Missing the old days.... - Beauty Advisor Dillard's Employee Review

The credit app thing. Out.Of.Control. OMG I am SO TIRED of hearing that noise on a daily basis! It's just exhausting .What once was an encouraged program has now become a scare tactic. If an associate is on the dreaded "zero list", many stores hold a mandatory "boot camp" for those who "didn't drink the credit Koolaid" and process at least one for the month. In some instances, employees have been written up and threatened with dismissal for not complying. It's riduculous. I say if credit apps are so important, hire people to do just that and leave sales associates alone. The unrealistic and pretty much unattainable SPH program. I'll use the term again: "back in the old days", it was a considerably more fair and very achievable program. I ALWAYS got raises, and never had trouble doing so. Somewhere along the way, the mindset changed and that's when confusing and highly unfair "selling cost" thing became a way of life. Before, associates received exact dollar value for EVERYTHING they rang under their number. Now, depending on which department you work in, some items give far LESS SPH credit than the face value of the item (as little as 30% sometimes). Meanwhile, other items can give the associate up to TRIPLE SPH credit above face value. For example, I am in cosmetics. I get full face value for my brand and a few other cosmetic lines. Fragrance, 40%. Clothing, accessories,and housewear items, about 35%. Meanwhile associates from pretty much all other parts of the store can ring items from MY department and get a HUGE boost to their SPH. Speaking of "fair", how about a little sales protection for the associates? It's the right thing to do and would be SO helpful in everyone getting along. I cannot tell you how many sales I've lost by working with a client who didn't buy THAT DAY but comes back on my day off and buys it ALL from whoever is working that day. It's INFURIATING when you spent an hour or more with a customer demonstrating and applying products yet get NONE of the benefit from the work you did. But what are you gonna do? Dillard's policy states that we CAN'T ring for each other .Even if were allowed, there are plenty of greedy and dishonest folks who will take your sale and not give it a second thought.. It's so disheartening to find out that a client loved MY demonstration and the products so much they came back to buy it ALL. But because I'm not there, too bad. The same goes for a customer who comes in to replenish. Chances are, YOU called them to touch base and invite them to back to the counter. Doesn't matter that YOU actually "sold" this person on their products and did all of the followup so the client would return.Not there when the client visits? Not your sale. I could be more accepting of the system if it was a reciprocal situation and I could reap the benefit of my coworkers' clients in the same way. Doesn't happen because they don't have any. They don't get to know their clients and keep in touch with them the way the rest of us do. Sadly, those reaping the rewards are the same ones who stand around and chat with their friends, play on their phones, and take smoke breaks every hour. They rarely do seated full consultations, book appointments or call customers. "Clerking" is a way of life for them. There is a sense of entitlement that it's okay for them to make money off of MY work and client followup just because they were there and I wasn't. What's worse, the associate who rang MY sales looks better "on paper" with higher average sales, higher items per transaction, higher number of "focus items" sold than I do. They're the hero, I get called out for not performing to my capabilities and experience. This makes my blood BOIL, because it's an incorrect representation of who is doing the work and who is not. I belive this is a form of theft , both monetary and identity. Dillard's rebuttal to concerns such as the above is that "your loyal customers will come in when you are there". Not in the real world. People are busy with work and family, gas is not cheap, and they come to the store at THEIR convenience. Expecting my clients' lives to revolve around MY work schedule would be the height of arrogance on my part. As much as these people might like coming to see me, their shopping trips don't hinge on when I'm working, nor should they. True customer care is about meeting the client's needs, and the sales associate who did the the work should NOT have be penalized because they are at lunch or it is their day off!