Everyone in our sales bullpen had been waiting on Ironridge for months, because their CEO almost never accepted vendor presentations and their procurement team had a reputation for grinding consultants down until only the strongest proposal survived, which meant winning the contract would stamp credibility onto any firm lucky enough to land it. I stared at the meeting invitation while my stomach tightened, because Tuesday morning in Chicago could change someone’s entire career if the right people were in the room.
My boss Diane Lockhart stepped out of her glass office with sharp heels and sharper confidence while announcing, “The Ironridge meeting is confirmed and we are flying out Monday afternoon so I expect everyone to have their numbers perfect.” The bullpen went quiet as she continued speaking and then casually added, “I will present with Colin from the sales team.”
I raised my hand because I had built the entire rollout plan and pricing model for the account over four exhausting months. I said carefully, “Diane, since I prepared the integration schedule and the facility deployment model I should probably attend the meeting to answer technical questions.”