Just when you think corporate greed can get no worse

[rainbow4321]

Something like this happens:

My 15 yr old daughter works up at the movie theater--large national chain.
She told me yesterday that 2 boys who work there have been taken off the work schedule--because their "ratio numbers" are not liked by management. Ratio numbers, for example, are when sales of medium drinks
are compared to large drinks sales. If an employee's cash register ring ups don't show enough large drinks sold, management calls it bad ratio results and yanks the KIDS off the work schedule. You know when you go
to buy a drink at a theater and the person behind says "for 25 cents more you can get a large"..they are told to ask that by management and the company throws in a bonus to the worker if the person that they ask is a company secret shopper.

So here we have teens who are actually out working (not running the street, not home sitting on their asses, but out working) being told that they cannot work because customers choose not to up-size their junk food. The management's excuse "the only place we make our money is at the refreshment stand".

To make it worse..my daughter overheard management say that customers are more likely to agree to upsize their orders if it is a female employee asking them rather than if it's male employee.
I feel so bad for the kids that are getting screwed over this. I don't know if it is a national trend or just her manager being an ass.

[LA lady]

1. This is common

I worked in retail for years. Our "items per purchase" were tracked to see if we suggested add-ons. The amount per purchase is also tracked. I was a store manager; it is a business not a charitable organization. I have never worked anywhere that you weren't urged to generate more money.

[Demit]

5. I don't think it's necessary to say it's not a charitable organization.

REally not necessary. Within the category of business: there used to be retail businesses that didn't feel it was necessary to apply this kind of pressure, either to employees or to patrons. Those places were pleasant to work at, and pleasant to shop at. Things have changed, for sure. But what hasn't changed is my insistence on saying no very firmly, whenever I am being pressured to buy something I don't want--AFTER I've said no once already. It's a repulsive practice.

[EFerrari]

20. Mistreating your employees is not good business. n/t

[Phx_Dem]

31. Also, drawer ave. sales and ave. items per trans

are recorded as a way to manage shrink. Those two boys in the OP could have been taken off the schedule because of this.

[leftofthedial]

34. Oh! More money! Why didn't you say so.

That makes it okay then.

[panader0]

2. Yes it is national and it's not .25 cents more, rather $1.50 more

Plus girls are wanted because they almost always sell more. Even the old "See the USA in your Chevrolet" ads had pretty woman rubing the cars adoringly.

[orpupilofnature57]

3. Being Labor day ,Postal efficiency is always imposed on the Service

end by management, who has more down time than anybody and that includes their pseudo responsibilities THAT ONLY SERVE TO JUSTIFY THEIR EXISTENCE,THATS CHARITY!

[Deja Q]

4. Gee. If the lease rates for the films wasn't so high,

they wouldn't need to sell more shit food to already porky people, put up 10 minutes' worth of credit card and car ads, and so on...

So why are the lease rates for films so high? The actors' fees are outrageous; set in tandem by actors' greed with their managers' silvery brown tongues... That's what it boils down too.

Cut the costs at the TOP and the trickle down effect ensues.

Cut the costs at the BOTTOM, and nothing changes. Not even the whining from everybody else, who are too blind to see how the system just doesn't work.

It's also why a football player caught in a lewd act in public can be fined $100,000 and be caught doing it again 1 year later. Funny how the inverse of the rule also works...

[Greyhound]

7. Actors and athletes are not the top, in case you forgot. The studios.

distributors, and team owners take several times more profits from their products than the combined salaries of those that put the asses in the seats.

The bottom line is the sheeple's willingness to spend billions and billions on entertainment while screaming bloody murder at the most modest increases in socially beneficial spending.

[Deja Q]

8. Good point, thanks for the edification.

:pals:

[SoyCat]

6. Just another reason why my husband and I never see movies in theaters;

we just rent dvds only.

[Berry Cool]

9. I think it's bad enough that it's almost impossible to buy anything today

without having the salesperson try to talk you into applying for a store credit card, get you to sign up for a store loyalty card, or simply buy more of whatever it is that you're buying.

It's even worse when that person HAS to try to talk you into something you don't want, because if he or she doesn't, he or she stands a chance of being fired for not generating enough "sales volume."

