MEGATHREAD Signing Tips, Tricks and Quips (along with howls of despair)

This has pretty much been the week from hell.
Not that the workload is totally out of wack and they gave me fewer hours to do it in (it is and they did)
Not that we were a week without power so I was already behind. (We were and I am.)
Not that some of my stuff didn't show up and the stuff that did was busted open and missing pieces. (It didn't and was.)
It's that at least two of ETL's have their craniums lodged so far up their anal canals that daylight is only a memory.
The pressure of their first 4th quarter has pretty much made them sweating, feverish, smegheads who have completely lost the ability to act like human beings.
 
Missing trees.
Which of course was entirely my fault.
One of which showed up later via Fed Ex.
They decided to tear open all my boxes to look for them.
Even after I told them they weren't there.
That and the fact that I can't seem to create things on their time schedule seems to annoy them to no end.
 
I JUST finished up all the odds and ends from last week. Did anyone do the store hours yet? That thing is a pain. I did that and the Phase 1 of the signing audit today. I thought we just got something after the holidays last year so that our spacing was standard so we didn't have to remove the regular store hours to fit in the holiday hours? Anyway - could live without all the tiny boxes and timeslots (expecting one more set of numbers sometime to the STL per workbench message board). However I only got one set of store hours - yet two sets of pharmacy? also - the holiday hours are brittle - especially in the red part - be careful to avoid creases - the paint might flake. starting BF shippers tomorrow. Just got the other Men's rack topper DTS yesterday also. I have to go over this Beat The Rush package we got for 11/18? salesplanners? I have a feeling that is going to be big and sneak up on us. Anyone look at these yet? They are listed are "core" salesplanners.
 
commiecorvus said:
Missing trees.
Which of course was entirely my fault.
One of which showed up later via Fed Ex.
They decided to tear open all my boxes to look for them.
Even after I told them they weren't there.
That and the fact that I can't seem to create things on their time schedule seems to annoy them to no end.
Click to expand...

Oh the TREES! I put these at the BOTTOM of my to-do list last week. No one from softlines bothered to communicate about them at all - AND the adjacencies weren't done - so its not like they had somewhere to go. I spaced it out so I built one per day just so that I wasn't slammed with them all at once. Then of course like 2 days in they were like "Where are the trees we need them ASAP!" I got all but three done by Friday but oh look - NONE of them are filled yet and there are two still just hanging out in the backroom! I made sure I made my overheads and everything else all-store holiday a priority over the trees. No one wants to communicate to plan what they need when with me? Okay. All my things have the exact same date on them so they all had the same level of priority to me. Since at the end of the day someone else COULD build a tree if they really wanted one - and really no one would be up for doing overheads thats the way it was. I walked the floorpad today and they still have some trees in the wrong spots. One of them is filled with the product for the IHP rack toppers so go figure. There's only myself and one other person who has a clue what is going on with all that stuff and neither of us is a TL or an ETL so go figure.

OH YEAH. not to mention that these trees were just about the worst packed piece of signage ever. I think I got one - maybe two complete boxes. Maybe. Two might be a stretch. I was picking pieces up from these exploded boxes all over the backroom for days.
 
I left instructions for them to put up the store hours for me. Something tells me that was a mistake.....

Tell me about hunting down parts. I even walked outside and found tree parts on the ground in the trailer docks.....

I was missing 1 of the 2 IHP racktop trees. I had them combine both planograms into one. I just took out the spacers and everything fit just fine. Rearranged the rack placement to balance out the signing. Not sure how the sl etl liked it, but it looked damn good when I left.
 
greydot said:
I JUST finished up all the odds and ends from last week. Did anyone do the store hours yet? That thing is a pain. I did that and the Phase 1 of the signing audit today. I thought we just got something after the holidays last year so that our spacing was standard so we didn't have to remove the regular store hours to fit in the holiday hours? Anyway - could live without all the tiny boxes and timeslots (expecting one more set of numbers sometime to the STL per workbench message board). However I only got one set of store hours - yet two sets of pharmacy? also - the holiday hours are brittle - especially in the red part - be careful to avoid creases - the paint might flake. starting BF shippers tomorrow. Just got the other Men's rack topper DTS yesterday also. I have to go over this Beat The Rush package we got for 11/18? salesplanners? I have a feeling that is going to be big and sneak up on us. Anyone look at these yet? They are listed are "core" salesplanners.
Click to expand...

