MINN KHANT KYAW @ELVIN LIM

For January 2020, TSP wants a fresh look. This calls for a revamp of price tags as well as the wholesale price list (to be explored later in the page). Carrying out a revamp of the price tags requires me to format the digital version of the old price tags into a new version. The new version will then be printed on used paper (one side has already been printed on), cut, and stuck on donated cardboard.

The initial resources Jo gave us were the font, font size, and an example of the new price tag (digitally). She then split the products into bathroom essentials and kitchen essentials. I was assigned the bathroom essentials. Over the course of the first two weeks, I edited the power point containing the digital price tags, and I went through various revisions. Jo would constantly guide me in the skill of being meticulous, stressing the importance of consistence in aesthetics, style (formatting, labeling of product variations), and therefore standards. She also stressed the importance of adopting a customer Point of View (POV) to conduct self-evaluation and therefore improvement. Such a task was rather mundane and did not provide much mental stimulation for me. However, I developed my eye for details nonetheless!

Below are a set of pictures of the after (left) versus before (right):

We also had to attend to deliveries, which is part of a longer process regarding online orders. When a customer orders on the TSP website, an email is sent to Jo, who then re-directs it back to us. Upon receiving such an email, we are expected to follow the instructions in the Standards of Procedure (SOP), which details how we are supposed to save order details, create and save delivery details (waybills, electronic signature and so on). Such documents are then uploaded onto Dropbox under the deliveries folder for Jo to save for accounting and logistics purposes.

Engaging in such activities on an almost daily basis greatly improved my efficiency throughout the month- something Jo highlights as a crucial trait in the working world.

TSP's stockists include August society, Girl Guides, BOTANY Cafe, Lyaya, and many more. After initial negotiations on commission prices, product selection, and signed agreement form(s), TSP will reach out to their stockists monthly through email to check on the status of sales, stock, and whether or not a top-up is required. Such a top-up was required for the month of January 2020 by Girl Guides, and I was assigned to pack the necessary items and deliver it to them a few MRT stops away from Serene Centre, where our showroom is located. Afterwards, I had to update our website on the remaining stock in the showroom as well as update our internal stock sheet- another layer of accountability regarding stock count. I also helped my fellow WOW! group member, Kowshiya, with the packing for Lyaya.

Emails exchanged contain curation of product information, product visuals, invoices, etc. These emails may contain privileged information and hence will not be put up here for public view.

There are standard packing lists for events uploaded on Dropbox. I am to refer to such documents (excel sheets) to pack the necessary items into bags, a wooden crate, and a luggage if necessary. These lists are a consolidation of what TSP believes will be best to provide passing-by customers, a consolidation of our best sellers. This is not to say that they are inflexible however, as TSP experiments around to improve customer engagement as much as possible. This includes discussing with organizers what the potential interests of their target audience is, as well as testing on-site. packing lists also served to be of great importance during events, where we have some sort of accountability when calculating total sales and so on.

From curating the packing list to stuffing items in a luggage the most space-efficient way possible to conducting stock count again and again for accountability reminded me of the value of quality. While traits of efficiency are highly prized, quality- accountability in this case, is not to be compromised. Especially in a small business where each mistake is costly to a relatively fragile 'economy', such meticulousness is a must.

Below is the standard packing list for events.

TSP attends events for a variety of reasons. From giving talks to setting up a pop-up booth to giving workshops, they are opportunities for TSP to encourage sustainability as well as to keep itself sustainable financially. Throughout the one month attachment, I attended a total of three events to set up a pop-up booth. At such events, my role is to act as an on-site sales person as well as a working staff. This means that I need to entertain and aid customers in whatever way I can at the event, as well as working on other projects/tasks when customers are not present. The three events were at:

