So a guest asked me today...

Joined
Nov 30, 2019
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10
So today a guest asked me a question and I began to answer, but then another team member came up behind me and started answering over me. I was like, “thanks, but I got this”. To which they responded, “oh, you looked like you needed help”. And then I went back to answering the guest while he stood next to me and only left once I helped the guest. Trust me, this wasn’t an innocent encounter, he purposefully wanted to get credit for the question.

It’s like getting cock-blocked at work. Do y’all ever experience this?
 
I do this to other TMs sometimes too. If you pause, or say "ummm", I'll jump in with the answer if i know for sure what the answer is. Often, I'll allow a TM to confidently answer incorrectly then I'll give the correct info.
 
I do this to other TMs sometimes too. If you pause, or say "ummm", I'll jump in with the answer if i know for sure what the answer is. Often, I'll allow a TM to confidently answer incorrectly then I'll give the correct info.

This is me as well. Especially over the walkie if somehow someone else answers before me. I will also linger if the first TM is newer and does not know all the little small things that can make an answer easier when helping a guest. I either wait until they are done with guest or assist if I see it's not going well.
 
I'm guilty of this also. I often don't realise I've probably annoyed the tm until after I do it but most often I am better suited to fully answer the question. It isn't that I think the tm is dumb, I just want to make sure facts are known and not "probably" "I think" or "maybe". I don't stop the tm from talking but I invite myself in and I probably shouldn't. ^^
 
I am trying not to do this as much as I do. Some newish TM did it to me and gave the guest inaccurate info and I really wanted to smack her. I do not wish to be so annoying.
 
I used to do this but now I am self conscious about answering over people. I let the other TM try to answer before I give my input.
 
I only do this if it’s clear the team member needs help, like if they start to give inaccurate information or if they pause for a few too many seconds. I like them to try to figure it out independently, but jump in if necessary.

But we have this one team member that jumps in all the time, it’s so annoying. Even if I confidently start to answer the guests question, she tries to takeover. It’s like she’s always trying to get credit.
 
The rule I was taught, not at Target but at a grocery store where I worked as a butcher and would get snagged by customers all the time, was to never say "I don't know." but to say, "Let me find out for you."
It means the same fucking thing but just shows you are going to make sure they get help.
 
For the first year i worked with spot YES but now I have everyone in the store calling ME specifically for answers.if its a newbie and they want a shot I just walk away ...hell even I am tired of being the only knowledgeable one...but that rarely happens...just walk away and help another guest.let them have at it! Its not like we get commision.
 
When I jump in, I don't talk over the other TM but instead look at it as a teachable moment and include, making it a three-way conversation with the other TM and the guest. Other TMs have sort of done this with a guest and me and it works well for all of us. I don't feel stupid, the guest is assisted, and all is well. "Looking for ___? They're over in C block, about aisle 24. Or real close to there." Or like what just happened a couple days ago where a TM had called on the walkie for a DBO in a certain area but either she didn't hear or she'd left for the day. It's right next door to my area, so I walked over and saw that the TM, who's not a newbie, was at a loss. It was one of those items marked way down for Black Friday; the zebra said we still had 2 on hand, but they might have been in re-shop or still laying around somewhere or just an inaccurate count. I was able to help both the TM and guest find the item online for the same sale price as in store. Everyone's happy.
 
If you see a guest ask me a question, by all means go ahead and take over if you can. Please. I'm not opposed to answering guests questions, but it's not my job. So, if you know the answer feel free to jump on in. Hell, I hand guests with questions off to our DBOs all the time. You deal with them. I'm just over here trying to find this shampoo not wanting to answer questions about which lotion we have on sale is best for some old woman's grandkid.
 
Usually in my case it was a TL or ETL that would bend over backwards for a guest. But I was the one who was actually following policy.

Best thing to do is give the guest the service satisfaction first. Then give the intruding TM feedback offstage.
 
... "get credit" is that like some IRL version of internet points?

If I'm walking around and I see a TM stammering, I'll go by and ask if they're good. If they say "Yes," I'll continue on my way. If they say they need help finding something, then I'll help them and the guest with it. Sure, it was weird they hung around, but it definitely seems like you're reading too much into it.
 
... "get credit" is that like some IRL version of internet points?

If I'm walking around and I see a TM stammering, I'll go by and ask if they're good. If they say "Yes," I'll continue on my way. If they say they need help finding something, then I'll help them and the guest with it. Sure, it was weird they hung around, but it definitely seems like you're reading too much into it.
I mean most people who jump in do it in good faith if they see you struggling, but there's certain team members that just always jump in no matter what the situation is. Like with a condescending "you wouldn't know, let me take over" attitude.
 
I'm already in the habit of answering questions because often I'll be standing nearby when a guest asks a cashier a question they don't know the answer to and the cashier will give me a panicked look, but I couldn't say if I've stepped on anyone's toes like this, and if I don't know then I probably have. I'm gonna try to be more aware of that. If I feel like I have to jump in because a cashier might get the answer wrong, then I should be training my cashiers better.
 
Only time I've done this a lot recently is with guests asking about the price matching policy.

Several times we had guests ask if we price matched Amazon, and I'd hear GA's say we did, at which point I'd interject that that was usually correct so long as the item was sold by amazon directly and not a third party seller, but that currently (this was prior to December 7th) we were only price matching target.com
 
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