R.i.p. Aus!

[shorty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by andicandi3x12 Its things like this that scare me. If I do get an offer I dont know if I wanna deal with AUS because this subject seems to get you guys down and Ive never had to sell sell sell even tho Im in retail (sort of) I just focus on CS but it sounds like that isnt enough and I would die if I lost a job over something like this AUS even if overall sales are high.

To be honest I dont worry too much about it, I focus on giving a customer service that is above and beyond the best and becuase of thise your customers naturally spend more money with you. The two go hand in hand somewhat! Its stressful if you dont make it, but as soon as you start panicing about it, it turns into a vicsious circle where its all you think about, then your CS may drop which you dont want!

 

[ms.marymac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by II3rinII AUS effin sucks!! one day i had the highest sales of everyone but my aus was under $40 =(, but then i had a day where i did appointment after appointment, my sales werent as high, but my aus was like over $50. i need to somehow find a happy medium where both my sales and aus is high. oh and as 3rd we now have to call in our sales to our srm at 1 and 5 o'clock. which is annoying, cuz what if im with a customer!! "hold on ma'am sales are down so i need to check in with my regional, sorry to interrupt our makeover here..." seems kinda counter productive. once i called them like 10 min after 1 and my manager was like "oh were you with a customer? you cant forget to call them in" i said "yes, actually a lady who wanted a mascara and red lipstick just bought $96 after i sat her down.." that pleased my manager. and every hour on the hour we have to write down our sales and the stores AUS, and its just annoying how they get mad if we miss writing it down - but im sorry if im with a customer, thats whos important, they are the reason we essentially have sales, if we piss them off we wont have an aus! ohhh and our VFB goal is insane right now... like the economy is suffering so bad right now and they expect us to sell how much??? =( sometimes i wish i were just there to do pretty makeup, dont get me wrong, i love my job, but these things stress me out.

I am bad about writing sales in the tally sheet. Our sheet somehow always manages to get buried under stuff, if it's really busy I am trying to get to people that are waiting...arg. I try to be slick about it because I don't want my customer to see me writing down the sale...I think it looks kind of tacky, like a person counting tip $ while the customer is still standing there.

 

[GreekChick]

^^I second that! It's just so time consuming, we've become like these super robotic makeup artists that have to get so many things accomplished. I'm just scared that we miht be going towards a gift with purchase, in the sense that the weight of SALES!SALES!SALES! i just hanging over our shoulders like that.

 

[calbear]

See we have the '3 o'clock' phone call from upper management. Which is a tally of where the counter is at 3pm, how much more needs to be made to reach the counter's goal for that day and how that breaks down per person. It is fairly new so the first time i got the call - iwas SUPER annoyed. I was working the floor by myself for an extended period of time and had been super busy.

At 3, I was already at $1000 and my daily goal was $900. After the calculations, I had to make an additional $116 per hour of my remaining shift for the counter to reach goal. When asked what i could do personally to ensure that the counter reaches that goal and my response was "I can pass the phone to someone who AIN'T made they goal for the day!'

Between this and aus - the pressure is getting off the chain. We are short staffed (the general full counter staff is 12 and we are at 6) and that means that I have 4 'areas of pride' to be concerned about, no time to put up stock and a crapload of other problems to deal with. I wish customer service was the only thing i had to worry about.

 

[II3rinII]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ms.marymac I am bad about writing sales in the tally sheet. Our sheet somehow always manages to get buried under stuff, if it's really busy I am trying to get to people that are waiting...arg. I try to be slick about it because I don't want my customer to see me writing down the sale...I think it looks kind of tacky, like a person counting tip $ while the customer is still standing there.

^^they actually let us quit tracking our individual sales, however every hour on the hour we have to record the stores ttl sales and whats remaining to make our goal. today the other 3rd key was at lunch and i was with a customer, so i missed writing it down (ill prob catch heat for that) but i didnt want to stop what i was doing with her, we had a nice flow going!

