About a month ago I worked with a young woman who bought quite a few
things from the company that employs me. Today I was thinking about
her, I'm not sure why she drifted through my mind but I was speaking with
someone else and wondering how she was doing with her foot problems when she walked into the store
with her mother. Through the course of the return process she explained
that her podiatrist was upset that I had recommended the wrong
shoe/orthotic combination for her foot.*
To give you some background on the situation I have to explain that
orthotic inserts are one of the big money makers for people in the
footwear industry. Pitched as a wellness product they are recommended
by orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, chiropractors and
podiatrists. Every year the company I work for makes millions of
dollars selling orthotics, they are a product that I have personally
benefited from and because I understand how they work I'm generally
very good at helping people understand the benefits an over the counter
arch support will provide.
If the company I worked for really wanted to help people they would
train their sales associates how to fit people with shoes and orthotics
because very few wardrobing experiences can compete with getting a
great pair of shoes that function as a natural extension of your body.
If you go behind the scenes at a shoe store you'll see vendor sponsored
incentive plans and pet shoes, you can
find daily, weekly and even hourly sales goals however you won't find
any manuals explaining the difference between a stability/motion
control running shoe and a cushioned one designed for a completely
different foot.
At work I consider myself a professional rather than an expert. I'm
aware that I have a lot to learn, I'm not afraid to tell people that I
don't know the answer to their question and I'm also willing to let
customers walk out with nothing rather than push them into a product
they aren't comfortable with. Naturally I want to sell shoes but the
way I work is different than the way some other people work. I consider
it a privilege to work with me so if customers treat me like crap or
aren't interested in what I could tell them about their foot I provide
exceptional customer service but my goal is to get them in and out of
the store as quickly as possible so I can focus on the people who want
to work with me.
Daylogs are difficult for me to wrap up because there is no good way
for me to end the story. Tomorrow I will go back to work and deal with
the same set of people and problems. Incomprehensible stupidity is
everywhere, most people don't care about good supportive shoes the
way I do, very few people are willing to sit for the amount of time it
takes to help them understand their foot so I'm selective about what I
say to people. Maybe this sounds callous but that's my way of
protecting myself from people who walk into the store and want to
dicker on the price of a clearance shoe. Times are tight
for almost everyone these days and I will work
with any shoe budget you give me but if you disrespect my livelihood and lack the common
courtesy I feel every person is entitled to then I consider you toxic
and have no use for you.
*Shoes, the right socks and orthotics are a system in which each of
the
components can be manipulated to increase wellness, balance and end
comfort. This system works best when you understand what each component has been designed to do and how they can work synergistically with
each other. Due to lack of training I had inadvertantly created a
situation where this woman's arches were being strained due to an
excessive amount of support.