Work V: Bitchgirl Revealed

[kyrasantae]

Bitchgirl showed up today with a handful of stapled sheets. So she was supposed to be my "trainer" and needed to check off that I learned all of these things on her 7-page checklist. Hmm....

I "confronted" (not in a confrontational way) bitchgirl about her bossiness, and she revealed that she had been a manager at McD's for a few years...

That might explain a lot.

Then I kinda ended up yelling at my supervisor a bit during the last part of my shift - she wanted me on the till and I was explaining that my insistance of not doing it and reluctance to do so is not about a lack of practice or lack of knowledge of how to do it - it's a refusal to take orders from someone whom I don't know and is a totally random person off the street. I can handle a few individuals giving me orders - parents, bf, friends, supervisor, doctor, etc. - but these are people I know and trust. In any event, she eventually dropped the case.

*sigh*

The Hallmark store where siromygod is working might still hire for the summer. I'm so working there instead if I can.

Oh!

Edit:

...and bitchgirl was reading off the checklist something about aggressively getting customers and stuff (like, you know, aggressively trying to get their attention when they're next in line). Okay okay what's with the strong wording? :P

...and again, bitchgirl was reading off the checklist something about 'suggestive selling' like suggesting that people buy a donut with their drink or 'would you like to upgrade to a combo' crap - I mean I know all retail and service businesses try to do that but it really really pisses me off - can't we just leave people alone to get what they want and stop just trying to get money for yourself!??!?!?!?!? If someone wants to supersize their meal at McD's, LET THEM DO THAT ONLY IF THEY FREAKING WANT TO! It's not like people don't know the option exists, YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO MILK THEIR MONEY OUT OF THEM!!!! Call me an idealist, but business shouldn't be about selling people what they DON'T want (or what is bad for them) so that YOU can make more money! Business is about satisfying people's wants and needs - not about your own wealth!

Edit again:

I was telling bitchgirl how I was rather enjoying cleaning the hot cappuccino/chocolate machine (since it was a machine and not a human), while she was showing me how to do it, so she was like, "well, since you like working with machines so much, why don't you clean the other machine too?" Later, she got me cleaning the coffee makers which I thoroughly enjoyed also. Anyway....

Comments

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

so would u prefer retail to restaurant?

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

As long as I'm not trying to sell clothes, because appearance and what you wear matters too much for that kind of stuff.

I also wouldn't want to work in a sit-down restaurant either, because I can't stand hot water on my hands for long periods of time, even with gloves on...and I definitely wouldn't be able to tolerate taking down people's orders (even if I'm not the one preparing them) - and appearance is a huge factor there too.

Ooh you reminded me of something I wanted to put down in that post. I'll edit it.

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

Hey, what about claires and stuff like that?

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

Jewelry? Accessories? Um, eww? I have no eye for beauty.

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

Well then.

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

I mean I know all retail and service businesses try to do that but it really really pisses me off - can't we just leave people alone to get what they want and stop just trying to get money for yourself!??!?!?!?!?

We have to do that at Hallmark too. No offense mildred, but it doesn't matter if you don't like doing it, there's a good chance that you're going to have to.

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

Nuh uh. I have free will. I don't feel that it's ethical to 'suggest' to people what they should want.

And that echoes my small issue with the engineering profession - they often end up working for the sake of someone else's money, not the public wellbeing. I know that sometimes environmental awareness or public safety is set aside for the sake of profit, although ethics guidelines try to keep that to a minimum.

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

Man, I'm not sure if I should be proud of you or pity you. For you can never be one of the sheep, you will always do what you feel is right. You have a long road ahead of you.

...That sounds so friggin bizzare...

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

Though you have a very strong sense of morality. I do what I'm told, but what I think is right. I can't stand it sometimes when my boss is as fake as hell. But I just suck it in because I know no one is getting hurt.

Full agreement

[theanomaly.livejournal.com]

"LET THEM DO THAT ONLY IF THEY FREAKING WANT TO! It's not like people don't know the option exists, YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO MILK THEIR MONEY OUT OF THEM!!!!"

With a well-known product such as the one you're working with, my sentiments exactly.

Re: Full agreement

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

Actually, now that i think about it, for Tim's yes, it is a well known product, but for Hallmark, the upselling we do, lots of customers don't know about it.

Re: Full agreement

[theanomaly.livejournal.com]

Yeah - kingsize/supersize/biggiesize options are far too common to be 'new' to consumers. I spent a goodly while doing upselling on things like service agreements and multi-year support contracts, and I initially had the same thought on that as she mentioned.

Then it started to dawn on me that a lot of people were never told by anyone in the support chain that they had the option of an agreement or what types were available, and some of the agreements actually made a lot of sense to me as a support tech (which always helps when you're trying to pitch the sale).

I'm still uncomfy with 'upselling' but I learned in that job that there are times and places to do it, and that if done in the right way (no, there is no textbook 'right way', it's whatever works for you as an individual and a seller) you can get the majority of people covered (as in, aware of the options) without them being pissed off or otherwise out of sorts over the whole thing. Took me a while to learn that too...

Re: Full agreement

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

Yes, I totally agree with you. For me, I'll ask if they're interested, and if they're not, it's alright, I'll ring up their purchase and they're on their way. But It bugs me at fast food places, all I want is a burger, is that so hard to understand?? But you can't get mad at the employees, it's their job. =D

Re: Full agreement

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

But it's not about the customers getting pissed off, it's about ME getting pissed off! :o I mean, I'd tell them about the options but if they don't want it and say that I'm not going to push it. It's like telemarketers - they really should just hang up when you say "I'm not interested"...

Re: Full agreement

[theanomaly.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I have always figured (and this goes with your reply to siromygod on 'free will' and such) that as an employee of the company, you know the company's products, and are in The Best Position, as such, to suggest things that may be appropriate for the customer. Yes, the phrasing may well be more suited to a tech environment such as what I am used to, but the theory still applies. I don't think I'd go so far as to say that it's your duty to suggest things to the customers all the time (or any of the time, for that matter) but as an employee, you're qualified to.

Consider the possibility that the customer may find out later that an option he/she had available, that would have benefited them, was not made apparent at the time it would have helped them out. It's 1/2 the fault of the customer for not asking, and 1/2 the fault of the representative for not suggesting it. Or so I figure.

Re: Full agreement

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

I like your logic.

Re: Full agreement

[theanomaly.livejournal.com]

Thanks. (on both counts)

And feel free to use/mutilate the icon - tis my own creation.

(and on another note....)

[theanomaly.livejournal.com]

I think that between the 3 of us, we have broken kyrasantae's record for most replies to an LJ entry.

Re: (and on another note....)

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

I think you guys did.

Re: (and on another note....)

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

Oh really? Cool.

Re: (and on another note....)

[forgottenlord.livejournal.com]

um.....by the time you posted that one.....I don't believe so (however, with this being the 23rd post, that is definately the biggest number I've seen on her LJ)

It is definately the record for most number of responses that were not of an argumentative/inflamatory/disagreeable fashion....

Re: (and on another note....)

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

It was 19 when he made that comment, which was definitely a record in any case. Even some of the 'debate' threads were only like 15-17 or something.

Re: (and on another note....)

[forgottenlord.livejournal.com]

I think I saw one debate thread approach 20 - I'll take a look later (tomorrow prob)

Re: (and on another note....)

[kyrasantae.livejournal.com]

Where are ya, taking a break from work right now?

Re: (and on another note....)

[forgottenlord.livejournal.com]

yes

Re: Full agreement

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

K, thanks =D

Re: Full agreement

[siromygod.livejournal.com]

And nice icon =D