CHAPTER 12 - THURSDAY
When Kelly arrived at work on Thursday morning, Mary had Petrowski's remarks ready for him to review, an assignment Kelly wasn't particularly comfortable with. He decided to look at them in the auditorium, where he could watch the closed circuit feed from the POA meeting.
All three giant monitors carried the same picture from the Oak Manor conference center, which at the moment, consisted of an empty podium. The CEO, Raymond Lorch, was scheduled to speak, after which, busses would take the conferees to the memorial service. Only a smattering of employees had come to the auditorium to watch the feed.
The vice president in charge of sales soon took to the podium, offering a welcoming message for the sales force, which included the district managers, sales leaders, and rookies getting their first chance to connect with the wider Naughton community -- an opportunity to get them fired up for their new jobs. Kelly didn't pay much attention to the feed, focusing mainly on Petrowski's written remarks, but his focus was soon interrupted by an executive talking on his cell. He had entered the door on Kelly's right, taking a seat across the aisle one row up.
"I'll be over there in a while," said the exec. "I had to stop here to get my handouts printed."
Kelly vaguely remembered the guy. Assistant sales manager? Or maybe assistant to the sales vice president? Kelly wasn't really sure. Maybe marketing
A wave of applause came from the close circuit feed as the VP of sales finished his introduction of Raymond Lorch, who came to the microphone.
The sales exec continued his phone conversation – loudly. "Don't worry about your numbers yet. It takes a while to prime the pump."
Lorch was in triplicate on the big screens as he welcomed the gathered sales force. "Thank you for coming during these sad and difficult days, as we all mourn for our co-workers and grieve along with their families."
"You're new," continued the sales exec, distracting Kelly from Lorch's comments. "Focus on doctors that write a lot of product and you'll be fine."
"Our mission at Naughton Pharmaceuticals is to discover, develop, and provide medicines that improve the lives of people worldwide."
"Remember," said the exec on the phone, "it's all about being personable, making a connection, knowing the pitch, and then asking them to write your products. The samples are key. Once they prescribe the sample, you've got the pipeline flowing."
"Honesty and integrity are the keys to our success."
"Shit, no. Leave the side effects to the black box warning. If a doctor or patient can't spot a black box warning, that's their own damn fault. If they don't ask, don't tell."
"... all the while striving for affordability."
"The price hike is part of the plan. Prices are typically hiked after the first couple years. We get a good customer base going, and then hike the price the remaining years of the patent. Look at the bright side – your commission is going to be higher.
"That's why we invest 23% of our revenue in research and development – well above the industry average."
"We're researching a new formulation on Taskadol that should give us a fresh patent and a new message, but if that doesn't work, we also have the legal department working to stretch out the patent."
The junior exec finally ended the call, checked the time on his phone and rose to leave, noticing Kelly looking at him, amused.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Your conversation."
"Maybe you should mind your own business." The exec marched to the exit.
Kelly shook his head and turned his attention to the sheaf of papers that were Petrowski's remarks. He spent another half hour mulling them over, making some notes. When he returned to Petrowski's office, he found the COO and his assistant, Mary, examining a spread of documents on the meeting table. A television in the corner of the room carried the feed from the POA event, but neither seemed mindful of it. Upon seeing Kelly, Petrowski appeared to welcome the interruption. He went to his desk, gesturing for Kelly to have a seat. Mary began sorting the materials on the table, putting them in some kind of order.
"How bad are they?" asked Petrowski as Kelly handed over the remarks.
"Not bad at all," said Kelly. "It's all pretty good, full of reassurance and confidence. Hits a nice tone about the future of the company."
"But?"
"Well, it's just that there's really nothing about you in this."
"Me?"
"The employees don't know you. It's one thing to tell them the company's going to be fine, but they're only going to believe that if you give them some reason to believe in the interim COO."
Petrowski's eyes narrowed, regarding Kelly with an 'are you nuts?' expression. "I think citing successes from my resume would be both boring and poor form."
"No, nothing like that. I'm thinking of something that lets people get to know you – what you value, or what you find important, or something that helped shape you."
"I see what you mean. A 'daddy-used-to-say' story, or 'I remember when.'"
"Sure. Something that personalizes you and carries a constructive message – a story that makes you real, that says you're not just a hired gun."
Mary brought her newly assembled stack of documents and placed them on Petrowski's desk. He looked at her. "Did you know this young man was so smart?"
"No," Mary deadpanned. "I'm pretty sure he's not." She smiled as she headed off to her adjoining office.
"Kelly, you just get no respect around here, do you?" It was more a statement than question.
Kelly shrugged.
"Any other suggestions?"
"If you can say anything about jobs; that might be good. Some drug companies have been cutting back on their sales force, relying more on advertising directly to the public."
"Not a bad thought, but ..." Petrowski let the thought die.
"But selling the company," said Kelly, remembering. "I suppose that will affect jobs."
Petrowski's eyebrows rose. "You know about the sale?"
Kelly nodded matter-of-factly, realizing too late that it could look bad that Dilman had disclosed news of the sale to minor employee like Kelly.
"Has that gotten around?"
"No. Not really. They told me about it because one of our studies was in trouble. Losing the study could have blown up the deal. It was made pretty clear that it's sensitive inside information."
"Insider trading is a murky thing. There's been a time or two, maybe more, where big trades occurred simply because I came to a company."
"That's quite a compliment."
"Not really. It's just that I've become associated with mergers and acquisitions. There are clever traders who watch for tip-offs like interim hires, but in this case, an acquisition might not be suspected, since it's mainly a vacancy-by-death matter."
Petrowski rose and grabbed his suit coat from the back of his chair. Kelly also stood.
"Are you going to the memorial service?" asked Petrowski.
"No. After the way Westby reacted to me, I figure I better stay away."
Petrowski nodded, appreciating the point.