Lowe's Employee Appreciation

I took a part time job last summer to fill in the gaps between semesters at ASU. While job hunting I found Goodwill was holding a job fair, so I dressed to interview and went down to my local thrift store. After signing up for a goodwill account and filing out an application I waited for my turn with the rep from Lowe's. The interview went well and in two weeks I had a temporary job as a weekday team member. My job was perfect for my needs: 10 - 2 pm, and I walked around the store helping customers. During training I spent a week in every department learning about products. After a couple of months I felt right at home. LOWE'S gave us ample training and supplemented it with videos, one on one, and handouts.
Their mission statement instilled a sense of pride and empowerment for their employees:

"Our goal is to provide customer valued solutions."

 

    There was room for improvising, thinking outside the box, and even old fashion elbow grease.
During my last 5 months I took part in safety barbeques, employee lunches, and volunteer service work. As Christmas approached we began to gear up for the season. I am not oblivious to business needs, and expected black Friday sales to be typical of the commercialization of the holiday season. However, I was very surprised at the value system of the corporate machine. They changed little things in a few months that ripped at the fabric of their own mission statement.
First the cheer at morning huddle went from "never stop improving" to '"sell some stuff". Then the pep talk of pushing sales for unnessacary items. After the sales and inventory reports came back, the entire store was emailed with the amazing news. We broke almost every one of our records. Our store was a success and in the email from our own store manager the success was a direct result of associates stepping up to the challenge, digging deeper and upholding our mission statement. We had successfully separated ourselves from the competition by providing superior customer service. In the bottom line model we made more money, increased sales and found ourselves in another bracket: the 45 million dollar store.

That's when the bottom fell out of the illusion of a corporate giant making people first instead of money.
With only two weeks till Christmas Lowe's announced they were cutting 400 payroll hours. Several full timers with over 5 years were fired and there was another employee lunch scheduled with a Wii tournament.
Suddenly the store was vacant of red vest experts  and customers  wandered the isles hoping to find what they needed. I went from 30 hours to 15 almost every part timer was down  to less. Fulltime associates worked without backup and their departments left abandoned so they could take their lunch. For the last  three weeks I have worked a total of 6 days and while I have a secondary source of income many  others do not.



This treatment of people will undoubtedly trickle down to customers and the once valued asset: people will be the one cutback that costs the store millions. It is this very reason why corporate America continues to decimate the economy: the greatest resource in business is people. If the value of the bottom line outweighs the camaraderie of human beings then we shall perish in refuse of our greed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Faces of Comedy - Teresa Mendoza

Tuesday

The note left by the landlord said not to forget about her on the 25^th.

The rent is late but I can’t forget my first apartment.

The sanctuary I created to combat the stillness, the fear of being alone.

It’s only Tuesday and I can’t forget why I chose to wake from the slumber of happily ever after.

I remember the corner of Priest and Elliot where the

River rock decorates the sewage drain.

I remember piecing together broken fragments, like glass,

As my heart let loose its final grip on the past.

I remember watching the parts of my dream fade as she wiped her nose

With an old, worn, yellow bandana.

I remember reading books stacked to the ceiling searching for truth

To find it always remained locked in a box, I lost the attic.

I remember pacing through fresh smelling carpets and unmarked walls.

Screaming at the void; hoping for an answer back to this riddle called existence.

I remember, dreaming of Cinderella at twenty-six years old

Only to find she never left the confines of her servitude at thirty-one.

I remember the spot beneath the pine tree

Just two feet from the river rock on the corner of Priest and Elliot.

I remembered there are three types of death; one for the body,

One for the soul and one for the heart and I chose.

I remember, rocking, my arms wrapped tightly around my knees.

Feeling my heart shudder its last beat, I waited.

Its only Tuesday and I remember,

The rent is due and I am still here.

Louise Hay - How To Love Yourself [10 steps to loving yourself]

When we talk about creating abundance and wealth in our lives, one of the first things each of us have to do is; change the way we think.

