An Insiders Look at Best Buy

[panteragstk]

As a millennial who has spent a lot of time working in retail, its 100% corporate structure of these places. No training, skeleton crews, and stupid top heavy "productivity" systems that are a waste of time and produce no results at the store level. Walmart was doing poorly for awhile, and they eventually realized they had to invest in better training, customer service, and pay. Most of these places can't hire decent people because they offer 20 or less hours a week, low pay, and will work you to death, expecting you to do the job of what should be done by three or four people. There is no time dedicated to actually working with customers and receiving training to be knowledgeable on the product. Employers in big chain retail have made it an environment where it's last resort job that people take as a stop gap, so people don't invest time in it and turnover is extreme. How many times have you been in a store and you can't even find an associate to help you? There might be a total of two people on the floor in a huge store.

It's simple economics. If you want to attract and retain the best workers, you have to make it worth their time to apply and stick around.

The brick and mortar retailers that are thriving are doing things differently. The ones that aren't did it to themselves.

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You are very correct. The biggest problem with so many types of business is they want entry level people to somehow have experience. On the job training only exists in certain jobs (apprentice type stuff) which is good, but work like I do now has no real training. You either figure it out, or someone else will.

Even when I sold A/V I already had some knowledge before I started because it was my hobby. I learned a lot more from our reps and my boss (HUGE audio nerd) so we had a great team. We even had the news come to our store "undercover" when the converter box things came out after they did away with analog broadcasting. My employee was asked if all TVs had to have one and he went into specifics as to why someone would need one. No BS.

We were asked by our upper management when they visited (this was a store in west Texas so they didn't come often, but we made a ton of money for them) why we didn't turn converter box sales into DirecTV sales and our response was "well, DirecTV customers are 80% of our converter box sales since DTV doesn't offer local channels here". Their response, "oh".

I haven't purchased anything from the BB near me, but have had to go to them for more than one customer service related issue. I ordered stuff online with my brother's discount and had tons of problems. The store manager fixed the problem without hesitation even though his store had nothing to do with the issue.

I was going to buy a TV (the one I wanted didn't qualify for a discount, or much of one) from that store, but the sales guy told me that another brand would be better for what I wanted. He was right, but he didn't get a sale because I ordered to get the discount. Dude was very cool about it. I made sure to tell his manager he was awesome and that I'd refer people to him.

It's funny that a company can suck, but individual stores and employees can change your mind. My BB did that with me.

 

[Bucknekked]

I really think that depends on the brand. I have my first receiver I got when I was 16 and it still works. In fact, I plan to use if for the two atmos speakers in my theater that my x4300h isn't able to power because 11 channels in one box is silly, but I buy good brands and have had good luck doing so. My stuff seems to last a very long time even with the punishment I dole out.

this is the dichotomy of real life verses easy commentary on a forum.
On the one hand.............if just about anything in consumer goods fails these days, its replaced rather than repaired. That would be my experience.

On the other hand.........like you, most of my most treasured purchases last a very, very long time indeed.
Most of my audio gear that I ran for nearly the last decade is still running like brand new. Stuff I purchased 2 decades ago is still running in my adult childrens homes. Stuff I purchased 3 decades ago, well, you get the point.

 

[yepimonfire]

You are very correct. The biggest problem with so many types of business is they want entry level people to somehow have experience. On the job training only exists in certain jobs (apprentice type stuff) which is good, but work like I do now has no real training. You either figure it out, or someone else will.

Even when I sold A/V I already had some knowledge before I started because it was my hobby. I learned a lot more from our reps and my boss (HUGE audio nerd) so we had a great team. We even had the news come to our store "undercover" when the converter box things came out after they did away with analog broadcasting. My employee was asked if all TVs had to have one and he went into specifics as to why someone would need one. No BS.

