Gusto niyo po bang bumili ng condo?

SA 21 B

Chan, Willien Shirlene

Espiritu, La Verne Ivan

Montemayor, Paul Mharcial

Villanueva, Matthew

Tiu, Carlo Manuel

Professor Emily Roque

Gusto niyo po bang bumili ng condo?

Who is the identity you want to imitate? Why did you choose this identity?

The group decided to imitate condominium salespeople. Specifically, these are the individuals who hand out condominium flyers and are usually seen in malls or other public venues . Most of the time, many people disregard them. In fact, people would just walk away and ignore them or refuse their offers and leave. Given this setting, our group decided to submerge ourselves into the lives of these salespeople to see how exactly do they handle their work and try to understand what they do.

What is your identity’s main function in the society?

They disseminate information about condominium projects of their respective companies. This is done by handing out flyers to the general public in their attempt to capture the attention of possible clients who may purchase a condominium unit from their company. They also serve as the initial bridge between possible clients and the company as they can also invite the clients to visit the condominium open houses and interact with other members of the company.

How does he/she look like? (clothes, gears like cellphone if any?, skin, hairstyle, nails, physical appearance—observe everything!)

Condominium salespeople usually wear semi-formal clothing typically consisting of long-sleeved polos and slacks for men, and dresses with blazers for women, although there are some variations (such as ties, coats, cardigans). Men have their hair done with gel or wax while women put on light make-up consisting of a layer of foundation with tinges of blush and eyeliner; pedicured nails were also seen in some female salespersons (note: the aforementioned appearances were observed from the salespeople in Trinoma and SM Marikina). The only consistent gear the salespeople have are the flyers for the condominiums  they are trying to promote, however some were also observed using cell phones, presumably to contact their employers.

How does he/she speak and behave?

One of the personnel interviewed in Trinoma, a male named Mark, spoke politely as we inquired about his job and what he does as a condominium salesperson. At first he was eagerly trying to hand out flyers and convince us to look at the model condominium they had set up, but once he was told that our goal was to interview him, he became a bit more relaxed and casual.

A female salesperson was also interviewed separately. Throughout the course of the interview, she constantly tried to continue pushing the advertisement of the condominium to the interviewer. She also stayed very polite from the start of the interview to the end of it. She constantly tried to shift attention to the condominium rather than on herself throughout the interview. She would laugh at the interviewer’s jokes (politely, but not that convincingly), and did not make jokes herself.

What are their beliefs in life? What are their values?

Of course, as salespeople, they believe that they do need to find interested people who they can send to the condominium exhibit in their attempt to sell a condo unit. This makes them motivated to do their job. Knowing that communication is the key to their success, they exemplify politeness and cheerfulness. They smile, greet people, and thank them. However, aside from these beliefs related to their work, they too are motivated by their own individual beliefs and values.

Mark, the male salesperson said that it was his first job right out of  college, so he was still working out his life plans. He said that he was aspiring for a higher-paying job, but for the moment he got this particular job to build up work experience. As for the female salesperson,she values family a lot because of her continuing work at a job that has uncomfortably long shift times and is very tiring.

How does his or her day look like?

For the male salesperson, his shifts were every monday, wednesday, and friday. He would go to the mall at least thirty minutes in advance of his shift, which usually starts at 11 am. He would then get an hour break for lunch, and then stay the rest of the day until the mall closes.

For the female salesperson, during the days where it is her shift (as their shift schedule is per-day, not per-hour), she wakes up early enough to have time to prepare for the day. She then leaves her house to make it in time for the start of her shift, which is the same time as when Robinsons Otis opens (10am). She works until her lunch break, which is also the only break she has for the day. After her break, she then continues advertising until the time Robinsons Otis closes for the day (8/9pm), after which she goes home.

Any sociological+personal reflections ? How did it feel being another person for a day

Willien: For me, I was embarrassed because when I called for them, they would give me their full attention, looking at me in such a way as to say: “Yes? How can I help you?” I felt that they were genuinely thinking I needed their help at first, but in the end, I have to tell them that I was actually trying to sell them a condo. I felt embarrassed wasting their time, when they were ready to help.

Carlo: I felt judged throughout the experience because of the people’s stares and looks afterwards. They had looks as if to say: “Why are they letting these people sell condos here?” Aside from this, I felt ignored since many of the people would quickly say no to my asking for their time and oftentimes quickly walked away. Some reactions, however, were quite amusing as they often looked puzzled when condominiums were being advertised to them on campus.

Paul: Most of the time when I go to malls and condo salespeople hand me flyers, I casually walk away and not take the flyers that they are giving out. Being in their shoes during the act meant that I too would experience rejection, and that was what happened. People tend to shy away when I try to hand them the flyers while I was giving a small pitch about the condominium units that I was trying to sell. Some were just plain uninterested. If it was any consolation, I felt fulfilled when someone approached me and said: “Where are these condo units located?” It meant that the act worked, and me and my group portrayed the condo salespeople well. The person went on blabbering about where are we assigned, how many condo salespeople are in the campus at the moment, etc. Before the person left, I briefed him about the act, and he said that we were believable, except for the flyers that we were handing out that for him was kind of worn out, folded and old.

La Verne: It was difficult to be these salespeople especially since we were in an academic institution wherein condo unit flyer distributors aren’t usually seen. As we tried to hand out flyers, we realized that the process really is draining as it keeps repeating over and over again. Consistency was important as we continued smiling and being polite to our potential clients. Furthermore, rejection from other people was very common. While some would just politely decline and walk away, others would frown and make more condescending comments such as “Uh. No!” Thus, I think that the role of these people is very challenging especially since they interact with various strangers they don’t even know. Because many people already have the mindset that these salespeople are “makulit” and pushy with their intent to sell units, they automatically shun them and don’t consider even entertaining such people.

Matthew: The first hurdle I had to overcome was that the identity I was trying to assume was not really appropriate in a school setting. A lot of the people I approached were met with surprise that there were people trying to sell condominiums inside the Ateneo, and some of which thought I was a JGSOM student. As for acting out the identity of a condominium salesperson, it was clear-cut until people were genuinely believing that I was one and started asking questions about my profession and what I was trying to sell. While I had no problem with fellow students in this regard, the problem was when it came to staff and faculty, some of which started to ask me questions about why I was doing this in the Ateneo and if I had authorization to do so. It was hard to define the limits of which how much I had to act out my identity to these people until I tell them that it was just a ruse. So the conflict between my identity as a student versus my assumed identity as a condominium salesperson were constantly at odds during the course of the deviance parade.

Sources:

Interviewees

Mark (male, Marketing Graduate)
Princess Santos (female, Marketing Graduate, mother of 2)

*They did not wish to disclose other personal information.