 

[II3rinII]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calbear See we have the '3 o'clock' phone call from upper management. Which is a tally of where the counter is at 3pm, how much more needs to be made to reach the counter's goal for that day and how that breaks down per person. It is fairly new so the first time i got the call - iwas SUPER annoyed. I was working the floor by myself for an extended period of time and had been super busy. At 3, I was already at $1000 and my daily goal was $900. After the calculations, I had to make an additional $116 per hour of my remaining shift for the counter to reach goal. When asked what i could do personally to ensure that the counter reaches that goal and my response was "I can pass the phone to someone who AIN'T made they goal for the day!' Between this and aus - the pressure is getting off the chain. We are short staffed (the general full counter staff is 12 and we are at 6) and that means that I have 4 'areas of pride' to be concerned about, no time to put up stock and a crapload of other problems to deal with. I wish customer service was the only thing i had to worry about.

i feel you 110% girl!!!

 

[darkbeauty27]

What is this about? We are still told that we need to make our IPT/AUS in my region...

 

[InRetospeck]

That's because it never really went away...

 

[ms.marymac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by InRetospeck That's because it never really went away...

Just the harassment....lol.

 

[dahlingdiva]

AUS shouldn't be all important. It ruins customer service. I've seen MUA's send the customer to the jewelry counter to have their sponge or sharpener rung up. I've also seen MUA's say they are out of a nailpolish color so they won't have a low one item sale. All sorts of tricks and ignoring the customer so they don't hurt their AUS. I've seen customers storm away when no one could ring up their mascara. MAC should really change that policy. Esp. in this economy when a lot of people just don't have the money to spend.

 

[BEA2LS]

agreed, as a customer as well as someone who wants to get into the buisness, this turns me off. i would feel bad about messing up someone's sales but sometimes all i need is a replacement lipstick or i only have money to try out one new eyeshadow.

 

[rosasola1]

wow I am very happy to hear that because I always felt bad just buying replacements, and not spending 50 bucks every time i went to the counter... I feel so much better now.

 

[BEA2LS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosasola1 wow I am very happy to hear that because I always felt bad just buying replacements, and not spending 50 bucks every time i went to the counter... I feel so much better now.

I think they said it's back now

 

[MAC*GIRL08]

OMG is this true nationwide???? Woo Hoo!

 

[ms.marymac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAC*GIRL08 OMG is this true nationwide???? Woo Hoo!

This is actually a pretty old thread...I resurrected it when they started cracking down on AUS again. But that was everyone when they decided to not put so much emphasis on it awhile back ...I think it was a collective woo-hoo felt worldwide...ha ha ha!

 

[mslips]

oh then im a great customer still spendin a good amount everytime i come even if i have a pro card =)

 

[BEA2LS]

i think it's awful they would crack down again now when the economy is this bad.. i literally cannot afford to buy more than one thing at a time these days.

 

[..kels*]

i always always feel so guilty if i run out of something & only need a replacement - like i'm doing something wrong & they'd rather that i didn't buy it at all. but i'm sorry, i can't drop $200 per visit at MAC anymore.. the economy is shit right now, i have a ton of bills to pay, & it's the holiday season. i shouldn't have to feel bad that i ran out of my fix+ & i have nothing else i need to pick up (other than "guilt" items to help out your friggin AUS). i've never been refused help for one item though. that's getting a little carried away.

any sale should be a good sale.

 

[darkbeauty27]

IPT/AUS is still accounted for in my region, but I don't mind helping customers who just want one item because since I work at Nordstrom I have a monetary hourly goal that I have to meet for BOTH MAC and for Nordstrom. I think that as long as I am hitting my monetary sales goals for the hour for both I am okay. Regardless though, I don't like that I sometimes have three or four sales in a row that are only one item sales but then I'll usually get a sale that balances everything out. I've been trying not to worry about it too much lately but it is at the back of my mind.

Anyway, customers shouldn't feel bad for only buying one item. We appreciate your business regardless of how much you spend!

 

[ms.marymac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkbeauty27 IPT/AUS is still accounted for in my region, but I don't mind helping customers who just want one item because since I work at Nordstrom I have a monetary hourly goal that I have to meet for BOTH MAC and for Nordstrom. I think that as long as I am hitting my monetary sales goals for the hour for both I am okay. Regardless though, I don't like that I sometimes have three or four sales in a row that are only one item sales but then I'll usually get a sale that balances everything out. I've been trying not to worry about it too much lately but it is at the back of my mind. Anyway, customers shouldn't feel bad for only buying one item. We appreciate your business regardless of how much you spend!

Word. Sometimes you just want a new m/u item to brighten your day.

If we vent on here about it, it's not really directed towards customers.