Cincigal Grocery Store Clerk - IT'S JUST A JOB

The title of this post, I do believe, is becoming a reality.   Not only at our store but, almost every store I go in.

My cousin and I hit the road Wednesday and decided to do some shopping.  We traveled to one of the shopping malls, on the north side of town, and found the place to be rather empty.  Had no trouble finding a good parking spot and, there was absolutely no rush of shoppers to contend with.  Kind of reminded me of where I work.

In total, we visited four stores during our shopping spree.

Out of the four stores, there was only one that had great service.  This store is a very popular, national company, if not international, and the service and personality of the employees was top notch.  I found out that these employees are trained and they genuinely like their job.

This reminded me of how we use to be.

Now on to the other three stores.

At one of these stores I made a purchase and as I was being checked out, I got a little behind the scenes dialog.  The clerk that was checking out my order, had the cell phone in her left hand, used the cash register with her right hand and when a co-worker came by she was able to start a conversation with her; multi-tasking.

Now granted the actions of the clerk was not, what would be considered, good customer service - but hey, I kind of envied the clerk's ability to do all three things at one time.  But, what more caught my attention was the conversation that ensued;

Clerk #2 - "Hey, have ya seen the schedule?"
Clerk #1 - "No." (as she removes the cell phone from her ear)
Clerk #1 - "I had 32 hours last week and 28 hours this week." ( as she turns to Clerk #2 while     bagging my purchase.)
Clerk #2 - "Well, you got 0 hours next week."

For a second, or two, Clerk #1 just stood there staring at Clerk #2 while holding my bag.  Finally, Clerk #1 took my money and handed over my purchase.

So, as a customer, would I go back?  Yes I would - I like the fashions at this store.

Would I send an email to the corporate headquarters about the type of customer service I witnessed?  Not at all.

I look at it this way, the company  is to blame for the type of service the employees display.  These clerks had probably not been trained, except for the business end, and the actions they displayed will probably be how they act at future jobs which, sooner or later, could cause a problem for them.

And, just guessing, I would say that they have nothing to look forward to with this job except a minimum wage paycheck.

As a consumer, I feel the companies are at the root of customer service.  How employees act all depends on how they are treated by the employers.

I'm glad that I was able to work during a different time.  A time when employers provided their employees with incentive and good working conditions.  When the pay you received enabled you to dream and provided a stable life.  It was when employees were valued for their strong support.

Coming back to work, I see so much of what I have witnessed at other stores.  But, that is to be expected when there are employees who are just passing through and making low pay.

Like one employee told me, "Hey, it's just a job."

Talk at ya later!

 

Cincigal Grocery Store Clerk - THIS IS FOR SUSAN

As many times as we have had to say 'Goodbye', these last few years, you would think that it would get easier as time goes on.  But, it doesn't.

With most employees, that have departed, they took something with them when they left and in the process they created an empty space.

It is the team work, dependability, knowledge, responsibility and work ethic that, when gone, leaves a void in the work place   Along with the laughs and the friendships that make working more enjoyable.

 The structure of a staff is kind of like a set of building blocks.  You stack them up, one by one, until you get the perfect structure you are wanting to create.  But then when you start to remove the blocks, one by one, you begin to accumulate empty spaces until all that is left of the structure - comes tumbling down

With Susan leaving, another empty space has been created.  And one, like so many others, that can't be filled.

She takes with her the work ethic that is so much needed, the knowledge that got the job done and the teamwork that we all counted on. 

However, there is just one more thing that she will be taking with her ........ our friendship.

Talk at ya later!

Cincigal Grocery Store Clerk - MISSING STEPH

Now that we have said 'Goodbye', to another manager, I thought it only appropriate to do a post commemorating her stay at our store.

So, since this manager is now out of the building, I decided to ask the employees what they liked about her.  Not as easy a task as I had thought it would be.

With each employee that I asked, I was given all sorts of info.

"So what did you like about Steph?"  I would ask.  With each person asked, they would go on and on and on. 