Beat the rush came in with all the 2-day signs. There is one overheads, a bunch of endcap headers, and a bunch of pop out headers that say "Sale". It says two day on the ISM box but it has the 4-day signing in it.

Also you should ask your STL for a copy the sign audit sheet for both the 2-day and 4-day ad.
 
ISM Master said:
Beat the rush came in with all the 2-day signs. There is one overheads, a bunch of endcap headers, and a bunch of pop out headers that say "Sale". It says two day on the ISM box but it has the 4-day signing in it.

Also you should ask your STL for a copy the sign audit sheet for both the 2-day and 4-day ad.
Click to expand...

Good call on the audit sheet. The 2-day I'm not worried about - I have all day Thanksgiving for that :/ . It's the 4-day that worries me since I know no one else is even thinking about it. Anyone look it over yet? Anything crazy for the 4-day ad that I have to come in on Sunday morning for? I'm not scheduled. Or is it something the ad team can handle with the guidance of some notes?
 
greydot said:
Good call on the audit sheet. The 2-day I'm not worried about - I have all day Thanksgiving for that :/ . It's the 4-day that worries me since I know no one else is even thinking about it. Anyone look it over yet? Anything crazy for the 4-day ad that I have to come in on Sunday morning for? I'm not scheduled. Or is it something the ad team can handle with the guidance of some notes?
Click to expand...

Mine is all built, or sorted onto a rolling cart, but I won't be in until this Tuesday. Will I be missed?
 
TargetOldTimer said:
So, how are you all doing with the set? Did anything new come this week?
Click to expand...

commiecorvus said:
This has pretty much been the week from hell.
Not that the workload is totally out of wack and they gave me fewer hours to do it in (it is and they did)
Not that we were a week without power so I was already behind. (We were and I am.)
Not that some of my stuff didn't show up and the stuff that did was busted open and missing pieces. (It didn't and was.)
It's that at least two of ETL's have their craniums lodged so far up their anal canals that daylight is only a memory.
The pressure of their first 4th quarter has pretty much made them sweating, feverish, smegheads who have completely lost the ability to act like human beings.
Click to expand...

commiecorvus said:
Missing trees.
Which of course was entirely my fault.
One of which showed up later via Fed Ex.
They decided to tear open all my boxes to look for them.
Even after I told them they weren't there.
That and the fact that I can't seem to create things on their time schedule seems to annoy them to no end.
Click to expand...

greydot said:
Good call on the audit sheet. The 2-day I'm not worried about - I have all day Thanksgiving for that :/ . It's the 4-day that worries me since I know no one else is even thinking about it. Anyone look it over yet? Anything crazy for the 4-day ad that I have to come in on Sunday morning for? I'm not scheduled. Or is it something the ad team can handle with the guidance of some notes?
Click to expand...

My signing guy has no brains...
 
greydot said:
Good call on the audit sheet. The 2-day I'm not worried about - I have all day Thanksgiving for that :/ . It's the 4-day that worries me since I know no one else is even thinking about it. Anyone look it over yet? Anything crazy for the 4-day ad that I have to come in on Sunday morning for? I'm not scheduled. Or is it something the ad team can handle with the guidance of some notes?
Click to expand...

TargetOldTimer said:
Mine is all built, or sorted onto a rolling cart, but I won't be in until this Tuesday. Will I be missed?
Click to expand...

For the 4-day ad there is one overhead for the entrance, endcap headers and endcap popouts. Hopefully whoever sets the 4-day salesplanners will put up the headers up. I'm not scheduled till Monday but I left the headers on a tub so that the team setting can grab them.
 
