Archived OH NO WE GOT A VISIT!!!!!!

[UnderpaidOverworked]

Am the only one who gets a kick out of watching the higher ups freak out? They run around like chickens with their heads cut off. It's probably the only time you see them work. But if they had the payroll to bring others on to do it they would. The fixture room is a death trap for months but when a visit is coming they clean it up. How does your store prepare for a visit?

 

[masterofalltrades]

same as yors. hgher ups swing the axe, and for once the zone is good. and, the fixture will no.lnger likely cause bodily harm.

 

[dabeastfromtheeast]

DC is the same as it was at the store. Once a visit is announced, all of the sudden we get another 12-36 man hours in our dept to try and get the place immaculate. I can assure you it's kinda pointless, trying to sweep up all the dirt in some of the largest buildings on the planet that move thousands of boxes an hour. I really wished unannounced visits were more of a thing. If we have an amazing dept/store/building, they should see how we really operate, so they can try to improve others, instead of projecting this false image that corp WANTS to see.

 

[UnderpaidOverworked]

You got a point if you really want to see how a store operates just pop up on them. Give them no time to fix it up. Even take it a step further and come in wearing your street clothes no red and khaki, split up and attack from all different directions. Someone take TSC since more than likely that's where the LoDs and STL will be. Make sure they don't walkie anyone. That would be fun to watch

 

[nolongerspecial]

You got a point if you really want to see how a store operates just pop up on them. Give them no time to fix it up. Even take it a step further and come in wearing your street clothes no red and khaki, split up and attack from all different directions. Someone take TSC since more than likely that's where the LoDs and STL will be. Make sure they don't walkie anyone. That would be fun to watch

Yes yes yes. I wish unannounced visits were the norm. We had an old DTL who would come in unannounced, walk the racetrack and if he didn't see an ETL or senior team lead on the floor would walk out and give the store an automatic red. That put an end to the marathon group lunches real quick.

 

[PricingMaster]

My DTL will sneak in, walk the racetrack without approaching anyone, as she wants to see if anyone will approach her, walk the backroom, and then, once she's finished doing her walk, will ask someone to get the location of my STL, but doesn't want the STL to be told she's there over the walkie - likes to surprise her, and then she will re-walk with my STL. Any time I see her walking, especially if I'm in the backroom branding up after a truck, I always approach her and walk the backroom with her, going over how the unload went with her (she's a former ETL-LOG) before she goes to re-walk the store with my STL. When I do walk with her she likes to quiz me on how things are going with pricing/presentation, what areas are being marked, and what areas are being set. She also looks to me for updates on Instocks and where they scanned for the day, as all those areas fall under logistics - I'm the LOG-Key Carrying TL, so in the absence of my ETL, I check in with those teams, even though I don't directly supervise them - it is part of the LOG-TL core roles. I like it when she does her surprise visits because it shows how the store is truly run.

 

[Bullselle]

The fixture room is a death trap for months but when a visit is coming they clean it up. How does your store prepare for a visit?

Over in softlines, it's the only time the fitting room doesn't look like a warzone. They schedule two operators so one can focus on repackaging and the other can just answer the phones and sort stray. The repackaging operator actually gets her own office for the day so that the fitting room doesn't look cluttered.

 

[indigo25]

We never get random visits because we're so far from the rest of the stores in our district. Our visits seem to go well, but a lot of that is of course because our visits are known about ahead of time.

 

[RedShirt1]

It would be nice to see GTL'S and those above DTL'S walk our stores too. Not just during 4th quarter.... And I'm not saying that just because I like to watch my STL get all sweaty and worried, although I certainly don't mind.

 

[sher]

They try to do surprise visits in my store, but they have a pattern, so they're never surprises. If they have a scheduled visit at a store nearby, the store calls and tells the stl and then we prep for a potential visit... And then they visit. Or if they surprise one store, it makes it through the grapevine and there's a more rushed preparation.

My DTL likes to randomly call and ask to speak to leadership which isn't as big a deal as a visit, but leadership in my store likes to ignore me when I tell them they have phone calls. One day she bounced back 4 times. I don't know what happened after that because I was only covering a break. I assume she was pissed, though.

 

[POGguy]

Couple years ago we got a new DTL. He came from another region and for the most part nobody knew who he was. Before he made a official visit to our store he decided to go in every store in the district unannounced, in plain clothes.

I think there were 9 or 10 stores in our district and every single one failed. He didn't even speak to management. It wasn't til a week later when he made "official" visits to the stores, when they had time to actually prepare, that he let them know they failed.

 

[tellmeaboutatime]

I have so much respect for DTLs that actually walk areas and speak to the tls in that area. When they ask about their areas the TLs get a chance to show what they know and be proud of the ownership of that area. I am sick of watching smug ETLs that act like their amazing leadership has resulted in a great looking area. In reality many times the area looks amazing and has amazing numbers is in spite of the ETL. And ETLs that freak when they get a visit show they have no confidence in their leadership. Never let them see you sweat! Never let the DTL see you sweat and never let the team see you sweat. They need to learn that and live it.

 

[dannyy315]

The fixture room is a death trap for months but when a visit is coming they clean it up. How does your store prepare for a visit?

