Blog Makeover

I might not be able to write some entries for a while as I am still busy improving the look of my blog.

Painkiller Overdose?

My teeth, though not pearly white, are my pride and joy. It may be a little crooked or sorts. It may not be a million-dollar smile. But it has got no holes. No rotting tooth whatsoever. In fact, back in college our school nurse commented that I must have really taken good care of my teeth since they are healthy.

Well, not until last Saturday. As I write this blog, I am on my 2nd dose of pain relievers for the day and I'm beginning to get the feeling that I might be taking my third pill any time soon... For no apparent reason whatsoever, my right molars have been aching. It feels like being drilled or something. It's very painfull that I took the afternoon off from work. Work's a 'lil shitty anyway so what's there to miss. Tooth aches are excusable reasons for absence anyway. Who doesn't get it?

I hope that this pain would be gone by tomorrow's time else I would just have to see our dentist and have my teeth checked. God I hope we wouldn't have to pull a tooth. O gosh!

Customer Service: Faced With Completely Opposite Requests

Being in the relationship management field, I get to assist my clients with all their needs. If need be, even if it is already out of the scope of my responsibility to them. Everyday I am faced with unique situations. I assist them to the best of my efforts. But not for all times. Sometimes, good customer service entails saying NO to your customer. Today I was faced with that challenge.

I assisted one client in explaining to their customer that the error that they have done can easily be corrected. This particular case was about overpayment. When I arrived, it just so happened that that particular irrate customer called my client and we got to talk over the phone. She was furious! But before we ended, I was able to calm her down. I gave her my office telephone number so she could call me if ever there were still doubts on her part. Irritating as that woman's accusations were, though she missed the point most of the time, her problem involved money and we all get too emotional when that is involved, don't we? Her problem was just elementary though. Very easy to correct. That done and over with, my client felt relieved. I could just imagine how mean things that woman said to them. That bitchy lil thing!

Another client of mine wanted me to help them secure payment from one of their customer who assured them that she return to the store, as when the transaction was processed she got short on cash and had to go back home. She left them her cellphone and never came back. The problem this time is underpayment (or more appropriately, no payment at all). This time I declined. Until recently, I have received the same kind of request from this particular client and seems to me that they have never really learned. What kind of a business person would allow their customer to leave the premises without any payment?! This wasn't the first time. Though it pained me not to help them, they must learn that they cannot be too dependent on me at all times. I saw the look on my client's faced when I talked to her and I saw the look of disappointment and acceptance of the financial impact of my decision not to help her...

Relationship Management. It's not that easy.

Cups Of Coffee For The Long Day/Night Ahead

"Fresh" from last night's despidida party of sorts (a a colleague worker resigned) I went to the office for our emergency meeting. I haven't had time to go home and change to some fresh clothes. Eeeeew! First, I went and stayed at my boyfriend's place to get sober for a bit, take a bath, and brush my teeth before appearing in our meeting and he was more than willing enough to let me sleep there until 10 am while he stays awake and wait just to wake me up so I wouldn't be late. It's our 5th monthsary today, by the way, and as planned, we're going videoke singing at night. I'm gonna be needing lots and lots of coffee intake today. Its gonna be a long day/night. The Meeting: Our meeting took the whole of my afternoon. We had to finalize everything before our big boss returns from her leave come Friday. Scary! I've had 4 cups of coffee so I'm a bit jumpy already. But I had to do it else I would just drop at my table and sleep on the job... again! I'm pretty confident though that by tomorrow, I would be able to accomplish 80 to 90% of all my deliverables. The Date: Went straight to my boyfriend's place after our meeting. Slept for 4 hours and we went off to our date. He's a grand finalist for a singing contest so starting tonight, until the 18th I am expecting more videoke singing sessions with him. The things you do for love... Naks! It was a fun night. He really does sing very well but unfortunately we haven't had any videoke sessions for 2 months so the quality of his voice isn't the way it was before. He's gonna be practicing for the contest though. I hope his voice gets back in time for the contest next week. Anyway, I gotta sleep now. The effect of the caffeine is already waning... Zzzzzzzzzzz... Tomorrow again guys...

Closing Doors... Open Windows... It's A Stupid Cycle I Just Have to Live With

I woke up with a bad mood. Today would not be a good day. Yesterday's lapses are still on my mind. Plus, lack of sleep and all, makes me a bit grumpy in the morning. I was feeling a bit pessimistic when I started my day. If I haven't had a lot of back-jobs and client concerns today, I would have called in sick!

My First Stop: I had to visit one client who personally I believe should never have been accomodated in the first place. But then again, being an employee in the satellite office here in Cebu, I would just have to yield to the demands of the account officers in Manila. Anyway, they (Manila Office) provided the infrastracture for this account and there isn't much waste on my part. All I have to cope up with is the servicing and I'm pretty much fine. When will Manila ever learn that the marketability of one account in their area does not necessarily apply with regional branches. Duh! Still, that's how relationship marketing works. Please your client to best of your abilities.