• SIM Fiesta 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
  • Key aspects of the event that I remember clearly are the stress levels I experienced that day as well as the booth aesthetics.
  • I attended the second day of the event, arriving at SIM before 9.30 am to begin setting up the booth. Jo joined me later to help set-up, and to explain to me the reasoning behind the product arrangement for the booth. For example, how the height difference affects product placement, how the colour scheme of products and the table cloth should go together to provide a certain mood and atmosphere. In this case, the table cloth is made out of hemp, which compliments several products such as the hemp soap bags and string bags on display. Coloured beige, this set-up radiates a cozy atmosphere. This is further elevated through the use of a wooden box of similar colour (laid on its side, to place products in, and on top of for added height) as well as beige containers with nature-themed white designs. Therefore, resulting in a coherent, cozy booth.
  • Jo then left around 12.30 p.m., leaving me to attend to customers myself for the rest of the afternoon. This was definitely stressful as not only did Jo continue to relentlessly send me tasks to do throughout the day, customers would come in hordes to ask various questions and look at the booth. However, I remembered that it’s not really something to be so stressed out over, I should just do what I can- as effectively and as professionally as possible.
• Raffles Hotel, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
  • Sales at raffles hotel was rather terrible, for the audience present were networking adults. They were there to interact with each other, and eat a nice dinner. They weren't there with 'shopping' in mind. This made me reflect on the importance of knowing one's target audience- for it affects customer engagement greatly.
• SPH (Singapore Press Holdings, news center), 10.30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
  • Nearing the end of the month, I was assigned one last event to go to. This time I went alone. I arrived at the showroom early to grab the logistics and take a grab hitch to SPH to set up before the lunch crowd starts rolling in at around 11.30 a.m. Carrying a luggage and three heavy bags, going to somewhere I’ve never been to before, meeting the organizers, setting up the booth, entertaining an entire lunch crowd alone (we set up at the entrance of the cafeteria, and was the only vendor present that day), and keeping myself focused on other pending tasks such as research and design for the beach clean-up, marketing schedule, google form etc. was quite the challenge. It was definitely stressful, and put me on the spot throughout the few hours.

While the events definitely stressed me out a great deal, I did manage to remain professional and helpful. In addition, I felt slightly rewarded after the last event. It felt like I had actually helped some of the customers in their endeavors to find that incredibly cost-effective product they've been hunting for weeks.

Below are some pictures of the booth from the three days, in chronological order of the events as listed above.

The go to venue of our attachment is the TSP showroom at Serene Centre. There, we would entertain customers, and work on the various tasks assigned to us. In case we are overwhelmed by work and forget to carry out certain services expected of us, as we are human, there is a handy checklist we may refer to. Below, is the checklist!

Daily Checklist

At the start of your shift:

1) Let Jo know you have reached

2) Pack orders! Generate waybills for deliveries, and contact customer via WA web for self-collections

3) Check Calendly for scheduled walk-ins for the day

4) Clear/reply as many emails as you can, and categorise emails into labels accordingly. Ask Jo if you are unsure of how to reply any emails!

5) Make sure items on display are neat and tidy; stock up on items if necessary

❏ Ensure price tags are stuck properly and can be seen

❏ Make sure everything is topped up (check before the shift meeting so that stocks can be brought down if necessary)

❏ Empty gaps should be topped up (e.g. soaps)

❏ Tidy up backend (back end refers to the inner workings of the TSP website. We are expected to log in to a platform known as Wordpress to edit the information displayed on the website whenever necessary).

❏ Tidy boxes underneath the table (a picture of this can be found below)

During Shift:

6) Greet walk-in customers and entertain any questions they have

❏ Mark orders as completed on backend of website if customer has collected items

7) Check and reply social media messages (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp)

❏ Repost stories on both Instagram accounts if tagged (@thesustainabilityproject_ and @treehuggersof.TSP accounts)

8) Update Jo when any items are low in stock in the showroom

9) Write down walk-in sales on daily sales sheet, and record them on backend of website accordingly

10) Update website of any stock depletion, including the items taken out for stockists or events

11) Work on your tasks assigned

12) Let Jo know when courier comes to collect the parcels

13) Update courier details, save vending machine invoices

Before you leave:

14) Count the money received for the day and let Jo know; set aside sales money brown tin ($100 float in yellow box)

15) Take a picture of walk-in sales sheet

16) Ensure showroom is in a presentable state

17) Update Jo on the different assignments and emails status

18) Update Jo that you are leaving

As seen from the above checklist, there are a myriad of tasks we are expected to attend to on a daily basis. While seemingly mundane, these things keep a business running. Over the course of a month, I have learnt to enjoy in particular, the crafting of emails. This is because I garner gratification from being able to spread a message, negotiate, and potentially come to an agreement with partners and customers alike for the benefit of both parties.