I've gotten several cuts, scrapes, and scratches from miscellaneous metal paraphernalia in the fixture room. It really is a death trap.

 

[IndyTM12]

There was apparently a visit at my store today. I fortunately wasn't scheduled. There was one scheduled a few weeks ago, but it kept getting cancelled. One TM told me he thought it was just a ploy by our stores leadership to get everyone to clean up.

Back in December there was a visit while I was there. I was scheduled for hardlines, but ended up in electronics because they really needed the help. When the higher ups got by the boat I was wasn't impressed by them at all. No one introduced themselves & the only thing one guy wanted to know was how many RedCards we had in electronics that day. No one asked how the sales were going (very well by the way), just red cards.

 

[tgtguy]

I agree with @UnderpaidOverworked and have often said that if higher ups ( meaning dtl and above ) want to see how a store is really ran ..just do a surprise visit. Don't even go in Red and Kahki just show up and start looking. Anyone ( well almost anyone) can make a store look good if they know a big visit is coming. These higher ups need to use the element of surprise.

 

[dannyy315]

There was one scheduled a few weeks ago, but it kept getting cancelled. One TM told me he thought it was just a ploy by our stores leadership to get everyone to clean up.

That would be smart though!

 

[thetargetman]

I would love to see the visitors getting to see how things really are! I know I have nothing to worry about... I do my job.... just wish the ETLs did theirs! (most of them do at my store, just 3 don't)

 

[Produce Queen]

I have often wondered if DTL's don't want to see how the stores are actually operating because it would be a reflection on their own leadership. If they had to keep reporting red visits to their own bosses, what do you think would happen?

These visits just keep up the facade that stores are handling the lack of proper staffing just fine by making sure they have proper notice to buff it out beforehand.

 

[tgtguy]

I have never thought about it like that

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

I was off today on our visit. I had a tm tell about Christmas stuff signing still up, in a certain area. I told my fellow tl about that 3 weeks ago, after I took down the Christmas headers on the endcaps for them.

 

[Zone]

I will never forget the look on the faces of my bosses at my old job.

We got a surprise visit one day. All of the managers were freaking out.

"Nobody say anything until we figure out what they want!" was ordered in hushed tones, verbally.

One of the regional bosses walked into my section and stopped to look at a display. I walked right up to her, offered my hand, and introduced myself in front of the entire store management team. One of them looked like she was going to kill me. The others just stood there with mouths agape.

"I hope everything here is to your liking, ma'am?" I asked.

"Oh, absolutely! This endcap right here, who came up with it?" the executive inquired.

"I did, ma'am. Every time there's a new console launch, there's always a rush for accessories. So, I put them all front and center." (poster's note, official planograms didn't exist for this store chain.)

"That's brilliant!" she said.

"Thank you," I said. "Do you have any other questions or concerns?"

The conversation continued rather professionally from there. She took me aside before she left and said I was the first person in a month to just walk up and converse with her like a human being. Everyone else just panics and panders to her presence. Too bad I was in college and only part time at the time of this. I would have asked questions about careers.

 

[NitroKing2110]

My ETLs and STL freak so much when we get a visit that they've come up with "code gray" which is ETL-speak for "every ETL in the building better get their asses to (location) within 2 minutes or else"

One time I was approached by the Group SrVP, who actually shook my hand and inquired as to how things were going and then asked me to call the LOD.

 

[tgtguy]

In my early days with Spot ( when I was naïve and sipped a lil of the Kool Aid every now and then) I would get so nervous when there was a big visit. I would worry the store wouldn't look nice enough, that somehow someway the visit would go horrible. Now, visits don't bother me. I do my job every day...if it so happens there is a visit so be it. What I don't like is the etls finally deciding to "care" about how the store looks just because there is a visit.

 

[Jeremy]

The best isit I had was a person from group who was shopping at stores throughout the district/group. And i picked up a cashier Shift that day. Found out he was a corporate office employee, and heard my Red card spill to the guest in front of Him. Ended up getting praise from my ETL and DTL at the time lol. But ive never had a visitor mad at me personally as I greet them, ask them how they are. And treat them like another employee. Heck i even sold an ipad to our DTL, and got attachments lol.

 

[radiochu]

Yes yes yes. I wish unannounced visits were the norm. We had an old DTL who would come in unannounced, walk the racetrack and if he didn't see an ETL or senior team lead on the floor would walk out and give the store an automatic red. That put an end to the marathon group lunches real quick.

our DTL did this once. didn't give an auto red, but did walk in wearing street clothes, looked around for a bit, stopped next to me for a minute (still a super-newb GSA at that point) and eventually asked me to walkie the LOD to come meet him. I knew he looked really familiar but I didn't recognize him until I asked who I could tell the LOD they were coming to meet. I was soooo embarrassed. he still doesn't let me live that one down.

our visits are always super short though. they basically walk in, comment on how weird our guest service desk setup looks, walk the racetrack and nod a little, and zoom, gone. I guess we're either doing really well or really poorly. (we're definitely doing better than the other store in the area though... the Pfresh transition and moving to IGS to fit in a Starbucks did not go well for them.)