Best Sales Job In The World 12

Even though there was no RM in Chicago the girls were doing great and Barb knew how to prepare the report. When he visited Chicago he spent several days there and had his fun with Barb and Carol. Lynette, Sharon and Natalie were dating guys so they cooled it with Cliff. However he was sure they still used their feminine charms to close deals. He also traveled to Atlanta, Dallas and California to meet with the staff and review the sales projections and performance. He was also well taken care of by the sales girls Paige, Jessica and Margot in those offices. Of course Carla and Erica kept him happy in Philadelphia.

There was no need for him to travel to Denver as Robin's numbers were included in the Dallas report, except that Cliff wanted to see Robin. He would spend a couple of days in the foothills at her cabin and they would make love morning and night. With the women in the other offices it was always raw sex. Cliff liked to think of it as sport fucking. Every girl had given up her ass to Cliff as he loved anal sex but with Robin it was different. She had a marvelous ass but she was never showed interest in anal and Cliff did not push it with her. With Robin it was love making and they enjoyed each other's company. Cliff felt that he was falling for Robin and he sensed that she felt the same way.

He decided to take a week's vacation and spend it with Robin. Cliff took her to Hawaii for a week and they had a great time on vacation. Robin left her dog Ajax with a friend who also had dogs. No one in the company knew they were together. They stayed on Maui and did island hopping to Kauai, Oahu, Lanai and the big island. It was sightseeing and beach time during the day followed by a romantic dinner and then passionate love making. They became very close that week.

After his trip to all the offices reviewing third quarter results and fourth quarter projections, Cliff returned to the home office feeling very good about things. That Monday he was to present the report to Vaughn and senior management and on Tuesday to the Board. Monday's meeting began at 10:00 AM and coffee and pastries were served. Vaughn, Bud, Ed and Mike listened intently to Cliff's presentation and they were all pleased with the results and projections.

"Cliff, I thought that you did the impossible last year but this year will beat that," Vaughn acknowledged.

"Very solid Cliff," Bud added.

"Thank you but the staff under the direction of the regional managers are making it happen," Cliff responded.

"We know that but you set up the team and the system," Vaughn offered.

"The tech support in the field was a big help too," Cliff mentioned. Ed and Mike nodded their agreement and appreciation of Cliff's compliment.

"Now we know that we are reaching market saturation with our product line. Between us and our competition we will be installed in nearly 80 % of the date centers nationally and about 60 % internationally," Cliff stated and then asked, "So where are we with the new products?"

Ed and Mike looked nervous when Cliff posed the question. "What's wrong? Are we behind schedule?" Cliff challenged.

Vaughn answered, "The funding for new development is on hold."

"What do you mean on hold? We need these products or we will never make our quotas for next year," Cliff blurted out.

"The Board is evaluating our direction. We will know after tomorrow's meeting where they stand," Vaughn explained.

"How can they be so naïve? They must know that we need these products to keep the company viable. No one else will be able to compete in that product line with our installed base. System compatibility is paramount and we are the front runners." Cliff pressed on.

Cliff looked at Ed and Mike who remained silent but nodded their heads in agreement. Vaughn shut the discussion down, "Look we can sit here and convince ourselves but it is the Board who has the final say. I think your presentation on the sales numbers will go a long way influencing them but they have the final say on all new investments."

The meeting concluded and Cliff was miffed. He sensed that something was not right but he couldn't put his finger on it. He knew that only Vaughn and the Board knew what was really going on. Later that day he spoke with Jay to see if he heard any rumblings around the office but he had not. Cliff told Carla that he was not in the mood for any company that evening. He picked up a pizza and sat in his apartment thinking about what he would say to the Board. He decided to go out on a limb and project sales for the new products the following year. He created a forecast based on the products being ready in six months and showed how their installed customer base would benefit from the integrated product line. He worked in to the late hours preparing the presentation.

DISHEARTENING NEWS

On Tuesday Cliff was first up at the Board meeting following the minutes and opening comments. He gave a thorough account of all business and accurate projections for the final quarter. The Board was pleased so Cliff launched into his future forecast based on the new products which he said should be sold as one. He explained how the company had a jump start on the competition with product integration. As he went through his spiel some of the Board members looked disinterested. Vaughn had a look of doom and gloom and Cliff knew something was wrong.

Cliff finished his presentation and the Chairman thanked him for being so thorough and congratulated him on another superb sales performance. Cliff was dismissed but Vaughn intervened. "Mr. Chairman, I would like to have Cliff present for the next discussion."

"Very well," the Chairman agreed and then stated, "The next order of business is the offer we received to acquire the company."

Cliff could hardly believe what he heard. "Bud would you read the proposal summary," the Chairman directed.

Bud read the summary which outlined the offer. "All of the supporting documentation and acquisition details are included. You all have had a chance to review the offer. Is there any further discussion?" the Chairman asked the Board.

"Who is the offer from?" Cliff blurted out barely able to conceal his anger.