The law of Attraction, Wayne Dywer, Neale Donald Walsch, and many others are shouting from the rooftops that your thoughts change your world.



Conversely, how we think about ourselves affects the desires we have, one of them being money, or more aptly; financial security.



Try the video, Louise Hayes is on of the most formidable persons in learning to love the self. She is easy to listen too, simple to understand and straightforward.



The first step to creating your own abundance, having free money; is to first love yourself.



Looking forward to more love in the mirror ~

The Queen of Free Money.

Flash Fiction ~ Scavenger Hunt

Flash Fiction

Once a year the scavenger hunt took place, five teams competed for prizes and bragging rights, Sally’s team was due for a win this year.  The Angry Ninja Whore Beavers had come in third place two years ago and last year they missed first place by 500 points.  The rules were simple, one car, minimum of 3 people, photos or tokens were collected for points, and all rulings were final by the judges. Louise, the driver, pulled into a small plaza with a tattoo shop and psychic.

Both of her tasks got the team 750 points and if she did it quickly; bonuses were added. Sally received a reading from the gypsy for the first bonus and got an employee to pose with the stuffed animal for the other. The old woman was dramatic, to say the least.

 “You are cursed, child.” the gypsy said suddenly looking at the tarot cards she laid on the old wooden table.

Cursed? She laughed it off marking the item off as her phone buzzed with a text message.

Tattoo Parlor, now! We get a bonus if you get 2 tats.

Sally walked two doors over and walked into the tattoo parlor.

“Quick we only have 45 minutes to get back to base!” Louise said as she took her arm, they ran to the last door on the right. “We have to all get tattooed with the date of the challenge. Bonus if all of us have last years and this year’s dates!” Louise explained. Sally rolled up her sleeve.

Four hours later the detectives walked through the house, seventeen bodies sprawled out everywhere, all of them dead. Sally sat in the living room her hand covering her left arm.

“Sir, there is something you should see.” The detective walked over to Louise’s body and knelt down. “All of them have the same dates tattooed on various parts of their bodies.” The detective walked over to Sally, “Let me see your arm.” Sally stood showing him her left arm.

 “It’s different, the others have yesterday’s date, and hers says 2013.” He commented. She looked at the detective, her voice shaking, “I know.” He looked at her, “What does it mean?” Sally wiped her nose with her hand, “It means I get to live another year, Detective. That’s the curse.”

 

Learn how Sales People use Psychology for selling!

You already know some of these by experience, and like our collectible toys, GI Joe says, “Knowing is half the battle.”

Below is a short list, they are the four compliance techniques. Why is this important?

Because its how you and I and every other consumer gets taken in on that next purchase. An informed consumer is dangerous because they are no longer "mindless" or just shopping to spend money. (does anyone really do that?) - Yes.

So if you want to give those Corporate Money machines a run for their dollar, make them earn it by becoming a  savvy shopper, an informed consumer and most importantly a person who desires quality product and a reasonable price.

 

 

Compliance is changes in attitudes and behavior following a direct request from another person.

Norm of Reciprocity: an obligation to return favors

Two step compliance techniques works off mindlessness, norm of reciprocity, desire for consistency, and perceptual contrast are why compliance techniques work.

1.    Foot in the Door Technique**

a.       Start small, then ask for more

b.      Works b/c people like consistency

2.    Low-balling Technique

a.       Leave out important detail, add it back in later

b.      Consistency

c.       Best if second request is made by the same person

3.    Door in the face Technique*

a.       Start way to big, ask for real request

b.      Works b/c norm of reciprocity

c.       Perceptual contrast

4.    That’s not all Technique

a.       Make offer, add positive details later

b.      Works norm of reciprocity

c.       Works via perceptual contrast – offer seems even better

*Door in the face is short lived, feeling of being duped.

**Foot in the door can lead to increasing compliance, most effective for long term behavior change

 

Lets take some examples and real world applications.