I went through everything for the 4-day today. I have no bin for the bean bags. Did anyone else get/not get theirs? I hung the clips for the overhead (minus the actual sign so someone can just put it up - though most likely it will still be empty and i will hang it on monday). All the signing is on a 3-tier - all it is is standard headers, flags, and then headers and flags for the low gondolas in home/domestics/etc. SUCH a simple set. it would genuinely be a waste of payroll to have the signing person in (unless they are normally for sundays). i tried to get all the endcap aisle numbers filled in on the audit sheet, but of course they weren't all mapped out yet. got a lot by just literally walking the floorpad since most of the dom/home/decor ones are already out. we will see. hopefully i don't get any frantic calls on sunday morning. it probably took me longer to walk to aisles looking for the endcaps than it will actually take to set the stuff.


ps
STILL have trees in my backroom since no one will take ownership of them! PTL says there's no POGs, SLTLs say its not their set....UGH! Could you guys have figured that out beforehand so I didn't have to waste my time????
 
TargetOldTimer said:
How long has he been doing signing?

Most of this is stuff we have learned by years of experience....hit and miss.
Click to expand...
and/or diligence and genuine curiosity to find out what they don't know. When I started signing I had a lot to learn but "i don't know" was not a phrase I probably ever used. It was always "let me find/figure it out" or "find someone who does.....etc".

Signing is something like geology (as stated in the Shawshank Redemption) "....formed by pressure and time.....". Different stores get their signers different ways. Some have people who are there because they like the position and they went after it. Some have people who want a stepping stone to TL. Some because they are already POG experts and want something challenging. Others get thrown in for various reasons (good or bad). Some get put in because the store doesn't really know what its about. I've seen all of the above.

If your store wants a really good signing person - someone who is independent and proactive is the mindset you need. Someone who can work on others' deadlines and also their own at the same time. Someone who can manage their own workload start to finish from planning to prep to execution/maintenance/etc.
 
greydot said:
I went through everything for the 4-day today. I have no bin for the bean bags. Did anyone else get/not get theirs? I hung the clips for the overhead (minus the actual sign so someone can just put it up - though most likely it will still be empty and i will hang it on monday). All the signing is on a 3-tier - all it is is standard headers, flags, and then headers and flags for the low gondolas in home/domestics/etc. SUCH a simple set. it would genuinely be a waste of payroll to have the signing person in (unless they are normally for sundays). i tried to get all the endcap aisle numbers filled in on the audit sheet, but of course they weren't all mapped out yet. got a lot by just literally walking the floorpad since most of the dom/home/decor ones are already out. we will see. hopefully i don't get any frantic calls on sunday morning. it probably took me longer to walk to aisles looking for the endcaps than it will actually take to set the stuff.


ps
STILL have trees in my backroom since no one will take ownership of them! PTL says there's no POGs, SLTLs say its not their set....UGH! Could you guys have figured that out beforehand so I didn't have to waste my time????
Click to expand...

where did you get the 4day audit sheet? i've been off since im working the weekends now, and no one has even given the 4 day a 2nd thought. i called the lod earlier just to remind them so when i go in sunday am it wont be a total disaster. my signing guy should be scheduled tomorrow, hopefully he'll take a look at it. i know we've got all the bins built/labeled, but theyre mountainous and probably aren't sorted by day. did the 4 day endcap headers and stuff come in the very large salesplanner box? grrr. i knew i shouldve bugged my etl to swap my off days, but two in a row was too good to pass up this time of year.
 
I can't wait to get there Monday and see the mayhem that has ensued because no one had any forethought to schedule me for Sunday. I have to do the truck on Monday. So, my gut is telling me that at our store, some of the 4 day signing will never see the sales floor. Shucks!
 
dek067 said:
where did you get the 4day audit sheet? i've been off since im working the weekends now, and no one has even given the 4 day a 2nd thought. i called the lod earlier just to remind them so when i go in sunday am it wont be a total disaster. my signing guy should be scheduled tomorrow, hopefully he'll take a look at it. i know we've got all the bins built/labeled, but theyre mountainous and probably aren't sorted by day. did the 4 day endcap headers and stuff come in the very large salesplanner box? grrr. i knew i shouldve bugged my etl to swap my off days, but two in a row was too good to pass up this time of year.
Click to expand...