We were asked by our upper management when they visited (this was a store in west Texas so they didn't come often, but we made a ton of money for them) why we didn't turn converter box sales into DirecTV sales and our response was "well, DirecTV customers are 80% of our converter box sales since DTV doesn't offer local channels here". Their response, "oh".

I haven't purchased anything from the BB near me, but have had to go to them for more than one customer service related issue. I ordered stuff online with my brother's discount and had tons of problems. The store manager fixed the problem without hesitation even though his store had nothing to do with the issue.

I was going to buy a TV (the one I wanted didn't qualify for a discount, or much of one) from that store, but the sales guy told me that another brand would be better for what I wanted. He was right, but he didn't get a sale because I ordered to get the discount. Dude was very cool about it. I made sure to tell his manager he was awesome and that I'd refer people to him.

It's funny that a company can suck, but individual stores and employees can change your mind. My BB did that with me.

There's no excuse for it though. I worked at a home depot once, I was put in lumber, I didn't know anything about lumber, but was given almost a weeks worth of computer training that taught me enough about it to recommend products to customers, even when the customers didn't know what kind of product they needed. No reason BB couldn't do the same thing.

Personally, I'd rather purchase home theater equipment at a store rather than online, since its near impossible to know what you're getting outside of recommendations from others. If best buy carried a wide selection, and had competent employees, I'd be willing to spend a little more to get the service. People are willing to do that, its why stores like Publix are doing well. They pay employees slightly above market, leading to better retention, they offer excellent customer service, and the store appearance is great with minimal out of stock items.

I will frequently buy stuff from Amazon even if I can find it cheaper somewhere else, because their customer service is excellent, and they are willing to bend the rules to make sure you're satisfied. I once bought a pair of shoes that fell apart after 3 months, obviously the return window closed, but when I called them up about it, they sent me a new pair. I bought a digital download for a video game, it was incredibly glitchy, they refunded me for it. 99% of the time digital content sales are final.

If you take care of your customers, they will be loyal to your company, if you take care of your employees, they will stick around, and take care of you and your customers. Too many mega corporations have forgotten this.


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[slipperybidness]

agree. I remember my grandfather repairing all manner of home appliances that "were made to last". If something breaks nowadays, it just get replaced. That keeps us from growing attached to our gadgets.

I recently repaired my wireless trackball mouse! Not many people would bother with that.

I paid $50 for the mouse years ago, liked it so much that I bought a 2nd one when the price was $30.

On the original mouse, I wore out both buttons! 6 new buttons delivered for $5! I should be able to keep these mice running for another 20 years

 

[panteragstk]

There's no excuse for it though. I worked at a home depot once, I was put in lumber, I didn't know anything about lumber, but was given almost a weeks worth of computer training that taught me enough about it to recommend products to customers, even when the customers didn't know what kind of product they needed. No reason BB couldn't do the same thing.

Personally, I'd rather purchase home theater equipment at a store rather than online, since its near impossible to know what you're getting outside of recommendations from others. If best buy carried a wide selection, and had competent employees, I'd be willing to spend a little more to get the service. People are willing to do that, its why stores like Publix are doing well. They pay employees slightly above market, leading to better retention, they offer excellent customer service, and the store appearance is great with minimal out of stock items.

I will frequently buy stuff from Amazon even if I can find it cheaper somewhere else, because their customer service is excellent, and they are willing to bend the rules to make sure you're satisfied. I once bought a pair of shoes that fell apart after 3 months, obviously the return window closed, but when I called them up about it, they sent me a new pair. I bought a digital download for a video game, it was incredibly glitchy, they refunded me for it. 99% of the time digital content sales are final.

If you take care of your customers, they will be loyal to your company, if you take care of your employees, they will stick around, and take care of you and your customers. Too many mega corporations have forgotten this.


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I don't disagree at all. They do have online training and I find myself wondering how up to date it really is.

