come in for
it on their own time but there was no way I was gonna let em do that. I told Bev, “Keep track of the time, add a half hour
to it for each of em, and see it’s reflected in their pay.”
She looked funny, like she wasn’t following. “Got it?” I said.
“Yes, sir,” she said, but she didn’t write it down till she got back to her desk. A few minutes later she took a call and
asked me if I wanted to talk to a Mr. Seals from Malaysia.
“Who is he?” I said.
“Wouldn’t say, but he’s calling from there.”
“Long distance?”
She turned in her chair and stared at me through the window. “That would be a fair assumption,” she said.
I smiled an apology, but I guess she hadn’t seen any humor in my stupidity, which she usually does. “You reckon it’s about
manufacturing?”
“You reckon I’m clairvoyant?”
She wasn’t mean. I was just dense. I pointed to my phone and picked up. “I’ll get right to the point, Mr. Sawyer,” the man
said. “You can imagine what time it is over here and I can imagine how busy you are there, trying to keep your business alive.”
He sounded so friendly and sincere.
I said, “Fire away, Mr. Seals.”
“I’m an American, sir, a southerner like yourself. I even played at Bama, like you did.”
“You don’t say.”
“You’re a straight shooter, I can tell. I’m probably not the first business owner in this part of the world to approach you,
but I’d like to be the last. I don’t want to waste your time, but just let me say I’d like the opportunity to show you how
you could do your manufacturing here at such a fraction of your current cost that even with shipping your raw goods to me—I
assume you get them from Chicago like the rest of us—and my shipping finished product to you, you would increase your profit
per unit by more than 25 percent.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“Are you still listening, Mr. Sawyer?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Good man. Now I know you’re finding that hard to believe because that shipping cost would be yours, and you’re wondering
what you do with your equipment investment if you let us take over your manufacturing, though I’m guessing some of your machinery
is more than a hundred years old.”
Bev may not have been a mind reader, but this guy was.
“I’m also wondering what I’m sposed to do with loyal workers that have been with me for decades,” I said.
“Everybody faces that, sir. But with the profits you’ll be making, you could make them mighty happy with appropriate severance
packages, couldn’t you?”
Maybe I could, but I wasn’t about to start saying yes when he was talking about something I’d been fighting for years. “Some
of my best accounts—”
“Let me guess,” he said. “Those include certain leagues and bowl games that count on you for instant turnaround and for specially
packaged kicker balls.”
“Exactly.”
“We can match and maybe exceed the quality of your top-of-the-line product and set you up with sufficient inventory to where
you could always be prepared to ship overnight to those clients. And if you want to keep your equipment and your top half
dozen tradesmen, you can keep a boutique operation there for specialty products. Am I making any sense here, Mr. Sawyer?”
“Some, sure.” I didn’t want to say too much. I don’t like being bowled over. “I’ve been giving some thought to expanding our
product line.”
“Like any good entrepreneur. Other kinds of balls? Or gloves?”
He had me. “Gloves.”
“You have clients. You know your market. But don’t invest in new manufacturing hardware until you hear our prices on those
as well. We both know the moneymaking part of your business is selling to retailers. Your good name stays on your good product,
but we do the dirty work. I can tell you’re a thinking man, Mr. Sawyer, and that you don’t make snap judgments. I am prepared
with two alternatives. Three
it on their own time but there was no way I was gonna let em do that. I told Bev, “Keep track of the time, add a half hour
to it for each of em, and see it’s reflected in their pay.”
She looked funny, like she wasn’t following. “Got it?” I said.
“Yes, sir,” she said, but she didn’t write it down till she got back to her desk. A few minutes later she took a call and
asked me if I wanted to talk to a Mr. Seals from Malaysia.
“Who is he?” I said.
“Wouldn’t say, but he’s calling from there.”
“Long distance?”
She turned in her chair and stared at me through the window. “That would be a fair assumption,” she said.
I smiled an apology, but I guess she hadn’t seen any humor in my stupidity, which she usually does. “You reckon it’s about
manufacturing?”
“You reckon I’m clairvoyant?”
She wasn’t mean. I was just dense. I pointed to my phone and picked up. “I’ll get right to the point, Mr. Sawyer,” the man
said. “You can imagine what time it is over here and I can imagine how busy you are there, trying to keep your business alive.”
He sounded so friendly and sincere.
I said, “Fire away, Mr. Seals.”
“I’m an American, sir, a southerner like yourself. I even played at Bama, like you did.”
“You don’t say.”
“You’re a straight shooter, I can tell. I’m probably not the first business owner in this part of the world to approach you,
but I’d like to be the last. I don’t want to waste your time, but just let me say I’d like the opportunity to show you how
you could do your manufacturing here at such a fraction of your current cost that even with shipping your raw goods to me—I
assume you get them from Chicago like the rest of us—and my shipping finished product to you, you would increase your profit
per unit by more than 25 percent.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“Are you still listening, Mr. Sawyer?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Good man. Now I know you’re finding that hard to believe because that shipping cost would be yours, and you’re wondering
what you do with your equipment investment if you let us take over your manufacturing, though I’m guessing some of your machinery
is more than a hundred years old.”
Bev may not have been a mind reader, but this guy was.
“I’m also wondering what I’m sposed to do with loyal workers that have been with me for decades,” I said.
“Everybody faces that, sir. But with the profits you’ll be making, you could make them mighty happy with appropriate severance
packages, couldn’t you?”
Maybe I could, but I wasn’t about to start saying yes when he was talking about something I’d been fighting for years. “Some
of my best accounts—”
“Let me guess,” he said. “Those include certain leagues and bowl games that count on you for instant turnaround and for specially
packaged kicker balls.”
“Exactly.”
“We can match and maybe exceed the quality of your top-of-the-line product and set you up with sufficient inventory to where
you could always be prepared to ship overnight to those clients. And if you want to keep your equipment and your top half
dozen tradesmen, you can keep a boutique operation there for specialty products. Am I making any sense here, Mr. Sawyer?”
“Some, sure.” I didn’t want to say too much. I don’t like being bowled over. “I’ve been giving some thought to expanding our
product line.”
“Like any good entrepreneur. Other kinds of balls? Or gloves?”
He had me. “Gloves.”
“You have clients. You know your market. But don’t invest in new manufacturing hardware until you hear our prices on those
as well. We both know the moneymaking part of your business is selling to retailers. Your good name stays on your good product,
but we do the dirty work. I can tell you’re a thinking man, Mr. Sawyer, and that you don’t make snap judgments. I am prepared
with two alternatives. Three
Similar Books
