Greet with a smile" and another is to "Anticipate Need". I was standing at the end of my checkstand and I saw her come around the corner. I went up to her and said, "Hi, can I help you find anything today?" (Note the greet and anticipate?)She says, "No, thanks." and I told her to have a nice day. That was it.
WELCOME 
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