3 Sin City Hunter (15 page)

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Flow chart
Flip chart
Printing error on daily form
Curry
Look into weight loss benefits of curcumin
Susan Raines

It was 3:45. Gregory and I had eaten lunch together in the lunchroom an
d then finished our tour. I
returned to the guest off
ice assigned to me and saw
my name had been temporarily placed on the door. I grabbed my purse and made a quick trip to the restroom to freshen my makeup and brush my hair. I
noticed
several men in the building looking my way a little longer than was appropriate, but
, so far,
everyone had been professional and friendly.

I was right on time when I arrived at the reception area at the same time as Betsy Ann. We
rode
the elevator to the second floor and went directly to the large conference room where several people were alread
y seated. Betsy Ann had already suggested
I take a seat at the end of the table
,
as everyone
seemed to have their favorite seat
, and I wouldn’t want to step on any toes.

This was the weekly meeting for all of the department heads. New business and ideas were discussed here as well as the financial health of the centers. As the meeting progressed, it was quite an eye-opener to be on this side of the discussion rather than from the center looking back at corporate.

I looked at the short list on my notepad again. These were the items I
hoped to have the opportunity to bring up while I was here.
Janice, from accounting,
was going over one of the center’s financial difficulties
with a senior accountant
, and I
had
made the
list while
waiting for the meeting to continue
. I couldn’t help but to write Susan Raines at the bottom. I never tired of seeing it in writing, and it looked pretty with my handwriting of loops and flourishes.

I was brought back to reality by a stirring at the table. Janice had stopped talking and another man was introducing the moderator for the brainstorming session this week, Mr. Carlton Waltham, the new Operations Manager. The glass door to the conference room opened, and everyone broke into ap
plause as Carl entered the room.

My eyes popped open wide, and I felt the color drain from my face. Carl! That horrible Carl worked here at Slimmers! Oh my gosh! Was Carl my boss? I shrank back in my seat to hide myself from view by the person seated next to me.

Thoughts started pouring into my head. Gilbert Torres was at the hotel because Carl lives in a condo on the property. They obviously had a confrontation of some kind. Carl could no
longer hide the fact
he was involved in the murder, and the story of a seizure was no longer going to hold up. This was bad. Really bad. When he saw me, he would know
with certainty that I knew what he had done.
I looked around to see if there was a door where I could slip out.

“I understand we have a guest from Ohio with us today,” Carl was saying. Everyone at the table turned to look at me, and they were all smiling. I willed myself to disappear, but it didn’t happen. I sat up in my chair. Carl was looking down at his notes and saying, “Susan Hunter. You have some impressive numbers coming out of your center in Carbide City.” He l
ooked up and his eyes locked
mine.

It wasn’t obvious to anyone who wouldn’t be looking for it, but his eyes slightly squinted, and I saw his jaw line clench. This was not going to be good.

He held his composure and said
with aloofness
, “What a pleasant surprise. Susan and I have actually met already at the hotel, and we didn’t realize who the other was.”

I smiled but didn’t respond. I
couldn’t
trust my voice to hold steady.
A
sudden tension develop
ed
in the room, but Carl was quick to disperse it with the abrasive personality I had come to know.

“Susan, you seem to be a hot shot when it comes to running a center, so why don’t you start our brainstorming session off today with a new idea
to
revolutionize our business.”

I knew he was trying to put me on the spot and humiliate me, but I was no slou
ch when it came to creative.
I stood up and said, “Thank you, Mr. Waltham. I don’t know about revolutionize, but I actually do have an idea.”

I looked at my little list and simply went wi
th the first item. “I find
many of the counselors aren’t able to handle turning a potential
member
away when they aren’t medically qualified to
join the program. The potential member
has taken the time to fill out the initial
questionnaire, and then they’re
summarily dismissed with
little interaction or information. This usually puts the potential
member on the defensive, and she
may even leave angry.”

Many of the people at the table were nodding their heads while Carl was glaring at me. I forged
ahead and said, “I propose
we eliminate the questionnaire altogether. Let’s put to
gether a simple flow chart
a counselor can fill out with a potential
member
. The counselor asks the medical questions directly, and the arrows on the chart will guide her to continue askin
g questions until she sees
enrolling is the positive outcome, or to a stop sign because a medical condition prohibits enrolling. The person who came in will have had some personal attention and will likely be more understanding when we send them to their doctor for approval.”

Heads were nodding, and I could tell the idea was a home run. Carl’s voice was snarky as he asked, “Do you have a sample of this wonderful flow chart?”

“I do,” I told him. “I’ve already tested it on a few of our
members
, made a couple of revisions, and I have the final form ready to send in for approval. I’ll fax it next week when I’m back in the center.”

