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"Good. Well, if there's nothing else, I have to get to my three o'clock meeting with Ken and the people from Pumps-R-Us."
"Right. No. Nothing else. I've got a three o'clock myself. Got to try and knock some discipline into the PX-3 project team."
The Executive Rest Room was directly across the corridor from Rich's office. I had been able to see it from where I was sitting in front of Rich's desk and, during our conversation, had imagined many times the relief I now experienced. I had even calculated the number of steps it would require to reach the point where I now stood, surrounded by the plush carpet, marble finish and padded seat covers. Of course, I could have interrupted my meeting with Rich at any time and strolled across the hall to the rest room. I am not the kind of man to be in any way inhibited by a meeting with the Company President. It was just that Rich depended on me to be there to listen and give advice. And once he had got started, I hated to interrupt his flow. Although I could not now recall precisely what he had been talking about toward the end of the meeting, it had been important and he had valued my contribution.
Now that my mind was clear and incisive again, I used my time in the rest room for some strategic thinking. It had been a year since the Pumpex takeover of SuperPumps, although I myself had only recently made the move down to North Carolina from Boston. It had not been easy managing the Marketing Department from a distance of a thousand miles. Perhaps now that I was here as Rich's right hand man, we would have more success in instilling the kind of professionalism a top class company needs to survive in the highly competitive pump market. My thoughts turned to Rich's meeting with Pumps-R-Us.
Pumps-R-Us, SuperPumps' largest customer, had been complaining that our standard of service had declined since the take-over by Pumpex. In fact, they were threatening to take their business elsewhere. The owner, Clayton Sipe, and his Purchasing Manager had come up from Greenville, South Carolina to "get a few things straight." I had never met Clayton, but I understood he was one of those gruff blustering types, who liked to shoot from the hip. So this meeting with Rich and Ken, our VP of Sales, was important to smooth things over.
Just then, the door opened and Ken walked in.
"Oh, hi T. J." he said, as he took up position beside me.
"Hi Ken. Ready for your meeting with Pumps-R-Us?"
"Oh, I don't think they'll be any problem, T. J.," he smiled.
I understood exactly what he meant. Ken was a Pumpex man like Rich and me and a real "mover and shaker." He exuded professionalism, with never a shiny black hair out of place and a fine collection of ties which I had always admired. He was tall and imposing and never failed to make a powerful impression on customers with one of the firmest handshakes and finest eye contact techniques in the business. He would soon make Pumps-R-Us understand the benefits of our new quality-oriented customer service procedures. After all, for someone who had handled the Interna
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