Orchard Dental Surgery - Evan Tay

On the 26^th of April, I headed down to the Orchard Dental Surgery clinc with Dion. Xiao Chen and Santhosh was not with us as they were busy visiting another companies Wee Ping had a follow-up dental appointment for his wisdom-tooth surgery and hence could not accompany us.

We reached Somerset MRT station at 5.00pm even though the appointment at the nearby Orchard Plaza was at 6.00pm,  we did not want them to wait for us. Turns out the clinic had their last patient leaving at around 5.40pm. We did not arrive early in vain.

One of the two dentists there, a very friendly woman called Dr Koh greeted us with a friendly tone and ushered us into their office. Once we were settled down around a table, she asked us warmly, “So what can I do for you?”. Instantly, the tension Dion and I felt loosened and we engaged Dr Koh in a friendly yet professional manner.

Not wanting to waste their time, I gave them a very brief summary of our module Social Media Marketing, before Dion chipped in to help me persuade them. “Why not?” Dr Koh said, giving us the green light only five minutes into the conversation. We felt really relieved at that point of time as we were worried she would be conservative and unwilling to try out something new.

To our joyous surprise, she has in fact tried to use Facebook to advertise her clinic before and was quite up-to-date. Unfortunately, she ran into a few problems and hence decided to steer clear of social media until she met us and decided we were trustworthy enough. The other dentist was worried about us posting irresponsibly  though, but we quickly assuaged his fears. Dr Koh chipped in that our grades were at stake and hence the other dentist was thoroughly placated.

After that, we begin discussing of how my group was going to help them advertise if we ended up working together. Dion and I brought up how we could Facebook, Twitter and even give flyers. Dion also brought up the possibility of helping to give feedback to her regarding their website. Initially we wanted to help her create a new site from scatch. However upon learning that she has already gotten a site up, we decided that we would try to help her refurbish the site if our Web Client Development skills are up to standard.

Before we told her that, she somehow managed to sense our hesitation and ended up telling us that maybe she was asking for too much and that we could just give feed back when we have the time.

It was around 6.20pm when we concluded our meeting. The meeting was really short and sweet as we were able to go straight to the point and discuss informally.  This saved us a lot of time which allowed us to elaborate on a few of our ideas. Ready to leave, we took a picture with the two dentists outside their surgery.

In hindsight, while the meeting went really smooth and was ideal, I realised that I am too serious at times. While Dion could relax and converse informally with the dentists, sometimes even joking with them, I could only laugh along and spoke to them slightly too formally. As such, I am really grateful for this opportunity as it exposed me to one of my flaws, giving me a chance to improve in future.

Written by,

Evan Tay

Thousand Deli Bakery - Santhosh!

Contact method: Direct contact. I went down personally to the outlet
Outcome of discussion:Failed
Date: 26/4/2012
Time of discussion: 5.30pm
Duration of discussion: 10mins

I made contact with one of the staff there on the 26th of April 2012 at around 5.30pm. The bakery was fairly crowded as it was located centrally and in front of a bus interchange and an MRT station.

I approached a member of the staff at the counter. She did not seem local. This was probably my first mistake. I should have spoken to someone who was of higher status in the company and could understand me better. I proceeded to explain to her that I was a student from Singapore Polytechnic, and I had to do a project for a module that I am taking - Social Media Marketting.

I told her that the aim of the project was to help a company do advertising, and that no effort will be needed on the company's part and also that there will be no cost incurred. I emphasized that all I needed was her company’s permission, and nothing else.

I shared with the shop assistant about the mediums that we will be using for our project, platforms such as Facebook and twitter. We might also create a website to aid promotion. At this point in time, I realized that my explanation was getting too long, and the staff was losing interest.

I could tell from her facial expression that she was not interested (or could not understand me well). I tried my best to convince her, but I failed. I left the place shortly after.

Learning experiences:

- My explanations might have been a bit too long. I understand that they have to attend to their paying customers.

- The outlet might already have marketing strategies, and thus they did not want my group and I to interfere (they have a few outlets around Singapore).

- I should have spoken to someone of higher authority, as the lady I spoke to was a staff and might have thought that her boss would not be interested in our project.

- Communication problems (the staff was not local)

 

Written by,

Santhosh

Chang Yong Seng- Chng Wee Ping

  I approached my father on the 24/4/2012, 7.00pm upon learning that my SMM group needed to represent a company for our group project. I spoke with him about my project during dinner.

