My Internship

Where to start…

I really enjoyed being a part of Inside Outside for the past 7 weeks. It has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had. Having the chance to watch and listen to the employees interact with the clients, distributors, representatives, contractors, builders, and each other, I have gained a much better understanding and appreciation for those who work in this industry.   

Now I will tell you the reasons why I have enjoyed my internship so much!

SITE VISITS:

So, my first site visit was to a rather interesting client’s condo.  When we arrived I was the assistant with the shoulder bag full of all the supplies we would need to do the site measurements. Although these particular clients love to sit down and talk for… let’s just say they would have probably cooked dinner if we would have agreed to stay. Good thing Nicole, the daughter of the owners of Inside Outside, had another appointment to be at afterwards. Anyway, we did the site measurements and gave them some advice about the backsplash design and whether or not to have the backsplash come all the way to the wall/corner or have it stop at the counter. Personally, from what I have seen before, I think doing the backsplash at an angle going from the end of the countertop to the end of the cabinet looks really nice, but I was mainly just watching and listening to what the other girl was telling them and their reaction to her suggestions. After we had finished what we came to do, we told them we would call them with the price estimate as soon as we could.

My second site visit was to a client’s house that was being remodeled. She was from Kentucky which made the entire situation a little more complicated. I’ll try to make this as short as possible but there were so many things that went on that it may be difficult for me to.

So I accompanied Mrs. Pam, the owner of Inside Outside, to this client’s house. Along with the contractor and client, who we knew were going to be there, just about everyone else that was involved in the design process of this house was there as well. Why would they all be scheduled to meet on the same day at the same time you may ask? Well this goes back to her living out of town and needing everyone to meet at once because she is only in town for a short amount of time.

GREAT! LET’S MAKE IT A PARTY! This had to have been the most unorganized “professional” party I have ever been to. I was definitely joking about the party part.

Now back to the story. So a meeting that should have been finished within 30 minutes, or less, has now taken 2 hours. It’s a good thing we have all the time in the world otherwise that would have been a problem. Yes, that was also a joke. Even though we were a little rushed…

Lesson #1:   You must always make the customer feel as important as you can and, especially in this case, show her that you are willing to meet with her for as long as she wants as many times as she wants. 

After she had met with all of the other people and Mrs. Pam and I got our site measurements, it was our turn to meet with her. We began to talk with her about her color scheme. She walked us around her whole house as she explained the concept she was thinking for us to get a better picture of how she wants her kitchen and bathrooms to look. It was very difficult to explain to her the different materials and colors we had available for her to pick from so we invited her to follow us to the showroom. Since she would never get to really see any of them in person before choosing what she will be using, she agreed to come.

On our way there we called Kristi, the designer back at the showroom, to tell her the types of materials and colors she was looking for and to have some examples pulled for her to look at. We arrived back at the showroom and, since Mrs. Pam had another appointment to go to, Kristi and I were now in charge. We sat down and began to show her what Kristi had pulled out for her to see. The client kept turning towards me and asking my advice because I was the one that was at the house and could really picture the materials in the spaces. This made me feel very useful!

So, by the end of the meeting with her, she had chosen the countertop and backsplash materials, along with the backsplash design, she wanted to use. Even after all of that difficulty before, it turned out to be a good meeting with a lot of decisions made, which does not always happen.

Unfortunately a day later we found out that the countertop material she wanted was discontinued, and, because blue countertop material is not easy to find, it took us a little while to find her something different. That is all part of the business though. Some things work out perfectly while others things fall off the deep end but all you have to do is get it done and move on.

Lesson #2:    Do not ever let any problem, big or small, stand in your way.

Inside Outside

Front of the Showroom

Inside Outside

Front Showroom Display

Inside Outside

Middle Showroom Display

Along with the site visits, it was always nice to be able to talk one on one with Nicole and Mrs. Pam when we drove to and from the site visits. I was able to ask questions and get answers that were very helpful without any interruptions, unless someone cut us off... that was not good. So along with learning a lot, there were plenty of laughs along the way as well which made it oh so much better!

I learned so much over the course of the internship and surprisingly a lot of it was about me. I have become more aware of the strengths and weaknesses I have and can now improve upon my weaknesses and build upon my strengths. When talking with Nicole, Mrs. Pam, and Kristi I always seem to ask every week or so how they thought I was doing or how quickly they thought I was learning. I don’t think anyone enjoys hearing the negatives about themself but those who are looking out for your best interest will tell you the truth, in a nice way of course, so you will know and be able to sharpen any skills that are in need of some improving.

