My Experience During The Time Of Internship At Big Bazar Mall

While working with Bajaj Finance my job profile was “sales executive”. During the time of internship my work was to convert the customer for EMI. I was at Big Bazar mall which is the Wow counter of Bajaj Finance. I was also selling EMI to the customers. The Following activities I have done during my internship:

Planning is always needed in organizing events, and is definitely more important when holding cross-cultural art events. Problems often arise on different issues in the stage of planning, such as logistic problems or cultural differences. According to a report on Hong Kong Cultural exchange in Mainland by Hong Kong Art Development Council, cultural clashes and unfamiliarity execution of rules and the unfamiliarity with endorsement procedures and ineffectual publicity are major difficulties apart from insufficient fund.

I have had many problems with the different practices of artists from different countries, and they seriously affect the budget required for the exhibition. A major problem often arises in logistic planning as suggested by several interviewees in my research. First, the cost of shipping is often high when it comes to international shipping. “Importing and exporting forms offer a steep learning curve for most new dealers, and incorrectly completed forms can cause extremely frustrating delays, especially in shipping artwork to or from an international art fair.”

The process of handling shipping is complicated and it costs a lot. “Which forms or documents your particular shipping needs require will also be determined by whether the work has already been sold or is being shipped with the intent of selling it at the destination, such as during an art fair.” (Winkleman, 2010) The preparation of paperwork and supporting documents depends on the purpose of use of the artwork and it requires effort in preparing.

In the cross-border art fair organized by Koreans, the government would usually arrange a company for the shipping of artwork with sponsorship as a financial support to the artists or organizations. However it arises another problem that it requires to send the same amount of artwork back to the origin as the number sent to the other countries after the event. In other words, all artworks sent must return to Korean once after the event in Hong Kong, even if they are bought in the auction in Hong Kong. It causes trouble in time cost and extra fee to ship the artwork back to the buyers. Therefore it requires detailed planning before handling the shipping problem, including taking notice on the total time and cost needed, as well as the procedures required.

Second, there is sometimes delay in some cases. In the previous experience in one of the interviewees, there was a delay in the delivery of artworks, causing the paintings to arrive later than the opening of the exhibition. It would be a big problem if the artworks are not delivered on time, so there is a must to plan carefully with the consideration of any accidents that may occur. Third, the expensive storage cost can be another concern in the logistic aspect. Hong Kong is a small city, with limited space for storing large items. Sometimes there is the need to keep the artworks after the event depending on the shipping plan.

Moreover, as the size of the artworks are usually large, it would be difficult for the artists to carry them to the other countries, which leaves them no choice but to rely on shipping. However, they need a local partner to receive the artworks and to help arranging the details, like shipping schedule. It might be hard for some individual artists or some small-sized company. In some cases, if the artists would like to extend the period of exhibition or sell the artworks, it is crucial to have a local partner to store the artworks and to make arrangement. It is important to choose a art handler that suits one’s needs as different art handlers might provide different services.

“......many of the larger art handlers offer short-or long-term art storage as well as crating and shipping. Many offer regular or climatized storage, the latter, of course, being important for more delicate artwork.” (Winkleman, 2010) Therefore finding a suitable local partner that suits the needs and ensuring constant and effective communication would be a very important part in making the planning beforehand.

“...nonprofit organizations (NPOs), institutions that are legally prohibited from distributing a monetary residual and must therefore spend all their resources on organizational activities.” (James, 1989) As the art exhibitions, especially the two case studies in this research, are usually organized as non-profit event, it is a must to spend all the sponsorship in the event without remaining even one dollar. Thus, it requires detailed planning in how to spend the sum of money in appropriate areas beforehand.

Theme decision is also a very important part in the stage of planning. Problem may arise if the theme of events is not set in earlier. Themes set might affect the approach of the following decisions made in the event, including whom to invite. In a cross-cultural context, artists need to be invited to go overseas, which gives another reason why theme decision needs to be made in the early stage of planning. There may be problems in finding artists who are having relevant works in the targeted field and much time may also needed to find the ones.

In art events with cross-cultural contexts, cultural differences are commonly seen issues that troubles the people involved. “The violence between nations and the foreign policies of countries has been constructed. The international exhibitions and other cultural events of today are playing a great role... As soon as an exhibition is organised in relation to national identities and cultural differences, it positions itself within these power struggle patterns.” (Mendolicchio & Huleileh, 2015) In other words, it is a must to have the consideration of cultural differences and political issues before having the artworks shown in other countries.