A short while ago I walked into a store with one of my sisters, tried on some tops, found some I liked in the size I wanted, went to the counter to pay for them, and left the store. On the way out I commented how NICE and REFRESHING it was not to be hounded from the second I walked in by someone tailing me trying to sell me something (prevent me from stealing, too, I could have added, but I didn't want to arouse their suspicions because I am not a shoplifter!). And how nice it was just to be able to pay for what I wanted and leave, without anyone trying to push a credit card, loyalty card or extra purchase on me that I didn't want.

I only hope the store stays that way. It's probably too much to hope for, though.

[BadgerKid]

13. Stores are making me NOT wanting to buy

I can't even go to my grocery store without being marketed to to buy a soft drink. (but hey, if they don't offer, then the drink is free!) It really, REALLY sucks that the powers-that-be are squeezing their employees like this.

[ComerPerro]

28. at least you know enough not to blame the employees

some people who embrace the "they should sell, its their job, they have to do what the employer wants or they should be fired" crap are often the VERY FIRST people to complain about the clerk who tried to get him to supersize or the guy at BestBuy who tried to get him on NetFlix...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

12. I go about once a year

only special ones like an Inconvienent Truth. Matinees are just over $5. Why would I want to pay more for a soda than what paid for the ticket? I bring my own snacks. :)

[iamahaingttta]

10. It's time for more kids to go into crime...

...because, obviously, crime pays!

This is the lesson that our political and corporate leaders are teaching a generation of youngsters. Anyone who tries to play "by the rules" is a sucker. Selling sodas at the movie theater is a sucker's job!

[lpbk2713]

11. As if their concessions don't already gouge enough from the patrons

with their highly inflated prices. Now they have to make the employees (kids usually) pay for not gouging more? Shameless greed. Something that ought to make rethugs proud.

[RB TexLa]

14. Simple sales job

They are there to sell things, if that is their job it's their job to sell.

It's amazing how bad a job you can do at sales and still succeed, such as asking every customer "You don't want a movie combo with that, right?" Shocking how many people will say something like "well, maybe I do."

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

21. How do you know the kids in question DIDN'T ask the question to everyone?

Why assume employee's fault?

Oh, wait. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2049160 That's why.

[ComerPerro]

26. Its like jobs that require you sell people extended warrenties

some people just flat out DO NOT want them, and get quite defensive about it.

[EFerrari]

23. Kids. Since the manager already has an investment in them,

he could have done a little training, no?

[RB TexLa]

24. Guess that isn't addressed in the OP

What training they did or didn't have, if they had a bonus system set up for rewarding upsales, if they had been or had not been informed of their numbers.

[EFerrari]

29. Other thing, I wonder how well that manager is trained or

how old he is. :)

[ComerPerro]

25. lot of apologists in this thread. DU suprises the shit outta me

I've worked in retail, and found "offering add-ons" to be patronizing and insulting to customers.

One day, after getting jumped on by my boss for "not pushing add-ons", I asked a guy buying a ream of paper if he would like to purchase a laser printer or fax machine to go with his paper, and explained that we were encouraged to offer add-ons for all items. He laughed.

In some cases, forcing sales on people will actually alienate them and influence them to shop elsewhere.

I got to know some customers very well, and was able to build a bit of a rapport with them. And part of it, I think, is because I didn't offer to sell them an $3 pen or some other bullshit at every purchase.


Or, maybe you prefer getting treated like a stupid sheep and not a human being when you go to the store.

[RB TexLa]

32. People go into a store to buy things, much money is spent to get them to

come in the XYZ store instead of ABC store. What is so horrible about suggesting other things to purchase to people who have on purpose come to a place to purchase things? It's hardly a "buy or die" close.

[ComerPerro]

33. Id better not ever see you complaining about

spam emails, pop-up ads, and especially about clerks who try to sell you crap you don't need.

Actually, I don't think I ever want to see you complain about consumerism, in general, since you're apparently such an advocate of it.

[RB TexLa]

36. I can't think anyone could be concerned enough to complain about pop ups

or spam emails.

