Chapter 10

The last couple days of the week went by fast and on Friday morning when I picked up Allie she seemed brighter than usual.

"Can you get me at 6:30 tonight? I have 7:00 reservations at DiPietro's." Allie said, proud she was doing this.

"Wow, DiPietro's, that's a hot ticket. My favorite in the area." I said

"Really? You're not just saying that are you? I had no one to ask so I read area restaurant reviews and found them." She said with a gleeful giggle.

"I'll bet I know the menu by heart. It is my favorite." I told her.

"Great and then we can come back here for a night cap. I bought some Sambuca, I know you like that, with coffee afterward."

"How did you find this out?"

"A little bird told me." She said mysteriously as the look on my face told her I was displeased.

"I didn't really go prying. I was having lunch downstairs at the yogurt place and Rachel was there and we got talking about the flavors and I had gotten a Pina Colada flavor. She said she didn't like sweet drinks and the conversation turned to alcoholic drinks. She asked if I ever had Sambuca. I said no and she told me that she heard you say you liked and had bought it for you for Christmas, and bought some for herself on your recommendation. She remarked it was sweet, but really good and powerful and that you told her you would enjoy it as a nightcap followed by coffee. WHEW, a long story, but I wanted you to know I didn't go snooping around, or tell anyone we were going to go out and ask for ideas."

I laughed and said I was glad of that, because number one, I don't date co-workers and number two, the fact she and I were dating was private until WE decided to make it public. She agreed and all was fine for the rest of our ride.

That Friday I finally had a sales meeting with my prospective new sales manager Tom Mills and the fellow he was recommending named Phil Candee. They had flown into Boston early that morning and were on a train to Worcester early. I was just walking with Allie from the parking lot and into the building when a cab pulls up and I heard a holler. "Mr. Sparkhill!"

I turned to see Tom and Mr. Phil Candee getting out.

"Allie, here's my appointment for this morning, I'll see you tonight." I said as she smiled and gave a nod. (A classy move to not make it look like we were connected at all in front of employee's)

I shook hands and we made introductions and suggested breakfast since a great breakfast café was across the street. I didn't eat breakfast often enough and today would be a great excuse to. We went in and settled with coffee while I called Rachel to tell her I was there, but out for another hour. I connected by Bluetooth to her intercom if she needed me.

The three of us made small talk while we ate and I got to hear a lot about Phil's background and sales philosophy and experiences. He seemed to handle customers in a way I would heartily approve of, professional with a strong personal touch. After one more coffee to finish, Tom and I began to give Phil a short history of the company and when we got to the point of the factory closing I moved the meeting to my office where I had a short video presentation I used with customers showing them the overseas operation. I took both of them in to meet with Rachel to see how she compiled sales figures and plugged in each man's numbers and then I took them to show how I translated that back to factory orders, and factory supply orders, and then figured our payroll percentage to see where and how we were making and losing money, where improvements should come from, the strong and weak points of the force on the street.

I explained that most all of each salesman's connections were their own from past experience. The force was highly skilled and well networked. They each worked off of 5 price cards and were free to offer any of them to any customer, but to be aware they earned 1% of the base sale and each card bumped the price up 1.5 percent. Each 1.5 percent kick up was theirs on top of the 1%. Obviously each man had a profit realm to wheel and deal with. Some men had huge customers working off the top price card and offering once or twice a year "sales" where they could cut 5% off a qualifying order. Each sale earned 3% in ad dollars that went into a general ad allowance for that salesman. If he chose to use it all with one dealer, he could, but other dealers may suffer from lack of brand recognition. If there were any dollars left in the salesmans ad bag at the end of quarter, and his sales were up over the same quarter last year AND his last quarter, he got 25% of it. Skillful sales men were earning 75-100K when you added their base. Expenses were based on miles from their home base to their next account. Depending on if it was air miles or car miles they could earn 68 cents to a dollar per mile. Once again, smart and savvy made the most bucks, but in Rachels last study of expenses, a rep would be hard pressed to "earn" over a $100 per month over actual costs. Qualified receipts had to be submitted to show travel. I learned every trick in the book from my father and the way we did things insured that a rep could not "phone" it in or be lazy. If a guy (or gal) could not earn at least 75K under this structure, they probably could not last too long. If you sold out of territory or offered another salesman's customer a better deal, the "other" salesman got the credit. They were trained NOT to eat their young, but to pass on sales leads.

