The life of a GNC employee

I went into some small nutrition shop the size of a bed room the other day just to buy a bottle and I felt bad because the qt working there was asking me where I was getting my powder and I lied and said I get it online when really I had bought it from another store

she was trying to tell me I could try a bunch of different powders for 2 dollars a scoop, said she would match internet prices and that if I didn't like one I could bring it back, and she was clearly desperate to make a sale besides the bottle, but I was just in for the 10 dollar bottle

felt bad man

So I'm the only one who hates their job. Whattup guys

San jose right here.

I think I win guys, I'm located right next to the low income housing, the old folks home, and the assisted living (retards, cripples, dying old people) home.

Can't stand this GNC. Every customer:

>will protein make me lose weight?
>i only have $20
>in grocery store coupons
>lemme buy 1 quest bar and see how I like it

Fuck UPT, fuck average dollar, and fuck GNC dollar when I'm literally getting raped by people buying 1 Quest bar at a time.

>bars are buy 4 get 1 free
>i can only afford 2
>tries to combine SPC, Native Status, "Military Discount", and a lost Goodlife membership without possessing any proof of cards
>do you have a Gold Card?
>I don't want to pay for one
>can I have some free samples?
Take your $7 and fuck off I don't need you or want you as a customer.

I have at least 20 stories about why GNC would be bad for anyone's mental health.

>tfw i could see myself caving in to her

We're currently getting a new manager AND we have to adapt to a new RSD since the last one got fired. YO FUCK THIS COMPANY.

I hope our manager isn't a bitch about the ADS cause like you a bunch of assholes come in and fuck it all up by buying a single bar or a gnc water for .90 cents.

In hoping I can get into a new job while I go to school cause screw this.

I almost did, she was seriously cute as hell

not a GNC employee but i am a regular customer.. I always buy the carnivore mass gainer powder, and my creatine. You GNC guys are very persuasive and almost always get me to buy extra stuff. but i always stick to my normal stuff.
hope i get no one fired.

pt. 1

How GNC works;

>we have to "build you a basket" which consists of
>protein, fish-oil, multivitamin, and probiotic
>all GNC brand
>if we don't meet out %'s we get bitched out
>Non-GNC brands are always cheaper than GNC brand
>for example
>GNC 400g creatine for $33.99 (but it can be BOGO'd)
>Allmax 1000g creatine for $34.99 (but no deals)
>the store expects us to make people pay double the price for the same creatine
>9/10 of my customers are actually on the spectrum retards and even they won't buy the GNC creatine for that amount
>bitch us out when we only sell Allmax creatine
>MuscleTech reps bitch us out even harder when nobody buys their 2-week supply of creatine pills for $60
>mfw all of it is cheaper to buy online anyways

Any tips on how to lie to people who come back saying shit didn't work?

What sort of customer goes into a store and gets advice from the salesperson? It's literally asking "sell me something I don't need"

1. find a similar product and tell them that it has more caffeine/protein/beta-alanine etc. so they should try the new product because maybe the dose wasn't high enough

2. blame it on your coworkers. chances are they already don't like your coworker anyways since they sold them something that didnt work. shit talk your peers a little and recommend something else.

3. blame them. if they're returning a product (not exchanging) then youre fucked anyways. tell them it didn't work because they didn't work hard enough. hopefully they never come back and fuck up your numbers. that's basically the truth anyways.

4. lie to them. the SuperHD didnt make them lose weight, so recommend them to take some L-carnitine because it's "better" and "more natural". you know it didnt work because they're just a fat fuck, but at least you've turned a return into an exchange. and technically it could work.

5. tell them they have to use it for longer to see the effects. hopefully they fuck back off home without returning anything.

9/10 people who actually go in person to a GNC location are fat fucks with no motivation anyways and you can placebo effect them on literally everything. Also, most of them are too lazy to make multiple returns and won't care if they've been duped a second time because it's too much effort for them to see things through. You can sell them anything a second time because most people just eat the cost.

watch a trump press conference or something

Oh jeez i didnt know you guys were tracked on transaction dollar amount, makes me feel kind of bad for stopping by my local GNC on my way to the gym sometimes and grabbing a single bar and a drink or something

at least it was in a nice part of town

Bars ain't that bad if you do the "buy 4 get 1 free" deal every time. I don't mind trading off an average dollar of $3.99 (daily avg. should be ~$50) if you're going to give me a UPT of 5 (5 units sold) when daily average UPT has to be above 2.5.