Note: The topic of emails and website will be re-visited in greater depth at a later part of this page!

Alongside the revamp of price tags, TSP also wants to tackle another frontier- wholesale price list. This list is saved as a deck of slides to be sent to third parties interested in purchasing TSP's products in bulk. Similar to the revamp of price tags, Jo showed me the old and new format, explaining the edits to be made such as size of visuals, and structure of information. The visuals would be significantly larger in the new version (almost twice), and the information would follow the structure of:

• Description of product
• Key information
• Country of production

The wholesale prices would then be listed on the right hand side of the page. I was tasked with reformatting the pages of 5 products.

Examples of the reformatted price list can be seen below. The whole sale prices has been blocked out as they are confidential information.

TSP has a vending machine at Payar Lebar Square (PLQ), dispensing products real-time. Whenever a customer makes a purchase from the vending machine, an invoice is sent over to our email. I am then tasked with saving the invoice, and updating our internal stock sheet for the vending machine.

However, such invoices contain confidential transactions which cannot be revealed.

One of the events TSP sponsored was a charity dinner aimed at raising funds for the bush fires in Australia. I was tasked with packing the various products to be gifted for the dinner (used as a raffle prize for donators), as well as designing electronic flyers to be disseminated during the event in case anyone wanted to actually buy the products or look find out more. Jo gave me electronic voucher designs TSP used before as reference, and I was supposed to edit the information, edit out unnecessary details such as past voucher codes, and reformat the flyer to be aesthetically pleasing. The final designs can be found below.

One of TSP's arms is to educate people through their blogs. Throughout our attachment, we are required to write one blog post. However, the opportunity to express ideas, raise awareness, and to write really piques my interest. Hence, I wrote two blog posts (Bring Your Own Action- which aims to encourage people to adopt the Bring Your Own (BYO) culture, and The Art of Composting- an introduction to creating your own compost!), as well as asked Kowshiya to collaborate on another one (Outside the Box we Recycle- which aims to also bring attention to reuse and reduce) - which she agreed to.

Below, are the blog posts! (Images taken from Unsplash)

Instagram is one of the main social media platforms that TSP uses for publicity. Anything that TSP wants to let the customers know, it's definitely going to be posted on Instagram. For example, pictures of our booths were uploaded as Instagram stories on the day of the respective events. This is to let customers potentially at the venues know of our presence! If a new product is listed, or TSP want to boost sales for a particular product, TSP will also take to Instagram. A few visuals I have curated can be found below.

*Whatever TSP posts on Instagram, TSP will usually also post the same thing on Facebook. The only difference is that everything on Facebook are posts, whereas on Instagram, TSP differentiates between posts and stories.

Corporate offerings are consolidated into a deck of slides. I am supposed to utilize this deck of slides to answer questions on TSP's corporate offerings, as well as to share the slides in email.

A TSP event i worked on would be the fundraising beach clean up set to happen on the 16th of February 2020 (explored more thoroughly below). I was tasked with creating a marketing schedule for the beach-up, which I will discuss with my WOW! group mate, Kowshiya, in to come up with a schedule that did not clash. While we were working on different events, consistency as a brand is needed- we need to act as a marketing team.

Below is the final marketing schedule after various revisions and approval from Jo.

