PBW 2073

Technical Writing
Assignment 1

Memo (20%)
Mode: Individual

Instructor : Mr Dexter Sigan John

Student : Qistina Nasha Binti Mohd Khairudin
Matrix Number : 80999
Course Group : 2
To: Mr. Dexter Sigan John

From: Ms. Qistina Nasha Binti Mohd Khairudin

Date: 15 November, 2022

Subject: Support for 3M Supply Sdn Bhd

I wrote this memo with the intention to detail out my wish to support 3M Supply Sdn Bhd, a local, small and
medium enterprise (SME) that supplies gardening products and has been struggling to attract more prospects
since early 2021. The business is experiencing customer reduction and poor sales performance due to the
recent hit from the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, I plan to join forces with the business’s team for a
certain amount of time to help sort and dissolve the business’s problems which resulted from the said
pandemic. I will be focusing my services relating to my field’s expertise and experiences which is in the
Marketing Management field. Below are the background details and problem description pertaining to the
SME I wish to assist soon.

Background Details

3M Supply Sdn Bhd is an SME business which started its operation in 2020. It is located amongst the shop
lots in front of the University of Sarawak’s main gate. They sell plants and gardening products including
gardening tools, pots, soils, fertilizers, regulators and more. The shop’s venue is hidden by a food court in
front of it and resides beside a 24-hour dobby and near to a BSN bank. 3M supply Sdn Bhd opens every day
except Wednesday with mainly one employee to entertain its customers.

Problems and Reasons

My observation concludes that lack of proper marketing is the main problem that causes drop in their
customer number. I am aware that the business has a Facebook page (search: 3M Supply Sdn Bhd) which
updated posts from time to time persistently since 2020. However, their posts failed to garnish many
responses nor views. Unfortunately, Facebook is the only marketing page they created. I wish to assist them
on creating more marketing pages on other kind of platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp. I
wish to also help in navigating their Facebook page to a wider audience that can attract more prospects. This
includes promotional posts to groups with specific types of community (Samarahan people, Unimas students
and etc.). Aside from online marketing, I observed that the business is located around a strategic area
(Student hub) however, it took me several days to notice its existence as it is quite hidden from the main
road due to the food court in front of it. There is no advertisement or signboard used nor sticked around the
area to indicate the shop’s location or to attract potential customers. As a graphic designer, I ought to help
them in creating a proper advertisement board that can help their customer to navigate their way to the shop.

My next observation concludes that some of the business’s products appear unappealing due to
the product arrangement and the shop’s environment. I noticed that they tend to change the plant’s
arrangement in the past years but starting this year (2022), they piled half of the plants in a large cage which
made many of their attractive plants went unnoticed by customers. I wish to help them dissolve this issue by
proposing a new product arrangement that not only help them reduce space consumption but to also exhibit
their unique plants more attractively. I continued to realise that the shop’s environment does not help in
attracting more customers due to the gloomy and dusty interior. The shop is not like any other ordinary
nursery which sells mostly plants and only few other related products. They store variety sorts of gardening
products on large and tall cabinets aside from the plants which creates a store-like atmosphere. However,
that should not be a problem for the shop to glow and radiates welcoming ambience to passing customers. I
would love to propose layouts that can liven up the environment of the shop and attract even the passing
people. I also wish to design the shop’s packaging materials to help the business attain more recognition by
customers and prospects.