Reflection Assignment
Reflection 1
Q1.
The promotion and sales internship has provided new experiences, lessons, skills and new attitudes that will help in the future. First, the internship has provided new skills in the field of sales and promotion, work-life balance, interpersonal relationship and how to present myself professionally while I am the real estate industry. The new skills that I have gained are communication- real estate job requires good communication in order to negotiate effectively and make honest dealings. Through internship, I have gained experience and knowledge and negotiation skills. Collaboration- our task as real estate agents was not only selling properties to the buyers but we also worked as a team in understanding their needs, finding suitable properties, helping buyers make decisions and giving them feedback. I have also learned how to manage work-life balance by creating boundaries between work and personal things. For example, clearly communicated my working days (Monday-Friday) and office hours (8am-4pm) to the clients to make sure that I balance the work schedule and personal time. I also set realistic expectations to work hard toward the goals while valuing health, family and friends. I have developed a positive attitude toward the job and organizational members to achieve my goals. I have gained a positive attitude that in the real estate industry, I can manage time, I can communicate effectively, build and maintain relationship with clients and be successful in this field.
Q2.
In the internship, I have experienced communication obstacles since my English ability is not good. Sales and promotion of real estate require effective communication to persuade and convince the customers to purchase properties. However, I could not communicate plain language, I could not respond emotionally, I was not empathetic, I could not use specifics such as anecdotes, I was not genuinely curious, and I was not persistent. These challenges affected me since I did not meet my expectations and priorities and I could not complete the project professionally. The potential clients were also confused and dissatisfied, and they could not purchase the properties. However, I was able to overcome all these challenges by engaging in advanced language training, taking enough preparation, understanding the cultural norms in the local community and learning some words, expressing emotions and using body language and gestures.
Q3.
I am not happy with some of the workplace culture, and I feel like there is a need for change to drive performance and higher sales of the properties. I have identified some areas that need change and these include; the financial performance is poor since the profits keep on falling simply because when conducting a comparative market analysis, the agents could not offer a reasonable value to a particular property. To solve the financial issues, the organization need to focus on the culture especially on the employee engagement. The latter means that sales agents need to be monitored, educated and provided with a team spirit rather than working alone. I believe that if employees are empowered, connected to work and supported, they will focus on performance and collaborate to achieve common goals. Second, there is a lot of blame game or a blaming culture in the organization. For example, managers could always argue that the real estate business is not successful simply because the agents are unreasonable, they fail to advertise in the newspaper and such kind of blame. In short, managers and workers do not accept or tolerate the mistakes done, and they end up blaming each other. There should be a new culture that encourages the organization members to develop a positive mindset and integrate real accountability to achieve the goals. I also feel that the workplace setting would be more comfortable if the organization hires a great team who have a positive attitude, purchase comfy chairs, improve the lighting such as installing blue-enriched light bulbs, improve communication by motiving employees, giving them positive reinforcement and involving them in the decision-making process.
Q4.
In the sales and promotion internship, we applied theory and concepts in marketing. For example, we applied the theory of planned behavior which states that professionals should predict the behaviors, attitudes and the subjective norms of the target audience. Before we entered into the sales and promotion of real estate, we evaluated the attitude and behavior of the target audiences toward the ‘real estate,' and we were able to convince and persuade them to purchase the estates. The second theory that was applied was the relationship marketing theory that focused on creating value for customers and increasing customer retention. As sales professionals, we did not focus on sales alone to make the success, but we focused on building a continuous relationship with customers through after sales services such as fulfilling their demand requirements, providing them with payment receipts, conducting minor non-structural alterations, and providing post-delivery services such as maintaining the project with respect to the sale agreement. We also applied the concept of the marketing mix that stated the properties (land and buildings), the place where the potential customers could find the properties, the price and the promotion (we used promotional events and live presentation of the real estates). There was no difference between theory and practice because the doctrines that we learned in the classrooms were applied in the real world. Thus, the theory corresponded with the practice or in other words we applied what we had learned in the real world.
Q5.
The new insights that I have toward the sales and promotions of real estates as a career choice are that I have the opportunity to enter in the real world and look for a job since I have gained valuable experience. The internship has also provided a valuable insight since I have made sales and promotion my right career choice. I am now in a position to share my skills and experience with real estate owners and the potential customers as I land a new job. I will also develop a professional network and utilize the knowledge gained in portraying professional behaviors.
Q6.
The things that I need to accomplish in the next four weeks to make this internship the best experience are; find a mentor and develop additional responsibilities. I will look for a mentor who will help in setting goals, making career decisions and solving difficulties. I would like to have a person who will share his knowledge and expertise, provide career advice, improve my skills and help me climb the career ladder. In the organization, I will also identify the office needs and request the managers to allow me to work on the projects so that I can further my education. Third, I want to stay connected and maintain the relationship with the real estate industry and other real estate agents.
Reflection 2
Q1.
