Circle Card Applications

[CTL]

Question for all the service and engagement leaders. Is anyone else’s store/district treating Circle Cards too much like an operational metric? We are basically being told that team members need to have at least one sign up in store every month, and if they don’t, it will be a corrective action. Does this seem too extreme to anyone else? It just feels very aggressive, as I cannot actually find anywhere that it says the team member must sign guests up for a card. The job description just says to know and speak to the benefits to the guest.

 

[The Dude Abides]

It's a very different world than when I was a GSA. The expectation pre-Covid was to get multiple apps per shift let alone per month.

With that said, yes it is unreasonable.

 

[BullseyeBabe]

For me, it’s more holding TMs accountable if they aren’t asking every guest. I let them know other leaders will be listening too. Not asking is a pdd and, yes, it could lead to a CA.
I really try to motivate my team. What do you do to try and make it as fun as possible?

 

[The Dude Abides]

For me, it’s more holding TMs accountable if they aren’t asking every guest. I let them know other leaders will be listening too. Not asking is a pdd and, yes, it could lead to a CA.
I really try to motivate my team. What do you do to try and make it as fun as possible?

Stop doing the bolded part. Nothing would piss me off more when I worked front end then a leader asking "why didn't you ask the guest about a red card?" when it was already apparent that a conversation like that was a non-starter. I knew who to ask and how to ask and converted at a high percentage.

 

[happygoth]

Stop doing the bolded part. Nothing would piss me off more when I worked front end then a leader asking "why didn't you ask the guest about a red card?" when it was already apparent that a conversation like that was a non-starter. I knew who to ask and how to ask and converted at a high percentage.

You have to ask everyone otherwise it could appear discriminatory. When I pushed credit at Sears it was impressed upon us to ask everyone and to never assume who would say yes and who would say no. Everyone should be offered the chance, period.

 

[The Dude Abides]

That's not how discrimination works at all.

 

[happygoth]

That's not how discrimination works at all.

You can't pick and choose who to ask. I'm not saying a store could be sued or anything, but it's not up to each cashier to decide who they should ask. Based on what? Looks, age, body language? Whether they look rich or poor? Black or white? You see what I mean? Fairness dictates that every customer be given the opportunity to apply.

 

[commiecorvus]

When I worked at Verizon I had to pitch something to everyone who called.
Mind you, I was working the help line for people who had tech problems or billing issues.
It didn't didn't matter if it was an 80 year grandmother on a fixed income who only had a landline, no internet, and rabbit ears.
I had to try and sell her cable or something.
The one that broke the camels back was a call from a woman's boyfriend, who didn't live her and whose name wasn't on the account.
She didn't even have the cable yet.
He was waiting for the cable guy for her and was getting grumpy about it.
I could see the installer was on the way and the boyfriend wasn't on the account so I told him and moved on.
That was what I was fired for.

Moral of the story.
If they tell you to ask everyone do it.
Even if they are just buying a stick of gum or need some change.
Go into all the details of how great it is and what a huge difference it will make in their life.
Malicious Compliance is not only fun, it can be a wonderful teaching tool.

 

[Zxy123456]

When I worked at Verizon I had to pitch something to everyone who called.
Mind you, I was working the help line for people who had tech problems or billing issues.
It didn't didn't matter if it was an 80 year grandmother on a fixed income who only had a landline, no internet, and rabbit ears.
I had to try and sell her cable or something.
The one that broke the camels back was a call from a woman's boyfriend, who didn't live her and whose name wasn't on the account.
She didn't even have the cable yet.
He was waiting for the cable guy for her and was getting grumpy about it.
I could see the installer was on the way and the boyfriend wasn't on the account so I told him and moved on.
That was what I was fired for.

Moral of the story.
If they tell you to ask everyone do it.
Even if they are just buying a stick of gum or need some change.
Go into all the details of how great it is and what a huge difference it will make in their life.
Malicious Compliance is not only fun, it can be a wonderful teaching tool.

You cannot literally ask every single guest. You can’t ask the teenager buying snacks. I’m not going to ask the guest who has a red card in hand or a regular who I know has a red card.