Just like any other retail store the management is going to drive the way employees think and act. If the manager is adamant about employees being helpful and knowledgeable then they will be. If not, then they won't. Sometimes it's that simple. You'll always run into that one employee that doesn't care. Every store has them.

 

[Bucknekked]

I don't disagree at all. They do have online training and I find myself wondering how up to date it really is.

Just like any other retail store the management is going to drive the way employees think and act. If the manager is adamant about employees being helpful and knowledgeable then they will be. If not, then they won't. Sometimes it's that simple. You'll always run into that one employee that doesn't care. Every store has them.

when I think back to my very first job, way back in covered wagon days, I got hired to work at Sears. Sears in those days was cutting edge in retail: they were the big dog. They are an old mangy dog with fleas today. How did they go from first to worst? You could apply many of the same answers to BB and their decline.

In the macro view of things, the market moved away from Sears and they didn't change as an organization fast enough to match the outgoing tide. They certainly had the resources to make that change when they were still strong enough to do so. But, leadership did not choose that path of change. I think BB already missed that opportunity to make the changes needed to follow their market when they were financially strong. Now they aren't in such good shape and making big changes may not be possible.

BB may become like BlockBuster (another BB) Video. The brick n mortar stayed standing long after the business was actually doomed. I am no seer of the future. BB may yet indeed pull off the changes they need to succeed. Even after reading this thread for a week, I still don't have any urge to go there.

 

[Bucknekked]

I forgot to mention that in some respects, not a lot has changed since my early days at Sears in the great wasteland that is retail sales. Back then, they hired snot nosed kids for pennies. We got nadda for training. They gave us no benefits. The commissioned sales people treated everyone who was not commissioned sales like dirt. Basically, we were serfs who lugged and totted and did all the nasty jobs that the other people with more tenure didn't want to do.

Training? Ah, no. Were we skilled at all? Ah, no. Did we make much? Ah, hell no.
Did we appreciate the job ? I certainly did. It was my first job. It was the first rung on the ladder.
It gave me something to put on my resume. It put gas in the tank. It put an occasional burger in my hand.
It was a great introduction to the working world. I knew it was temporary. They knew it was temporary.
It worked out for both sides.

Now, if I was hired as an adult and that was how I was going to spend the next xx number of years and how I was expecting to support a family ? Oh dear. That would have sucked big time.

 

[panteragstk]

when I think back to my very first job, way back in covered wagon days, I got hired to work at Sears. Sears in those days was cutting edge in retail: they were the big dog. They are an old mangy dog with fleas today. How did they go from first to worst? You could apply many of the same answers to BB and their decline.

In the macro view of things, the market moved away from Sears and they didn't change as an organization fast enough to match the outgoing tide. They certainly had the resources to make that change when they were still strong enough to do so. But, leadership did not choose that path of change. I think BB already missed that opportunity to make the changes needed to follow their market when they were financially strong. Now they aren't in such good shape and making big changes may not be possible.

BB may become like BlockBuster (another BB) Video. The brick n mortar stayed standing long after the business was actually doomed. I am no seer of the future. BB may yet indeed pull off the changes they need to succeed. Even after reading this thread for a week, I still don't have any urge to go there.

Honestly, the only reason I buy anything from BB is because I get a family discount. If that weren't the case I get everything online. I've only ever used BB as a way to see a product in person. Then go to someone else to make the actual purchase.

 

[Dale Doback]

I shop at BB, but, I have always already researched what I am buying. Those poor kids are clueless. That's ok, little boogers. I hope they stay in business. Sure, I buy mostly from Amazon, but, I'd hate to see all the B & M stores vanish. Besides, how great will Amazon be once they take over the world?

 

[MR.MAGOO]

Sure, I buy mostly from Amazon, but, I'd hate to see all the B & M stores vanish. Besides, how great will Amazon be once they take over the world?

Amazon is already drifting from their core business by producing movies, and grocery stores. I expect their customer service will soon deteriorate with so many fingers in so many pies.