There was some applause in the room, but Carl was looking like he wanted to kill someone – again. I sat down. He looked around the room and then back
to me
and said, “That’s it? You
only
have one idea?” His look was one of
what’s so great about that?

I stood up and smiled sweetly at him. I wasn’t afraid of him in this room, and I felt embold
ened. “I have another idea
I think will work, too
,” I said.
I
checked
my list and went with the second item. “We need a new flip chart. It’s an old fitness center trick to use flip charts to overcome objections, and most people find them offensive. When they’re trying to decide to spend their hard earned money, they don’t need someone flipping a chart at them
which
says losing weight is like buying a new car or some other such nonsense. It isn’t logical, and I have yet to see a counselor handle the flip chart effectively.” I looked around the table, and heads were nodding again. Carl was slightly purple. I continued, “But a flip chart is a valuable tool.
O
ur flip chart
should
walk a potential
member
through the benefits of our program. It will help to keep a counselor on track so she isn’t making
claims or saying something
she shouldn’t. It will be a prop for the counselor to make the best presentation possible, but it will also tell the potential
member
everything she needs to know to make a positive, informed decision about enrolling.”

Once again, heads were nodding, notes were being taken, and a few people applauded. Before Carl could ask his snarky question, I said, “Next week, I’ll overnight the already tested samples to the Creative Department.”

I could see Be
tsy Ann beaming. She was proud
I was making a good showing on my first visit. I knew she had talked highly about me here.

Carl put both hands on the table, and said sharply, “Anything else?”

I looked at my list again.

“There are
a couple of small things
I wanted to bring up while
I’m
here. There’s a printing error on the
new daily form
. The plus/minus for the day is backward and needs to be corre
-
”

Carl butted in and said, “There’s nothing wrong with th
e
form. I designed it myself, and it’s perfect.
You’re the only person who doesn’t seem to know how to fill it out.
”

I held my ground and said, “I work with it every day, and the plus/minus is backward.” It was a simple thing on the form, indicating if you were over or under on your cash for the day. It usually involved pennies, but it was irritating to have to switch it every day.

Carl snapped at one of the people closest to him to run and get the form. I continued, “Another item is the curry chicken.
None of the members in our center
like it. It isn’t the curry flavor, it’s something else. Maybe
a taste-test
could be held
here
,
so
the people who work with the supplier can give them their input.” More heads were nodded and notes were
taken. I decided to stop
and not push my luck any further.

Carl looked around the room and said
with sarcasm creeping into his voice
, “I hear Susan is
also
a hot shot
on the racquetball court
. We’re all playing at the club tomorrow night if any of you want to come watch and/or play.” He looked at his notes and said with absolutely
no expression
, “I’m sure all of you have heard about what happened to Gilbert Torres. The funeral is tomorrow at 2:00, and anyone in your departments wanting to attend the services may go.”

The woman who ran to get the daily form came through the door and handed it to him. A man at the table stood up to stand beside Carl and started adding numbers to the form. A few minutes later, Carl’s face turned another light shade of purple. He flipped the form at the man’s chest, and said through gritted teeth, “Fix it.” He then stormed out of the room. I had to suppress a smile.

The meeting was over. Betsy Ann came to my side and said, “Susan,
you were
fantastic
.
How did you come up with those great ideas?”

“It
really wasn’t
hard,” I told her. “When you work in the center every day, you see the things that
aren’t working
. Rather than to be frustrated, I try to fix them. I don’t want employee turnover in my center, so I guess the ideas are born out of selfishness.”

“Well, it went really well,” she said. “Everyone was impressed. You didn’t know it, and you couldn’t see him, but Mortimer Davis was sitting across the table from me, and he was smiling at everything you
said. You obviously made a
good impression.”

Mortimer Davis was the Senior Executive Vice President. If I had known he was in the room, I probably would have been too nervous to say much of anything.

It was after 5:00, and Betsy Ann walked with me to my office
,
so I could collect my things. When I had my purse and sweater in hand, and had put the small key back in the desk, Betsy Ann asked, “Susan, I don’t mean to pry, and I probably shouldn’t say anything, but what was going on between you and Carlton Waltham. I don’t know if anybody else no
ticed, but it seemed to me
there was some tension when you two looked at each other. I’m around Carlton
often
, and I could tell
he wasn’t happy to see you.”

“Betsy Ann, is he my boss?” I asked her. I was concerned about saying anything at all about him if he could boot me out of the company with the snap of a finger.

“No, Susan, not directly
,” she said
.
“
He could ask
for you to
be removed from your position, but he would
n’t
have the final say, and I think today you sealed your future with the company, so there’s nothing to worry about.” She looked at me
with raised eyebrows
as
if
to ask,
“
Now,
what’s going on
?
”

“We’ve had a couple of encounters at the hotel,” I told her. “One was at a craps table, and the other was talking outside by the pool. He was aggressive and unpleasant both times.”