Training Employees How To Offer the Marshall Field's Charge Card

A Marshall Field's charge card of more recent times

[According to various reports, Marshall Field & Company was the first business to offer revolving credit. This may have actually started with independent Chicago businessman Potter Palmer, prior to Palmer's partnership with Marshall Field and Levi Leiter to form Field, Palmer & Leiter, which eventually became Marshall Field & Company.]

New employees of Marshall Field's were given excellent training as regarded offering the Marshall Field's Charge Card to guests who didn't already have one, as well as asking current cardholders if they would like to use their Marshall Field's Charge to pay for their purchases. Because some employees might be shy in asking, they were trained as to all of the benefits which would be extended to the guests as a result, making it much easier to present the offer in a very customer-friendly manner. While the details of such benefits will be covered in a future post, a brief synopsis of the training will be given here.

Pictured below are the pages of a handy fold-out given to employees, with the easily memorable catchphrase, Ask Today Your Way. This approach took into account the fact that each employee had his/her own distinct personality, conversational style, and unique relationship with the guest(s). Employees could "be themselves" and remain personable using this more natural and preferable method rather than resort to using robotic, mechanical, and impersonal hard-sell tactics.

For Employees: How and When To Call Field's Express

"Field's Express" was just one of the above-and-beyond measures Marshall Field's used to create a more pleasant and quality service environment for its guests. Below are pages from the New Team Member Welcome Packet, to familiarize new employees with the benefits of Field's Express, and to train them to work with Field's Express Team Members for maximum results in giving excellent customer service.

Click on images to enlarge and read easily.

Marshall Field's Dress Code Guidelines

Pictured: a well-worn Marshall Field's name badge (the name has been changed to protect the identity of the donor)

Below are the front and back sides of the Marshall Field's Spring/Summer Dress Guidelines for Stores May 1 - Sept. 10. The most notable and memorable catchphrase in this dress code is WEAR WHAT YOU SELL.

"Wear What You Sell is a concept that allows team members to wear the merchandise featured in their departments. It allows them to showcase our merchandise while expressing individuality."

To read the professional dress guidelines easily and completely, just click on the images to enlarge.

Marshall Field's Employees Earned Their Stripes

New Marshall Field's Employees received a "Stripe Card" and an accompanying informational placard about the "Earn Your Stripes" incentive program. It was really quite simple, and most employees participated very seriously!

At each wrapstand (cash register counter) was a chart showing each area's average sales transaction amount, along with figures showing 3X, 5X, and 10X those averages.

For every sale made for 3X the average, the employee would receive 1 stripe. For a sale of 5X the average, 2 stripes. And for a sale of 10X the average, 3 stripes.

Each stripe card had a total of 20 spaces (!) to be stamped with a green-inked stamper in the same exclamation-point shape as the spaces on the stripe card. Managers and Field's Express Team members could stamp the cards for the employees as they called via radio to let it be known (quite proudly and gladly) that they had achieved these results. As their calls came in, the employees were congratulated and announced via radio also, then their card stamped. (Field's Express Team members could participate in the rewards of this program also, though they could not stamp their own individual cards.) When stripe cards were filled, they could be redeemed for various prizes. For example:

1 full stripe card might be redeemed for a large candy bar,
2 full stripe cards might be redeemed for a Marshall Field's T-shirt
3 full stripe cards might be redeemed for a Marshall Field's Sweatshirt or the employee's choice of a $5 Marshall Field's, Speedway, or Blockbuster Video gift card.

There were higher levels also, with weightier prizes such as luggage. 10 full stripe cards could be redeemed for a $20 gift card of choice, for example.

Marshall Field's employees were given encouraging incentives such as the "Earn Your Stripes" cards, providing them a sense of accomplishment and true rewards. At the same time, this simple program was such that it did not create combative competitions between employees but rather a healthy and shared sense of success. Who could possibly contrive a 3X, 5X, or 10X sale without being horribly pushy? No one! It was therefore more of a sense of elation when it happened because it was a direct result of what Marshall Field's was known for: giving excellent service and delivering the unexpected.

Marshall Field's Employee Welcome Packet

The pages below represent the major portion of Marshall Field's New Team Member Orientation and WELCOME packet for the years 2003-2004. The materials contained in this particular packet represent both Target Corporation and May Co. Additional materials included in this packet are also presented in this category of Employee Training.
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To read a page easily at an approximate value of 14-point font size, just click on the page to enlarge it. Take special note of the bottom left-hand corner of the last two pages; you'll get a glimpse of the type of customer service vision of Marshall Field's stores. Enjoy.