WOOSAH!

My Second Stop: I had to assist another client with payment concerns. Ugh! I love and hate this particular client of mine. They don't have lot of qualms regarding our service BUT the owner is sooo lazy that you would just have to do all the dirty work yourself when they should have been the ones to do it. Their own business! They are requesting me to prepare a report of their total transactions over the past two months! And to make matters worse, the one who has access to all the raw data in our office isn't much of a helping mood today. I understand that it's the start of the working week but, hey, its the company's and my credibility at stake here! Damn you! I almost hang up on her when we spoke on the phone. As I said, I started my day at the wrong side of the bed.

WOOSAH!

The Phonecall: Got reprimanded by the boss on the phone over yesterday's mishap. We might lose another account and she is blaming me for it. Fuck!

WOOSAH!

Third Stop: Decided not to visit clients for the remaining time of the day so I went back to the office. It's hard to put on a happy face. I'm almost losing my patience. So, I decided to do some call outs to clients and make some offers and check up on them. The results? Well, one client whom I have been hounding for 2 months finally declined my offer and decided to go with our competitor. Another asked for a callback tomorrow as she couldn't make a decision. Another one would not commit to us. There's also one who until now is out of town and couldn't be reached. Another one made a follow-up on a request that I had no idea at all. Got requests with high sense of urgency when in fact it can wait until tomorrow. A very good contact, who I love so much, in one particular account also resinged! I'm starting to lose it. Can't you tell?

WOOSAH!

Goodbyes: A colleague of mine resigned this afternoon. Effective immediately as stated in his resignation letter. Tough luck. I was getting to like the guy. He still has to teach me how to edit pictures with Photoshop, though! DAMN! FYI, he's the fourth one to resign in the position. It's not new to me, but still it makes me feel like an antique in our office. Makes me wonder why I've been stuck here for two years. I wanna resign also!

WOOSAH!

My Saving Grace: Got a call from another company. I never applied but according to them they have been checking on my online resume at Jobstreet. They have been trying to get in touch with me since last year and I never replied to their emails. In the first place, when I applied there when I was just a fresh graduate, they felt that my skills didn't fit the person they were looking for. And now they are calling me cause they want me in?!?! Talk about pride! But as I was having a bad day, I entertained this company. Revenge would have been nice. But money talks! They asked me to email my resume, which I'm gonna be doing in a while. Though my picture isn't that updated (I look 2 years younger in it... heheh!). And after a very frustrating day, I got a little excited... Maybe it's time to move on. Maybe... (Hope they pay as much as I am getting now, coz if they ain't forget it!)

Despidida: I had to be there as a friend to my ex-colleague. I guess it was more of a celebration for him that he resigned. He never got the job. He's rich. Doesn't need the money. Didn't enjoy the experience and training. I guess it was just about time for him to resign... Before they fire him, heheheh... Though I wanted to go home early, I had to be there. We went to his house. Drank some gin. Went out again for some beer as his friends wanted to join the "celebration". In a way, I was also celebrating for myself. The coming days have been filled with hope. I'm beginning to hate this high paying job, and I'm looking forward to a new one. Tomorrow would be a good day.

And speaking of tomorrow, I'll be out on a date with my boyfriend. It's our 5th monthsary and I kinda promised him that we would go karaoke singing. And by the way, before I forget, I have a meeting at 11 am later so I'll be appearing late, drunk, without some fresh clothes, and sleepless. Damn!

Sleeping On The Job

Today was supposedly a non-working holiday. But when I woke up at around 3 pm I had 14 inbox messages and 22 missed call logs in my cellphone. Most were from my clients and 2 from my manager. Damn! Isn't there nothing more irritating than to wake up soooo late in the day and find your celphone had been beeping and ringing and you weren't able to wake at all?!?! Double Damn!!

Today in particular, those calls and text messages were really important. There was a system failure in the company I work for, and my clients have been trying to reach me since morning to ask for my assistance. Damn Again! Talk about quality service!!! To make matters worse, my manager had been trying to reach me since morning to inform me about the system failure. I guess she got irritated 'coz I was not able to answer the phone hence she texted me which would seem like a reprimand of sorts. Triple Damn!!!

The day I decided to sleep late because of the long holiday and I wake up to a lot of client concerns! Today just isn't my day. How I hate being on a job that's on-call. F%$k!

Simpsonized!

Woohoo!!!

At long last! My dream of becoming a Simpsons Character has been fulfilled! Thanks to this amazing site called, Simpsonize Me. I just uploaded a photo of myself, and I've been "Simpsonized." Try turning your photos into a "Simpsons" character as well.

To Matt Groening: I'll appear at your show anytime! hehehe! ^i^