Working is an easy way to create some income, having a job has a lot of benefits. I recognize this and choose to diversify my income through investments and businesses. This summer, however, proved to be a tough one monetarily wise and with the extra additions to my household. That being said, I went looking for work, promptly was hired on at Lowe’s. It is the hardest thing for me to do, but I attempt NOT to use compliance techniques in my sales. This is rather difficult because of pressure from management to increase the bottom line of the store; in fact our store cheer went from “Never Stop Improving” to “Sell some Stuff.”

            Compliance is simply an attitude or behavior change based on the request of another person (Myers, 2012). I work in the paint department at Lowe’s and the key to any department is product knowledge. Ironically, I have experience in paint, however I don a red vest for work and suddenly I am supposed to know the answer to every possible home improvement project. I try.

One product which is a prime target for foot in the door technique is concrete etching or painting with a stain (both solid color and semi transparent). This product is a three step process but each individual step is a separate purchase. Outside of those three items, more sales are available with tools, gloves and brushes. Our store manager wants us to “build the basket” in our sales which is similar to foot in the door technique; we start small and keep adding more products in the cart (Myers, 2012).

While answering questions about caulking another customer asked me about Valspar’s concrete stain. He had read the label and realized he needed a few more things. I walked him through the process and eventually had him placing 6 more products in his cart for purchase. He came in asking for information and I added a little at a time while increasing the sale. It seems contrary to my personal ethics but I am asked to do this at work for “good” of the team. I receive that nice steady paycheck; benefits and time for school so go ahead and put more items in the basket. That is the norm of reciprocity at work, I feel obligated to do my job in a manner consistent with my training because of what I receive (Myers, 2012).

So now the question becomes how do you sell something without violating the terms of said agreement with your employer AND ensure courteous customer service?

Well you have to balance what you know, what you believe and what you choose now.
corporations will continue to find the best way to dupe their customers or increase their bottom line. The largest power against them is consumer shopping trends!
If you, and yes just one person makes a difference, ask questions of a salesperson that are concerned with 1)quality, 2)longevity of the product, and 3) differences between like products.
They may not know how to answer all of the questions but this shows you as an informed consumer. Which by the way, saves YOU a TON of cash.
HOW? Because you only buy what you need, and when you want to. Eliminating the buyer's impulse or "keeping up with the Jones's"

Lets face the facts, we are a consumer based society but just like any Tyrant; Corporations have one big fear; Customers.
Share your voice, share your life, become the 99%.
~Peace and Prosperity
The Queen of Free Money

Etsy and buying Art!

Etsy and the wonders of artists creating from their souls. It is one of those sites you wished existed when looking for something unique, off the wall and crazy.
Its not a conventional way to make some easy money as you have list, sell, provide shipping and generally create a store but it is one of the easiest ways to do so.

Check out our cool Etsy shop Favorites!

<script type='text/javascript' src='http://www.etsy.com/assets/js/etsy_mini_shop.js'></script><script type='text/javascript'>new Etsy.Mini(7663838,'gallery',5,4,1,'http://www.etsy.com');</script>

Barrel cactus ...Fruit?

Walking through my yard yesterday, our friend and business partner points to my barrel cactus.
"I haven't seen one of these before!"
We talm about our replanting of the plant during move renovations. How it turns to the sun and the amazing flowers it produces.
My friend pulls off one of the yellow fruit and tells me we can eat it. I thought he was joking so we went to google.
Sure enough we found ten recipients in seconds. Now our barrel cactus is amazing and despite it replanting and moving; it has flowering three times the amount of last year.
Ben and count the bulbs and then pick half of them as harvest continues from November to March.

Loving the fact that for breakfast this morning I had barrel cactus!!

Royalties for Free?

I was browsing the web and came a Ross the pennyhoarder blog. Interesting articles and a straight forward style of writing. He introduced Motifinvesting.
Apparently instead of buying stocks or trading stocks you can create a motif of stocks. In other words you pick 20 or thirty stocks, name your motif and sit back as others buy your picks.
Could it really be that simple?
I had to check it myself. And although the Penny Hoarder  is affliated with motif investors; there is gold buried in these pages.
It was that simple, I signed up for free and created some motifs. You create as many as you want and name them something catchy. Each sold motif nets you a 1$. It's not a get rich method but an extra check every quarter doesn't hurt.
Check it out for your self.
THis the Queen of free money and we are striking gold tonight!
Goodnight all.