I am very lucky to have worked with the type of people I have at Inside Outside. It is a family owned and operated business and, although families can have their moments, you can tell that everyone cares about each other. I like knowing that I am surrounded by people who work very hard to take care of not only themselves or their employees but their family. The dogs and cat are even there too! GANGS ALL HERE! There is GW, the spoiled little kitty who refuses to lay on anything but a box, Spencer, the black lab who eats GW’s food, Oscar, Spencer’s brother and, here recently, partner in crime, and last of all Francis, the adorable white French bulldog whose tongue hangs out of her mouth all the time, snorts, and does a cookie dance around a cookie for about 5 whole minutes before eating it.
LOVE IT!

GW Sleeping

GW

Oscar and Spencer

Four Wheeling Francis

Okay let’s get back on subject.

Unhappy Customers Experiences

So while I have been interning I have experiences some, let’s just call them unhappy people. The first unhappy client was one who had been waiting on tile to be delivered and was told that it would be here that day. She was very upset but finally I was able to explain to her the situation, although I may not have understood it completely myself, and she accepted the day of delivery and hung up.

Next, another woman was told about a specific delivery time one of the tile distributor’s trucks could get the order to us. She was not happy with the amount of time it would take so she told us to get them to deliver it to us the next day no matter what we had to do. We listened to the customer and told the distributor we needed the material the next day. As promised, the material arrived at Inside Outside the next day and we called the client as soon as it arrived. She was very happy until we told her the freight charge for a next day delivery. She had told us to get it there the next day no matter what and that is what we repeated back to her when she started complaining about the amount she owed. We apologized for it being so much but that is what the distributor charged and Inside Outside does not absorb freight charges. Although the customer was unhappy, we kept calm and explained the situation as best we could and eventually she paid us the amount due. She really did not have a choice sense we do not allow material to leave the store/shop without it being paid in full and boy did she want that tile!

And the next encounter with a lovely customer was when a woman called asking for Nicole with a very mean tone in her voice. Kristi asked what the call was in regards to and she told her that it was very difficult to explain. Basically…. She was mad because Mr. Tim had hit her brick mailbox knocking it down and drove off. How difficult is that to explain? Anyway, Mr. Tim sent the husband and email explaining what had happened. He was leaving their house and he accidently backed into the mailbox but barely hit it. He got out and looked at any damage there was to be seen. He noticed a pile of bricks on the opposite side of the mailbox. He knew he had not done the damage he had seen since he only bumped it and he saw no further damage so he drove off. The husband replied by admitting his cousin had actually hit it a month or two before and that Mr. Tim had not caused any further damage. His wife just wanted someone to pay for the mailbox to be rebuilt. ENOUGH SAID!

Only one left I promise, although there were more than just the ones I have listed. So this next woman was complaining because the molding she ordered to frame a mirror in her bathroom had been the wrong one and completely different than the one she had picked out originally. We knew this because the one she first picked out was discontinued, which we let her know, and she came back in to select a different one. Kristi had spoken with her about the one she wanted, remembered the exact product number and name and ordered the amount needed from the distributor. The tile came in and, when about to be installed in the client’s house, the client decided it was not the correct molding. She then called Kristi. Since Kristi had nothing written down about the day the client had come in and chosen that specific molding to be used, it was her word against the client’s and the client is always right in this situation. Therefore, Kristi had to search high and low for a rare type of molding the client had now asked for that could be delivered the next day.

 Kristi had an appointment to go to so she gave the job of calling the distributors to me. I had found the specific molding the client wanted and called the distributor. They said it had been discontinued and they had no more in stock. GREAT! But then I saw that it was actually manufactured by another company. Even though I was unfamiliar with the company, I called them to see if they had any. They told me that even though it was discontinued they still had 41 pieces. GREAT! Or so I thought. About an hour later I found out that Inside Outside had had a lot of trouble with this company regarding damaged materials and payment of those materials but, since they did not recognize me, they agreed to send the ship the order. Then they found out it was Inside Outside who ordered the molding and refused to send it to us. THERE WENT THAT GREAT IDEA!

So, the client was explained the situation and decided she liked the molding that had originally been delivered so all was well eventually.

Lesson # 3: Always Always, Always, take as detailed a message as possible and include the date and name of the person you are speaking with and maybe even the time of day. You can NEVER have too much information!!

Lesson # 4: It is always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the distributors your company works with (or in this particular case, no longer works with)

To be continued in the NEXT BLOG!!!