I had to print it off of workbench. I combed through the whole 4th quarter toolkit this morning (also went ahead and got everything nobody's told me about black thursday or the neiman marcus launch as well.) I think that if you do a search the audit comes up on workbench on its own as well. the 2 day however, FYI, is not on there. Also the STL should have a physical one as well. Yeah, your 4-day signs will be in your Beat The Rush Core kits. They should be dated 11/18 (most of the 2 day is double dated with 11/21 11/23 as well) and its the big box. The slim small ones are actual BF only. There is a separate large box for the overhead as well. There is not that much signing - it fits generously in a three-tier with lots of room to spare. OH, also if all of the above fails to get you an audit grid - there is the signing copy of it in the Core kit. It is in the instructions and in color, so it should work just as well (if not better) for the person putting that up. (the one on workbench is a B&W single page checklist with setup and takedown checkboxes). The only other thing you should have as far as ISM is a single dump bin for your futon focal for bean bag chairs. There are Electronics (shelf) DVD (bulk) and Game (bulk) shippers for the 4-day ad but they are all pre-filled and should be in your backroom and/or electronics stockroom ready to go to the floor.
 
Last edited:
Dang... I'm afraid to ever call out.

Remember I said I was on vaca this past week? I've already gotten a call and text asking me to come back early. I made sure everything was 100% done before I left, I can't figure out what "signing" still needs to be done that anyone else couldn't easily do. No talent, just follow that checklist.

*sigh* Hate hate that they have me feeling guilty for not coming back early.
 
Hardlinesmaster said:
How about the overhead signing for the 4 day ad & some bins for bean bags(look weird).
Click to expand...

Bins are built, so planogram should be setting and filling them. I trained someone to use the one up pole for the overheads, so it couldn't take more than an hour... tops.

ugh. I get 3 weeks vaca a year and have been denied taking one up until now. I hate that I can't take any time off without someone freaking out over what seems so simple a job.
 
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ENJOY YOUR TIME OFF, YOU DESERVE IT! No, really you do. This four-day ad was CAKE, and if anyone was flummoxed by it, then they clearly did not even look at the Beat The Rush Tookit - it is ALL in there ESPECIALLY regarding signing.

General question - what did everyone's bean bag bin look like? I was under the impression that it was supposed to be a square dump bin? One of my ETLs pulled out one of my Black Friday (2 actually) octagonal bins and said that "they were right there in the back, these are the bins for the four-day" when the topper for it is still in my area and the box is gone and it clearly says Black Friday. So, I don't know. I think my store didn't receive it, but someone else said there was a workbench message about it (i didn't see it, and I check it religiously). Also - I have two RED men's Hanes shippers that everyone claims don't go anywhere. Now they are trying to say there is a workbench message about these being for the 2-day ad??? Once again, maybe I was in a rush, but I did not see this either. They were dated 11/04.

That being said - roll call for anyone who came in and saw that the ISM wasn't even put up?

I came in this morning and the ISM was up in Toys, and on some incorrect endcaps in electronics. So much for staying on Friday to put aisle numbers on the checklist for the team. Finished that up this morning (overhead as well).
 
greydot said:
ENJOY YOUR TIME OFF, YOU DESERVE IT! No, really you do. This four-day ad was CAKE, and if anyone was flummoxed by it, then they clearly did not even look at the Beat The Rush Tookit - it is ALL in there ESPECIALLY regarding signing.

General question - what did everyone's bean bag bin look like? I was under the impression that it was supposed to be a square dump bin? One of my ETLs pulled out one of my Black Friday (2 actually) octagonal bins and said that "they were right there in the back, these are the bins for the four-day" when the topper for it is still in my area and the box is gone and it clearly says Black Friday. So, I don't know. I think my store didn't receive it, but someone else said there was a workbench message about it (i didn't see it, and I check it religiously). Also - I have two RED men's Hanes shippers that everyone claims don't go anywhere. Now they are trying to say there is a workbench message about these being for the 2-day ad??? Once again, maybe I was in a rush, but I did not see this either. They were dated 11/04.

That being said - roll call for anyone who came in and saw that the ISM wasn't even put up?

I came in this morning and the ISM was up in Toys, and on some incorrect endcaps in electronics. So much for staying on Friday to put aisle numbers on the checklist for the team. Finished that up this morning (overhead as well).
Click to expand...

I didn't have a beanbag bin either so the same thing happened to one of my Black Thursday bins.
I worked Sunday so all the signs that could go up did.
 

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