Without careful consideration, it might cause big troubles. Cultural differences may include sensitive topics, for instance, different colors may imply political issues that should be avoided. Using the personal experience as an example, Hong Kong, with Chinese culture embedded, intends to use the color red as it represents fortune and blessings. Meanwhile in Korea, red color may refer to communism. The misuse of color without consideration may arise cultural conflicts and this factor must be in concern in the stage of planning.

Another important factor needs to be considered would be translation involved as communication barrier can be a huge problem when holding international art events. First, there is always a must to have translators, maybe for guided tours, but would certainly be necessary for the communication between the overseas artists and the local partners. For example, Hong Kong, as a society with pluralistic culture, has good ability in speaking English, but it may not be the same situation in other countries, for example, Korea.

Some of the interviewees reflected that in some cases, it is hard for the Koreans to read and understand the English manuals. Therefore the plan must include translators in order to avoid having communication barriers in the cross-cultural cooperation. A relevant problem of translating ideas of artwork might also arise in holding art events, mainly in those artworks with idioms in their themes. Idiom is a difficult topic even in translation studies, but is commonly used in expressing the theme of artworks. Therefore the way of translation needs to be discussed beforehand to avoid mistranslation or misinterpretation of artworks.

Lastly, problem may arise due to different workplace culture. In this research, one of the interviewees suggested that embarrassment is caused in the communication between Hong Kong staffs and Korean artists due to different workplace culture. For instance, Korean artists expresses anger and emotions directly to Hong Kong staff but it seldom happens in workplace in Hong Kong. Explanation needs to be made to comfort the Hong Kong staff and it needs communication to both sides. Therefore the difference in workplace culture should be put in considerations as well when planning cross-cultural events.Aware customers about availability of EMI option

Many customers are not aware about the EMI option, which is available at every malls showroom. My work is to make them aware about that option. When any customer enters in to the show room and watching the different products, I reach to them and tell him that “There is option of 0% finance is available.” When customer selects the product, I give them different schemes according the Surrogate.

Apply loans for approvals

When customer ready to take finance option, we give him a form to fill up then after we used to insert those details of customer in our system that is also known as “Login”.

Completing Files

After completion of all the process, we need to complete the file of customer; we need to complete the application form, ECS form, EMI card form, LTS form. To make file ready for disbursement memo.

Make Disbursement Online Memo

After completing the file we need to make file disburses, for that we need to make online disbursements memo. In that we need to insert deal id, product code, scheme code, Product name, model name, bank account no, misc. code of the bank.

Description of Live Experience

It was a superb experience while working with Bajaj Finance in Big Bazar & Brand Factory, The atmosphere that we have in Bajaj Finance was very friendly. I didn’t found any differential between Area Sales managers, Managers and Service Executives; They all were working like a family. They work as if Bajaj Finance is their own company. During the time of internship I have learnt that there three types of customers:

Those who know everything

These are the customers who feel that they know everything. They think that the person who is giving them schemes they are fool. Actually those customers don’t know anything. They just try to show that they know everything. I used give Insurance to these type of customers and they happily purchase insurance with outthinking anything.

Actually Genuine customers

There are the types of customer who are actually genuine. These are the customer who actually desire of loan. They are ready to pay everything what we told him to pay. Eg file charge. I did give EMI to these kinds of customers. They are ready to give any kind of proof which we want easily. I would like to share one example. To one customer who have given wrong scheme. This thing we come to know after customer left the store by paying down payment. When we call the customer he ready to pay balance amount of down payment.

Customers who don’t know anything

These types of customer we need to teach them everything. Even they don’t know what is down payment? I have explained them what is down payment. E.g. one customer was belonging from a dump area. He doesn’t know what is down payment. I have explained him then he bought the product by EMI.

Learning Experience

I am talking about learning experience in this internship, it is excellent. I have learnt so many things like how to convince consumer. It is very difficult to convert customers in to finance because many customers who have made fool by other finance companies. Due to that bad experience they don’t ready to believe that we are actually providing finance at 0%. We are not charging any hidden costs. For convincing customer we need to explain them why we are giving them loan at 0%. To keep our mind cool while dealing with consumers.

During time of my internship I have learnt an important thing that how we can keep my mind cools while dealing with customer. When you are working in such a field it’s very important to keep our mind cool when customer is asking too much of questions. I have met many consumer they all were different in nature, so this internship have taught me how we can convert those consumers. Another thing that I have learnt that maintaining good relationship with consumers, colleagues, as well as our superiors is very important.