6. Leap of Faith

Walter Mellon and Dee Zaster start the day together.

DEE:Hmmm… this is good coffee.

WALTER: All thanks to my special touch.

DEE: Speaking of special, that Ray Shersharpe guy is really something.

WALTER: Uh yeah… I guess. What do you mean?

DEE: Well, he’s been in our office three times in the past week and hasn’t mentioned money yet. He’s investing a lot of time in us.

WALTER: Sounds familiar… we invest a lot of time in our clients…

DEE: … yeah, no wonder we cry when we lose one.

WALTER: Could be we’re about to lose another if Ray isn’t the real deal.

DEE: Hey, have a little faith. We better get going. Don’t want to be late… at least not both of us… again!

Dee kisses Walter, grabs her things and leaves. Walter watches her go and quietly speaks to himself.

WALTER: Walter old chap, better not make a mess of this. She’s one in a million… maybe 10 million.

FADE TO:

Cybil Wrights sits at her desk, looks at computer. Juan Manband pokes his head over divider.

JUAN: Big day today!

CYBIL: Could be big good or big bad… I’m not sure this is the best idea.

JUAN: I know what you mean. This opportunity assessment thing Ray took us through identified a lot of accounts that would be easier to propose a ben tech system to.

CYBIL: I know right? But he says it would be best to do a one-client test drive on your new account…

JUAN: Our new account…

CYBIL: OK, our new account. Bird Baths and Beyond is complicated: multiple locations, a significant change in plans, lots of remote workers, more voluntary benefits than we’ve ever added, a pretty short time line. As Johnny Cash said, “I hear the train a comin!”

JUAN: Oh please no… I would hate to see what Walter would do if we lost this account.

CYBIL: Ray said he would be here at 8:30 sharp.

JUAN: I can’t believe he’s helping me present this to Earl.
                                
                                                                                                   FADE TO:

Juan and Cybil sit at boardroom table. Dee enters followed by Ray.

CYBIL: Hey Ray, hi Dee.

DEE: Good morning. Look who I found wandering around the parking lot.

RAY: Good morning Cybil, Juan. Where’s Walter?

CYBIL: Yeah Dee, where’s Walter?

Walter rushes in. Some of his hair is sticking straight up.

WALTER: I’m right here… morning everyone. What are y’all looking at? Let’s get to work.

Dee walks over to Walter, smooths his hair and smiles at him.

CYBIL: I said it before…

JUAN (laughing): … get a room you two!

CYBIL (Scowling): Ugh…

RAY: Well… let’s get started.

JUAN: Did you bring that fancy demo you finally showed us yesterday?

RAY: Of course…

JUAN: So, we’ll lead with that and then give them a budget and implementation timeline.

CYBIL: Umm, Juan, I’m not sure that’s the best idea.

DEE: I agree. Ray helped us a lot before he ever showed us a demo.

WALTER: That’s right. We know he understands our goals… because he helped us spell them out.

CYBIL: He also knows where we aren’t so good… because he poked a stick in them… ouch!

DEE: Ouch is right. But, we have a pretty good picture of where we can grow our business by as much a 30%… with existing clients.

WALTER (quietly to himself): Ebitda, ebitda, ebitda.

DEE (elbows Walter): Stop it. Ray, what do you suggest we start with.

RAY: I think questions are the answer…

JUAN (interrupts): Obi Wan, please tell us more.

RAY (winks at Juan): Asking questions is the only way Mr. Bird, your client, will be able to clearly see for himself the real value we can create for his business.

WALTER: Makes sense, I think… what are we going to ask him.

JUAN: “We”… who all are going on this thing?

WALTER: Relax Juan. You’re leading the charge, but I think you need to bring Cybil or Dee and, of course, Ray.

DEE: Cybil would be best…

CYBIL (with a wry smile and sideways glance at Dee): For once, I agree with you. Let’s get back to the answers… er, questions. Where do we start?

RAY: I know it may sound too simple, but think back to when we first met, do you remember the questions I asked?

WALTER: You asked what we wanted the future to look like for my… I mean our business.

CYBIL: Then you asked where we were…

JUAN: Beansville, Nebraska… like I said!

DEE: Stop it Juan! Where we are… I mean were, was in a bad place. But, we have a lot going for us too.

JUAN: Sorry, couldn’t help myself… when Ray asked what was getting in our way and what we had tried… all I could think to say was “blegh!”

CYBIL (smiling): You thought before you said something?

WALTER: What really got me was when Ray asked what it would look like a year or two down the road if nothing changed. That was awful.

RAY: I know… it’s tough. But if we don’t ask the tough questions and deal with the tough answers, we will be underserving your clients… we will be setting ourselves up for a tech-first train wreck.

WALTER: Been there!

DEE: Done that!

JUAN: And then we do the demo?

CYBIL: Oh man… we will do a demo when we have time! But, you know, there will always time for a demo later on if Earl – Mr. Bird – gets engaged in answering our questions.

RAY: You know it. That’s the spirit. Let’s go.
                                
                                                                                        FADE TO:

Walter sits at desk. Dee enters.

DEE: Where are those people? They should have been back an hour ago.

WALTER: Maybe it didn’t go so good. Maybe they’re afraid to come back.

DEE: Ah, I’m sure it went OK. Juan has been working hard on this account… he and Mr. Bird seem to be pretty good friends.

WALTER: Friendship isn’t enough these days. We need to be, and I mean really be, competitive on all fronts.

DEE: Ray has helped us in that department. And not only with ben tech, with how we approach clients. I sure hope Juan doesn’t mess it up…

WALTER: I’m sure Cybil will keep him in line.

After a quick knock on the door, Juan bursts in followed by Cybil.

DEE: You’re back! Did you stop for lunch or something?

WALTER: Yeah, Dee was worried. She thought you might be afraid to come back.

JUAN: Lunch? I completely forgot about lunch. Wait ‘til you hear…

CYBIL (elbows past Juan): It was amazing! Juan was great. Ray too.

WALTER: So… what did Mr. Bird say?

DEE: Did he go for it?

CYBIL and JUAN: Yes!

The entire Mellon team and Ray Shersharpe are talking, laughing and celebrating.

WALTER: I can’t believe we did it!

CYBIL: I told you to have some faith.

WALTER: You sure did. I haven’t felt this good for a long, long time.

DEE: Me too!

JUAN: I’ll say. Bird Baths and Beyond’s medical enrollment is up by 25%, and the voluntary benefits are up almost 50%.

CYBIL: It went so smoothly… we didn’t have any calls during OE. Ray’s help desk managed it all.

CYBIL: It went so smoothly… we didn’t have any calls during OE. Ray’s help desk managed it all.

RAY: To be honest, the decision assist capability all but eliminated employee confusion.

WALTER: All I can say is congratulations everyone! And… which client are we going after next?

FADE TO SUPER:

NEXT ON MELLON’S PLACE
“ON-PURPOSE PROSPECTING”

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