Archived Asking EVERY guest about RedCards

[Retail Girl]

We've started seeing more prompts in pharmacy, even when the guest already HAS one??? I had a prompt the other day, which I just declined, because the guest only had Rxs on the transaction & was using a flex-spending card. She wanted to do separate transactions & had her RedCard in her hand for the other transaction!!!

And yes, I realize that you can do two different payments, but the guest wanted to do separate transactions.

Yeah, the system REALLY needs a "they already have one" option. I can't tell you how many times I've asked and the guest says "Oh yeah, I have one but I don't want to use it today". They're obviously loyal customers because they're still spending money with us but we're not going to count them because they don't want to use the card that day? It's messed up.

Probably because Spot wouldn't trust us scummy peon TMs not to try and game the system by hitting that instead of K8 on most or every prompt. Or scumbag GSAs/GSTLs or higher telling cashiers to do that to game their conversion scores. Probably would happen too, sad but true. I'm glad that while my store has its copious problems, the pushiest and scumbaggiest thing we've ever done with redcards is having cashiers asking every guest "will you be saving 5% with us today with your redcard?" or some derivative. Some stores have some pretty worrisome horror stories.

Don't forget the amount of guests who you know are just lying about having one just so you will shut up and stop pestering.

 

[3LetterDevil]

One of the store ETL's came over today to "remind" us that "we are part of the store and need to do our part to meet the store's conversion goal". I just rolled my eyes....I figure when they start responding to our requests for back-up and helping US "meet our customer satisfaction goals", I'll start helping THEM "meet their conversion goals" 🙄

 

[Retail Girl]

Dude...guest satisfaction goals are super important in pharmacy! They totally drive store loyalty for the rest of the store!

I had a guest come through my line last week when I was cashiering, grumbling that she had to wait in line for 15 minutes at pharmacy to get her prescription. Now, I don't know if that was true, false, or what was going on. All I knew is that I had an unhappy guest who could potentially take her prescriptions (and thus need to come into Spot) elsewhere. So I listened, apologized, and offered a $5 gift card for her inconvenience. She was so thrilled, she nearly hugged me. The GSTL was thrilled that I handled it on my own without having to involve him or anyone else, and that I likely saved a guest...and then quietly let pharmacy know what I did so they had a heads up that there had been an issue we resolved.

 

[Aurora]

I just say 'are you saving 5% with your red card today' after I have greeted them. They either say 'yes', 'no' or 'what's that?'
If they say yes then I smile and move on. If they say no I smile and move on. If they ask what it is I explain the debit option and the perks it gives.
I refuse to be pushy and annoying.

 

[defang]

I've decided to keep it sweet, simple and short:
"Will you be saving 5% with us today by using your red card?"
If they ask about it, I'll gladly tell them anything they wanna know. Otherwise, K8 and move on.
The other day I even had a guest compliment me on how non-pushy my pitch was!

 

[bikebryan]

In the cell phone industry we usually had to ask every caller if they needed any accessories. Try this on for size:

I'm sorry but I can't take off any charges from your $1000 bill as your extra lines (often kids) have valid charges for text message overages. Oh, before you stop cursing at me and hang up in disgust, would you like to purchase an extra battery, car charger, blue tooth, or activate another line of service?

AWKWARD.

 

[commiecorvus]

In the cell phone industry we usually had to ask every caller if they needed any accessories. Try this on for size:

I'm sorry but I can't take off any charges from your $1000 bill as your extra lines (often kids) have valid charges for text message overages. Oh, before you stop cursing at me and hang up in disgust, would you like to purchase an extra battery, car charger, blue tooth, or activate another line of service?

AWKWARD.

I worked for the cable company and had to the same thing.
I'm sorry we've screwed up your bill your bill so that you owe hundreds of dollars that you didn't expect to but would you like to buy HBO?

 

[yme73]

Sad to say spot isn't the first store to be this credit card hungry. They are a little late on the band wagon from other stores I have work at. One would put everyones name on a board and you'd have goals you had to meet. If you didn't meet those goals you'd be written up, and shamed in front of your peers. Because the management team got nice bonuses if they met goal. So as much as I don't agree with the new amaze or whatever its called this week just as and move on. Granted I am not going to go on and on about how awesome it is to have a red card like they want. But I'll ask.

 

[FallenAngel]

I just say 'are you saving 5% with your red card today' after I have greeted them. They either say 'yes', 'no' or 'what's that?'
If they say yes then I smile and move on. If they say no I smile and move on. If they ask what it is I explain the debit option and the perks it gives.
I refuse to be pushy and annoying.

This^ Exactly what I do. "Will you be saving 5% with your red card today " They yes, I say great. They say no, I say ok. If they ask, I tell them about it. I love the ones where they're annoyed about always being asked, but we have that "vibe" (pardon that horrible pun) that we're talking and joking freely. Those are the ones that I actually DO mention the survey, and tell them to feel free to let spot know their feelings about being asked every time they shop.

 

[GlobalJ]

Ask every guest? I'm not sure my 5 year old guests buying toys on their "own" even know what a credit card is let alone qualify for one🙄

 

[mrknownothing]

This is a yes and nod method of working at Target if you ask me. And yes, I don't always follow it because I sometimes want to defend myself against bully ETLs and TLs. Just do the yes and nod and the TL or ETL should back off. Tell them whatever they want to hear. I really need to start doing that myself. I am speaking my mind way too much at my store.

This is what I do. Tell them whatever they want to hear and move on. "I may be standing but in my head I'm sitting." lol
I'm thinking about filing bankruptcy on 17000. worth of credit card debt. I can't in good conscious urge others to get into debt. The debit card one, yeah, I can go for that, but really at our ULV store, most of the guests have it already or just have been asked 1383734647 times already.
K8 all the way! lol

I have to disagree a bit here, as someone who uses credit cards and almost always pays my balance in full each month (the rare months that I don't, I probably leave a balance of <$20). Debt is only an issue if you aren't good at dealing with it. I would say applying for a credit card, while not an invitation to debt, certainly can be if you aren't wise about it.

You nailed it. The people who don't pay their balances on time and get charged a shitload of interest are the reason why Target wants guests to open Red Cards. Target benefits immensely from impulsive shoppers who aren't responsible.

 

[oath2order]

I worked for the cable company and had to the same thing.
I'm sorry we've screwed up your bill your bill so that you owe hundreds of dollars that you didn't expect to but would you like to buy HBO?

HBO. Good thing to go with, since they have all the good shows 😉