Well, considering my memory can't remember all of it, I should have taken notes, I decided to just collect everyone's comments and break them down into one statement.

So, here it goes;

                                                             STEPH

                                              YOU WILL BE SO MISSED!

I don't think I can say it any better then that.

Talk at ya later!

Cincigal Grocery Store Clerk - 'SEEIN IS BELIEVIN'

The title above is a line that was given to me by my first department manager.  Of course, I have no idea how to give an exact spelling for 'seein' and 'believin' but this is all that I could come up with.

Throughout my time in this line of work I have found, that this particular phrase is the truest statement ever made when it comes to retail.  It has come in handy on many occasions.

Take for instance, a display or the way to operate a certain procedure for a department; you may know what you are talking about but let's say that the opposition has other ideas.  At first you may get frustrated because you know that your way is tried and true, but the opposition wins out in the long run.  Usually it is because the opposition is management.

But hold on, not all is usually lost.  Because, you see, it is the end result that matters.  And more often then not, it is the tried and true method that will win out, you just have to step back and allow the opposition to see for themselves. 

Of course this is how you learn another lesson; they don't always know what they are talking about.

This little, three worded phrase kind of hit home this week when we, the employees, witnessed the grief that a fellow employee was being put through.

Some called it 'harassment', others called it 'not fair'.  And in all reality they were all right, because the way the situation was handled was not that of company policy. 

As employees, we have taken note of the changes and learned to adjust.  After all, what choices does one have - you might say, 'they got you over a barrel'.  We come from a different time and a different place; a company that took care of it's employees and in return the employees provided the company with the best support. 

But now that those days are gone, we have become realistic and realize that we are vulnerable and have to be prepared.  Now having witnessed what one employee has gone through, we know that it can happen to any one of us.  Which leads me back to this little, three worded phrase.

Although we may have had an idea of what we were up against, we have now seen the reality and yes, we believe.

Talk at ya later!
 

Cincigal Grocery Store Clerk - ARE WE LOSING THE "VIBE"?

A manager once told me that this store has a definite 'vibe' about it.  And, that's a good thing.  That 'vibe' is the personality of the store.  When you take a group of people and put them together for a long period of time they, sooner or later, become one; actions, speech, thought process, skills and humor.  Each reflecting the other. 

And come to find out that is what our store has been most noted for, or at least that is what the customers tell me.  It's not the company name, products, sales or even this 'customer appreciate' thing - it is us.

But, be that as it may, this 'vibe' may be changing.  And, that is not a good thing.

With the transfer of employees becoming more common, more part-time employees being hired on and managers coming and going more constant, different personalities and work performances have come into play. 

One of the highlights around here is that customers enjoy stopping and chatting with the employees, while doing their shopping. Most generally they know your name and over the years you have come to know about their families, health and all sorts of incidentals of what they, the customer, are going through.  In a way, you have become friends.  And if there is anything the customers wish to bring to our attention, they know that the employees will follow through.

So the other evening two of our loyal customers stopped to chat and fill me in with all of the latest.  While they were talking to me, they started to tell me of a couple of incidences that they had encountered here at the store.

They started to tell me that they 'love ' this store and how much they enjoy so many of the employees.  But recently they had noticed that the newer employees were not as helpful - friendly, just not helpful.  While shopping in one of the perishable departments they brought to the attention of a clerk that a particular product, which was on sale, did not look good and that there was not very much of it prepared.  The clerk, in a friendly way, just agreed with the customer and made no offer of assistance and just walked away.  Something that this customer was not use to.  So the customer just left - something else the customer is not use to doing.

This is just one of quite a few stories that have been related to me. 

It's disappointing, to say the least, and although I hate to see this happen it is understandable when you consider the  changes that this store has been going through. 

Not too long ago, I was having this very discussion with another long term employee.  During the conversation we both agreed on the different things that we had witnessed and how sales had been affected.

So, I asked her, "Are we losing the 'vibe'?

She nodded her head - yes.

Talk at ya later!