  I persuaded my father to allow me to use his company for my social media marketing module. Initially, he was doubtful that such promotions would actually be successful, he stated that he had never heard of hardware promotion on the web. I persuaded my father that my group could be the first to break the ice and test whether such promotion would actually work out.

   "How can you actually help to promote my work place?", my father asked. I told my father that my group would primarilly use social media as a median to advertise the company.

   My father was still reluctant because he felt that his shop was already busy enough with the influx of new and old customers, and he insisted that he would not like to have extra workload. I told my father that promoting his shop would only bring about benefits, and that there was no harm tyring. I told my father that I wanted to help expand his shop. After much persuasion from me, my father's worries slowly dissipated.

   Seeing that there were no harm intented, my father finally relented and gave me the green light to use his company.

  The talk last about 15 minutes.

  I initially wanted to consider representing a tuition centre called Mastery Tuition Centre, but after much deliberation, I considered my father's company to be more suitable for advertising in the social media market. I have never interfered with my father's company, so it was quite an refreshing experience to talk maturely with my father.

Written by,
Wee Ping

Sing Ning Restaurant - Xiao Chen

On 21th/4/2012, 4:30PM,


I decided to go to Sing-Ning restaurant.

I went to this restaurant personally and told one of the attendants that I am a student from Singapore Polytechnic DMIT-School and I have a project work from this course module which requires me to find a company and help advertise for them. I told them that I hoped that they could help us with our project. I added on that it would be free of charge.

This lady said her boss was not there at that day and she looked at me doubtfully . I proceeded to elaborate that I would help them advertise by using Facebook and Twitter, which she did not know of.She said that the boss always came at night before they were closing .

I tried to give them my contact number but she rejected me .She said that this was none of her business. She did not want to bear any responsibilities for me and told me that I had to talk to her boss personally .However I actually already knew that this lady(attendant) is the auntie of her boss.This is a family restaurant.After that I still wanted to discuss with her and at least try to give her my phone number, but she ignored me.

(2nd part)
On 22th/4/2012 9:30PM

I went to this restaurant again on 22th/4/2012. I went there at 9:30 PM.They alway closed shop at 10.30PM.

Hence I hoped that I could meet the boss this time round.When I reached there ,the same attendant told me that the boss had just left. When I asked what time does the boss usually come, she said she was not sure .

Her attitude showed me that she was not very enthusiastic about helping us with our project. I realised that she did not reject me outrightly because I was their long-time customer. I finally gave up.



(This is SingNing restaurant,in this picture it can be seen that SingNing is quite popular and have a lot of customs. )

The reason why the outcome of discussion failed: (My own opinion)


1: They have a good business already .
2: The lack of trust between us.
3: I do not have a good skill of communication,thus they are not interested in it.
4: I am lack of experiences of doing this.
5: They have no idea about the high technology of computer such as :Facebook ,Tweeter and Blog.

Written by,

Xiao Chen Liu

Ah Gong Pork Stall - Dion

I contacted the boss (Chua Hock Sin) in person on 21^st of April 2012 at around 2pm, which is their usual closing time. To lighten up the atmosphere, I invited the boss to a nearby coffee shop to discuss business.

I introduced myself as a student of SP before telling him that our "Social Media Marketing" module group is interested in advertising the stall for free. Not wanting to get his hopes high, I told him that we will weigh different possibilities before deciding as each of us have to find a company.

I highlighted that the stall had no means of contact and that we could help him to create a website to have a more interactive experience as we are currently learning html and cs5.5 but it will be limited due to our lack of experience in creating a website. Mr Chua was enthusiastic with the website plan that I shared with him and agreed with no further questions asked.

I proceeded to tell him that we will use means of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter as a means to improve their reputation and to better relate with the customers. I told him that I would help him to create an email address too if he agrees and he accepted it.

Therefore, the company hunting was a success. I felt that I should have arranged an appointment with the boss as he seemed shocked with the sudden appearance of me and this might cause him to panic.

Talk lasted: Around 30 minutes

Written by:

Dion 

A warm welcome to members of this group

Greetings, members of (AY1213s1 SMM 1a06 Evan Tay) group. I am Chng Wee Ping, but you can call me Louis (unofficial English name). This is my very first blog and post. Enjoy writing your experience about SMM here. :)