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In 1995, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) helped form the Coalition for Responsible Tobacco Retailing, an organization that provides in-store signage and training and education to retailers to help them prevent underage tobacco sales. Through the Coalition and its We Card program, RJR has helped the nation's retailers take a leadership position on the issue of youth access. Since 1995, over 1 million We Card retail educational kits have been distributed to retailers nationwide. In addition, We Card has provided free classroom training to over 90,000 retailers nationwide in more than 1,900 classroom training seminars. In addition, R.J. Reynolds is proud to support this outstanding program. For additional information, please visit www.WeCard.org. |
We Card: A Program To Help Prevent Underage Tobacco Sales
The mission of the Coalition for Responsible Tobacco Retailing - and its well-known We Card program - is to help retailers prevent underage tobacco sales at the retail sales counter. Two key components of the We Card program are retailer training and in-store materials.
Training
Preventing underage tobacco sales is a very important part of every frontline employee's daily responsibilities. Proper training is not just important - it's critical to a clerk's success. It means the difference between asking for ID and forgetting to ask, between spotting fake IDs and letting one slip by, and between refusing a sale with confidence and allowing an argument to escalate out of control.
We Card offers retailers several ways to train employees:
• Classroom Training - We Card offers hundreds of classroom
training sessions throughout the country every year. These free two-hour
sessions teach managers and employees about how to spot the latest in fake IDs,
techniques on how to avoid confrontation, how to properly use age verification
tools, and many more key tips on preventing the underage sale of tobacco. We
Card trainers use role-playing scenarios to give retailers the tools they need
and the words to use when refusing a sale. And each session ends with a quiz in
which participants can test their knowledge.
• Retail
Chain Training. We Card also offers custom, manager-level training to
retail chains. This training focuses on teaching managers how to provide
effective store-level instruction to their employees about how to prevent
underage tobacco sales.
• On-line Training. We Card's on-line training uses interactive computer technology to deliver in-depth and intensive training to retail employees - at any time that is most convenient for training. The training course is packed full of instructive video sequences and informative narration, and it finishes with a printable certificate for those who pass a final training test.
Retailers interested in We Card training should contact the Coalition's training staff at 888-872-4603 or visit wecard.org to learn more.
In-Store Materials
The We Card program also supports retailer's efforts to provide ongoing training in their stores by offering several in-store training tools, including:
• Training CD-ROM - Similar to We Card's on-line training, the CD-ROM uses interactive technology to provide retailers with state-of-the-art computer-based learning. Retailers are able to train at their convenience; employees can even take the CD home to train during off hours or at a more convenient time.
• Training Video - The We Card training video provides
retailers with a summary of information provided in the We Card classroom
session, including video examples of critical role-playing scenarios that
retailers can use to get employees prepared to refuse underage sales - with
confidence.
We Card also offers a wide selection of additional materials, ranging from resources for retailers developing or updating their store policies and practices (such as the Guide to Best Practices and the Manager's Guide to Training) to items used regularly by retail clerks on the frontline (such as the Age-of-Purchase Calendar and Fake ID tipsheet). Thousands of retailers have used We Card materials to improve their ongoing efforts to prevent underage tobacco sales.
Many We Card items can be downloaded for free at the We Card website: WeCard.org.
We Card items are also available for purchase, by calling 800-934-3968, on-line at WeCard.org, with an order form via mail or by faxing it to 800-935-3968.
A We Card catalog of materials along with an order form can be downloaded for easy viewing at WeCard.org. All the items available are displayed and described online. *
* "Under 19" versions of most We Card materials are available for retailers in Alabama, Alaska and Utah.