Cincigal Grocery Store Clerk - RENEWED ENTHUSIASM

As most of the customers know I am the 'Flower Girl', a name given to me many years ago.  In fact, my name badge claims me to be the 'Floral Specialist'.  And until about four years ago, I was quite the floral expert - so to speak.

It use to be, until changes were made, that this little department displayed assorted arrangements.  Be they in baskets, vases or boxes with big bows - they sold quite well.  It was fun, in away, to see what I could come up with that would intrigue the customers enough to make the purchase.

But, I have to give credit where credit is due.  Be it the selection I would order or the arrangements I would create, it was all due to the customers.  You see, I discovered a long time ago that in order to please customers you only had to watch them to see what they were interested in.

And, so it began.

For me, it was an ego trip.  All of the compliments, thank you, orders and the realization that sometimes customers only came into the store to get flowers.  We had a reputation and it was a good one.

But, as fate would have it, there would be changes made that would kind of take the very creation of the department and change it forever; they call it 'downsizing'.

First the amount of hours to work the department were cut and then suppliers were changed and, if that were not enough, a display cooler was removed and well - interest in the department took a hit.

No longer was there enough of a selection in the flowers, no more room for cut arrangements, not enough time to work the department and the quality of the stock was not as good as originally handled.  And with these changes came another change, the loss of customers.

Since I was the one who came up with the ideas and taught myself how to create sales these changes were a hard hit.  And yes, I took it personally.

I had never been told to do these things, I just took it upon myself.  And what I ended up creating, were sales.

This was the first time that I began to realize that companies do not think of customers, and what they want, when making their decisions.

So for the next few years I had to learn how to juggle the work load; throw a 50 pound bag of potatoes, water the plants then fill the bananas, bag the Broccoli, crisp the lettuce then box a dozen single roses.  Ordering became a hassle due to sales versus shrink.  There was not enough time to work the department, since there were other departments to work.  And most importantly, there was no support. 

So gone were the compliments, interest and sales.

But, hopefully things are beginning to change - again.

Even though I work less hours (RETIRED), I am now able to give more time and work to this little department; renewed enthusiasm.  There still is not enough room for arrangements but I will try to make some adjustments, along with improving selections.

I will not be able to get the old customers back, since they do not shop here anymore, but I will aim for new customers; let them see what we can do, that is like a calling card.

I really don't know what the future holds for this little department.  But, it is worth a shot.

Working here has provided me quite a bit of insight into what makes retail work, and it is rather simple; pleasing the customers.

How easy is that?

Talk at ya later!

Cincigal Grocery Store Clerk - ACCEPTING CHANGE/OR NOT

Now that my life has made a 180 degree change, I find that most things remain the same.   And to celebrate this grand event of retirement (semi), I took a week off.  Just to kind of get the feel of things.

But before I took this little vacation, the company decided to play the 'move the managers around' game.

Here we go again!

What is ironic about this move, is that customers can always tell when a new manager comes into the picture; department/store appearance is always a dead give-away.  What use to be, no longer is and what wasn't, now is.

So after a week off, I went back to work and when I walked into the store I noticed something which I had not seen in a long time - change.

Now I was looking at the store as a customer would and it was rather disappointing, to say the least.

What use to be colorful was now drab and what use to look organized now appeared cluttered.  And product that once aroused the appetite now didn't look so fresh and inviting.

It was disappointing to see this change, but I just kind of shook it off and proceeded to go and clock in.

If there is one thing which I have learned, while working in this store, it is that change is not always good.  In fact, it seems that we take  five steps back before we take one step forward.  And is anything ever learned from these changes?  Not really.  Changes continue to be made in an attempt to find the perfect formula.  Kind of like 'grasping at straws'.

So now we start over - again.

All of the hard work and pride of the past will slowly fade and a new formula comes into play.

And the one thing I have always noticed, when these changes take place, is that the party implementing the change always, 'knows what they are doing'.

That is until the changes do not show any improvement in the bottom line. 

And then, of course, there will be another change.

Talk at ya later!