Sunflower staffing offered me an event through a secret shopping website marketing Oil of Olay's new anti-wrinkle cream, ProX . This past weekend was super busy for me. Ultimate multi-tasking skills were needed for this crazy little anti-wrinkle secret shopper/vendor assignment that I picked up for Olay. First of all, let me clarify, these are the things I was working on this weekend:
1. A 40 hour a week temporary full-time marketing position that pays the bills for however long it lasts.
2.Spring Semester finals for Clayton State University . Most of the finals must still be taken on campus, even though the classes are online. Cramming for the finals alone was enough to make one exhausted by the time my event rolled around on Saturday, my last exam date and the day of my Olay event.
3. My work from home position for internetGIRLfriday.com, which takes around 2-3 hours a week depending on the emails.
4. My new boyfriend. Romance is really impossible when you're this busy, and task #4 took a real back seat this weekend. This is still worth mentioning as it did take time and effort.
So, the event seemed to go off without a hitch. The store did not seem to have much product. Only one Pro-x starter kit was available for purchase, but I just assumed that since the paper I had glanced at stated that the staff member could report zero for inventory, that was all the product that was needed at the event. That was the first mistake I made. Here are the mistakes that I learned from at this vendor event.
Staffing mistakes and lessons learned for future reference:
1. Always make sure that you not only check in with the manager, but that you verify the manager's title. Do not assume that the man standing at the door asking you who you are is the manager. This might be the greeter.
2. After checking in with the manager, make sure that you inform him that there is a shortage of inventory if applicable. Work to get the available inventory out on the floor. Letting the assistant manager in on the fact that your inventory is super slim is a necessity from the beginning. There was only one box of product there, and it was my job to sell the product. This really made it difficult, and since I did not check in correctly with the manager in the beginning and inform him of this, it will probably be my fault. The assistant manager was informed; however, and he did not alert me to any left over inventory.
3. Always keep track of your boxes! Never let them out of your site. Put them in your car when you're done. Sam's will crush and throw away your boxes, and you will be left without U.P.S. labels which cost lots of money.
4. Make sure you take care of the small details like activating your debit card, before you reach the store. These small details can take hours. Don't let them interfere with the smoothness of your operation.
Just keep everything flowing easily and know where your supplies are. This seems like such an easy gig, and it is. It is if you know what you're doing before you get there. The event itself was a fun time of free lotion for everyone! The ProX really works. The back of my hand was taut and you could see a noticeable difference before the end of the day from product demonstrations and sampling alone. Plus I got to keep the kit! Win! Win!
