Warhammer stores

[Lord Marshal]

Something to consider is the ever present threat of the dreaded mystery shopper. You could be the nicest, most pleasant, most helpful member of staff ever who even got some £££ out of them, but if you've not literally and explicitly tried to push Dark Imperium/Soul Wars on them, explained the Citadel App and all but demanded they buy six pots of paint, your manager is going to get a strongly worded e-mail about how you need to get your act together. Simply giving good customer service is not good enough. A lot of mystery shoppers will still try and bat in your corner, pointing out what amazing job you did, but will still have to specify that you explicitly didn't do XYZ the company requires and that's ultimately what they care about.

 

Now I can't say if that is how GW operates and I'm sure ex-staffers will weigh in on this theory, but it would certainly explain why - when everybody knows how infamously pushy GW staff are - veteran fans who get job there still end up doing what I'd have thought they'd know people dislike. It's been the case a lot of places I've worked anyway.

 

 

I used to work in retail too and sometimes customers really need some guidance, and they wont ask for it. As soon as you say 'can I help you?' they will tell you what they are after. Left alone they may walk around for 10 minutes and walk out again. But it's a balance between offering help to those that need it and annoying the hell out of people who really are just having a look around.

 

In the two 'don't be pushy because people hate it' places I've worked, the policy was to greet people on entry and leave it at that. A lot of people would open up about their "Can you help me?" intentions there, or at least they've had that bit of an ice breaker to know they can approach you. If somebody looked like they needed help after that, intervene. After a bit of experience it usually became pretty obvious who was sauntering in to kill time and who was actually looking for something. If you got it wrong? Eh, you're not the first stop they'll have been 'pestered' by staff so who cares.

 

As you say, there is a balance to it and until stores are legally allowed to scan brainwaves on entry there will never be a perfect recipe. 

[RobWrath]

 After a bit of experience it usually became pretty obvious who was sauntering in to kill time and who was actually looking for something. If you got it wrong? Eh, you're not the first stop they'll have been 'pestered' by staff so who cares.

 

 

 

I think that's the difference with GW - I think they are trained not to try and make that subtle distinction, but to treat everyone as if they are open to be sold to.

And with the mystery shopper thing it may come back to bite them if they err on the side of caution.

 

Can't get too annoyed at guys (or gals) who are doing their jobs as their company demands. 

[Slasher956]

If you are using the mystery shoppers as a reason for pushy sales technique across multiple locations /countries then its clear where the issue lies.... at the hub its self.

 

which makes it sadder that we cant turn round to the staff and put suggestion in that the staff are less push.  As I said my other half will now refuse to go in there because of that attitude, that means due to my work I'm now less likely to get stuff direct from GW stores.

[DBadger]

There's a balance. "Can I help you?" can start off a great conversation. But it can also show you when the customer has social anxiety or just wants to browse. We're taught to ask any customer within 6ft if they need any help. In practice rarely even 10% accept that help, and a good amount are visibly peed off that you asked. But you can tell generally if someone is struggling to find something. Most of the time we ask because the customer is wrecking the place unknowingly and needs a nudge to remind them we're here...

 

But yeah, it's a simple courteous "hi can I help?" "No thank you" on both sides.

[killersquid]

I find at the GW stores I've been too, the staff greet people who walk in, and ask if they can help. If the customer doesn't need any assistance, the staff more or less leave it at that. I've never experienced staff at stores trying to push things on me.

 

If I've been loitering for a bit, they will usually check in again. At the stores I've been too, the staff are usually hobbying as well, so will get back to their projects if I'm all set.

[Viridia]

For the most part, I'd agree with what others have said; once you have a chat with them and they get to know you, a lot of the 'must sell starter set' approach dies down, which I appreciate. My local GW manager is a good guy for this, these days when I pop in it's mostly a chat about what I'm planning on and discussing painting techniques/paints to use for whatever I'm planning.

 

As for the hard selling techniques and the blinkered approach to buying signals (or lack thereof), GW are not the worst for it by far. I work as an outsource CSA for one of the UK's biggest pay-tv companies, and our managers, from site-level upwards, expect us to push everything we can onto a customer; TV, broadband/line rental, even mobile phones. We might not have mystery shoppers, but we do have managers who'll listen to multiple calls a week from advisors to make sure we are hitting our sixteen individual KPI's per week, so I can certainly sympathise with GW staff who are just trying to do their job.

[Fajita Fan]

The Games Workshop in Springfield Virginia has had its ups and downs but they've had some really solid guys and I've had many a fun afternoon there.  It's too bad they continue push that store into cheaper (read: worse) storefronts with less and less foot traffic, raise prices, then blame the manager for flagging sales.  

 

I'm not sure if the GW customer service method (greeting, what are you working on, buy a starter set, do you need more overpriced glue or clippers) necessarily works with American consumers as it's pretty hackneyed but I respect the people who have to go through the motions.

[Xenith]

How often do you have to buy models between 9 and 5 on a Tuesday?

 

Stores open those days during school holidays and Christmas, but close out of season. Even then that's only the one man stores. GW Manchester for example is open 7 days a week I think. Unfair criticism.

 

Staff need a couple of days off.

[DBadger]

As my job is 5 out of 7 often my only days off a week are Monday and Tuesday unfortunately!

 

My criticism isn't of the staff having days off, I have absolutely no issue with staff having their appropriate days off and breaks. (My company actually gives full time staff 1 hour 30 mins breaks per day!) My issue is that they shouldn't be one man operations to begin with.

[Tyriks]

I have no problems with GW stores. It wouldn't make sense in most cases to be more than one man stores. I've also never felt pressured to buy stuff in a GW store. I've been pressured to come to events they're putting on, but that's it. Overall I've found the staff to be helpful and enjoyable. And I don't just mean at my local store - every time my wife and I go out of town I find a GW and swing through it just to check it out.

