S

Got home a couple of hours ago from a "presentation" and although Jojie thinks the two hours we spent there were wasted, I don't.

One of my clients was looking into applying for an Ortigas hotel's membership to save on their hotel preps. I called the hotel last Sunday and asked for info about their hotel membership. I was told that the sales office was closed so someone will just call me the following day. Monday passed but I didn't get a call. Tuesday afternoon I called the hotel again. Mejo mainit ulo ko kasi hindi pa dumadating yung order ko from McDo so I was kinda mataray. (Few clients know how mataray I can get. My friends knows it very well. :)) I demanded to know about their membership. After all, how difficult can that be, right? I was told by the customer service girl I was talking to that she doesn't have the authority to discuss the membership with me so I really needed to wait. She let it slip though that they don't have an annual membership but they have time-sharing instead for 30 years. She also let it slip that the cost is around P400,000.00. I lost my interest and told her that no one needs to call me anymore.

After an hour, someone from the said hotel called and offered me a dinner buffet for two at their hotel for tonight. I asked if the invitation was because I'm a coordinator or because of the inquiry I made. He said that I was being invited because of being a coordinator. I asked again and he replied positively that it was because of my job. Since I get calls like this all the time, I didn't anymore think about it. I just said that if I had time, I will drop by.

Since my meeting with Alex Franco at 7pm was cancelled, I had time. I asked Jojie to accompany me, called my contact, and confirmed my attendance.

When we got to the hotel, we were shown to our table. The buffet selection was very simple but nonetheless good. The staff were very courteous. After dinner, we were told that someone was going to show us around the hotel. Again, since this is usually part of the whole thing, it was no biggie so we went with her. The girl, S, was very nice. She was very friendly and had a bubbly personality. We went to a function room and tsadan! I realized that this was like one of the Family First presentations! Jojie had a million reports to finish so mejo tinignan niya ako kasi nga sayang oras. I told him that at least we got free dinner. He jokingly replied that he would have gladly treated me to dinner if he only had known. But because S was very nice, we listened to her presentation. The presentation, ergo the invitation, was indeed about the timesharing. She proceeded to explain the concept to us but since I'm very much familiar with the concept, we told her that she need not explain everything. We actually had a very good time with her. We joked and we laughed. We were finished with the presentation in no time but she said that she needed to talk to us some more or else her boss will scold her for not being able to explain timesharing well. Since Jojie and I were not really interested, we just continued to joke with her. Mangbabara si Jojie tapos matatawa lang kami ni S. Or basta tawa-tawa lang kaming tatlo.

Jojie and I learned that S was just new and in her two weeks working for the company, she has not yet closed a single transaction. We could see that she really hoped that we would buy. We asked her to tell us the price but she said she couldn't; it was her boss who had to present the payment terms. After discussing all we could discuss, we asked her to call her boss. Her boss, E, was also very nice. We could see that he was a good salesman whereas S, though very nice, really needed more sales pointers. The price of the timesharing was almost Php500,000.00 with the usual discounts if we book tonight or if we pay in cash. With all the package inclusions, the price was actually okay but since we're not looking into having a timeshared hotel room right now, buying was out of the question. E left us and when S came back, I had to tell her that we were not buying. She tried to explain to us and to convince us some more but since I am very familiar with the hotel (stayed there a couple of times), I told her some kinks in their sales pitch (like the hotel was definitely not a 5 star hotel). She accepted defeat then she told us, "Naiiyak naman ako" and promptly cried in front of us. Mejo nag-panic naman kami. We were leaving the room na and she went with us but she went straight to the ladies room. I caught up with her and talked to her. When I told her I am a therapist, she cried even more. She talked and I listened. Naawa naman ako sa kanya kasi I could feel how pressured she was. Being new and having closed no accounts yet, she felt hopeless. I left when she seemed better. Pati si Jojie naawa sa kanya and he admitted din that he had a good time kahit papano dahil tawa lang kami ng tawa. :)

We went home feeling really sad for her but knowing that eventually she would be able to close a transaction. Ang hirap lang ng super pressured to make a sale para kumita. Pero ganun ata talaga di ba? The older we get, the more pressured we are to earn money. And again, I felt so blessed to have Jojie and to have my family and to have my small business.

To S, really enjoyed our chat. Good luck on your job! I know that eventually you'll be able to close an account. *hugs*

:-


P.S. Oh, and to add to my guilt feelings even more, because of listening to the presentation we get 7 nights, 8 days stay free in Bali, Indonesia. Since Jojie and I are planning to go to Kuala Lumpur, we can go to Bali too! P1,000 plus lang ticket from KL to Bali eh. Am I bad for feeling happy?