I'm back at work and for the initial few days, I was writing out blog post about how this job is horrible and how I am not doing what I have been hired to do, that I want to leave soon because the job just feels so pointless, but I never posted any of the post because they are too ranty and probably not something I would like to come back in a few years time to re-read again.
Just as I was at that peak of being unhappy with my job, I suddenly get a call-in customer requesting for Interior Styling services, which is extremely rare in the company, literally the only time a customer actually requested for that service on their own since I joined the company. so I took it.
Funny enough, at that same time, I was informed that the company was going to hold some Interior Styling competition whereby the Sales Staff and Interior Stylist can all submit an Interior Styling Proposals that they had done for clients in the past and the winner can stand a chance to win an iPad.
So the fact that I was able to finally do what I was hired to do and also have something to submit for the competition was like killing 2 birds with 1 stone.
I was quite happy doing the Proposal because for the past few months, I have just been feeling like an over-glorified Sales Associate, a lot is expected out of me, but I just cannot perform because I am not being given what is needed to perform, which are customers who require Interior Styling services. I do not have the social skills to actively approach a hundred customers and only come back with 2 to 3 who are genuinely interested in the service, my fellow newbie colleague has been doing that since the start and up to date, he only has 3 to 4 customers who are genuinely interested. He is someone who has an extroverted personality, can start conversations with customers very easily, and the fact that he actually feels drained from talking to so many customers just to get 3 to 4 Interior Styling Project is telling of how much this service is really needed in the company, which is pretty much not at all.
Anyways, I completed the Proposal within 5 days, which is 2 days earlier than what I had promised the customer, I did all the mood board for him, an un-rendered 3D drawing for him because my office laptop doesn't have the rendering software installed, collated the price of everything and to be very honest, even I myself was impressed at how the Proposal turned out because I have never done this level of proposing back as an Interior Designer. I send the Proposal to the client, not really expecting him to reply to be honest because he was after all just a call in, and my main goal for preparing the Proposal was really to take part in the competition, but then 15 minutes later, the customer actually calls me up and goes...
Customer : Hi Tim, I just received your file. What is that may I ask?
Me : That is the Interior Styling Proposal I have prepared for your space.
Customer : Oh, I didn't see my name on the proposal so I didn't know it was prepared for me.
Me : I didn't add your name into it, but it is based on your floorplan if you look through the pages.
Customer : Yeah, okay, the whole thing is quite impressive, I can see you prepared a lot of things for me butyour 3D drawings, I am looking at them and I just cannot accept it.
.... and at that point, because I have been getting paid a regular salary by my company for the past 4 months, I undermined myself and readily accepted his criticism of the drawings, thinking that this was what the company paid me for.
So I told him I will help him render the drawings out and he starts discussing with me about how the company can throw in a few freebies for him when he finally gets his furniture, which is probably not going happen until the end of 2022 earliest.
When I shared this exchange with my colleagues, the In House Designer got very upset for me that the customer had the audacity to actually give this kind of feedback, I felt really shitty after I realize that because it is true, he is not a paying customer at this point, he isn't entitled to anything more than I was giving to him, and it was already quite a fair bit of styling service.
It was fucking stupid for me to agree to do the render because whether or not the company pays me, the customer is still getting a free service, and you just don't look a gift horse in the mouth. If I was still back in ID4 and a prospective customer had said this to me, I would have instantly shut them down.
I am not going to drop the customer yet, and I actually rendered the drawings already, but it's for the competition than him, so I am just going to make the customer slowly wait because I don't see the rush since the the house has not even been built up yet.
Really don't know what the fuck my deal is with all this customer that I offer Interior Styling Services to, the first lady I ever offered this service to back in September was just straight up entitled and unappreciative, left such a bad taste in my mouth that anytime I see a customer of her race step into the store, I don't even want to approach them, not that I am approaching any customers regularly but I make an extra effort to actively avoid them completely. And now I have this entitled guy, granted the way he talks to me is ALOT friendlier than that other lady, but still, entitled is entitled.
I now have another Interior Styling Proposal to work on because another customer actually came into the store a few days ago and requested for the service, he and his partner had the sincerity to actually physically drop by the store for a consultation service, so that was actually nice and I hope their sincerity is consistent.
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