Chapter 6

The following Monday morning, using the services of a hired car, Jeff travelled to Swindon, a modest community about seventy miles west of London. It was a lovely ride and Jeff appreciated the opportunity to look at the surroundings rather than worry about where he was driving. He arrived at the headquarters of the Atterbury Chemical Manufacturing Company just before nine o'clock and, since he had no idea how long his initial visit may last, asked his driver to wait for him. Richard had arranged for an appointment for him to meet with them and his arrival was not unexpected. A bright and cheerful receptionist welcomed him and then accompanied him to a conference room immediately off the lobby entrance. She handed Jeff's business card to her boss as they entered the room.

"Dr. Atterbury, my name is Jeff Myerly, and I represent the Dickinson Distributing Company in Chicago, Illinois. I know that you don't know me, nor my employer, but I am fortunate to know quite a bit about you, and even more about your company."

"How is it that you come to know a lot about me?"

"Well sir, it's a very small world. I have the pleasure of having been your son's roommate for his four years in college."

"My goodness, it is a small world isn't it? Did you know that he has just now returned from an extended business trip? He isn't scheduled to be at work today, but I will have the girl call and ask him to come in." He excused himself for a minute and Jeff could hear him asking the receptionist to have Randy join him immediately. "I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Myerly. Randy spoke of you often, and it was always with admiration. He told me once that you actually challenged your instructors to teach you something you didn't already know. How did that go?"

"Not well, actually. I would read the textbooks as soon as they were identified by the instructors, read the whole thing I mean, and after a few weeks would ask them what else there was that they intended to cover in the class, but they never expanded it. I finally stopped asking because they tended to get a bit upset."

"And you did this with all of your instructors?"

"No, just those in the first two years. Once we managed to get into the more theoretical stuff, it became a little more challenging."

"Finishing second in your class, Randy said. And then you went on to get a Master's? In what?"

"Second in the school, actually. It's a Masters in Business, with core competencies of business law, international business and finance."

"Three core competencies? How did you manage that? That's a bit strong isn't it?"

"I just took more hours than most others."

"Yes, well..." he paused and apparently thought about the extent of that challenge. "Well, what brings you to Swindon?" he continued, just as Randy opened the door to the conference room.

"I say," Randy exclaimed excitedly. "I have enjoyed some surprises in my life, but this one is pretty good. How the heck are you?"

I'm great. Doing well, actually. I live in Chicago. Have a nice place right downtown, easy access to anything and everything."

"Oh that's you, for sure, right where all the girls will be."

Jeff was a little embarrassed at that comment, but Randy had no way of knowing. "Actually, Randy, I have been pretty much concentrating on work this past year. I know it will seem strange to you, but I just have not had time to chase women around."

About that time, Randy's father saw an opportunity to excuse himself from the two young men. "I will let you guys relive old times. I need to get back to my office." He opened the door and stepped away from the conference room. Jeff immediately thought of Richard's comment about being handed off to Randy.

"So, tell me all about your vacation."

They sat in the conference room for two hours, broke once for morning tea and then Randy resumed telling Jeff how he had managed, along with six of his best friends, to spend fifteen months travelling the world. When it came time for lunch, Randy suggested that they take it at a favorite pub not far away.

"We can take my car," Jeff said. "He's been waiting outside in the carpark.

"Nonsense. Send the man home. You can stay today, have dinner with us and I'll drive you home after."

Randy and Jeff enjoyed a leisurely lunch and a few pints along with their sandwiches. Most of the conversation was rehashing memories, of parties they had attended and of others that they had hosted. Eventually they left the pub and returned to the plant.

"Let me give you a tour of the plant, Jeff. You can finally see what it is that we make." It was Jeff's first visit to an actual manufacturing facility. He had toured many distribution centers since graduation, but his exposure to the machinery, noise and especially the complexity of the operations were all new to him.

As Randy pointed out different activities as they walked through the facility, Jeff said, "I thought a part of your trip was to see your customers and find out what they thought of your stuff. You haven't said a word about that part."

"Ah, yes. Well, you see, I did just that, in every country we visited. I sought out our largest customer, sat down with them, and just asked them to lay it all on the line."

"How did that go?"

"I sent reports to my father after each visit, telling him what the customer said and included any suggestions that they may have offered that would improve things."