They take into account people buying 1 Quest bar for dollar value because it is what it is. But they're pissed if you let it fuck up your UPT because you could've sold that guy an extra 3 bars + free bar.

pt. 2

The GNC Fuckening:

>this past weekend storewide BOGO sale
>buy one get one half price
>starts Friday, runs until Sunday
>corporate sends out an email on Thursday with a coupon that gives $10 off your next purchase of $50 or more
>all weekend people coming in looking to capitalize on sale + coupon
>guess what
>we're not allowed to combine that coupon with the BOGO sale
>argue with every second customer for entirety of my 12h shift
>starting to lose voice and mind
>manager calls me frantically to remind me that we can't combine coupons
>corporate sends out frantic email on Saturday reminding us not to combine coupons
>damage has been done already
>I gave the BOGO + coupon deal to every single person who argued
>fuck rewarding incompetence
>guy who timed that email is a fucknut
>margins destroyed
>worst part?
>those $10 off coupons are the coupons you get for signing up for a Gold Card
>people constantly come back into the store after getting their Gold Card asking when they're going to get their $10 coupon
>mfw corporate sends it to 1000's of people the day before BOGO weekend

>Any tips on how to lie to people who come back saying shit didn't work?
usually you can't flat out lie. my co-worker Gary actually got into trouble a few times. However, twist the truth as much as possible. If some guy wants to buy the cheapest creatine, tell them that some other creatine gets into the blood quicker and better. Although it is true, creatine getting into the blood doesn't really mean shit. Use broscience to the max. Say that the L-citrulline in the non-GNC version is bound with a powder that makes it harder to be extracted by the intestines, hence why they should buy the GNC version. Stuff like this. Either twist the truth, or make vague claims that most people won't even bother researching. Besides, most people who research know that GNC is a sham and won't shop there anyways.

But to directly answer your question:
1) always insist you are right.
2) state that they may have used it wrong
3) tell them that their problem must be with Y, not X, and hence why Product XYZ didn't help after all
4) Blame it on genetics if all else fails. Most people love to hear that excuse.

I love to tell customers that its their diet.

>will this thermogenic make me love weight?

Of course! But you might lose muscle mass so take the l-carnitine as well. But overall it has to do with your diet. So take this $150 stack and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, then it must be your diet.

I feel like such a cunt but it gives you an out for being responsible over a certain product and/or "promise" of weight loss.

My favorite is selling the SST by performix even though I know that most ACTUAL reviews say they're very undersized but insanely priced.

God I hate myself now.

Hmm piece of advice: maybe you could take their shekels but still help them productively too.

So for instance, a fat guy coming in, your boss wants you to sell him a fat burner but most of them are bullshit along with meal replacements etc.

Tailor the experience to him and he'll remember it, really dig into his workout routine and then sell him something that does work ok that's good bang for the buck like creatine or sell him a big tub of decent protein powder WITHOUT neglecting to mention that there are very specific times to use the stuff, maybe get a notepad out and write down those ideal uses.

I'm one of those guys that gets that supplements are mostly b.s. but I also understand that they can be very helpful for those extra 1%'s when used in tandem with each other but ONLY once you're tackling the fundamentals and some, in other words advanced lifters only.

Communication is key in selling, if they can relate to your explanations your halfway home, find that middle ground between your dickhole boss and the customer

Damn y all are pros

Where do you live that they're still doing the gold card. Over here we got rid of that. Now we're stuck trying to sell some stupid overpriced subscription type of box.
Prices are way cheaper though
Fuck perfomix

On second thought, I think you need to get out of that shithole for ethical reasons. Go work in a local supplement shop, they typically have morals and are a bit more customer focused

pt. 3

GNC is run by dinosaurs:

>be Canadian
>GNC doesn't have a Canadian website
>everyday we get customers in asking for product they saw on our website
>always tell them that it's American only
>every time they ask
>can I order it online?
>until very recently no you couldn't
>customers ask about GNC phone app
>the app gives your phone cancer, don't use it
>it's also still under construction and lacks basic features
>POS system in the stores is also cancer
>designed by lowest bidder obviously
>can't save changes to existing Gold Card information if the last name or phone number is wrong
>removed gift card scanners and now have to type 16-digit card ID manually
>debit/credit machine not connected to POS so have to settle each seperately
>outdated 2-price membership model where it costs $10 just to pay 10% more than you would online
>extremely limited selection
>GNC Canada stocks *new products* which actually came out in the states at least a year ago
>commission model was outdated where employees were expected to sell GNC as 50% of their gross dollar value
>commish on $60 tub of GNC Whey Iso Burst = $0.75
>commish on a $60 tub of NitroTech = $2.00
>you can see the conflict
>Watch Dan Bell's "Dead Malls" series on YouTube
>half the malls still have a GNC in them
>GNC stock been tanking for years
>branding issues
>people still perceive GNC as "too expensive" and "not for me"
>company passes blame on to sales staff
>like it's somehow out fault that people have the technology to compare prices and don't want to come into a commissioned sales store where they're bullied into buying stuff they don't need
>zero advertising in Canada
>zero reasons for people to perceive GNC brand is better than any other brand

Want to know something I've never heard in all my years at GNC?
>I heard/saw about GNC brand protein

Know what I hear everyday?
>Oh Optimum Nutrition/MuscleTech/Rivalus/BSN/Allmax/Precision/PVL is the shit I heard/saw
>Muscle Pharm sucks ass

GNC seems like such a fucking cancer. This thread kinda confirms it for me. Stupid prices and the majority of it's audience is people that are unware of the basic factors that go into becoming fit. Whenever I go in there they always try to shill preworkouts and things that are almost wasting dollars. That being said, I guess everyone has a job and I wouldn't ever blame the literal cashiers and in store employees. The management seems so stupid though

pt. 4

Branding Issues:

>company mandate was to open 27 new stores per year
>stock value always tanking regardless
>aim to sell off ~1000 stores by 2018
>maybe
>switching CEO's monthly
>retail locations stuck in some weird limbo of health-food, naturopathic, and sport nutrition store
>sell weird shit like bee propolis and dick pills
>to flax seeds and vegetarian, non-GMO, glueten free, protein bars
>to fucking literal steroids like creatine monohydrate IN A 1KG TUB HOLY FUCK THAT'S TOO MUCH FOR A NORMAL PERSON /s
>open so many mall stores where most traffic is old people, poor people, and foreigners
>these people mostly buy the naturopathic/health food stuff which is super low $ value and almost never GNC brand
>constant flow of mall employees buying 1 water or 1 Quest bar also fucking up numbers
>they open stores in plazas where most customers are actually there to shop at GNC
>these people buy GNC brand protein/vitamins
>only customer volume isn't high enough therefore avg. $ isn't high enough
>zero reasons to shop at GNC when Popeyes is usually down the street and the staff are way more chill
>Popeyes gives so many samples
>free shakers
>free shirts
>Popeyes retail mostly focuses on sport nutrition without any of the faggy hippy crap
>never see Popeyes in a mall
>always down the street or in the same plaza as a gym
>prices always cheaper at Popeyes and they price match anyways
>better selection since half the store isn't occupied with GNC brand
>GNC somehow can't plop a store down next to a gym and compete with Popeyes
>they need to consolidate their inventory
>not gonna make the big leagues if you can't decide which league you're gonna join
>faggy hippies or broscience brahs
>when in direct local competition with other stores GNC turns the store into a "competition store"
>competition stores have 3(!) prices on every shelf tag
>our price, other GNC prices, and non-member price
>as if that won't confuse every single already dumb customer

You're franchise, aren't you?

you are all wrong GNC is a good company that offer great value products and services. Do your job properly.

Spending money at GNC
Not buying it on Amazon

ok

Yeah. I hear that Franchise are more fucked up than Corporate.

>like it's somehow out fault that people have the technology to compare prices and don't want to come into a commissioned sales store where they're bullied into buying stuff they don't need

THIS.

Why the fuck would i ever go to a GNC

These GNC horror stories are fucking terrible. So glad there's a series of locally owned supp shops where I'm at. Best feature of them is I can buy whey by the pound tax free.

That's the shitty part for me. Being in a smaller Nebraskan town, GNC is the only place to get any supplements.

I bought some GNC pro perfomance mass i.v. mass gainer for around $50 CAD. Was I scammed?

Bodybuilding.com has a different sale almost every week. Utilize that shit and buy in bulk so you get free shipping.

You think I need 6 different tubs of preworkout!? No. But in 10 months they will come in handy.

Buy online.

Yeah, you got scammed because you should've waited for a BOGO sale. Don't buy anything at GNC until it's a "buy 1 get 1 half price" sale.