 

[The Dude Abides]

You can't pick and choose who to ask. I'm not saying a store could be sued or anything, but it's not up to each cashier to decide who they should ask. Based on what? Looks, age, body language? Whether they look rich or poor? Black or white? You see what I mean? Fairness dictates that every customer be given the opportunity to apply.

Your train of logic is ridiculous. People you don't ask to apply for a red card:

1. Person who has a red card in their hand to pay (back in the day this was easily 30% of transactions I did at my store)
2. Teenagers who are clearly too young to apply for one. My store was across the street from a high school.
3. Non-US residents, I lived right on the border. We could not sign them up. I would ask unless I knew for a fact they were not American, I would not guess.
4. Parent wrangling multiple screaming children who just wants to pay and leave.

Sorry, but you are wrong and framing it as discrimination is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[happygoth]

Your train of logic is ridiculous. People you don't ask to apply for a red card:

1. Person who has a red card in their hand to pay (back in the day this was easily 30% of transactions I did at my store)
2. Teenagers who are clearly too young to apply for one. My store was across the street from a high school.
3. Non-US residents, I lived right on the border. We could not sign them up. I would ask unless I knew for a fact they were not American, I would not guess.
4. Parent wrangling multiple screaming children who just wants to pay and leave.

Sorry, but you are wrong and framing it as discrimination is absolutely ridiculous.

1. Obviously if they have one already you are not going to ask.
2. If a person is clearly a minor, sure, but sometimes you can't tell.
3. If you knew for a fact, fine, obviously.
4. Does not hurt to ask, they can always say no

I've been in retail for over 40 years. When I was a cashier, I always exceeded my credit goals, getting anywhere from 80-120 applications a month. Sears training directive was that we had to ask EVERY customer. It was specifically mentioned that we had to give every customer the opportunity to apply, and not assume that someone would say no, period. This was not my rule, I did not write policy.

Your boss wants you to ask everyone, you ask everyone. If you personally do not wish to do that, well you do you, nice that you have not been called out. Does not change the fact that every guest should be asked.

FYI credit discrimination is a thing, and there are laws against it. If someone were to observe that a cashier was only asking white customers if they wanted to apply for a credit card, and not customers of color, an issue could absolutely be made from that.

 

[The Dude Abides]

I am well aware of what credit discrimination actually is, it is not what you described in your initial post.

Going back to the post I responded to. This is exactly why you shouldn't be coaching or writing up someone who doesn't ask every single guest. You are just going to piss off your team. Will you get some that ask no one and thus should be talked to? Of course, but if your team members are asking and are converting leave them alone.

 

[happygoth]

I am well aware of what credit discrimination actually is, it is not what you described in your initial post.

Going back to the post I responded to. This is exactly why you shouldn't be coaching or writing up someone who doesn't ask every single guest. You are just going to piss off your team. Will you get some that ask no one and thus should be talked to? Of course, but if your team members are asking and are converting leave them alone.

My initial post said you have to ask everyone, otherwise it could appear discriminatory. Everything I've said since then supports that. I am not sure what you are arguing about. If a boss calls you out about why you did not ask one specific customer and you tell them that they already have one or I know they are not a citizen or I know they are under 18, then that's fine. But a boss has the right to observe and coach their team.

 

[The Dude Abides]

Sure and the poster asked how to motivate the team. Coaching/CA is a terrible motivation technique. Those should be used on team members you want to document to term not ones who are good that you just want to motivate.

 

[happygoth]

Sure and the poster asked how to motivate the team. Coaching/CA is a terrible motivation technique. Those should be used on team members you want to document to term not ones who are good that you just want to motivate.

Coaching can be just talking to the TM about the situation. If a leader observes that a cashier did not ask a guest about the Redcard, discussing it with them is fine, even if they just happened to notice it in this one instance. My opinion as someone who's been on both sides of the aisle.

 

[buliSBI]

Back in the day, RC apps were shoved down everyone's throats. Required 1-2 per shift.

Most of the leadership at my stores said that goals like this were hard and that they really expected us to be asking every guest especially when prompted.

 

[gracefulfillment]

Not that I cashiered super often, so take this with a grain of salt, but my go to while scanning their items is just "will you be saving 5% today with your red circle card?"

That being said, I think Target's application expectations have always been too high.