New Year...The Laundry List

Happy New Year! It's a new year, a fresh start and even perhaps there is something changing in your life.  And yet, I feel as rundown as I did last January as eachumbilical cord y brought new drama to life. Let's start with the here and the now.
I am sleeping on an air mattress which is slowly reaching the cold tile floor as air is escaping from an unknown source. The cold tile floor belongs to my dear and best friend who thinks its warm in her apartment. Aleshia is curled into heras se here.self on a chair in three layers of clothes and jackets. My tool bag is at my head waiting for 730 am when we embark on  the journey of working for myself instead of corporate giants and stockholders. Aleshia is the one on the right in the picture. Her dearest wino friend, Cynthia is sitting at our kitchen table for a smoke break.  We have just spent the last two hours moving and cleaning for the bed bug  treatment on the 10th.
In the last week I have cried, cussed, bitched, moaned and prayed my way through mattress throwing, laundry by the ton and expensive pest control.
On a positive note my wife and I have launched our new business with a great buddy of mine and this pest problem is giving us the motivation for organizing our house.

Ben, our new business partner calls it the Bank of Karma. He is also found of saying I am more apt to make deposits into the bank so that any withdrawals don't leave me with a negative balance. Interesting way to see things but I am still asking myself "Are bed bugs a withdrawal??"
I am known for taking a negative and seeing a positive through the murky waters of the abysmal happenings in life. And my first reaction was action, hence my yard now appearing to be the new city dump. My second reaction was to clean....everything. Then the phone calls to everyone who showed up on Christmas day for Aleshia's famous raspberry ham.
Here's what I told the lucky recipient:
"Hi ..... I am calling you because we discovered bedbugs last night in our bedroom and our couch. Yes I know this is completely disgusting and I am sorry to have to call you with such creepy news. Its like calling everyone you had sex with becuase you have an std."

 I usually get a laugh at this juncture. The next conversation is how and who brought them over. Which prompts the discussion about my stepson and his fiance and their inability to conform to normal social standards. 

After the first or tenth time he lies or she lies we find ourselves questioning our own enabling behavior. There comes a moment when you have to decide to cut the umbilical cord and pray for sanity to return. When kept us in the game so long was the little ones whom we fell head over heels in love with. Our first grandchildren and although you know people can use children as weapons against you, there is this thought in the back of our minds that maybe, just maybe this isn't the case here.

We were mistaken and $2000 later we are dropping off all of their belongings.  Statingour boundaries concerning their hygeine and the ramifications of their actions on the little ones. Now this has been an ongoing battle for a year and a half, which for me was a year to long. When the appointed day arrives for their apartment to launch pest control we are told they didnt show up. Hmmm so i am supposed to sit back and say oh wel m you tried? Bullshit and thats what i sId, then i picked up the phone and made calls. 

Now I am qquickened out of my house mulling over the bank of karma that my friend Ben refers to, the air mattress is lower and the tile floor feels like a glaciar. And I ask the cold, dark room what do I see in this?

My answer comes quickly as we spent a few days talking about our business ideas and how we need to really get organized. The check list for bed bug treatment is to bag everything, throw away what cab be tossed, wash what needs to be washed and prepare each room for extermination. We have a five bedroom storage house with remodeling projects going on in three rooms. Guess I can rip out the carpet in those other two...

so the positive is we asked for the time and energy for reorganization and we got a lost job and bedbugs.

Its not that I think god isn't responding to our thoughts and prayers....it has more to do with the way she gets my attention. So bedbugs are awithdrawal and a deposit into the bank of karma. Here's to hoping its a wash.

What about MOMMA, always great for advice and never without a warm hug.

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