Reflection

I was the sales coordinator of an established buffet catering company. Buffet orders sent through the general sales email will be distributed to the sales coordinators to follow up with the customer and to take in their orders. A pharmaceutical company had sent in their order and I was assigned to it, so I followed up with the customer diligently. After rounds of liaising with the customer, the order was keyed in and confirmed.

Two sets of food got delivered to the customer as a double order and because I keyed into the system later, it was deemed as my fault and I had to pay the cost for that order. As a result, I had to deduct about a $100+ which is at least 20 orders’ worth of commission, from my gross salary. In addition, coffee session with the head of sales in his office.

Turns out the customer was a regular of my colleague, Janet (name changed). It is always big news whenever someone in the sales department needs to pay out of their own pocket for wrong orders or double orders. So, news had quickly spread within the department and Janet came to my table and sarcastically said “ate (‘sister’ in Tagalog), next time check ah, don’t take other people customer,” and walked away.

I was in shock and became speechless. Was I just accused of poaching customers? I wished that the sales and catering system could be designed better to avoid these unnecessary problems, but she walked off before I could explain myself. My working relationship with Janet had been strained ever since.