TSP wanted to give back to the world this January 2020. Hence, TSP began planning for a fundraising beach clean up that will ultimately happen on the February 16th 2020. I was tasked with analyzing a past beach clean that TSP has organised, and organising this one. As there are various deliverables, I created a Power Point Presentation (uploaded onto Dropbox) to keep track of them. The various deliverables under the project include:

• Planning the event
  • Jo booked the event with NEA. Aside from that, I was tasked with contacting the national hygiene council to request for CleanPod access.
  • I also had to conduct research on current affairs regarding natural disasters, the charities and organizations acting in response, and the most effective ones TSP should donate to. I then decided to focus on the Australian bush fires, Avalanches in Pakistan and Kashmir, as well as the Taal eruption in the Philippines.
• Publicising the event
  • I was tasked with creating a marketing schedule for the beach-up, which I will discuss with my WOW! group mate, Kowshiya, to come up with a marketing schedule that did not clash. While we were working on different events, consistency as a brand is needed- we need to act as a marketing team. This marketing schedule would then be reflected on the power point presentation, as I indicated the dates the visuals should be posted on etc. I would later work on curating such visuals and information, as well as create a Facebook event.
• logistics
  • I was tasked with editing the google form, referencing a previous version from the beach clean up in August 2019. The google form responses is then linked to an excel sheet for us to collate participant information. (We need to contact them, as well as send out the indemnity forms to ensure that we are not held liable in cases, for example when fall and hurt themselves.)
  • I was also tasked with editing the indemnity forms, and sending them out after people signed up.

The Power Point Presentation that was in a sense my 'working paper', can be seen below. It is not completed however, as some of the visuals are yet to be curated. I have simply laid out the plan, researched and designated the content, started curating a few visuals, and have since handed over the project to Jo.

I worked on the brainstorming of a subscription plan for TSP, offering products (bamboo toothbrush, vegan bar soap) termly at a discounted price. I then discussed this with Jo, who pointed out the manual labor required to keep a subscription ongoing. My original idea included complex systems to accept orders, keep track of orders per person, keep track of how long they’ve been our customer, and discounts based on the total length of subscriptions etc. While I believed that a program could take care of such a taxing system as it was simply executing a lot of simple orders and instructions, I did not have the skill set to actually code and implement such a program across TSP’s platforms. When I suggested getting an external software engineer, Jo pointed out the costs of such a endeavor and stressed that many companies across Singapore does such tasks manually. Hence, I had to tone down my ideas.

I later conducted a write-up for this. The write-up details

• the purpose and description of the subscription plan, ideas we have discussed and approved of (such as delivery schedule, type of products, accounting, required customer information, and application periods,
• points of contention/needs to be confirmed/needs more research,
• stages of implementation and tasks associated in chronological order.

*The write-up cannot be disclosed as it contains privileged and confidential information.

Emails are an integral part of TSP's outreach to customers and partners. When TSP receives an email, we are tasked with labeling it with one of the many labels TSP has. Examples include Stockists, Events, Orders/Inquiries, Sponsors, Collaborations and so on. After labeling as such, we are tasked with replying to them as representatives of TSP. If it is an email inquiry on a customer order, we are expected to check on the order and reply the customer immediately. If it is an email from an organisation asking us to be a vendor at one of their events, we are expected to reply appropriately. If it is an email asking us to be a sponsor, we are expected to reply appropriately. Here is some guidance Jo provided us with replying to emails:

Some things to consider include:

- Financial capability.

o TSP is a small business lacking financial capability and will therefore not entertain requests for sponsorships. However, we are willing to sell products at a wholesale price.

o Are booth prices for events too expensive?

- This is to be considered alongside other factors such as:

o How is the event publicized? How big is the event? What type of customers is it aimed to attract? How many people is it expected to reach?

o What is the expected turn-up?

o Are there similar vendors present?

o What logistics are provided and what do we have to provide ourselves?

o In order to answer the big question: Is this a profitable decision?