The tasks and activities that I am undertaking in the internship are purposeful as they are providing real-world insight and are building valuable business networks. For example, I have created a new connection with real estate agents and my advisor and both will provide work-related advice in future. The internship is purposeful as it has equipped me with interpersonal skills. For example, I have developed a strong sense of work, I schedule time effectively, and I have gained a lot of knowledge that helps in persuading real estate buyers. The experience has also helped in building customer-relationship management by understanding the target customer's age (37-51years), preferences (single-family home), and gender (married couples). The internship has also prepared me in entering into the real world by understanding and appreciating diversity and respecting different viewpoints without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, color or sex. As I continue with sales and promoting as my career choice, I will adhere to ethical and legal principles such as fair housing, value the client’s interests, provide the buyers with full disclosure and be honest and respectful. I will build professional relationships since I have gained interpersonal and intrapersonal skills and solve problems.
Q2.
The internship is providing support and opportunities to interact with the mentor, real estate agents, and real estate buyers through communication. In other words, internship has improved my soft skills such as problem-solving skills, communication, and positive attitude, valuing teamwork, adaptability, and collaboration. For example, through improving communication skills, I deliver the message effectively, build connections and interacts with people. Collaboration also gives an opportunity to interact with team members and customers where we develop positive attitudes, value each other views and share knowledge and experience. We also get the opportunity to make decisions together and to solve problems whereby asking questions, listening to others and thinking critically to arrive at the conclusion. In general, the soft skills gained in the internship fosters relationship and interaction.
Q3.
There is a big difference between the workplace culture in the internship and the culture that we used to have in the classroom. This is because, in the classroom we used to learn together, encouraged co-creation, we valued diversity, we had strong relationships, we learned social skills, we adhered to school rules, students received positive feedback from teachers, we worked as a team, we valued ethnic backgrounds, and there was an ‘inclusive' curriculum. Generally, all students in the field of business and management understood cultural differences and developed a sense of identity. We enjoyed studying in culturally responsive classrooms and being in an environment that acknowledged diversity. Cultural awareness helped us in valuing teamwork, collaboration, adhered to real rules and fostered healthy interactions, interacted with others and solved the problem together. However, the culture in the place of work has not been good since I learned that there was no communication, managers could not recognize real estate agents but rather they kept on blaming for mistakes, favoritism (managers could applaud some agents and ignore others desire hard work), a lot of cliques, resistance to change (resisting to increase or decrease price with respect to demand and change the structure of the buildings) and lack of transparency. However, the organization has changed the lousy culture and developed a positive culture by communicating the values, vision, and behaviors, setting strategic priorities creating involvement and engagement, and rewarding good behaviors. This adjustment or the cultural change has brought benefits in the real estate industry since agents have increased performance. The positive cultural environment has motivated real estate agents in working as a team, solving problems together, sharing experience and improving efficacy. Agents are more committed, and the turnover is low. It was not an easy task to adjust the culture, but it has been made possible through communication- communicating where the real estate industry wants to go, evaluating the current culture, the mission, vision and values for the future and engaging agents in creating change.
Q4.
My mentor plays a significant role in sharing professional knowledge and answering questions relevant to the field of sales and marketing of real estates. I have a genuine interest and willingness to learn more and gain professional development. My mentor is committed, and he manages his time to make my life productive and successful. At the beginning of the internship, my mentor invested more time (holding meetings two to three days a week), but currently, meeting once a week. When we meet, I ask him questions related to his life experience including challenging situations he encountered so that I can learn from the experiences. I also inform him about the workplace problems I am going through, and he provides individual skills which asset in meeting my work expectations. Since we plan for specific goals together, he creates a training session where I gain the skills and knowledge needed and improve my areas of weakness. Meeting with my mentor provides me with a valuable experience since he helps me overcome the obstacles and more importantly gaining confidence and personal growth.
Q5.
In various cases, we applied the theory and knowledge learned in the classroom in the internship. I had the opportunity to test the things I learned such as the fundamental of marketing. In specific, I applied the concept of user-centered approaches which means that as sales and advertising agents of real estate, we focused on promoting superior and efficient properties. In addition to this, we had high-quality photos of the real estates and created Pinterest boards containing the images and benefits of the area. We also advertised the properties through social media accounts such as Facebook and Integra. In addition, we did not only focus on promoting the property, but we also valued our potential buyers by providing them with a great experience. We evaluated the customers' needs, demands, and values and we created a strong relationship to maintain the profitable customers. I also had the opportunity to apply administration skills such as collecting customers' data with the aim of planning for communication strategy, understanding the different customers' expectations, understanding the customers' experience and building relations. We worked with the marketing representative in conducting research based on the real estate competition and making changing to boost sales. In the classroom, we learned the importance of communication such as building relationships, informing the clients about the property, ensuring sufficient operations and delivering brilliant ideas. In the real world, I had the opportunity to have face-to-face interaction with the clients and business partners.
Q6.
My core interest and goals of sales promotion job in the future is to plan for promotional campaigns, select the media to advertise, conduct market research, understand the market opportunities, create pricing strategies, interact with potential customers, offer technical advice and hire marketing staff. The internship has ‘fit' with my goals and interest since, in the real world, I have gained valuable experience through applying the knowledge and theory into practice. In other words, I have interacted with peers and marketing representatives in creating a marketing plan, planning campaigns, advertising the properties in the social media, conducting marketing research and interacting face-to-face with the potential buyers. Through this experience, I have learned that I can communicate effectively, inform and persuade the clients to purchase the property. This has been made possible by the experience I have gained in the real world through the internship.
