5. Dashboard Dreams

Cybil Wrights, in pajamas, sits on couch, TV remote in hand. Cell phone on coffee table rings. She picks it up, looks at caller ID, answers.

CYBIL:Hi Sis.

CYBIL’S SISTER-IN-LAW: Hi Cybil. The guy you want to talk to about ben admin technology is Ray Shersharpe.

CYBIL: He’s what?

CYBIL’S SISTER-IN-LAW: Not what, who… that’s his name.

CYBIL: Odd name… what’s his story?

CYBIL’S SISTER-IN-LAW: Let me tell you what he’s done for us…

FADE TO:

Dee Zaster sits at Walter Mellon’s desk, looks at computer.

Walter enters.

Walter, Dee and Juan Manband sit around boardroom table. Cybil enters followed by smartly-dressed, middle-aged man.

CYBIL: Hi everybody. Hey, sorry about walking out.

WALTER: It’s OK. We’re just glad to have you back again.

CYBIL: Thanks! This is Ray Shersharpe. He’s the president of Employee Crossroads in St. Louis. He’s…

JUAN (whispers to Dee): What kind of name is that?

WALTER: St. Louis! Don’t tell me you came all the way here just to see us.

CYBIL: He did! Ray, this is Walter, the owner of Mellon Benefits. That’s Dee, our service team leader and that’s Juan, he’s our salesperson.

RAY: It’s a pleasure. So, who wants to tell me what you all would like the future to look like for this team?

JUAN: Huh, you’re not going to tell us all about your technology?

RAY: It’s the best… but it doesn’t matter unless it is right for you.

WALTER: OK… so what I want is a future filled with clients who see us a partner, someone they can’t get by without.

DEE: … and they listen to what we say – they do what we tell them to.

RAY: That means they would have to really trust you.

CYBIL: Which also means we would have to never disappoint them.

JUAN: …or make promises we couldn’t keep.

RAY: Got it: clients see you as indispensable partners they trust, someone they always listen to and can count on no matter what. Now, can anyone tell me where you are today?

JUAN: Beansville, Nebraska…

CYBIL: Ha… funny guy. Where we are today stinks… at least when it comes to bringing ben tech to our clients. Every time we try, we’re either stuck with doing a ton of work we aren’t really that good at or don’t have the time for, or we’re blown out of the water by a far too expensive proposal.

DEE: Yeah, we know what we would like to do for our clients but we haven’t yet found a way to make it happen.

WALTER: And I’m… I mean we… are feeling desperate even when it comes to keeping our existing clients.

JUAN: Let alone landing new, bigger, better accounts!

RAY: Hmm… doesn’t sound like you’re having a lot of fun. OK, what have you tried and what do you think is getting in your way?

Everyone starts talking at once. Walter jumps up, waves his arms. Dee and Cybil point at Juan. Juan bangs his fist on the table. Ray calmly stands there nodding and smiling.

FADE TO:

Ray is no longer there. The team is sitting around the table. They look exhausted but happy.

CYBIL: I can’t explain it, but I feel like we just made more progress in the past hour and a half than we’ve made… well, maybe forever.

WALTER: I know what you mean. When Ray asked what would happen if we don’t make a change, it was… I gotta admit… it was terrifying.

DEE: We just aren’t making much of a difference for our clients and their employees. There’s no future in that.

JUAN: Or ourselves… not really. Cybil, what did Ray say he would do next?

CYBIL: I’m not really sure because I’ve never heard of this before…

WALTER: What I understood is he will help us identify which of our clients could benefit the most from having new or better ben tech for open enrollment and administration.

DEE: And then what?

CYBIL: He said he would develop a dashboard we could use to monitor our performance. It would help us spot where we could do more for our clients and where ben tech would make the biggest difference.

WALTER: A performance dashboard… sounds like a dream.

FADE TO SUPER:

NEXT ON MELLON’S PLACE
“LEAP OF FAITH”

ROLL CREDITS