Finding the conference room occupied, Harbin doubles back to the kitchen (also dark, also paneled) and sits down at a folding table. Ohlson takes the chair opposite. Between them are a bag of chocolate-chip cookies and a bowl of bananas.
There was a time when Ohlson carted a briefcase stuffed with sales literature to every meeting with a customer. "By the time I got done with the call," he says, "my briefcase was empty, and I had to pack it all back in." Nowadays Ohlson carries only his planner, for taking notes. That indicates a fundamental shift in the way he does business. He's not here to make a pitch, he's here to listen.
"So whattaya anticipate doing here?" is Ohlson's first question. He already knows from earlier conversations with Harbin that Franklin has a continuing need for a certain kind of high-pressure valve. He has brought along a quote. "Right there's a real decent price," says Harbin. But price is not the only issue. Harbin's bigger problem lately is getting the parts he needs when he needs them. He has to know he can count on four weeks' delivery. Ohlson can do that; it may mean carrying more inventory than Activation would prefer, but that's OK, it's a popular valve.
Harbin is satisfied. Purchasing will want to stamp it, of course, but Ohlson knows from experience that at Franklin, with this kind of order, what the engineer says, goes. "50-60/YEAR OF A3D06/4WEH22," Ohlson prints neatly in pencil in his planner. "4 WEEKS' DELIVERY OKAY." Right there's a $15,000 start on 1995.
Afterward Ohlson follows Harbin out to the shop floor to inspect some new equipment and then drops in on Norman Carter, the purchasing agent. Carter's office is right off the shop floor. There must be a bathroom on the other side of that brown paneled wall; when the toilet flushes, everybody hears it. (Carter's a comedian. "A salesman," it says on a piece of paper taped to the wall, "is a man who knows very little about many things and keeps on learning less and less about more and more until he knows practically nothing about everything.")
Ohlson wants to take Carter's pulse. Recently, he nearly lost a $17,000 cylinder order from Carter when a competitor underbid him by $250. "What are you trying to do to us?" Ohlson demanded. Activation refused to trim its margin, and Carter eventually gave in. "Well," Carter replied, "it was worth a shot."
"As far as cylinders go," Ohlson wants to know now, "how many people are in here beating on you?" (His tone is friendly, confident, the opposite of bitter. You may well feel distress at the prospect of lost business, Ohlson says, but you'd better not show it, "because all the customer sees are dollar signs.")
"Milwaukee's the big one," Carter allows.
"Are you actively pursuing another cylinder company?"
"I'm not. I don't want to change -- go through the pain of stuff coming in wrong. We don't have time for that."
That's reassuring to Ohlson, as far as it goes. But there it is again, the time issue. A year ago, whatever Ohlson's customers wanted, they could have had yesterday. These days everybody's backed up, all down the line, and Ohlson's feeling the heat. Shipments have been late, and he knows he has some explaining to do. That's why, before he leaves, he wants a word with Shane Bendall, Franklin's chief engineer.
"Reason I wanted to talk to you was about cylinders," Ohlson starts in. He's perched on the edge of a side table in Bendall's spacious office, a pose that says, "This won't take long, we're both busy men."
Bendall nods. "This is the problem," says Bendall. "Business is good. We're booked now through June of next year." There will be no Christmas break this winter. Sheffer, Activation's supplier, can have no more unexplained delays on cylinder shipments. Customers are waiting. "Price and delivery are the driving forces right now," Bendall says. "Of course, if we can't get along with Sheffer on delivery, we'll have to go somewhere else."
Price first. "We're never going to have a price advantage here. On price, we can't compete," says Ohlson. That's OK, he continues, because of what Activation and Sheffer together can offer Franklin. With that he launches into a brief, untranslatable monologue on product features and capabilities.
Then on to the nut: delivery. Part of the problem, frankly, is that Activation is unwilling to inventory cylinders -- too many sizes, too many options. Bendall might understand that. Then again, he might not; that's Activation's problem, not his. So Ohlson tries a different tack. First he tells Bendall that Sheffer is hiring; eventually, that should help ease the production bottlenecks. Second, he's willing to work with Franklin to help Carter improve his order timing. And third, he has asked Sheffer to begin sending Franklin periodic delivery-status reports; if a delivery is going to be late, at least it won't be a surprise.
"The economy is good," Ohlson says, wrapping up. "We're seeing delivery problems with a lot of vendors. If someone else promises you two weeks now, the chances are real good that they'll mess up later. Live with us through this, and let's move on."
* * *
Thursday, P.M.
Lunch at the Speedy Pig, in Russellville -- chicken fingers, french fries, and broccoli casserole; salespeople sure know where to eat. Then it's back into the Bronco and north on U.S. 43, past the Big Bear Motor Exchange, the Cotton Patch Trading Post, and the sign pointing west to Tuscumbia ("Birthplace of Helen Keller"), with Ohlson arriving 15 minutes early for a one o'clock appointment at Reynolds Metals, outside Muscle Shoals.
