If you're relying on repetition instead of real connection, you're not building loyalty, you're begging for it.

I wasn’t in a hurry. Just grabbing a few things. The store was buzzing, end of day energy, people moving with purpose. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Except one thing started to stand out.

I kept hearing the same line.

Different customers. Same rep. Same beat.

“It’s totally free to you.”
“Only takes a minute.”
“You sure you don’t like saving money?”

It was like watching a loop. Three different shoppers, one after the other. They asked different questions. They had different needs. But each one hit the same wall:

The rewards program pitch.

Not tailored. Not timed. No pause to check for interest.
Just drop the same line, hit the same mark, hope it lands.

It didn’t. You could see it in their faces.

One was visibly annoyed. One gave a mercy laugh and backed away. The third didn’t say anything, just left.

You Know That Feeling When You’re Watching Someone Try Too Hard?

That was this rep.

Not in a desperate way. But in a just-say-the-line-and-maybe-it-works kind of way.

Like he’d been told:

“Offer it to every customer. Every time. It’s free. Most people will say yes.”

That’s not a strategy. That’s a sales superstition.

He didn’t give up, though. Fourth customer in, he saw me. Eye contact. Here we go.

After he answered my quick question, he pivoted into the same script. Verbatim. I could’ve mouthed it with him.

“Oh, one more thing, can I help you sign up for our rewards program?”

I could’ve given him my usual “No, thanks,” but I already knew how that movie ended.

So I gave him a different line:

“That’s ok. I’m pretty sure I don’t like saving money.”
(smirk included)

He paused.

Not because he was offended, but because the pattern broke.

That’s When It Got Real

He hesitated, then tried to find footing. I helped him out:

“What does it do for me today? And what does it give me next time I’m in?”

Now we were having a conversation.

He fumbled through it, but he landed a few key points:

• What I’d save right now based on what I was buying

• Some offers loyalty members get early

• A few exclusive perks not advertised

• Store credit back on certain purchases

And I asked, “All of that for my name and phone number?”

He smiled. Still finding his footing, but standing up straighter now.

“I mean, yeah… more stuff too. But that’s basically it.”

And I signed up.

Not Because He Pitched It Better. Because He Finally Understood What He Was Pitching

The value was always there. But the script was killing it.

That store had likely lost dozens of signups that week because reps were trained to repeat instead of respond.

The frontline wasn't failing, the play was.

We Don’t Have a Talent Problem. We Have a Coaching Problem.

Here’s the data:

• Over 80% of retail purchases still happen in-store (Deloitte, 2025).

• 82% of purchase decisions are made in the store (Forbes).

• But the average frontline employee gets less than 10 hours of structured training—and it’s mostly front-loaded and forgotten (Corndel).

We toss reps into high-stakes customer moments armed with a line, not a mindset.

We say “every customer, every time” and expect magic.

But if every time looks like every other time, it doesn’t feel personal.
It doesn’t feel relevant.
It doesn’t win.

The Missing Skill? Curiosity.

Not clever wordplay. Not a flashier pitch.

Just a rep who knows how to pause, observe, and adjust.

What if we trained that?

What if your team knew how to:

• Listen for hesitation, not just agreement

• Spot opportunities instead of pushing promotions

• Ask a better question to keep the conversation alive

Reps empowered to be naturally curios don’t lean into scripts, they lean into connections. No pressure. No pitch. Just a doorway to relevance.

Frontline Coaching = Pattern Recognition

It’s not about dumping product facts or memorizing five reasons to join.

It’s about building reps who can read a moment and respond to it.

That rep I met? He had the hunger. The energy. The resilience.

What he didn’t have was anyone helping him translate that into real customer value.

That’s not on him.

That’s on us.

• Reps aren’t robots; stop training them like they are.

• Customers don’t reject programs; they reject irrelevance.

• Curiosity > compliance.

• Coaching real-time moments beats emailing blanket expectations.

Frontline First = Build humans who think, not just repeat.

And if you’re not ready to do that?

Don’t be surprised when “every customer, every time” turns into “no one, ever.”