ETL asked me to tell them a time today that i went out of my way for a guest to stand above and beyond?

[eggy]

Kinda took me by surprise lmao, he was asking about today specifically. I don’t typically interact with guests that obviously don’t need help and especially not ones that get right up on top of me when Im wearing a sticker on my back that says stay 6 feet back and stocking. But overall it someone’s obviously looking for something or i’m just bored i’ll ask if they need help. I help anyone who needs help with a smile and walk them to where they need to go etc etc etc. But i can’t help but feel like their question had deeper meaning. Idk if maybe they were watching me when i obviously didn’t interact with a guest and they saw? I’m not the most talkative or social person, not anxious or anything I just don’t care for people especially right now.
anyways rant aside, has anyone else been asking this/similar from their etl? just felt like it was weird.

 

[Lights]

I haven't been to work in about 6 weeks so I'm not entirely sure if anything changed but maybe it was just the ETL challenging you or more team members to keep you all on your toes. This reminds me of a time back in around 2013-2015 when TM's were advised to "VIBE" with the guests LOL, that word still makes me cringe to this day, "Vibe" or "Vibing". Around that time TL's had to talk to all of their TM's and ask them similar questions and write the answers down to make sure TM's were focused on "Vibing" with the guests, omg I said it again! Just a way to keep TM's focused on making sure they are helping out the guests. I really hope they didn't bring this all back because it's already haunting me. We even had "VIBE" cards to write to other team members and a "Vibe" wall, OMG I'm done, DONE!

 

[eggy]

We even had "VIBE" cards to write to other team members and a "Vibe" wall, OMG I'm done, DONE!

omg... we still kinda have one of these. it’s like an appreciation wall or something. but yeah that makes sense, i’m probably just overthinking! thank you D

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

You are supposed to ask guests for help when they are near by.

 

[eggy]

You are supposed to ask guests for help when they are near by.

yeah, i get that, i typically do but due to the current situation we’re all in i haven’t been super eager to help guests who are standing on top of me with no PPE on breathing in my face blatantly disregarding that i’m a living person. if they act decent i’ll ask if they need help.

 

[Yetive]

I would guess that they are asking everyone. It may be a way to get your minds out of survival mode, and back to guest focus.

 

[Bosch]

I showed up for work in the middle of a global pandemic.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

I'm with you @eggy . And @Bosch is right - showing up for my shifts is about all they can reasonably expect from me. I'm usually one of those who will greet guests, ask if they're finding what they're looking for, ask a confused-looking guest if they need help finding something. But not these days. I still do ask the confused ones if they're masked, but mostly I keep my head down now.
Because of the ones like the unmasked guy today who keeps walking toward me while I'm backing up as he's asking where the trash bags are. I was mumbling into my mask about stupid people after that encounter.

 

[countingsheep]

Oooh the many hateful things I have told my mask while folding pants smh.

 

[Lights]

I use to ask every single guest if they needed help but I kinda slowed it down a bit until I really feel they do need help because I once asked a guest if they needed help and his response was and I quote "DAMN! Can't I just take a look? Now I don't want any" and he walked away. Sure those are very rare occurrences but man that gave me an anxiety attack and I'll never forget it, and it always runs in the back of my head before I ask. Truth is though what I've learned is most guests don't want to ask for help so they often come to the conclusion that we don't sell what they are looking for so if you ask them if they need help more often than not you will make a sale as oppose to getting a snarky response. What really gets me are those guests that can't wait a few minutes for you to go to the backroom and grab or take a look what they are looking for and they leave by the time you get back with their item. Walking 4 times around my target is one mile, not sure if that's bigger or smaller than most targets but it takes awhile sometimes to go take a look in the back. I always tell the guest I'm going to need 5 minutes to take a look.

 

[TTB]

I showed up for work in the middle of a global pandemic.

That would have been the best answer lol

 

[StargazerOmega]

Honestly, I think everybody is a bit on edge since the pandemic started. ASANTS as far as the degree stores are doing this, but it sounds like it's just a refresher exercise. There could be a visit coming up and they're preparing you.

 

[Bosch]

That would have been the best answer lol

My snarky bitchiness is razor sharp these days..

 

[vyrt]

Also Target’s never looking for anything grandiose for those questions. They much prefer a concise “high level” answer.