Archived "Acknowledging Every Guest" Rule

[HardlinesKing]

Pretty sure someone mentioned this before but our store just started enforcing this rule today. Has anyone actually gotten written up or terminated for not following this rule yet? I think it's a little ridiculous and I'm wondering how long it takes before they realize its not very effective and actually annoying as most people don't want to be bothered. What are your thoughts?

 

[TTGOz]

Pretty sure someone mentioned this before but our store just started enforcing this rule today. Has anyone actually gotten written up or terminated for not following this rule yet? I think it's a little ridiculous and I'm wondering how long it takes before they realize its not very effective and actually annoying as most people don't want to be bothered. What are your thoughts?

Not written up but talked to. It's pretty expected everywhere you at least say hi to each person you walk by instead of just staring straight ahead.

 

[Thunderbird1956]

I've only known GS, front end, and beauty to enforce this policy with any consistency. 4th quarter anyone who worked Ship From Store, which in many cases were 80% of the store in at least 3 different districts were actually told to not only avoid high traffic areas, but not address the guest, and if stopped say they were with Target.com and direct the guest to another TM.

 

[unknown]

Uh oh .... some of the etls are in trouble. They are notorious for ignoring people.

 

[HRZone]

Pretty sure someone mentioned this before but our store just started enforcing this rule today. Has anyone actually gotten written up or terminated for not following this rule yet? I think it's a little ridiculous and I'm wondering how long it takes before they realize its not very effective and actually annoying as most people don't want to be bothered. What are your thoughts?

Written up quite often.

The way I see it. It's not feasible to stop and talk to every guest, I have seen surveys where people say its annoying and as a tm it will slow you down.

I say smile at every guest and engage if they look like they need your help.

I have never seen anyone fired for it out of 90 days. But yes it is a coaching for unsatisfactory performance if a leader wants to write you up for it. And you dont have to sign for it.

 

[NKG]

Pretty sure someone mentioned this before but our store just started enforcing this rule today. Has anyone actually gotten written up or terminated for not following this rule yet? I think it's a little ridiculous and I'm wondering how long it takes before they realize its not very effective and actually annoying as most people don't want to be bothered. What are your thoughts?

Coached but not termed. Simple "Hello" was all we were told at my old store. My new store doesn't care.

 

[Kartman]

I say smile at every guest and engage if they look like they need your help.

This!!!

 

[sprinklesontop]

Pretty sure someone mentioned this before but our store just started enforcing this rule today. Has anyone actually gotten written up or terminated for not following this rule yet? I think it's a little ridiculous and I'm wondering how long it takes before they realize its not very effective and actually annoying as most people don't want to be bothered. What are your thoughts?

On the contrary...... Greeting, Acknowledging, and Assisting our Guests is highly effective! Most of the time, it's something small and simple that our Guest is looking/asking for; light bulbs, for example. You show them the light bulb aisle, ask if they need assistance w/ any other items. Done. Easy-peasy. Or... you can walkie the TM working in the area; "Hey, Bob.... I'm sending a Guest your way, they are looking for night-lights.... could you please help them." Done. Easy-peasy.
Our assistance is critical to a positive Guest Experience. It keeps them coming back. It keeps their $$$ in our stores. It's the difference between a negative score vs a stellar score on our NPS metric. That's the metric the Company is looking at to improve/drive Sales.
And, it all starts w/ Acknowledging the Guest.

 

[Planosss]

Written up quite often.

The way I see it. It's not feasible to stop and talk to every guest, I have seen surveys where people say its annoying and as a tm it will slow you down.

I say smile at every guest and engage if they look like they need your help.

I have never seen anyone fired for it out of 90 days. But yes it is a coaching for unsatisfactory performance if a leader wants to write you up for it. And you dont have to sign for it.

I always tell my peers, at least acknowledge the guest by smiling and saying hi. Takes 2 seconds, and you can do it while walking ....away.

 

[BeelzeBecky]

We used to enforce this in all departments in my (now closed) store.
A few weeks before we stopped getting trucks a TM in hardlines got coached for ignoring a guest. Apparently she'd been avoiding guests and one complained so they checked the tapes and the TM had literally scurried off when the guest walked up to her.

But, ASANTS

 

[Anelmi]

I know when I'm shopping, I hate when store employees ask me if I need help. I don't. I want to look in peace. I don't want to feel cornered ala car salespeople.

So when I'm working as a salesfloor TM, I try to be mindful of that. Acknowledge their presence with a smile and a quick hello, be in the same general space for a bit and then move on. If they want my actual help, they know I'm around and will look to find me.

GSTMs/Cashiers, however, have no business not smiling and being friendly. That, to me, is part and parcel of their role.

 

[redcounts]

In that case all the ETL'S and LOD'S and TL'S should be fired at my store. I'm a team member and half the time I make them look like crap by giving service to everyone who walks by me. I observe them when I walk by them, They don't even acknowledge any guests. Half the time they seem to be looking on their phone or heading to their office to sit down and eat. And they have nerve to give us a average or bad score on helping guests when they never even service the guests in the store.

