Topic: Staff not so smart.... (aka Rule #1)

[TheFreud]

There are 3 words that should NEVER EVER be used by anyone who serves customers- From doctor's offices, to casinos to retail stores.
Those words are "I DON'T KNOW". (This includes "I don''t know why...", "I don't know when...", and "I don't know what...")

If you are someone who takes money from one person in exchange for something else- this phrase needs to be deleted from your vocabulary while on the job. In it's place try "I'll Find Out", or "Let me ask my manager". Perhaps you can try, "Here's the name and number of the person who can answer your question." ... This doesn't let the manager or administration off the hook either. The manager is never allowed to say "I don't know". If the manager/administrator doesn't have the answer- the manger must then substitute any of the preceding phrases as well. That way, the problems might hit the ears of those in a position to take action, saving the lowly cashiers from strife, the floor managers from being yelled at, and save the big freak outs for the people who can best deal with them.

Had one of my managers at any of my previous jobs heard me say these three words of death to a client, I would have been written up, fired... perhaps tortured. If I didn't have the answer, I was to find one, in the least or get someone who could. That's just the way it was. On this note- this rant was started from being told "I don;'t know" for the umpteenth time by an AAFES sales associate, and I thought I would explain why I got that screwed up look on my face, like someone was driving bamboo reeds into my nail-beds. Furthermore... I should not have to suggest their job to them by saying, "Well, who DOES know?" in order to get them to call someone. It's just common sense.

If you took the time to explain at least this #1 rule of customer service to your associates, things might go a lot smoother.

[BigSargie]

Hey, glad ta join ya'll!! Stationed up hre 'n Bitburg. friend passing out this web address to everyone so the traffic on here prob will see big jump!

Staff not so smart? He! Bigest joke I ever done heard! Was down ta Vogweh a while back and the staff there don have the slightst clue of a clue for a clue. Da tech on da shelves is out, old, useless! Talked to manager dude and he didnt know what da tech was or what its for or nutn--uh dat explains it! Store sure is purty and big! lol Don no what happen a year ago that store was btter. The saviour of ma trip was germany saturn store cross the street!!!!!!!!! Checks it outs! Mu-btter!

[Disgruntled]

Next time they tell you that, find the STORE MANAGER and point that employee out for retraining in that customer service class they are all supposedly certified in. Follow it up with a written customer comment form from the website:

http://odin.aafes.com/feedback/default.asp

They HAVE to answer those.

[TheFreud]

Yes, Thanks, Disgruntled... I have done that route... please find the thread about the lack of bras for women with tits... I wrote them said email on the feedback link- I got back a fabulous letter of bullshit.
The store manager, at least here at Vog. sucks one. He is as clueless as the regular associates, and as with every European AAFES manager, I get told that same thing "We get what the people in the states send us"... the idea of a special order or a phone call to Corp in Atlanta or TX never occurs to them.

[mkztg]

"We get what the people in the states send us"  - That is the exact answer we get here in Vilseck about everything.. 


Some even go so far as to say it can't be shipped to Europe but then I find that product in Vogelweh..    It never occurs to check other stores and offer to get it transferred.  It isn't rocket science.  Customer Service in Germany is an afterthought - both on and off post from my experiences.

Yes, Thanks, Disgruntled... I have done that route... please find the thread about the lack of bras for women with tits... I wrote them said email on the feedback link- I got back a fabulous letter of bullshit.
The store manager, at least here at Vog. sucks one. He is as clueless as the regular associates, and as with every European AAFES manager, I get told that same thing "We get what the people in the states send us"... the idea of a special order or a phone call to Corp in Atlanta or TX never occurs to them.

[NotTelling]

"We get what the people in the states send us"  - That is the exact answer we get here in Vilseck about everything..

Another line of BS. If the store manager "chooses" he/she can have a stock assortment, adjusted  to reflect what the customers want to see.  Yes, there will be a basic assortment the same in most stores.  Next time you get that answer ask if the people in the states sent the store all the European souveniers....hmm or were the ordered by the store.  This is a typical "non answer" from an AAFES manager.

