The Start of Active Marketing

The first highlight of my day of work began at 12:45pm, when my supervisor brought our entire team of 4 into one of the meeting rooms to brief us on our individual KPI for this year, till the end of the third year.

This was the moment that everyone was waiting for, so that our roles would be laid out more specifically & expectations set. Yet, this was also a stressful time, when each of us were told about our specific roles & responsibilities that link towards achieving our KPI for each year.

I was rather apprehensive when I saw that my responsibilities were slightly more than that of my other team members. Perhaps my supervisor felt that I could do more & wanted to test me, but just looking at specific responsibilities (which was longer than the rest) was already rather scary to me.

Nevertheless, I took it in my stride & mentally told myself to just do my best, taking one step at a time & not to look at these responsibilities & KPI as such an intimidating achievement all as a whole. ‘Bit size bits’… that’s how I should see it.

My second highlight of today’s work day, was when my team & I had to rush down to Novotel (hotel) near Clarke Quay, to actively publicize the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) funding schemes, as well as other programs.

We reached there late because our discussion meeting on our individual KPI took longer than expected. Rushing into the reception area near the Phoenix Ballroom, we were advised against giving out our flyers near the registration area. That was reasonable since this was the area where guests had to register for this Budget 2006 seminar.

Just as we started to move to another location to give out our flyers, one of our SNEF staff walked over to reprimand my supervisor for coming late & disrupting what’s going on around here. My supervisor was tactful in his response to the registration staff & this SNEF staff, but later told us angrily that he was very mad at that SNEF staff.

Coz firstly, we were not interrupting the flow of people going into the ballroom. We were just walking around, taking our initiative to talk to those who were still waiting for other colleagues to arrive, or those who were going to make themselves a cup of coffee or tea. Secondly, it was very inconsiderate of him to reprimand us right in front of the registration desk, in full view of the guests! Later we learnt that this person isn’t very well liked nor respected by the staff in our office. In fact, it seems that he has been known to be quite a troublemaker. I haven’t worked with him before, so I shan’t comment…

It was initially scary to just walk up to guests & start introducing myself & the schemes that are currently available. I felt like I was doing aggressive sales once again… but this time, it was for a good cause of helping organizations. My hands were quite visibly trembling when I spoke to the first few guests! Thankfully, after a few minutes, I started to ease into this activity & managed to talk more at ease. I even managed to get a business card from one man! But it was odd coz I haven’t received my name card to give out yet. I hope it wasn’t too rude…

My third highlight of the day was when I returned back to the office, just about to resume my work, when one of the colleague from another department walked over to ask if I could brief this man (waiting outside the office) about this Advantage! scheme which we are currently marketing. I was shocked, but I composed myself & walked out to talk with him.

Details aside, it was both an enlightening & distressing experience for me. The positive part is that I learnt about the perspective of this man, since he came in as an independent consultant for a few other companies. The negative part is that I wasn’t prepared to answer some of his queries clearly! Thankfully, Tony came to my rescue & managed to explain it greater detail to this consultant. Oh boy, I really need to work on better understanding all sides of these schemes!

The day ended with OT as usual, till past 7pm… when I was actually supposed to meet Rebecca at Bugis at 7pm! When I called her after leaving the office, she was already waiting there. Oh dear… & she ended up waiting for half an hour before I reached coz traffic was heavy along Orchard Road.

It was a very short time of meeting up, coz we went to the gym & did our own exercises, without much interaction, followed by a hurried dinner coz the food court was about to close & started to turn off some of its lights. After dinner, we had to go home, coz it would be another long day of work for us tomorrow. Plus I’m on Saturday shift this week too… Argh… but I still find my job meaningful…