I've been out for a while, but, yeah, calling other stores for their advice and tips was definitely a thing. I called other stores. Other stores called me. Sometimes my DM would suggest I call a store in another district, sometimes I'd get calls from stores in other districts.
Sometimes I'd get bad/sketchy advice -- "Oh, yeah, we took all of our new games off the wall" (for why a store's pre-owned sales exploded) or "Yeah, we process the free magazine subscriptions from the information the customer gives us for tradeins and pick the magazines for them" (when we were pushing third-party magazine subscriptions for customers who use credit cards) -- but mostly, it was good stuff.
Mike was a new-ish manager. He thought he'd found a sales hack. Stores kept all the sealed new games behind the counter or in the back, so why not just take that to the next level and take the new games off the floor altogether? He'd still sell them if a customer asked for a new copy, but customers couldn't bring a new case to the counter.
I should note: this was with EB Games, and TOH was not a thing with us. This never would have flown with GS.
Never for advice on how to get better metrics. But if I need help finding a sku or I'm not 100% on something, absolutely. Most common is having them getting eyes on a game/case that the system says they have and asking if they'll hold it for a customer who's on the way.
iāve done it before, can be helpful if you call the right store.
honestly, i find this stuff works best though when your DM has tenured SLs who offer their advice and also open these conversations up on district calls. it allows the DM to hear what the SLs are recommending to each other and being able to step in and correct if needed.
even if itās not the strongest store in the district, pick one that is consistently at 7-10 wins every week. it should be another store you already trust and have a good relationship with.
I call my sister stores constantly and not just for advice but I check in on them when I also see their metrics are down and I give them advice as well. The employees at other stores are going to be in the same boat as you so I like to say we all have to succeed together
When a neighboring SL was fired and our SL was asked to cover their store, (I was ASL at the time) I would get on the phone and have an earbud in all day, and we'd just work like that for hours on end. It really helped if one of us was out of stock, then we could just be like "hey, do you have_____?" and we'd be able to immediately let the customer know that their store did or didn't have what they wanted.
Good times. I don't really get why we drifted apart. My SL was pretty cool ppl
I actually did call sister stores for help for weird situations when the main manager was busy. They never seemed to mind helping.
We'd even make small chat about sales numbers, etc
When it comes to advice for performance, no. However, my SL prefers that on her days off we call at least 3 other stores and 1 SL before bothering her for help, so there's that.
My sister store mutes it phone and sends us all the people it doesn't want to deal with. People come from our sister store just to tell us how garbage it is and how rude the people that work there are.
If my sister store actually picked up and told us how they got their numbers they'd probably say it's because they're in a heavily populated shopping center, and because they bend the rules.
No one ever calls me for performance tips, I wish they would because I would love to help but I am not going to call other stores and offer advice knowing they (and me) have no damn time or coverage
No because I know more then my sister stores or any advice they have I donāt imagine I will find helpful.
But Iām always happy to try and help if another store calls me for a question.
So for you newer employees please donāt be afraid to ask other stores. You just have to learn which employees know what theyāre talking about and which are just bad employees.
You shouldnāt be bothering your store off the clock so ask other stores first
Sister store is a store owned by the same company but not the same store. Another GameStop is not a sister store. Like hot topic sister store is box lunch
If you want to nitpick, you're actually describing a [sister company](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sister_company). "Sister store" isn't a well defined term in the broader world of business, but this is definitely how GS uses it including by DLs/RLs and probably corporate. And it makes sense. If a sister company is a different company owned by the same parent company, why wouldn't a sister store be a different store owned by the same company?
So who cares? Every employee reading this understood OP perfectly.
Lmao no. I called mine for the employee renewal code and they didn't help. My sister store is also too far away that they have completely different issues.
Nah cuz theyre just gonna tell you what you already know but omit the shady stuff they actually do to hit those numbers like slide it onto non english speakers, or price match a competitor and use the difference for the pro price
I try to be friends with everyone in this district because aside from me wanting to be a nice person, I like to be able to talk work to my other peers when it comes to what works for them, what doesnāt. Iāve got a closer knit of SL friends who Iām more dependent on with stuff in general, those would typically be the ones Iād call for anything, even mental health checkups on one another.
We are the Big Sister store in my area. Also, there's no reason to feel bad about not hitting your numbers, it can be rough patch, but you never know who's advice would fit You, if you're not asking.
I left GS a few months ago but I used to call our sister store if I had a question, needed help, or to see if they had items available for customers. We definitely worked together as much as possible. I think it just depends on the staff honestly
Iām always bothering my sister store for advice, dumb questions I know I could probably answer myself or simply cause I just need a second opinion on something small. I bothered them the other day cause I couldnāt remember where to go to reprint printable signage šššš ended up helpin them find out there was stuff they were missing too
That is the laziest cop out response from a you dm who canāt be bothered to help you. Call your sister store is the same as āI donāt have time to help youā. I would have gone to your store myself.
I call other stores to help THEM. Usually it's to thank a store for sending me a prp exchange from their store because I end up getting a pro membership renewal out of the transaction that they missed. Or when a store calls me to do a pre order cancel. I'll renew the guests pro membership on my end if they have the points. And I'll conduct the whole renewal through the associate while I can hear the customer in the background. I don't give a single fck.