[SmokeyBear]

See...this is not a good idea and I will tell you why.

A lot of these comments will affect the sales associates more than anyone depending on the
manager or supervisor for their area. I have seen a few customers get mad over the smallest things. When you cry foul you are potentially affecting someone's raise. Depending on the review an employee can get a 1% to 6% raise every six months. It based on a very crude point system.

Complaining because an associate did not know is pretty low IMO. Their are hundreds if not thousands of products in a given area and you can't expect the associate to know everything about every product. If they are trying and giving their best...give them a break. Its not like you get written up at work every time you didn't know something. You likely only answer to a select few people at your job.

Picture getting evaluated by every person that walks through AAFES doors. Give us a break. We are human too.

[Disgruntled]

One thing--employees do NOT get a 1-6% raise every six months. The raises are once a year (except for C & T who get the survey raise along with the merit) based on PERs (if they are given on time). The GM gets final word on the percentage and he or she usually holds that raise to 2% no matter how great the performance.

[geeker]

See...this is not a good idea and I will tell you why.

A lot of these comments will affect the sales associates more than anyone depending on the
manager or supervisor for their area. I have seen a few customers get mad over the smallest things. When you cry foul you are potentially affecting someone's raise. Depending on the review an employee can get a 1% to 6% raise every six months. It based on a very crude point system.

Complaining because an associate did not know is pretty low IMO. Their are hundreds if not thousands of products in a given area and you can't expect the associate to know everything about every product. If they are trying and giving their best...give them a break. Its not like you get written up at work every time you didn't know something. You likely only answer to a select few people at your job.

Picture getting evaluated by every person that walks through AAFES doors. Give us a break. We are human too.

An employee not knowing the products they sell is a reflection on their boss.  Period.  Training....Training....Training....

They don't have to know the whole stock assortment but they can tell the customer that they could get an fellow employee who knows more to come and help. Them do it ASAP......

One thing I do know. Customers don't like their time being wasted and they don't like getting the run around no matter what.  AAFES employees should treat every customer the way they would like to be treated.

[Sputnik5]

Training?! I know you know how AAFES preforms training. If you can read this 6 page PDF file and answer 25 to 30 questions correctly, then your a qualified Customer Service Professional. AAFES training is a joke.
If there is one thing HQ could do is proper training. It would fix a lot of problems. And train not just store level people but those assjackets in Dallas.

[Disgruntled]

They don't even want to train on the clock anymore. The new expectation is for an associate to find a computer on their own time and do their training then.

Half the time, the training at work is not to read the PDF at all, but sitting down with the manager in front of the test screen and having them read the answers to to the employees.

[quixiotic]

None of these ideas are shocking and surprising to me, I used to work retail and I have been dumbfounded by what passes as "customer service" at any level in AAFES in Ramstein/Volgelweh

[workerB03]

.

[Insider1]

Of course you aren't the only store that does it. Its the standard practice and with good reason. The mandatory training is one of the worst jokes in AAFES. From the Privacy Act to Slips and Falls and a bunch of subjects in between....so few are set up for an interested or even appropriate audience. Some management let the workers wander through the on-line courses and try their luck with the tests until they make enough lucky guesses to pass, but most are decent enough to copy down the questions and answers so we can all get it over and make the GMs and AMs happy and able to report to the higher clones that all is well.

The shame is that the company actually does care about training, but has flushed its budget into Corporate U..which functions as the propaganda machine for the clones' whims of the minute. It is well intentioned, but extremely ineffective.

[piss.on.aafes]

I've come to the point of answering the question myself infront of a "sales associate".  I'll ask one of them if they have something in stock.....obviously they always say "no" without checking first (I believe that is AAFES policy).  Then when I ask when they'll have more, I go ahead and answer for them before they get a chance....."you don't know right?".  They ofcourse agree.