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Situation 8 Meeting the Boss
(Mr. Barnes calls Steve on the intraoffice phone)
Mr. Barnes: Dawson?
Steve: Yes, this is he.
Mr. Barnes: Contact Goddard and come up to my office immediately. I want to go over today's meeting in advance.
Steve: Mr. Goddard is with me now; we'll come up right away. (Steve to James.) Well, that was the old man; It's show time. And he sounds a little nervous, which means we have to be even more careful.
James: I'll be extremely careful. I just don't want him to yell at me again. I'm an engineer, not a secretary.
Steve: Be careful. Lisa might hear you. Anyway, let's go.
(Steve and James go up to Mr. Barnes' office and his secretary sends them in. They knock on the door.)
Mr. Barnes: Come in.
James: Good morning, sir.
Steve: Good morning, Mr. Barnes. How are you?
Mr. Barnes: I'll be a lot better after this meeting is over. I hope you two have done your homework / because this is a huge deal. If we can convince Wang / about our company / then larger computer firms will follow. I don't have to tell either of you that could mean millions of dollars. I'm counting on you.
Steve: Don't worry, Mr. Barnes. Sir, you can depend on us. Isn't that right, James?
James: Yes, I think, I mean of course you can.
Mr. Barnes: I had better be able to. And if you two do / a good job, I won't forget it when it comes time for promotions either. I put you on this assignment / because you are my two best men; I know you won't disappoint me. Well, let's hear about your ideas for the presentation. Goddard, would you like to start?
James: I think it might be best to let Mr. Dawson begin; he is the expert at sales.
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Situation 9 Going to Lunch
Steve: Wow, that went pretty well. Mr. Barnes was easy today.
James: Easy on you maybe. I don't think he likes me.
Steve: Don't be ridiculous. He likes you, but he's a businessman like me / and so I know how to talk to him.
James: I'm not so sure.
Steve: Well, I'm sure that I'm hungry. Why don't we continue talking over lunch?
James: That sounds great; I'm starving.
(They walk outside the building to a restaurant.)
Steve: Do you like Italian food? This place is terrific.
James: Like it? I love it. Let's go in.
(They sit down and look at the menu for a while, then the waitress comes.)
Steve: What are your specials today?
Waitress: Today we have roasted lamb and vegetable lasagna, I highly recommend the lasagna.
James: The lasagna sounds good; I'll have that.
Waitress: And you, sir?
Steve: No. No vegetables for me. I want some meat. I'll try the lamb, please.
Waitress: Also an excellent choice. Would you care for anything to drink?
Steve: Yes, I'll have a double martini.
James: Steve, what about the meeting?
Steve: Oh. Yes. Better make that / a mineral water.
James: I'll have some lemonade, please. And could you bring us some bread to start.
Waitress: Of course, I'll be right back with that.
James: I like this place. They have really good service.
Steve: Just follow me and you won't go wrong.
James: Not with restaurants, at least.
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Situation 10 The Meeting
Steve: Good afternoon, gentlemen. Today my colleague, Mr. Goddard and I will be introducing you to a revolutionary new software program. It combines all the functions of various other programs -- word processing, translating, financial management, graphic design / and more -- into one. I will be leading the first part of the presentation, while Mr. Goddard will be answering technical questions at the end.
Mr. Wang: I have a question from the beginning.
Steve: Yes. Please go ahead.
Mr. Wang: I'm wondering about the price of your program. In other words, will it be cheaper to buy your product, or / should we just buy all {of} the others separately?
Steve: I'm glad you asked that question, Mr. Wang. I was going to save this part until the end of the meeting, but since you asked / I will tell you. Our program is on average forty percent less expensive than it would be to buy the programs it replaces separately.
Mr. Wang: And what about after-service and upgrades?
Steve: All our products are guaranteed for one year. As for upgrades, they will also be free for one year and can be downloaded / from the internet.
Mr. Wang: I am also curious about compatibility with Apple computers. Do you have a separate product for Apple or...?
Steve: Perhaps my colleague should answer that, as it is more on the techinal side.
James: Mr. Wang, I developed this product to work on both PC's and Macs. I assume your company is mainly interested in the PC version, but I assure you Mac users will have no problems with our product either.
Mr. Wang: That's what I was afraid of. I want Mac users to have problems. Otherwise / they'll keep buying from Apple / and not / from my company.