[ComerPerro]

37. happens all the time

[lectrobyte]

35. It's just annoying and tedious. I bought an MP3 player at one of

those stores whose initials are CC or BB, I forget which. I had to spend about 5 minutes arguing with the salesman that I wasn't going to buy a $48 extended warranty on a $150 item.

[Protagoras]

15. Greed can always get worse...always

nt

[fed-up]

16. When I was a waitress at Sambos 30 years ago they implemented a 5 point

sales plan. This started way back in the 1970's

We had to ask customers if they would like to:

Have a drink before they ordered (coffee, soda, juice)

increase the size of their drink, larger burger, etc

Have fries/has browns with their order

Have a salad with their order

Have dessert or if they ordered dessert, did they want ice cream on it


They would send in mystery shoppers that would grade us to see if we tried all the methods of upgrading their order

We also had to do customer counts at the end of the day, and we had to divide our total sales by the number of customers served

The waitresses that had the afternoon shift were screwed as many customers just came in for coffee and dessert


Of course I never ever did get the overtime I was due for doing "sidework" after my shift was over. This could be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour of cleaning syrup bottles, restocking supplies and setting tables. I think I was too busy working/going to school to follow through when I heard that people were getting back pay.

[TygrBright]

17. It used to be called "upselling" and it should ONLY be applied...

...in situations where the customer's time is already committed. Example: The server in a restaurant, where you're already seated and committed to being there for more than a couple of minutes, and s/he is already in a necessary and expected interaction with you, "Would you like a salad with that?"

You're already parked in the sales office at the furniture store picking out the upholstery for your new sofa and the sales person asks "Would you like a special price on contrasting throw pillows?"

You're on the phone to your travel agent discussing a vacation package, "Do you want day excursions, too?"

All situations where the upsell is appropriate for several reasons: You're already committed to spending time discussing your purchase with the sales person. There's no line of impatient people behind you waiting for their transactions to be processed. The upsell being offered is generally an adjunct or complement to your purchase, as opposed to an attempt to make you purchase something ELSE-- that is, you ordered a "small fries" and they want you NOT to buy the "small fries" but to buy the "jumbo fries." The seller isn't questioning your judgment or knowledge of what you want, rather, they are genuinely offering something additional/different for your consideration. Upselling works well in such situations and doesn't have much of a chance of PISSING OFF the customer.

However, when your time is short, you've just reached the front of a line stretching out lengthily behind you, you know exactly what you want and you want SPEED, convenience, and respect in the transaction, having the sales person (effectively) tell you that you just made the wrong choice has a very HIGH chance of pissing off the customer. In the long run, it contributes to customer decisions to do things like sneak their own candy and bottled soda into a theater, go to small alternative and/or second run theaters, or not go to the theater at all, just wait to see it on DVD.

The American Capitalist Way: Sacrifice long term sustainability and everything else for short term profits.

irritatedly,
Bright

[jmowreader]

18. I'm not following something in your post

From what I read, it seems that to you, a McDonalds order-taker offering large fries instead of small fries (or no fries--hence the QSR cliche "would you like fries with that?") is okay.

However, a movie theatre concession stand worker offering a large coke instead of a medium is not.

[TygrBright]

19. Not at all... where would you get that?

In fact, I specifically used the fry-buying example as a no-no in my peroration. Was I writing incoherently?

distressedly,
Bright

[ComerPerro]

27. I followed you, don't know why others may not have

[jmowreader]

38. I'm still confused

The list of "acceptable" upselling versus "unacceptable" upselling seems just a bit strange to me.

Let's say I'm at Wendy's trying to get some food. (Ask me to tell you the war story about the LAST time I went to fucking Wendy's....) The only upsell they can really do is to try to get you to "biggie size" your meal. More food for 39 cents extra? And all of fifteen seconds to do the whole upsell process? TB doesn't like it, but it's not real intrusive.

TB's "acceptable" upsells involve lots of time and lots more money than you were originally planning to spend.

[Phx_Dem]

30. It is still called up selling

and it's used because it works. Increasing the average sale is an easy way to improve net income without incurring any addt expenses, or increasing cust count.

[chat_noir]

22. putting some faces to corporate greed

http://baltimore.indymedia.org/usermedia/image/7/Enron,Cheney&Bush.jpg