After an exchange of emails, I am to do a write-up/consolidation of the event information and send it to Jo for evaluation. An example is provided below:

"

Hi Jo, this is information regarding an event by SingTel- Project LESS. Its a month long campaign in its 10th edition and the week we're invited to is themed "Plastic Waste". They've also asked if we could share n raise awareness but i havent gotten back to that part yet.

Date: 1st and 2nd April

Time: 11am - 3pm

Venue: 1st April is at Singtel Comcentre Podium Lobby (31 Exeter Road Singapore 239732) and 2nd April is at NCS B6 (5 Ang Mo Kio Street 62, NCS Hub, Singapore 569141)

(Ive checked roster, we're free those 2 days)

Potential turn-up and publicity: the event is publicised on their staff portal that has a reach of 13,000 employees and our booth will be set at the lift lobby that leass to the canteen(which is also open to public).

Logistics: the booth is free, and we will be provided a maximum of 2 tables (18*45 inch L*W) and 4 chairs.

Competitors? No, they're engaging omly one vendor to set up a booth per day.

Do you want to proceed? If so I'll get back to them on the talks thing (how much we charge etc) and products

"

While we had to draft emails and wait for Jo's approval before sending them in the first week, Jo let us send emails directly in the subsequent weeks. While this put more pressure on me, for I need to be more meticulous than ever, I was extremely excited at the opportunity to increase efficiency. For increased efficiency meant that I could participate in more emails, and apply my abilities of negotiation and writing to a greater extent!

Below are pictures of some of the labels and emails encountered during the attachment. *emails are attended to on an almost daily basis. Hence, these pictures simply showcase one case study (one email thread) and is not an exhaustive representation.

Thank You cards are a signature service for TSP. Whenever someone orders from TSP, a hand-written Thank You card (using unwanted cardboard) is packaged together with the products before being sealed and put up for delivery. I was tasked with writing 150 of such cards initially. However, Jo wanted us to focus on other pressing projects instead towards the end of the attachment and therefore I managed only 90.

Below is a picture of a Thank You card I wrote.

As mentioned earlier, the TSP website needs to be constantly updated. Whenever a customer walks in and buys something, update. Whenever a delivery arrives, update. Whenever, we pack for stockists or events, update. This is to make sure that the stock count reflected on the website is accurate. This is turn prevents a scenario where a customer orders a product online (and paid for it) but TSP is actually out of stock- leading to a follow-up process that wastes everyone's time. In addition, the TSP website is home to other features such as blog posts and product information. For instance, when Jo tasked me with listing the SoL bottle on the website, I needed to key in the necessary product information, product visuals, and product variations. Such a draft would then be approved by Jo to be published live.

Below is the SoL bottle page, found on the TSP website.

3 content knowledge/skills I’ve built up on are:

- contention creation

- customer care

- management

2 things that fascinate me are:

- how the stress and impending workload can become a lifestyle that gnaws away at me

- how purpose-driven the people I worked with were

1 takeaway for life would be:

- to find something rewarding to do, something challenging that I find value in. Then maybe I’ll be passionate about the work I do for I will develop it as it develops me.

0 regrets?

- Definitely.

Throughout the attachment, I've tackled various tasks that demanded different sets of skills from me. Two of the more prominent tasks were content creation and customer care.

Under the label of content creation, are tasks such as writing blog posts, curating social media posts (visuals and captions), as well as crafting emails for various parties (such as customers, stockists, collaborators, and so on). Such tasks piqued my interest as avenues to express creativity and style. However, such tasks would also demand a great deal of organisation and structure. Not only do they need to follow a coherent structure as individual or a group of works, the content produced needs to be consistent with the brand image and style. Furthermore, there was a need to meet tight deadlines while maintaining quality. After reviewing past blogs, posts, and emails, I learnt to imbue the company’s style into his works- paving the way for effective communication between me and the customer base that was used to a set of standards and quality regarding style, presentation, and content. In addition, such forms of communication through writing and visuals in the context of the Sustainability Project (TSP) made it clear to me the importance of purpose. For example, writing blog posts for TSP is a form of communication where I should, and can spread information, ideas, as well as calls to action regarding 'sustainability'. This then taught me to enjoy and value the rewarding nature of advocating and spreading messages.

