My boss conducted his weekly store training with me and my colleagues at work today and the training is usually just SOP refreshers, like remembering to greet customers when they enter the store, making them feel comfortable and introducing ourselves as well as the brands that we carry to them, it's like the kind of Customer Service Retail shit that is constantly being repeated to us every week.
Today is no different, however, today, we had something else to run thorough, and that was the latest Mystery Shopper results, unfortunately for me, I was the one who had been graded because I was the one who had served the last Mystery Shopper.
My boss was really firm when the training started, he was talking about how we are an extension of him because we represent his company, everything felt really serious and he sounded really upset, which was worrying for me because it was obviously related to my Mystery Shopper performance, after talking for a while, he proceeds to plaster the results on the projector screen for everyone to see and I scored about a 74%, which I though was not bad because I rarely approach customers unless they come to me, but in my boss's eyes, this is considered a fail, in fact, anything less than 100% is considered a fail to him.
He was visibly upset as he ran through the first part of the results, pointing out how disappointed he was that I didn't acknowledge or greet the customer when she entered the store and reiterated that this is something he has wanted us to do during multiple trainings, and he just stayed on that topic for the entirety of the training, which then segued into something else he was disappointed with me in, which led to him reprimanding me and one of my colleague for being "lazy".
I will admit, on a day to day basis, I am a very lazy person, but in this particular context, my boss is just plain fucking wrong. We were deemed "lazy" because we didn't CC him into any email exchanges we have with our clients.
The problem here is, we don't communicate with our clients via the fucking email, we communicate via WhatsApp because that is how people converse nowadays, through text, that's why we don't CC him because we have nothing to CC him in! I also don't have any emails to CC him in because I am busy...
1. Preparing Multiple Design Proposals for multiple colleagues as the only Interior Stylist in the store!
These proposals includes doing
- Space Planning Drawings on AutoCAD,
- Mood Images Compilation
- 3D Renderings on SketchUp
- Consolidation of the proposed furniture information including measurements and material finishes
2. Planning out the Layout for the Store, updating the Space Planning Layout on AutoCAD for the Showroom as the Visual Merchandiser! This also includes updating the Price List of the dozens of furniture we have in the space.
3. Liaising with customers via WhatsApp instead of email because once again, why the fuck would a customer want to communicate via email unless they are buying the furniture on behalf of another company for a commercial or office project.
And for my other colleague, he has proven again and again that he is the best salesperson in the store, he clearly has his own way of doing things and it works because he is consistently hitting $100,000 in Sales every month, just for context, everyone else on average would hit about $40,000.
And we are both lazy because we don't have any emails to CC our boss in. Are you fucking kidding me! Just because you are not in the loop of the things we are doing, *cough* micro-managing much*cough* doesn't mean we are not working. I am wearing multiple hats for the company by doing Sales, Interior Styling and Visual Merchandising, but I am still getting the same salary as when I first started work whilst my colleague who is constantly able to bring in sales every month without fail and hitting $100,000 every month, choosing to stay with the company even though he could be earning so much more if he joined a company that offers commission, we are considered lazy.
US?!?
We are not lazy, we are just fucking stupid for staying.
My boss's reason for wanting us to email the customers and CC-ing him in them is not only for him to keep track of what we are doing, but it's also to protect us so we have a record of our exchange with the customers in case they start complaining about us for not following up closely.
For fuck?!
Our WhatsApp conversation can do the exact same thing, it's a back and forth text between us and the customer, just like an email, except WhatsApp is something that the customers would actually use on a daily basis, as oppose to an email. The only time a customer would request for us to converse through email is if they are purchasing furniture for us on behalf of another client or company and need to have an official paper trail, otherwise, no regular homeowners would choose to converse via email.
I will just move on with my Mystery Shopper results, so my boss was harping on about how bad service from us affects him because we represent the store and the store represents him. Well, I went to look at the report after the training was done and lo and fucking behold, even though I didn't do well for the opening part, I was given a glowing review by the Mystery Shopper who wrote, and I fucking quote word for fucking word...
 |
The staff member had good sales skills and was considerate of my needs. I loved his services and I will also recommend the outlet to my family. I was very impressed by his service. |
... Oh, so I guess me offering good service is a bad representation for the store and by extension, a bad reflection of him.
This is the main thing my boss has been harping us since day 1, that he wants us to offer good service, WELL, I DID, and what do I get in return? Get deemed lazy.
It is fucking upsetting. Now I know why my other colleague, who happened to be off today, is so unhappy at work, because he is constantly getting undermined by my boss for not doing a good job during our training. My boss called him a waste of talent because he is not performing at his best.
Well, he is a waste of talent because he has no motivation to perform, when we do well, we don't get acknowledged for doing a good job, but when we fall short in certain areas, that gets magnified and becomes our main trait. It's such a demoralizing and negative space for a sales person, how the fuck can someone excel when they are constantly being taken down a peg.
Also just FYI, this colleague of mine scored full marks for his Mystery Caller results, 100%, and it didn't even get brought up at the training today.
Isn't that just Fan-fucking-tastic.
My boss isn't one to shout and scream at us for not performing well, he is generally a nice guy who talks to us in a calmly fashion most of all time, but that doesn't make his management style and the work environment he has created any less toxic based on what I have experienced.
Aside from what I have written down, another thing he does is he would create new policies for us to follow, but then a week or 2 later, just forget about it and tell us to do the exact opposite, for example, just a few weeks ago, his stance on how we should deal with walk-in customers is...
"Greet them when they walk in, but let them walk around the space and only approach them a later to give them some time to look around."
.. .but then during the training last week, suddenly he wants us to walk the customers through the space because we need to introduce the brands to them, he wants us to stick to them like glue because he claims that if the customer isn't sincere, they will get so uncomfortable that they leave.
Like what the fuck do you want us to do? If we do "A", he will say it's not working and we should do "B", but when "B" doesn't work, he will say it's not working and we should do "A" again, and he would always go back to the point and say it's because the sales team is the problem.
I have never wanted to leave the company as quickly as I do now, like what the actual fuck!
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