Beginning of Semester

A few of the bags we sell

This summer, I am working for Bags in Bulk, which is a DBA (doing business as) of A.D Sutton and Sons Inc. I work on-site at the corporate office in Midtown Manhattan as a customer service intern. My immediate team includes me, four other interns, and two full-time customer service managers. I actually started this internship last summer. I am from New Jersey, so I wanted the opportunity to live at home during the summer and work in New York City. I found this internship while searching for communication internships on Indeed. I enjoyed my experience last summer but felt I could do even more learning and growing in this position, which led me to join the team again this summer.

I have always been interested in customer service, so I wanted to do something similar when looking for internships. I have worked previously in retail positions and enjoyed working with customers, so I knew that was something I wanted to take to a larger scale. Bags in Bulk mostly works with nonprofits and organizations in lower-income areas. We sell backpacks, school supplies, and many other items at a very low cost, so I love knowing what I am doing will impact many people, even if it is indirectly. This summer, I am excited to learn and improve my skills in the customer service industry. Although I am doing the same list of tasks every day, answering the phone and helping customers, sending emails, etc, each day brings a new challenge to work through, and I find that quite exciting.

This summer, I want to improve my communication with customers who are upset or unsatisfied with their product or experience with the company. Last year, one thing I struggled with was separating myself from the company. When a customer was upset and took it out on me, on the phone or on an email, I often took that very personally, and it put me in a worse mood, making my tone and feelings while talking to other customers worse. I want to practice and work on remembering that these people aren’t specifically mad at me and that even though they are acting mad, I can’t let that affect the rest of my work and day, as I have a goal to provide the best customer service possible to everyone involved. This is an important thing I want to work on because it is applicable in most positions and not solely customer service-based roles. Another goal I have is to work on and improve written communication further. Sending emails in a professional setting is different than just texting a friend. Not only do I have to sound professional, but I also want to work on creating quick and effective responses to send to customers and our warehouse to eliminate any confusion. Even though I spend all day thinking about Bags in Bulk, we are just a small part of our customers’ days, and communicating quickly and efficiently will help me make emails go smoother.

This whole internship is very communication-based. Without effective communication skills, my role as a customer service representative would not be very helpful to the clients. Effective digital communication is also crucial when you are working with e-commerce. Ensuring the website is easy to navigate and for the customers to understand is essential. I am not very nervous, but I remember not enjoying making cold calls. Even though this is not my favorite part of this internship, it is an important skill to develop.

The set up of the office

End of the semester

My favorite moments at this internship were connecting with customers and learning about the events they were putting on. Bags in Bulk is a company that has many repeat clients with whom we have built a relationship. One big reason is because of personal connections. It made my day when someone asked how I was doing or just called to let me know the event I helped them with was a success. Small things like that made a huge difference and made this internship more enjoyable.

One of the biggest lessons I learned this summer is that making a large sale is not the main priority. This means that when customers ask for me to help them pick out a style of backpack to purchase, instead of just listing off the most expensive items, I try to understand their event and offer them the items that work best for them. Our most popular bag is one of our cheapest options, and that is often the one I recommend to people because it is very versatile and cost-effective. The summer is hectic because everyone is preparing for back to school, and that leads to items being sold out. If an item a customer wants is sold out and there is nothing else they are interested in, I did not push to try and have them get a different type of item that might not go over well for their event. For example, if a customer is purchasing backpacks for high school students, I wouldn’t put heart and dinosaur-printed bags on them because high school students would typically not enjoy patterned bags. In those cases, telling the customer to check back in the coming weeks is better than trying to make an instant sale. The School of Communication helped me gain a lot of background knowledge, which allowed me to excel in this internship. I implemented my knowledge of visual communication a lot this summer. Many customers needed clarification about products and breakdowns on our website. Whenever I got messages like that from customers, I would look at the website and work with my supervisors to make changes if needed.

My biggest challenge this summer was working on long-term and bigger orders. I had to ensure I could meet deadlines while communicating back and forth with the customers and our warehouse team. There were times when we were almost done and about to send out a part of one of these substantial orders, but then I got last-minute information that we were out of stock of a particular bag. This caused a delay, and we had to get a hold of the customer as soon as possible. The many moving factors in these larger multi-location orders were a challenge, but in the end, the orders were successful.

I would say I was successful in meeting my learning objectives. I approached this internship in a different way and with a different mindset than I did last year, and it paid off. I improved greatly in all aspects during this internship and in customer service in general. After concluding this internship, I realized that I do not want to pursue a career in customer service, but being able to write efficiently and send a good email is super beneficial in all fields. Although I was decent at these skills previously, this summer made me become very confident in writing and communication.

The most significant piece of advice I would give to other Chapman Students doing internships is to stick it out if it becomes complicated because you never know how an internship will turn out. When I started at A.D Sutton and Sons last summer, I thought about quitting after the first day and first few weeks, but I stuck with it and am so glad I did. You never know just how much something will benefit you, even if it isn’t in the same ways you previously expected.