 

[PackAndCry]

My pog team wouldn't get anything done if this was the case. Our "acknowledging guests" is pretty much limited to saying "if you need me to get any of the carts out of the way for you, let me know!" to people who come down the aisles we're working on, otherwise, they can put on their big boy/girl pants and ask for help if they need it. I can see telling the salesfloor TMs to be more proactive about helping guests, but the process teams won't get anything done with our limited payroll if we're forced to bother guests who are trying to shop.

 

[HRZone]

But, ASANTS

Not for long though. Our dtl told us to manage out or move unfriendly folks out of face work centers.

 

[HRZone]

In that case all the ETL'S and LOD'S and TL'S should be fired at my store. I'm a team member and half the time I make them look like crap by giving service to everyone who walks by me. I observe them when I walk by them, They don't even acknowledge any guests. Half the time they seem to be looking on their phone or heading to their office to sit down and eat. And they have nerve to give us a average or bad score on helping guests when they never even service the guests in the store.

Definitely a double standard here. One reason I'll never write someone up for it short of being rude.

 

[compostguy]

The "acknowledging every guest" affects the Net Promoter Score (NPS), hence the recent focus on greeting all guests. It's a habit / routine for me in Market (which goes back to when "the Vibe" was rolled out).

 

[countingsheep]

Not for long though. Our dtl told us to manage out or move unfriendly folks out of face work centers.

Our store started this as each dept went e2e. It really sucks because our etls didnt bother investigating who was termed "unfriendly" and simply used it as an opening to move their favorites into the positions they want :/ our bottom line continues to suffer becauze of it. I miss when work was actually fun and we had real team cohesion -_-

 

[HardlinesKing]

In that case all the ETL'S and LOD'S and TL'S should be fired at my store. I'm a team member and half the time I make them look like crap by giving service to everyone who walks by me. I observe them when I walk by them, They don't even acknowledge any guests. Half the time they seem to be looking on their phone or heading to their office to sit down and eat. And they have nerve to give us a average or bad score on helping guests when they never even service the guests in the store.

I agree that's why I was confused when they started pushing it at my store when managers hardly do it themselves and don't get reprimanded for it.

 

[Bethy]

Ahhh no!!! I hate it when I’m just trying to shop and get annoyed multiple times by people awkwardly asking me if I need help...
Please don’t make me be that person!!

 

[Fluttervale]

I just make eye contact and say good morning. I usually don’t need to stop what I'm doing, and the leaders see me do it often enough that I won’t get scolded if I miss one.

 

[GreasyGary]

I'm not exactly a people person (one of the reasons I love flow - 95% of my work is done while the store is closed). But when I am on the floor while we're open, I always at least smile and nod so they don't have to feel like they're chasing me down if the need to ask where something is.

Usually I'll even say "How are you this morning", but if I'm carrying a heavy box or already zooming to find something for another guest, I will admit to dodging people who haven't seen me yet. (Going down the next aisle if one has guests on it, etc).

So yeah I don't think it's an unreasonable ask on the surface - as long as they don't expect you to go overboard with it and understand that sometimes it's just not practical. Because it does seem a lot of times people are actually looking for something but they don't want to ask if you don't make first contact.

 

[Tessa120]

I usually greet everyone. Sometimes I skip it, but that's because it's typically when I'm doing a task that is super time sensitive, which isn't often. It's not hard to greet everyone by saying "hello" or "hi there" as you are pushing a cart down an aisle or picking something up or even knelt down folding stuff on a bottom shelf. A lot of people say "hi" back and move on without interrupting your current task. Some people really do need help but are too shy to ask for it until greeted, and getting them to spend money pays my wage.

 

[busyzoningtoys]

We used to enforce this in all departments in my (now closed) store.
A few weeks before we stopped getting trucks a TM in hardlines got coached for ignoring a guest. Apparently she'd been avoiding guests and one complained so they checked the tapes and the TM had literally scurried off when the guest walked up to her.

But, ASANTS

Against best practice to coach using cameras unless it’s for theft or safety reasons.

 

[NitroKing2110]

Against best practice to coach using cameras unless it’s for theft or safety reasons.

Doesn’t sound like they coached off cameras. It sounds more like they checked the cameras to see if the guest was in fact completely full of crap. We do this, our guests have a habit of exaggerating the truth when it comes to complaints. I would have worded the coaching to the likes of “you actively avoided a guest who approached you for help, and they complained.”

 

[HRZone]

Yeah I think my biggest issue is the people act like this is some big nuisance to their job. Acknowledge doesn't mean repeat "can I help you find something".

I give people a head nod, or "hi there" and that is just as good.

If you ignore guest it will kill you in guest surveys. Some of the lowest scoring stores get reports of their tms texting or purposely ignoring guest