[Scammel]

 

 

 

*snip*

 

Why should I have to create processes to avoid having to talk to pushy sales people? I usually go into GW to purchase as specific item (usually paint) and then leave. I don't want to talk about the latest fluff, I don't want to talk about Age of Sigmar etc, I literally want to buy my  item that remains economically viable from them directly (paint, spray because of the postage, etc) and go continue with my day as though I'd been in literally any other store. A friend of a friend works at FW and he used to be a GW store manager - he said Hi and said that if you needed him let him know, that's all I want!

 

 

So,

• Go in,
• Ask for required product, stand by till as they fetch it for you,
• When prompted "would you like XXXX?", say "No" in a clear confident tone,
• Do not engage other human beings in discussions about your mutual hobby,
• Leave store,
• Count the pennies you've saved on postage vs the cost of time and travel.

Seriously, I've never had them be *Pushy* beyond a "No thanks, that's all I need", I've been a manager of a GW store, and I've made a point of going into stores in any town I visit if there's an opportunity.

 

Rik

 

 

Or:

 

 - Go online so I don't have to create a multi-point plan to minimise uncomfortable interactions.

[DBadger]

I decided to give them another go and in fairness it was a pleasant trip. But the store was still closed for lunch despite me going an hour earlier than last time. I know, I know, it's a result of it being a one man operation. My argument is that it shouldn't be. At the same time though the store was not busy enough, though of course it had literally just reopened from lunch. Oh well. The guy working there was pleasant enough and I got what I went in for.

[Wayniac]

My GW store is nice but offers nothing compelling to go there other than very rare occasions.  They only have 2 6x4 tables with one 4x4 (the old manager had them up to two 8x4 and one 6x4 but corporate made him change it before he was replaced; not sure if he quit or was fired), all the usual problems of a GW one-man store: Can't use the bathroom because the area where they keep product is by it instead of in the lockable store area in the back of the store, new manager throws people out for lunch (the old manager brought his own lunch or someone would offer to bring him something back so he didn't have to leave), etc.

 

The problem is GW long ago moved away from actual hobby centers that encouraged people to go there, to what are basically mall outlets designed to push product and give a bone that you can do other things there.

[Axineton]

Do any GW/Warhammer stores have toilet facilities? Always wondered this when people are gaming or painting instore.

[Wayniac]

Do any GW/Warhammer stores have toilet facilities? Always wondered this when people are gaming or painting instore.

 

Usually, they have them but they are in the back and it's staff only.  Which I find to be ridiculous.  I've heard that some don't even have any on the premises at all.  I've heard of very few that have them available, usually the original battle bunker stores.

[Axineton]

That is absurd man! So your mid game and desperate for a wee but got to go to the public toilets up the road? I get that obviously these shops are small etc but I suppose if they don’t have the facilities it’s less rent and less cleaning etc. But still crazy.

[DBadger]

As discussed there aren't enough staff to avoid closing mid day and two days a week. So who's going to clean and maintain said public toilet? It's also a big stockloss risk as you can't have cameras in a loo.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I never had any real issues at any of the shops I’ve visited.

[Daimyo-Phaeron Lenoch]

4 issues at my GW, none of which are the manager’s fault:

1. Can’t use bathroom—unfortunate, but nothing to be done. Plenty of other stores nearby, though, and the manager fills your water pots from the back

2. Can’t prime inside: either corporate or the next door tenants take issue with this, likely due to fumes and the HVAC system

3. Bar next door always has their music too loud

4. Ridiculously high manager turnover rate (6 years, 7 managers not counting the in-betweens)

 

Very few of those actually effect my enjoyment of it on a consistent basis, so I don’t mind popping up/in there when I feel like it. We have an on-call manager for major event days but as a rule it’s a one-man store.

 

I’m certainly more friendly there with the staff than I am with my FLGS’s. GW always has engaging managers, and once you get to know them, they leave off ya about buying stuff (did have one crack a joke about how he had a ghost ark for sale after I said mid-game I could use one, but that was a one-off).

[shandwen]

The GW store down in Winston Salem had a bathroom available, but none of the other ones I've been in had a bathroom that wasn't staff only.

[D3L]

4. Ridiculously high manager turnover rate (6 years, 7 managers not counting the in-betweens)

 

this is true most places, GW is the least competitive employer, if you live breath and enjoy the hobby but have few ambitions to owning a home, or eating, then being a store manager is for you!

[Burni]

I think the war gaming industry as a whole doesn’t particularly pay well. I read something recently about James Hewitt and what he charged a day as a freelance games designer and how this was more than he got at GW and I was surprised how low it was.

[Fajita Fan]

If my store was still in a mall not having a bathroom wouldn't be an issue but now it's in a terrible strip mall so it can be a hike to piss.  

[Axineton]

I got a win today! I picked up Vigilus campaign book and the chapter approved 2018 and only got charged for the Vigilus book and 10p for the carrier bag. I didn’t realise till I got home and looked at the receipt.

[Domhnall]

One thing I'm surprised at, is that the Warhammer store in Edinburgh is still on the High Street. Which is probably one of the most expensive places to be, rent-wise. And it's still got at least 2 staff in.

From what I was told many years ago, they have a massive space downstairs big enough for several gaming tables. However, because of accessibilty (or possibly fire escape) laws, the door down isn't big enough, and it being a load bearing wall for the tenements above, it wasn't worth the cost/effort to go through the process of widening it. And based on a couple of jobs I've had in the area (draughtsman for structural engineers), it would have been a major undertaking to do so.