The Mass IV ain't bad at all, but depending on the tub size it's a scam. The 15lb bags of Precision Pure Mass are the best deal in the store, next to the big bags of Mutant Mass.

This sales model is why i never give my business to GNC anymore. Used to live a block from one amd drove a mile out of my way to buy at a Vitamin Shoppe where the staff left me alone.

I know it's not the employees fault as I used to be in a similar job, but I won't willingly shop at a place that tells its employees to waste my time when I'm just there to get my usual protein powder.

pt. 5

The Employees

>ask any manager at GNC about employee theft
>guarantee they will have multiple stories of firing people/people mysteriously quitting because of stealing
>no way to really track stolen items on daily counts
>basically before close every store counts the #'s of some variation of Triflex, C4, Aminocore, Pure Mass, Instaflex, and a high theft multi.
>that's all we check
>if it's not on the list we won't know if it's stolen for weeks potentially
>have a "no chase" policy so people can literally walk in and get free shit no hassle
>employees don't give a fuck
>Big Steve worked construction Mon-Fri and every second Sunday would pick up a shift at GNC just for the employee discount
>like he gives a fuck if he gets fired
>always hiring "old mall ladies" you know the ones who are pushing 40 or older who somehow only managed to be a retail salesperson their whole life
>they know dick all about supplements but won't hesitate to recommend Echinacea to cure colds and collagen powder to "tighten skin"
>they're also to aloof to notice people stealing
>the occasional gymrat
>gymrats are usually the people who steal, go figure
>at least these guys hate selling you Vitapaks as much as you hate hearing about Vitapaks
>managers quit stores all the time leaving the store leaderless for weeks
>sometimes a sales associate gets "promoted" to manager
>who wouldn't take a salaried managerial position?
>bitch at the newly promoted manager that the store isn't doing well
>half the GNC employees don't know anything about supplements and they're only there because they want the employee discount or because GNC was desperate to hire them
>having worked at multiple GNC's I only saw 1 actual jacked employee
>only saw 1 qt3.14 bikini competitor
>mfw you're buying creatine from old ladies and high school students that think it's steroids

>t. GNC CEO

Me also in small Nebraska town with a GNC, but I don't buy supps so just reading the thread for fun.

RU /pol/ also?

Yeah. Hastings?

yep

Holy shit. Actually met someone on Veeky Forums from little ol' Hastings. Hit me up tomorrow after 4 if you want.

>sometimes a sales associate gets "promoted" to manager
>bitch at the newly promoted manager that the store isn't doing well

What's up with that, is management stupid or something?

>when OP is pic related

Almaden?

>More like

Stores with the customer service and sales model of GNC is exactly the reason I decided to open up my own supplement shop.

What's the average day for you guys? What's your margin on 5lb GNC protein?

Average sales are between 1,400-1,600, but often were close to 1,500 which is our goal.

And I can't say on protein, but I know on our C4 Ultimate we're buying for roughly 20 and selling it for roughly 60.

From what I hear commissions are less at franchise. My corporate store sucks, management is awful. I've had three different managers in less than a calendar year. RSD is very self absorbed, and everything is build the basket or you're trash. I also have a dead end store in a dead end mall. No one really comes to us for athletic anything, or really anything decent, it's all just meme shit like "well Dr Oz says take this..." or protein bar snacks for employees of the poopoo mall I'm in. The inflated view GNC has of itself is understandable, they need to believe they are important but the internet and other, better companies are bringing them to their knees. Like their Super Bowl commercial they spent so much on that got canceled...and this new loyalty system that "Rivals Amazon Prime..." its kind of sad, they can't go quietly into the night.

Fuck, we don't even make commissions at my store. We get a 40/30/20 dollar bonus if your AS is $50+ and you're in the top 3.

And yeah, GNC really needs to get their shit together or they're gonna tank.

Just wait until you hit the trifecta

>Guy comes in
>I need weee protein, kritateen, and no explode

How do miss pronunce 3 products as a white guy?

Yes, absolutely awful. The regional managers don't usually access any of the sales data that would help inform them of a store's customer base. They only look at individual employee numbers and then write employees up for deficiencies.

You'd have to go all the way to head office to find someone who can tell that maybe a store is in a mall so they're getting an abundance of bar sales or herbal supplement sales instead of the required sport nutrition sales. But there's literally thousands of GNC stores and very little feedback from corporate.

