Store credit cards.....

[Lace Neil Singer]

What pisses me off is we are supposed to ask people if they have a rewards card, which is just like the savings cards at a grocery store.

And you get the asshole know-it-alls that answer "No thankyou" when you ask if they have one. Thankyou for what shitface? Did I ask you if you wanted to sign up? I didn't think so.

Argh, I really hate that! I think what you just said in my head every time. X_x

[tharglet]

I hate stores pushing cards... I think I was supposed to advertise Nectar, but never usually did (I'd ask if they had a card if they didn't get one out... most people had them as they're points cards and I know we were supposed to ask that). I wouldn't offer them a pack to apply unless they were truly interested.
Usually saying ur card is at home shuts them up - there's not a lot they can do from there.

[tenaciousb]

I think you're being a bit hard on them. So many places push their store cards that it's just a quick pavlovian response to the question. That question has gotten as bad as "Do you want fries with that?", and it's usually asked in the same bored, I-know-you're-going-to-refuse tone.

Nobody pushes it at our store because we are only supposed to ask once. Most people actually legitimetly forget.

So I have no sympathy for the people that think they know what is going to happen because they don't. What I need to do is think of a polite retort for their own, to put them in their place without them being able to make an accusation.

[Enjis]

I work at Macy's (used to be Marshall Field's)
We are indeed supposed to open (or at least attempt to open, as in we get credit even if it is declined) at least two credits for every 24 hours we work.

I work in the young men's department, so I manage to open quite a few...my total is well over goal right now.

How do I do it? I simply ask. I ask if they will be using their Macy's card...if not, I tell them about the 15 percent discount for two days if they open one now. If they say say no, but seem unsure, I tell them about how little time it takes (about 4 minutes, since I only need a driver's licence and SS number to do it on the computer).
If the response is still a 'no', I usually say 'okay, maybe next time' with a smile, and go on from there.

I NEVER badger people (because it annoys them, makes me look bad, and because I believe people know their own credit needs better than me.) If asked , I show them the interest rate printed on the form I am having them fill in. I never lie about it...it IS HIGH.

People have actually walked up to me and asked to sign up...hooray! That's always a good one.

At the morning meetings, management ALWAYS talks about credit goals...the store's, and ours as salespeople. They REALLY push it.

Why? Because in some seasons, credit was the ONLY profit the company made.

Credit is actually the only goal I am making...clientel is very bad, and so are sales. After 29 years working here, I've stopped caring so much.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Nobody pushes it at our store because we are only supposed to ask once. Most people actually legitimetly forget.

So I have no sympathy for the people that think they know what is going to happen because they don't. What I need to do is think of a polite retort for their own, to put them in their place without them being able to make an accusation.

Ditto. All we have to do is ask, once, "Do you have your store card?" I've lost count of how many people have replied, "Thanks for reminding me!" and pulled one out of their purse or wallet.

[Enjis]

Mighty Girl said: RA "Did you find everything that you're looking for?"
Me Yes (they're probably required to say that, but I think it's stupid- if I hadn't found everything I was looking for, I wouldn't be paying and leaving)"

Why do we ask this? Because some customers are not very bold, and will assume that because we don't have it on the floor in their size that they are out of luck.
When I ask a customer that question, they might respond with , "Well, there was one shirt I wanted, but you don't have it in my size". So, I offer to look in our computer system, to see if another store has it. Sometimes, it says WE have it. If so, (and if it is not too freakin' busy) I will go check in the magical 'back'. SOMETIMES it is even actually THERE! Hoo-rah! I have made that customer's day.
And all because I asked the dumb question of 'did you find everything you were looking for?"

[Jester]

I have to chime in here.

I was Christmas shopping at a department store. Saw a dress that was SO my little sister's style. Smallest size they had was 14. My tiny sister, fully grown, is maybe a 2-4. (She used to be a 0!) So, I asked about it. Sorry, no, they only had what was there.

So, whatever. Went around the store, found other gifts for other people, and was checking out.

"Did you find everything you were looking for?" Well, no. I was hoping to get that dress in this size, but you don't have it. That would be so my sister's style, too. "Why don't you look around in juniors for something similar?" Hmmm....why not? I did. And I found two shirts that seemed to fit the bill in style, AND were the perfect size. (And they had to be the perfect size: since Lil Sis lives in England and this American store does not exist there, returns are not an option.) So I bought them. And yes, Lil Sis LOVED them. Which is cool, considering Jester Shopping For Women's Clothes is generally a Very Bad Idea.

And that would not have happened had the clerk not asked that phrase.

[alphaboi]

...In our employee selling manual, it specifically states that we are expected to ask THREE times for the discount cards, even if the customer says "No" the first time...

Once is fine, twice is rude, a third time is inexcusable. I'll either ask for a manager or walk out. One time at Borders the cashier asked if I wanted a rewards card. I said "No, thank you.". She asked again. I said "No thanks, I'm not interested". She asked a third time. I said "I'm not interested!". She then had the nerve to tell me "We'',you don't have to be rude about it." I resonded "Excuse me, I'm not being rude, you are. I said no three times and you kept asking me. I'll get these somewhere else." and left.

[Kusanagi]

I want to add my 2c to this, for I have worked in an environment that had this.

There are two reasons behind this, the first is quota and the second is commission. I used to work at a place where you HAD to have a certain number of people sign up for the card. I would only ask one time though. The reason for it was that if someone was interested in a department store card, they would ask me about it the first time I brought it up.

Okay, maybe one in A THOUSAND would become interested if you pitched it again a few times, and this was all that corporate cared about - getting the bottom line. You also made an extra dollar or something, I can't remember how it worked, but the theory was you could make some nice money on the check if you got a few people to sign up hourly! In practice, it never worked out that way.

So what was corporate's reaction to there not being enough people signing up for credit cards? Lower the quota? Nope. Fire the workers who weren't meeting them? Yep.

Where I work now, we have projected goals as to what we should do for financing and our credit cards, but I usually ask one time and if they go for it great, if they don't, oh well. Granted, I make an extra hundred when someone finances, but I would rather have the thirty or fourty from the normal sale than risk having that walk out the door from being rude.