Within the overarching category of customer care, lies a web of different tasks such as paying attention to customers, persuading customers, calming down customers, aiding customers and so on. There were two main scenarios where I had to attend to customers. Firstly, is the scenario of the showroom where customers would arrive at stipulated timings to browse the showroom, collect items, or simply have a discussion with the staff regarding anything to do with sustainability. As the showroom is the designated venue for all our items, it contains a wide selection of items as well as a large variety of item customizations whether it be colour, size, or material. Furthermore, customers are already well aware of the items we provide as they can look up our website in advance. As a result, customer care in the showroom demands great product knowledge and patience in aiding customers answer comprehensive questions and guide them in their quest to find the most cost-effective item they can scour for over extended periods of time such as 30 minutes or more. Secondly, is the scenario of a pop-up booth at an event. In such a scenario, there are many customers, and customers are usually new to the brand and items. This demands another set of skills from me. I have to entertain a swarming horde of people and their relentless yet mundane questions such as the price of products even though price tags are in place and full view in front of the products. In addition, I also have to answer the occasional comprehensive question in the midst. As a result, being able to think on the spot for long periods of time as well as maintaining stress levels in order to provide a warm service is of priority. While customer care may have proved stressful for me, I have come to realise that re-framing any problem is a powerful tool. Instead of bickering customers, I began to see potential personal connections where I aided people in their personal journeys. With the occasional smile I got from delighted customers, I began to see customer care as potentially rewarding.

In addition to exploring a new, stressful lifestyle that for once had nothing to do with studying or exams, I also found really fascinating how purpose-driven people were at work. Take Jo for example, she's bright and bubbly 24/7, ready to make a mark in the world. Whether we're submitting work at irregular hours (think 6 a.m./12 a.m.), or we're having troubles with our work, the bright, passionate attitude she relentlessly adopts really shines like a beacon in the workplace. Not only did it inspire me to love what I did at TSP, for it was rather infectious, it taught me the value and power of purpose.

Considering that TSP is a small business with a small team yet many deadlines to meet, I feel that I have been able to deliver what has been asked of me in areas such as content creation and customer care with quality and timeliness. I feel that I have learnt a great deal in terms of management, whether it be stress, time, or switching between a myriad of different miscellaneous tasks that gnaw away at my focus throughout the day. However, I also recognise unexplored potential in other areas such as meticulousness and initiative over prolonged periods of time. For example, I feel that he should be more proactive at researching on past reference works before Jo points out the need to, as well as to take greater initiative in engaging customers even if they may not be interested at first glance. Yet in conclusion, management of time, stress, quality, and self is but another skill TSP has allowed me to nurture.

The entire attachment has also shaped my career aspirations. During the mid-review, Jo mentioned that she thinks I enjoyed content creation due to a desire to spread a message. Over the CNY holidays, I also took to the internet to learn more about myself and potential pointers in terms of personality and career guidance. The internet (for example the MBTI personality test) told me I was an advocate. With such a coincidence, I started analysing the attachment and the tasks I enjoyed doing to understand whether I had a message to spread. While I is still unsure of the exact message I want to spread, I have come to realise that the value, creativity, and impact of my work are key motivators to me. Analysing content creation and customer care, I noticed that I enjoyed them as I found them rewarding- for they had value and impact. In addition, they were mentally stimulating tasks that did not bore me like other tasks such as generating waybills. As a result, I believe I have made another step in figuring out his career aspirations- I now recognise my desire to put my intellect and ability to use, not only to challenge myself, but also to help the world change for the better. It is quite a life-changing takeaway.

Fun fact: My innate desire to explore communication through the use of language, seen through hobbies such as dabbling in poetry, further supports this take.

As a result, the job attachment has given me various opportunities to apply my skills, upgrade my skills, and explore my interests and motivation. While I still have much to do, I believe it gave me a boost in the right direction. No regrets, definitely.