GameStop’s Training Videos Laughable at Best

If you happen to hold a grudge towards GameStop for any reason at all, you’re bound to get nice and wound up from one of their most recent “training” videos that has been posted online. As Kotaku appropriately puts it, the title of the video should be, “How To Talk To Women And Shill Wii Non-Games“, because that’s essentially the entire point of the video.

Now, I haven’t worked in the retail sector that much in the past, but I have long enough in order to endure a ridiculous training video, although I have to admit the one I’ve seen was nowhere near this bad. My question is though, do these videos actually help, or do they make things worse? I might be somewhat of a rebel, but if I worked at GameStop and had to watch this foolish mess, I don’t think I’d be walking back out onto the floor in a great mood.

The video shows employees how they can up-sell the customer, which is fine, but it also assumes that most GameStop employees know anything about what they are selling. I’m not sure if all GameStops are like this, but in Canada, the stores (Electronics Boutique to be specific, same outlet) are not too impressive. I usually make small talk with people when I’m being rung in, but at our stores here, the people behind the counter know so little about current games, that it’s kind of pointless. Recently, I went through the cash there and found out that the cashier didn’t even own one of the most recent consoles, because he “couldn’t afford it” (he’s been there for more than two years).

Maybe GameStop should start investing more in their employees first, rather than giving them a lackluster paycheck and expecting them to take a great enough interest in everything in the store in order to up-sell customer. </rant>

Poor GameStop staffers were subjected to “Understanding And Selling To Our Expanded Audience” in advance of the “Sharpen The Mind, Shape The Body” campaign-which has since expired-the sales effort that would give buyers of Wii Fit or My Fitness Coach a free subscription to Cosmo or Good Housekeeping. That way, they can unlock the secret of the male G spot in between bouts of getting fit with Jillian Michael’s Fitness Ultimatum. The video helps GameStop employees to understand the fairer sex in terms that anyone can understand: hunter, gatherer, and hopelessly confused mom.