Often the LP guys will go over that kind of data because it's their job to cover shrink but it's absolutely not their job to support the sales team. So you end up with an LP guy that can tell that a store is known lossing tons of expiring protein powder and preworkout because they only sell ashwaganda and Quest bars, but he can't really do anything about it and the store will continue to get consistent shipments of protein because that's what the shipping-stocking algorithm has determined we have to sell.

Then you have the RSD that's on your ass to sell Asian grandmas Iso Burst with their bee propolis.

Current /deadmall/ employee here. Doing about ~$1000 daily in a 9am-9pm weekday shift. Lease for our store is $15k/mo.

Typical inflation is ~60% of cost, but sometimes higher depending on sale and current pricing model (2 or 3 price model).

>no one really comes to us for athletic anything
You could say that again. Actual gymrats have no reason to go to GNC and when they do you can't sell them shit because they know it's a scam.

>or they're gonna tank
Check GNC stock value over literally any period of time. They've already tanked bro. They've got the same corporate attitude as Blockbuster and Blackberry. Everything they're doing now is 7-8 years too late.

>Is creatine bad for you!?
Fucking kill me.

Glad to see that I'm not alone in this struggle, my Veeky Forums brothers. I'm fortunate in that I have a really good store manager, regional, and district. They offered me a management position at a higher traffic store but I turned it down to stay away from the corporate bull shit. I live in a small town and at least sixty percent of my costumers are seniors. A large majority that are actually fit know who I am which helps with trust, but keeps me from pushing a bunch of shit.

>buying supplements from gnc

You can get the offbrand men's one a day, a cheap probiotic, and some fish oil for about 25 bucks at target ffs.

DAE DRUMPF???? XDDDD

zap me an email with contact info

Does anyone actually know how to find these studies that GNC rests to? I know that they exist, but I can't find them? GNC would build alot more trust if they made these things available. What's with that?

Eastridge. Dude at this point its fuck all for this company.

I hate myself as much as I hate car dealers to be honest.

Goddamn snake oil Bullshit. I didn't sign up for this

This. And the shitty thing is I'm only getting paid minimum wage.

How much is it for you? $10.50 for me. Lol

$9.00

At least Nebraska updated their minimum wage. There'd be no way in hell I'd work there for $7.25.

I think Sales Associates can get raises, but nobody at my store has stuck around long enough to find out. Granted, I do work part time, but working 40+ hours at GNC is practically impossible.

Alex?

Nope. Close.

>That's the thing, I've yet to have any of these people ever come back to ask for any more advice or to buy any products.
They are buying your recommendations off Amazon

MFW customers come in wanting a miracle pill that will make then sjinny without effort. People actually tell me that crap. Als there is no such thing as a raise at my store, I've been there the longest out of my staff (3 people including manager) we always work alone and it's SO fucking boring. I maybe get 3-6 customers a night in a 6 hour shift. I recommend not getting on board with this company unless you can get in a high traffic store and want to make a lot of money scamming people. Some products for corporate have as high as $20 commision for one product. The fun part is tricking them to buy it which is shitty. Most things are produced for around $5-$25 and sold for $50-$200 and people actually will buy into this shit. I've gotten to the point where I help people get the cheapest shit they can because it makes me sick how they do this because I was the customer before I got the job. I've been robbed too. The brand reps cpme through every so often and tell us about things like cost per product, margin,and the shit they put in it. I can't believe people still believe this shit works and it hasn't completely gone to hell yet.

The conference calls are the most fun. All the managers and part timers talking about how all this shit is the best and their customers are so happy. All the bullshit that has to be pushed, especially the stupid GNC Pro Rewards, pay $40 a year for free (standard) shipping on products that are still over priced. You can only buy supplements but, it "Rivals Amazon Prime" and it's not even close. I have many rants, this place makes me sad and sick.

Why is gnc so retarded
I don't understand I've yet to sell any of those memberships. My store is in a college town so maybe that's why but the whole region hasn't been really selling any.
I was hoping the boxes would have cool shit but it's really just gnc brand samples ..

Same here, only one store really sells them in my region because she apparantly corners customers until they buy. If it were just the free one it would be great.

Do you judge the monsters that come in looking for the 'tine?

/Frau.

Creatine? Nah. Hell, I take a straight Creatine Monohydrate with both my pre workout and my post workout shake.

I do judge the guys who come in thinking they know everything and I have to correct them literally every other word.

Watch out with that stuff... Just one gram overdose on creatine can kill you.