Phil Candee would be my sixth sales rep and I expected to add 2 more by Christmas. That brought my total number of employees to 53, but only 13 in this country. Although we sold high end shoes that were real quality, our bread and butter was the product that retailed $35-40 depending on the seller. That item was available in 4 different styles and costs us around $22 to manufacture, sell, promote, and ship. So if a store was buying off the best price card he paid cost plus the 18% overhead most wholesalers work on (about $5), landing them at $27. If they sold at the pre-price of 39.99 that was a mark-up of 30+ percent, but remember that's NET markup. A fast moving item like a great pair of dress shoes that "look" like $100 shoes if you keep after them, maintain and shine them, is an item that in any other department, they can call a loss leader. Our product looked like a loss leader and STILL made money. Sales managers of big box and mass retailers loved us.

After lengthy talks and sharing of ideas I decided to hire Phil Candee and sent him out with Tom to train him for a week and then I would go with him for a week to observe and then he would be on his own for 30 days. He had 45 days to prove himself. If Phil worked out and he joined the force he would take a portion of Toms accounts and Tom Mills would be my National Sales Manager and get a percentage of every sale while maintaining a few key accounts of his own. He would work with each salesperson for a few days at a time to coordinate our policies and be sure they were doing their jobs. By the Christmas season he would have 8 reps to work with and coordinate sales. We were growing at a rate faster than I had expected. I was sure my Dad would be proud.

By the time I got out of meetings with Tom and Phil, got paperwork squared away I got out around 5:45 and would have to rush home and shower to meet Allie at 6:30 or so. I must have had the Gods on my side as I was there by just past 6:30. Allie looked elegant in a dress I'm sure cost a weeks' pay that I hope she didn't buy just for me. She came to the door in heels and walked like she was born in them and the way it made her ass move in the dress was quite alluring. I told her how incredible she looked and she blushed as she got in the car.

"If Simone taught me one positive thing, it was how to dress, and dress to kill. I'm much happier dressing for you." She said in an almost whisper to me.

When she and I walked through the restaurant to our table the halt in most every mans breath was palpable. She was stunning and when her wrap came off her shoulders her strapless dress had me hard at the table.

"I want you to know that I feel like a new woman since finishing my therapy. I've gotten so many things straightened out in my head. I'm back to the personality I had in High School. That would be more open, friendlier, AND more inquisitive. I had been in my own little world and less apt to ask questions, now I'm a little more of a detective about things. I like to know how things work, how and why people tick and what drives them. This attitude is the reason I'm so creative, but now I'm applying it to life." She expounded forthrightly.

"So, am I going to like this new you? Are the things that brought my attention to you still going to be interesting to me?" I asked facetiously.

She looked down at her cleavage and then up to me. "I don't know, do you think they've changed at all?"

"Allie, it wasn't just your body I was attracted to. It was the fact you were able to take a defeat you were OK with, and simply flip it over by hearing some positive words and then the fact you took the time to come by and thank me. You were smart, you were classy, you were thoughtful. Three things missing in today's youth, not that I'm that much older than you, just 18 months, but I'm definitely more establishment." I told her.

"When a client comes in and tells us what he's looking for, what his ideas are, I try to delve into his words and actions to see what they really want, and I'm pretty good at hitting the nail on the head finding the things that will make them our customer." She said.

"So what have you discovered about me? I feel that's coming." I asked.

"Tell me about your relationship with Mary. If she's your girlfriend it almost seems you're trying to play under her nose with me." Allie assumed.

"Whoa, you've got something all wrong here. That's not the kind of guy I am and Mary and I TRIED the relationship thing, but it doesn't work. We are great friends and confidants now."

"But, you're friends with benefits, aren't you?" She asked.

"What makes you ask that?" I wondered before I admitted the truth.