"Improve what kind of things? Quality?"

"Heavens no. Our quality is superb. Best in the world. But what good is quality if you send the wrong part, or send it to the wrong address, or don't send it at all? And we do all those things on a regular basis."

"What seems to be the problem?"

"I don't know. I haven't been back but a few weeks, and this is only my third day at work. All I know is my dad is really upset that we can't get this stuff right."

Jeff listened, and said nothing in response.

Jeff enjoyed dinner at the Atterbury's home that evening, including meeting Randy's mom and thanking her for her insistence that they have a cook at their apartment. While Randy was pulling his car around, Jeff conveyed his thanks to Randy's parents and then asked his father for another appointment in the morning.

Dr. Atterbury met Jeff at the front door to the offices the next morning. "This is something of a surprise, Jeff. I thought your visit was just to see Randy."

"No sir. I didn't even know that he had returned yet. Dr. Atterbury, as I said yesterday, I do know quite a lot about your company. I have been studying it, your products, your marketing, your amazing strengths, and yes, even some of your drawbacks for almost a year. I have been studying just about every facet of your operations as a part of an expansion project for our company."

"I'm not sure that I like the sound of that last statement. To what end were you doing this analysis?"

"Dr. Atterbury, our company is primarily in the distribution business. We have a very strong presence in the industrial chemical industry, both on the production side and the consumption areas. We are a market leader in many, many items that we sell. We also believe very strongly in integrity. We honor our commitments to our suppliers and our customers, and nothing is allowed to interfere with meeting their needs."

"So how does that apply to our company? We don't sell to you. We have our own sales staff in America. Honestly Jeff, I have never heard of your company."

Jeff ignored the opportunity to criticize the communications between the sales organizations and headquarters. Continuing, Jeff said,"We offer equipment that tries to substitute for your products, although we both know that what we offer in no way compares to what you produce. The problem we find is that our customers only buy it reluctantly, because they complain that they can never get yours."

"That's nonsense. We ship product to the states all the time."

Jeff ignored the rebuttal and continued, "The purpose of my trip to Swindon today is to offer to purchase your company outright, at a mutually agreed upon price, and with terms that are amenable to both groups."

Dr. Atterbury was upset. He called to his assistant and asked that Randy join them immediately. When Randy appeared a few minutes later, his father spoke quite harshly, "Jeff here says that his company wants to buy our company. Did you know about this?"

"Really?" He looked at Jeff with surprise, and then answered his dad, "No, I had no idea. He wants to buy Atterbury Chemical? Why?" They both looked at Jeff for an explanation.

Jeff reached into his briefcase and removed a laptop computer. Before leaving the states, Jeff had two video presentations professionally created, one exclusively about Dickinson Distributing and the other about Atterbury Chemical. It had been his idea to have such a presentation commercially prepared, and the effect of that decision was obvious when the first program was completed.

"You had that whole thing done just for us?" Randy asked.

"Yes, Randy. That is the approach we take to everything we do. We spend the money and the effort to do it right the first time."

Quickly, Jeff reset the machine to show the second presentation. "The first program was about our company, Dickinson Distributing. This program is about yours." Both men watched the complete presentation, smiling at some areas and frowning at others. As Jeff had said to Dr. Atterbury earlier, he had studied all aspects of the company, including some of the problem areas. Looking at Dr. Atterbury, it seemed that he was more than a little stressed that others had uncovered the critical weaknesses in their marketing efforts.

"I didn't realize the extent of our delivery problems. I certainly didn't know that they were known to others."

"Gentlemen, I know that the purpose of my visit has really been a surprise to you both. The complexity of what I am proposing, and the enormities of its impact are not things that can be resolved in one meeting. I would like to take my leave of you, for now, and return later in the week, after you have had some time to reflect on the proposal. What we are offering, gentlemen, is to purchase your company, its products, both commercial and intellectual and the rights to all names and trade names. In return, we offer to negotiate a fair price based upon current value and anticipated earnings. There are a dozen other terms that need to be addressed, but those are the crux of my offer. I am qualified and authorized to negotiate this agreement to its conclusion, without interference or modification by others. Why don't you take some time and think about this and we can meet again, say on Friday morning, either here or in London, or someplace in between."