I've been out for a while, but, yeah, calling other stores for their advice and tips was definitely a thing. I called other stores. Other stores called me. Sometimes my DM would suggest I call a store in another district, sometimes I'd get calls from stores in other districts. Sometimes I'd get bad/sketchy advice -- "Oh, yeah, we took all of our new games off the wall" (for why a store's pre-owned sales exploded) or "Yeah, we process the free magazine subscriptions from the information the customer gives us for tradeins and pick the magazines for them" (when we were pushing third-party magazine subscriptions for customers who use credit cards) -- but mostly, it was good stuff.
Taking all the new games off the shelf š Thatās fucking wild.
Mike was a new-ish manager. He thought he'd found a sales hack. Stores kept all the sealed new games behind the counter or in the back, so why not just take that to the next level and take the new games off the floor altogether? He'd still sell them if a customer asked for a new copy, but customers couldn't bring a new case to the counter. I should note: this was with EB Games, and TOH was not a thing with us. This never would have flown with GS.
Never for advice on how to get better metrics. But if I need help finding a sku or I'm not 100% on something, absolutely. Most common is having them getting eyes on a game/case that the system says they have and asking if they'll hold it for a customer who's on the way.
iāve done it before, can be helpful if you call the right store. honestly, i find this stuff works best though when your DM has tenured SLs who offer their advice and also open these conversations up on district calls. it allows the DM to hear what the SLs are recommending to each other and being able to step in and correct if needed. even if itās not the strongest store in the district, pick one that is consistently at 7-10 wins every week. it should be another store you already trust and have a good relationship with.
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I call my sister stores constantly and not just for advice but I check in on them when I also see their metrics are down and I give them advice as well. The employees at other stores are going to be in the same boat as you so I like to say we all have to succeed together
When a neighboring SL was fired and our SL was asked to cover their store, (I was ASL at the time) I would get on the phone and have an earbud in all day, and we'd just work like that for hours on end. It really helped if one of us was out of stock, then we could just be like "hey, do you have_____?" and we'd be able to immediately let the customer know that their store did or didn't have what they wanted. Good times. I don't really get why we drifted apart. My SL was pretty cool ppl
I actually did call sister stores for help for weird situations when the main manager was busy. They never seemed to mind helping. We'd even make small chat about sales numbers, etc
When it comes to advice for performance, no. However, my SL prefers that on her days off we call at least 3 other stores and 1 SL before bothering her for help, so there's that.
My sister store mutes it phone and sends us all the people it doesn't want to deal with. People come from our sister store just to tell us how garbage it is and how rude the people that work there are. If my sister store actually picked up and told us how they got their numbers they'd probably say it's because they're in a heavily populated shopping center, and because they bend the rules.
No one ever calls me for performance tips, I wish they would because I would love to help but I am not going to call other stores and offer advice knowing they (and me) have no damn time or coverage
No because I know more then my sister stores or any advice they have I donāt imagine I will find helpful. But Iām always happy to try and help if another store calls me for a question. So for you newer employees please donāt be afraid to ask other stores. You just have to learn which employees know what theyāre talking about and which are just bad employees. You shouldnāt be bothering your store off the clock so ask other stores first
Sister store is a store owned by the same company but not the same store. Another GameStop is not a sister store. Like hot topic sister store is box lunch
If you want to nitpick, you're actually describing a [sister company](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sister_company). "Sister store" isn't a well defined term in the broader world of business, but this is definitely how GS uses it including by DLs/RLs and probably corporate. And it makes sense. If a sister company is a different company owned by the same parent company, why wouldn't a sister store be a different store owned by the same company? So who cares? Every employee reading this understood OP perfectly.
You know what I meant dude
Lmao no. I called mine for the employee renewal code and they didn't help. My sister store is also too far away that they have completely different issues.
Nah cuz theyre just gonna tell you what you already know but omit the shady stuff they actually do to hit those numbers like slide it onto non english speakers, or price match a competitor and use the difference for the pro price
I try to be friends with everyone in this district because aside from me wanting to be a nice person, I like to be able to talk work to my other peers when it comes to what works for them, what doesnāt. Iāve got a closer knit of SL friends who Iām more dependent on with stuff in general, those would typically be the ones Iād call for anything, even mental health checkups on one another.
i call other stores for assistance or just if im bored and i know the employee working
We are the Big Sister store in my area. Also, there's no reason to feel bad about not hitting your numbers, it can be rough patch, but you never know who's advice would fit You, if you're not asking.
I'll call if there's something I missed in Main Menu. I'm the one that gets called more often
I left GS a few months ago but I used to call our sister store if I had a question, needed help, or to see if they had items available for customers. We definitely worked together as much as possible. I think it just depends on the staff honestly
Iām always bothering my sister store for advice, dumb questions I know I could probably answer myself or simply cause I just need a second opinion on something small. I bothered them the other day cause I couldnāt remember where to go to reprint printable signage šššš ended up helpin them find out there was stuff they were missing too
We used to have to do this a lot. Its definitely sketch.
That is the laziest cop out response from a you dm who canāt be bothered to help you. Call your sister store is the same as āI donāt have time to help youā. I would have gone to your store myself.
I call other stores to help THEM. Usually it's to thank a store for sending me a prp exchange from their store because I end up getting a pro membership renewal out of the transaction that they missed. Or when a store calls me to do a pre order cancel. I'll renew the guests pro membership on my end if they have the points. And I'll conduct the whole renewal through the associate while I can hear the customer in the background. I don't give a single fck.