negotiate anything, we just talked—mainly me. Four people asked questions, and because of the nature of the questions, Trumann and Doughty let me answer. Most of the questions honed in on the reasons for the exceptional operational performance (not to be confused with exceptional financial performance, of which Pete’s company is innocent).
It took me quite a while to explain how come on-time delivery is so high, while inventories are so low. It’s not easy to explain to people whose starting point is so different. People who think that managers must concentrate on squeezing the maximum from each link, when by doing so they unintentionally jeopardize the performance of the chain. I had to prove why efforts such as trying to save set-up on the presses, or optimizing the work load of each technician in the prep room, lead to the exact opposite-to pockets of disguised idleness and to degradation in the overall performance.
I must say they followed with interest, asked a lot of questions, and listened attentively to my more and more elaborate explanations. Not just the Brits; Trumann and Doughty were no less attentive. I think I scored some points with them.
After five hours of grilling, we left, leaving behind homework—about three inches of financial reports. Only in the next meeting will the battle about terms and conditions start. But that is Trumann and Doughty’s headache. I will not have to participate. If they are successful at bringing the prospect to agree on the framework of the deal, the prospect will send his examiners to the company. That is when Pete’s headache will start.
“Shall we meet in half an hour in the bar?” Trumann suggests as we reach the hotel.
Good idea. I certainly can use a quick pint. Or two. Reaching my room, I try to call Don. Since European hotels are taking four hundred percent markup on telephone calls, I use my calling card. Three long strings of numbers, two mistakes and finally Don is on the line.
“Anything new?” I ask.
“What do you want to hear first?” Don is cheerful. “The good news or the bad?”
“Start with the bad.”
“The bad news is that you were wrong in assuming that Pete would have problems presenting his new offer to his customers.”
“I didn’t think that Pete would have problems presenting his offer,” I laugh. “I thought that his customers would have problems accepting it. So the bad news is that I was wrong, and the good news is that Pete was right?”
“Precisely. Pete claims that they were quite enthusiastic. He can’t wait to tell you how well it went. Why don’t you give him a call?”
I forgot to use the pound key, so five minutes and more than thirty digits later, I reach an enthused Pete.
“No, I don’t have the purchase orders in hand. I’ve something even better.”
“The only thing that is better than a purchase order,” I say sarcastically, “is the customer’s money in our bank account. Pete, I understand that you had two good sales calls, but could you be a little more specific?”
“I started by presenting the ‘buyer’s cloud.’ Do you remember: the conflict between the need to get lower prices and the need to have lower inventories?”
I’m anxious to know what business deal he struck; to find out the reaction of the buyers to his unconventional offer, but my impatience has just caused Pete to swing all the way to minute details. Realizing that the quickest way is to let Pete tell it in his own way, I assure him that I do remember the buyer’s cloud.
“Then I established the difference between price-per-unit and price-per-usable-unit. You know, I used the graph of the chance for obsolescence as a function of the horizon of the order . . .”
He goes on like this for a while, giving me, blow-by-blow, what he presented, how it was presented, why he presented in the way he did, etc. I look at my watch. In five minutes I have to be in the bar; not to mention that we are on a trans-Atlantic
It took me quite a while to explain how come on-time delivery is so high, while inventories are so low. It’s not easy to explain to people whose starting point is so different. People who think that managers must concentrate on squeezing the maximum from each link, when by doing so they unintentionally jeopardize the performance of the chain. I had to prove why efforts such as trying to save set-up on the presses, or optimizing the work load of each technician in the prep room, lead to the exact opposite-to pockets of disguised idleness and to degradation in the overall performance.
I must say they followed with interest, asked a lot of questions, and listened attentively to my more and more elaborate explanations. Not just the Brits; Trumann and Doughty were no less attentive. I think I scored some points with them.
After five hours of grilling, we left, leaving behind homework—about three inches of financial reports. Only in the next meeting will the battle about terms and conditions start. But that is Trumann and Doughty’s headache. I will not have to participate. If they are successful at bringing the prospect to agree on the framework of the deal, the prospect will send his examiners to the company. That is when Pete’s headache will start.
“Shall we meet in half an hour in the bar?” Trumann suggests as we reach the hotel.
Good idea. I certainly can use a quick pint. Or two. Reaching my room, I try to call Don. Since European hotels are taking four hundred percent markup on telephone calls, I use my calling card. Three long strings of numbers, two mistakes and finally Don is on the line.
“Anything new?” I ask.
“What do you want to hear first?” Don is cheerful. “The good news or the bad?”
“Start with the bad.”
“The bad news is that you were wrong in assuming that Pete would have problems presenting his new offer to his customers.”
“I didn’t think that Pete would have problems presenting his offer,” I laugh. “I thought that his customers would have problems accepting it. So the bad news is that I was wrong, and the good news is that Pete was right?”
“Precisely. Pete claims that they were quite enthusiastic. He can’t wait to tell you how well it went. Why don’t you give him a call?”
I forgot to use the pound key, so five minutes and more than thirty digits later, I reach an enthused Pete.
“No, I don’t have the purchase orders in hand. I’ve something even better.”
“The only thing that is better than a purchase order,” I say sarcastically, “is the customer’s money in our bank account. Pete, I understand that you had two good sales calls, but could you be a little more specific?”
“I started by presenting the ‘buyer’s cloud.’ Do you remember: the conflict between the need to get lower prices and the need to have lower inventories?”
I’m anxious to know what business deal he struck; to find out the reaction of the buyers to his unconventional offer, but my impatience has just caused Pete to swing all the way to minute details. Realizing that the quickest way is to let Pete tell it in his own way, I assure him that I do remember the buyer’s cloud.
“Then I established the difference between price-per-unit and price-per-usable-unit. You know, I used the graph of the chance for obsolescence as a function of the horizon of the order . . .”
He goes on like this for a while, giving me, blow-by-blow, what he presented, how it was presented, why he presented in the way he did, etc. I look at my watch. In five minutes I have to be in the bar; not to mention that we are on a trans-Atlantic
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