3. Clues Among the Wreckage

Dee Zaster knocks on door, enters trailed by Juan Manband and Cybil Wrights…

DEE: Oh Walter… it’s terrible. (swallows hard to suppress a sob.) We’ve lost the Really Big Client account!

WALTER: What? I knew this would happen! We’re never going to get technology right. What are we going to do?

Walter head in hands, looks at Dee

WALTER: What happened, I thought License This! was supposed to be the answer.

JUAN: Me too… the technology sure looked sexy during the demo.

DEE: It sure did… but when it came to some of the complex business rules Really Big Client has, the system was worse than doing everything manually.

CYBIL: My wrists are sore.

Walter stands up, grabs his stress ball and throws it in a waste basket and turns towards the other three.

WALTER: Look you guys, this is never going to happen again, we’ve got to get it right or I’m going to…

Walter stops when his eyes meet Dee’s

DEE: Oh… don’t say it. Let us figure it out. I know there has to be a better way.

WIGGLY SPECIAL EFFECT – FLASHBACK TO THREE WEEKS AGO

Dee ends call with Cybil after hearing about all the trouble they’re having with Really Big Client’s OE. She is sitting on the couch beside Walter.

DEE: Oof! We had better get back there. It sounds like Cybil is about to tear Juan a new one.

WALTER: Hmm… so much for our fancy dinner. I swear, if this online enrolment doesn’t go well, I’m going to sell the agency.

DEE: You wouldn’t… we’re like a family.

Walter sits back down. Dee paces. Cybil and Juan step back but don’t leave.

WALTER: Let’s figure this out you say. How do you propose we do that?

DEE: First, we need to get really clear about what went wrong…

CYBIL: Everything went wrong!

JUAN: Well… not everything.

CYBIL: That’s easy for you to say… you’re not the one with carpal tunnel!

DEE: OK. OK. This isn’t getting us anywhere. Walter, Cybil, Juan and I will retrace our steps and come back to you with some sort of game plan for making sure our next implementation doesn’t get us fired.

WALTER: Well, that’s a start… but I sure wish we could get a lot more out of technology than simply hoping to not be fired.
                                
                                                                                        DISSOLVE TO:

Dee stands in front of white board looking at Juan and Cybil. They are seated and both are intently looking at their laptops.

CYBIL: You know, i read the other day that sales people are some of the easiest people to sell to.

We all thought License This! was the answer. Where did we go wrong?

CYBIL: Perhaps in some hotel suite…

JUAN: Hey! I’m sorry you had to work so hard to even come close to fitting what Really Big Client wanted… er needed. But, it’s obvious we weren’t even close.

DEE: I know I should have been around to help… I’m sorry.

JUAN: Yeah and I’m sorry I even met that sales person from License This! I just don’t know enough about this stuff…

CYBIL: You don’t know enough! Well, sit tight buddy because it’s time to start learning.

DEE: Hey Cybil… take it easy on Juan. Let’s get to work instead of carping at each other. What went wrong?

CYBIL: Well, in case you didn’t know this Juan… each carrier has its own unique data requirements, and I’m not a data technician… and the License This! service desk was next to useless.

DEE: What made it worse is the data we got from Really Big Client was all over the place… really inconsistent.

JUAN: You know, the sales demo of the platform made everything look so easy, but we got dozens and dozens of calls from confused employees. They couldn’t find where the relevant plan documents were.

CYBIL: I’m glad you had to answer some of those calls. It’s good to share…

JUAN: Share the pain you mean!

DEE:  Quit it you two… what I see here is a classic case of technologists not understanding the complex business rules governing insurance plans.

If we ever do this again, we need to have support for the employees from whomever provides the technology. It would be wonderful if they assigned someone who gets how important it is for employees to understand their benefits and is really – and I mean really, really – familiar with the system.

JUAN: (Singing) Dreamer, you’ve always been a dreamer…

Quick cut to close up of Cybil’s face. She smirks as we hear her thinking… “You are a dreamer… Dee the Dreamer. Walter will never marry you.”

CYBIL: (out loud) Expecting us to become experts on a new system in a few weeks is not only unfair, it’s impossible. Those people at License This! know that, but they sold us their technology anyway.

DEE: You’re right, they should have figured out what we were capable of and what we were up against with this account and then given us the support we needed.

They continue to talk as the camera pulls back to a long overhead shot.

FADE TO:

Walter sits at his desk Dee, Juan and Cybil have just finished presenting their report on the Really Big Client OE train wreck.

WALTER: OK… it’s really clear we chose the wrong technology vendor.

CYBIL: Yes, and it’s clear we need a vendor that thinks about us, our clients as much as – if not more than – their technology.

DEE: We actually don’t need a vendor, we need someone we can trust. Someone who won’t leave us hanging out to dry when things get complicated.

JUAN: We need a partner…

Walter stands up, throwing up his arms in frustration.

WALTER: What! A partner? I’m not selling any part of my business!

JUAN: Not what I meant. We need a tech company that is willing to act like a partner. One that takes a longer view of things. One that will invest time and effort into understanding what we are all about.

DEE: Not sure one exists but it would be great if they could help us get new business too.

CYBIL: I’ll believe it when I see it… but you’re both right.

FADE TO SUPER:

NEXT ON MELLON’S PLACE
“SEARCHING FOR THE PHOENIX”

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