Steve: I apologize, sir, but I cannot help you with that.
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Situation 11 With a Co-Worker
Larry: Steve, James, how did the presentation go?
Steve: Don't ask.
James: Oh, it wasn't that bad. Steve did really well; I think they are sold.
Steve: They were until you told them that we were making the same product for their competitors. You never tell them that.
James: I am sorry, but I cannot lie just to make a sale. Maybe that's why I'm terrible at sales.
Steve: Yeah, that's right. From now on you just stick to designing and programming, and leave the selling to me.
Larry: Don't be too hard on him, Steve. Mr. Wang might appreciate his honesty. Even if you have lied to him, he's a smart guy, especially when it comes to computers, and he probably would have known anyway. Now he knows you guys and our company are honest; we'll just see what happens.
James: True. And besides, Apple is really a tiny company when compared to all these PC giants. I don't think Mr. Wang feels threatened by them.
Steve: I am sure we'll know soon enough.
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Situation 12 Backing the Boss's Office
Mr. Barnes: (Seeming quite upset) I hope you two know what you have done.
James: I'm sorry, Mr. Barnes. It was all my fault. Steve was doing just fine until I opened my big mouth. I take full responsibility.
Steve: Yes, sir. I told him to keep quiet about that Mac stuff / and just let me do the talking.
Mr. Barnes: Is that so?
James: Yes, sir.
Mr. Barnes: (Now seeming quite happy) Well, that's interesting since Mr. Wang has just signed a contract to order fifty-thousand units. Good job, Goddard. He said he was impressed both by your technical knowledge / and your honesty. As for you Dawson, we'll talk tomorrow; right now, I'm too happy to think about anything negative.
Steve: But, Mr. Barnes, sir.
Mr. Barnes: That will be all.
James: Come on, Steve. You can only make it worse by talking now. Good-bye, Mr. Barnes, and thank you.
Mr. Barnes: No, thank you, Goddard. You did a fine job today. This company needs more men like you. We may be talking about a promotion soon. Now get out {of} here.
James/Steve: Yes, sir. Good-bye.
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Situation 13 In the Parking Lot
Steve: James, wait. I really want to say I'm sorry for my behavior before.
James: Don't mention it.
Steve: No, really, I did a rotten thing back there and I just wanted to apologize.
James: Forget about it. You are under a lot of pressure over the last few weeks, I know how important this project was to you.
Steve: Yeah, but it was important to you too, and I shouldn't have turned on you like that.
James: Well, you may have a chance to make it up to me.
Steve: How?
James: If I become vice president I'll need my own good men to work for me.
Steve: Would you do that for me?
James: Of course I would. I've seen you work, and you're very talented. Even today you were much better prepared than I was, I just got lucky.
Steve: It wasn't all luck. You have so much more technical knowledge than I do, and you're not afraid to tell the truth.
James: Exactly, and that's why, like today, we make a good team. I'd hate to lose you and I know the company would too.
Steve: I'm not so sure about that after hearing Mr. Barnes today.
James: That's nonsense. He just tried to scare you. And besides, if he's so happy with my performance, he'll have to listen when I tell him you're one of the best men at his company.
Steve: I hope you're right.
James: You know I'm right. Would you like something to drink?
Steve: Not only would I like it, I need it.
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Situation 14 In a Bar
Bartender: What can I get for you / gentlemen tonight?
James: I'd like a gin and tonic, please.
Steve: Make mine a double scotch, straight up.
Bartender: Did you have a rough day?
Steve: I don't want to talk about it? but let's just say you should keep the bottle close at hand.
Bartender: I understand.
James: Hey, where's my gin and tonic?
Bartender: Okay, okey. Just give me a second here.
(Bartender goes to make the drinks.)
Steve: Man, I just wanted to apologize again for...
James: (Cutting Steve off.) Stop. We're at a bar now, not at the office, and I don't want to talk about work. I said it was okay and I meant it. If it's really still bothering you we can talk about it on Monday.
Steve: You are right. I'll shut up now.
Bartender: (Returning with a drink in each hand.) Here's a gin and tonic for you, and a double scotch, straight up, for my friend who had the hard day. I hope this helps.
Steve: You know it will. James, a toast to your coming promotion.
James: No, you are getting ahead of yourself. First, let's drink to our successful deal today. Cheers.
(They touch glasses.)
Steve: Cheers, to a good day's work.