Thrift Store Workers FAQ

This is largely a result of the work I am currently doing with Leah, the volunteer intern.Luiz 22:55, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Day One

• One hour card and motherboard sorting crash course, supervised
• One hour (split into two) brain dump: "These are the things in the store, this is what they are called/do"
• Hand out thrift store policy, sales of desirable items, and store prices.
• Give the person quiet alone time to decompress
• Move to sort flowcharts and concepts

Day Two

• Minimize new data on this day, get the person doing the tasks/sorting
• Have them answer the phone supervised. Teach transfering calls, what calls go to front desk, etc.
• Go over critical aspects of policy (i.e., no holds, no returns, no refunds, exchange policy, dealing with jerks)
• Start sort training. Do the "is this worth more or less than $2 here?" test as an illustration.

Day Three

• Continue phone training (what to say, and how to use the phone)
• Introduce credit processing wiki page
• Repeat one hour (split into two) brain dump: "These are the things in the store, this is what they are called/do"
• Train register (link)
• One hour receiving cable sort in front of visual aid (make sure receiving knows on day one to save a box of mixed cables)

Feedback log from Leah

Also see her user page, now with FAQs [1].

Day one feedback

I'm embedding my notes about what she has written into the body of this document Luiz 01:19, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

• Day 1*

Learnings: How the store is run, shelving, pricing, 'herding' etc. How to price computers. How to deal with customers/fellow volunteers.

Frustrations: When answering questions/phone for the most part not being able to help people, having to turn to someone else. Feeling like I'm not much of a help, instead more of a buffer. It sucks not being able to ring people up on the register. While the flow charts are helpful, sometimes they fall short. Like when it comes to identifying/shelving/pricing certain items, especially cords and cards.[added this to the new hire training -ls]

 Pricing charts available are out of date

for certain items. [just needs to be added to my to do list -ls]

Good deals: Brain overflowing with new information, frustrating as it may be, I know this is the best way to acclimate to a new situation. [agreed -ls] Being thrown in to the fire means I'll have to figure things out immediately.

Reflections: It's nice to be allowed to be an independent worker, but it's also nice to have direction. [agreed -ls] I think there was a good balance of this. There is so much to learn I know there is no way that I could grasp it all within the span of a few hours. It's so much to take in all at once, it might be nice to have a concise list of things that can be done, to feel useful and acclimate. [things to do while bored list...make one! should be recurring needs -ls] While the guides seem to provide this, they could use some revisal, a bit more clarity.

• Day 3*

Learnings: More of the same, stocking, pricing, shelving. Got to start cashiering. Starting to learn a more of the fine details such as differences between IDE, SATA and SCUSI hard drive.

Frustrations: Considerably less, I feel like I'm starting to get into the swing of things. I'm still annoyed at my seeming inability to differentiate between different cables and cards. Some things that come in are so obscure I don't even know where to start. The phone is super quiet and it's hard to hear people especially during busy times. [its got a volume control...add this to somewhere] Some super geeks like to come in and I'm beginning to suspect, make up esoteric names for common items. [make up a list of common items with multiple names] Wtf is up with all this jargon? [geeks are like that!] Some guy came in today and was asking me where something was, he may as well have been speaking Greek. I went and asked Jessica, she told me he was just looking for an ethernet cable. hello? why couldn't he have just said that? [customers frequently do not know how to articulate their wants...so there could be a few tips on how to get someone to tell you what you need to know. I often say "What does the thing that you are looking for do?" as a starter and if that doesn't help often use "what are you not able to do now that you would like to do?"]

Good deals: I've come to expect and be able to answer the top ten questions people ask. Do you have laptops/wireless routers/lcd screens? blah blah blah. People are quite understanding and relaxed when it comes to me not being able to answer their questions. Most are willing to wait until Jessica/Luiz are free. It's nice to be able to cashier because that makes a huge difference with crowd control.

Reflections: Maybe we should compile a list of the most common questions and answers for reference for those new folks also possibly a reference list/basic dictionary of terms. It'd be super nice to have a visual reference for cables and cards...While things can get pretty crazy they don't ever get stressful, the general mood, attitude "vibe" if you will is quite relaxed. Customers who like to ramble should not be encouraged, but rather can be politely ignored, for they don't seem to take this offensively. At most monosyllabic answers suffice.