"It is from Software Affiliates and it is quite attractive," a board member replied.

"Jesus Christ not them, we kicked their ass in sales. They're just buying the customer base," Cliff yelled.

"That's enough Cliff. Just sit down and listen or leave," Vaughn told him.

However Cliff was not done, "We had a record year last year and we will beat that this year,"

"Exactly why it is a good time to sell," a member said.

Cliff then realized what was going on. The Board members who were also silent partners were going to cash in. They decided to sell the company while it was riding high and reap the return on their investment. Cliff felt that they were shortsighted and did not understand the value the company could attain with the new product line. Or maybe they just didn't care. They had ridden the horse long enough and it was time to dismount. Cliff knew the decision had been made before the meeting and now it was just a formality.

After the meeting Cliff sat in his office in disbelief. He had busted his ass for the company and things had looked so promising. Now it would be gone in a matter of months. Cliff knew how the owner of Software Affiliates, Jimmy Chang worked. He would transition all accounts to his existing sales organization and every sales person and RM would be let go. Jimmy viewed sales people as the most expensive employees. He would keep tech support around but eventually lay off the management.

Carla stuck her head in his office, "Cliff, Jimmy Chang's office is calling for you. He would like to have dinner with you."

"Tell him to fuck off. Please set up a conference call with all the regional managers and ask Jay to come to my office. I don't want this news trickling out to the field," Cliff told her.

"Should I really tell him to fuck off?" she asked with a wry smile.

"No, just tell him that I am not hungry," Cliff instructed.

Minutes later he was on the phone to the regional managers with Jay in his office. Everyone was stunned and looked for direction. Cliff told them, "Close as much business as you can before the deal is final so that you can cash in on commissions. Update your resumes and feel free to use me as a reference."

"What are you going to do?" Jay asked.

"I'm going to try and get all of you and the sales force as much money as I can before this goes down and get you as much severance as I can. Then I am going to take some time off and do some traveling. I need to get away from this shit," Cliff shared.

After he was done with the managers he called Robin to tell her what was going on. She was stunned but handled the news well. "I was thinking about taking three months off and touring Europe. Would you like to join me?"

"I would love that. I have to make some arrangements on this end but I am all for that," Robin accepted.

"Good, we'll talk more later and plan our trip. I need to do a few more things today, bye," Cliff responded.

"Bye, love you!" Robin said softly. It was the first time he heard her say I love you. He called her right back and told her that he loved her too.

The next three months were a whirlwind as everyone scrambled to close as many deals as they could. The company had agreed to hold off finalizing the acquisition until the fiscal year end. Cliff traveled all over the country helping anyone who needed it to close a deal. It was also like a huge bachelor party for him before him before he settled down with Robin. In each office he had his final fling with the Paige, Jessica, Margot, Sandra, Carol and Barb. Even Natalie, Sharon and Lynnette had sex with his one last time.

The company had set the all time record for sales. There was reason to celebrate but at the same time so it was demoralizing. He had been successful getting all the sales people extended severance agreements. Many of them had landed positions quickly because of the record numbers posted by the company. Cliff was offered a consulting position with Software Affiliates which he promptly turned down. Jimmy Chang could not believe that Cliff would decline such a lucrative offer and even when he sweetened the pot, Cliff still said no. "Figure out how to transition those clients on your own," Cliff told him as he had no use for Chang and his tactics.

Cliff had done well financially with the company and his employee stock options had paid off. He had plenty of cash and could easily afford to quit working for a year. Three months was long enough though and he and Robin toured Italy, Spain and France. It was a wonderful three months together and when they returned to the states they got married. Cliff and Robin started their own company based in Denver. Cliff conducted sales training for software companies and Robin assisted him. He also began a lead service operation and hired a number of people in the Denver area. Cliff and Robin bought a place in the mountains and spent their winters there when they weren't at client sites doing training. The lead service business was successful and Cliff ended up selling it off. The two of them were happy together and enjoyed their life together.

One evening Cliff was sitting on the deck of their mountain home with his scotch rocks. He was reflecting on the past years and thought of the software company that he had helped become successful. It had been an incredible run for Cliff during the early years and he still felt that he had had the best sales job in the world. That was then and now that was behind him but it had one hell of a two year run. Robin joined him on the deck with her glass of wine.

"Penny for your thoughts," she asked.

"Oh just thinking about the last several years and how fortunate we are," he replied.

"You did a marvelous job with Vaughn's company. Do you miss it?"

"No, not now, at first I was livid but I love how things have turned out," he said as he put his arm around Robin as she joined him on the glider.

They looked out at the mountain range, "Isn't it beautiful?" she sighed.

"It doesn't get any better than this," he responded and then kissed her.

Robin snuggled up to him curling her legs up on the cushions. Cliff took another sip of his scotch and stared out onto the mountains. He loved the Rockies, he loved his life and he loved Robin. He repeated his statement silently in his mind, "It doesn't get any better than this."