Peddlers Three

By Edward Groves

Matt Duffy, an auto mechanic turned salesman, and two others, Billy Joe Crews and Tony Prentis, join the sales force of Gere Industries, a manufacturer of automotive replacement parts. The three new salesmen soon become allies, and all prove to be highly capable. Matt in particular becomes the rising star that catches the eye of upper management.

Alex Frost, national sales manager and relentless empire builder, is out to stall Matt’s sales career just as it takes off. Matt’s recruitment test results show a high IQ and, on principle, Alex dislikes intelligent salesmen. In this case, he fears that Matt’s ability will benefit Jason Saunders, the regional manager for Southern California—Matt’s immediate boss and Alex’s arch rival.

To thwart Jason, Alex will stop at little to undermine and eliminate Matt. He first tries to subvert Matt’s hiring and even schemes to have him seduced and drugged. When these tactics fail, Alex hatches another plot that gives new meaning to the term traveling salesman. To keep Jason constantly shorthanded, Alex manufactures one assignment after another to take Matt to other territories. Even upper management’s discovery of Alex’s unethical ploys—not to mention almost getting fired—does little to quench his raging ambition.

Matt manages to dodge Alex’s bullets, excelling at his travel assignments and holding his own in Jason’s territory. But the frequent absences from his wife and two children are taking their toll on his marriage, and even a large bonus does not entirely ease the tension. When both Billy Joe and Tony are promoted, Matt’s own career, as well as his family life, hangs in the balance—until, in the nick of time to repair his marriage, he is promoted to regional manager of the Denver territory.

Alex is thrilled. Not only will Jason lose his best salesman, but Matt is now stuck with a poor-paying territory. But as Alex gloats, he does not know that Matt has helped Jason find a replacement salesman—and the new recruit is every bit as capable as Matt himself. Alex’s triumph is destined to be short-lived, while the alliance of peddlers three promises to endure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edward Groves
• Release date: Feb 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9780615960623

Book preview

PEDDLERS THREE

by

Edward Groves

***

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Published by Edward Groves

Copyright 2014 by Edward Groves

***

SMASHWORDS EDITION LICENSE NOTES

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

***

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE The Factory

CHAPTER TWO The Manpower Agenda

CHAPTER THREE Try to Join the Crowd

CHAPTER FOUR Three Peddlers Meet

CHAPTER FIVE That’s the Way It Bounces

CHAPTER SIX Everyone Is Learning

CHAPTER SEVEN Win a Medal and See the Blues

CHAPTER EIGHT Getting Their Attention

CHAPTER NINE Late to Bed, Early to Rise

CHAPTER TEN The Interview

CHAPTER ELEVEN Was It Just a Mistake?

CHAPTER TWELVE A Couple of Trips

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Manpower and Tool Power

CHAPTER FOURTEEN A Race to the Bahamas

CHAPTER FIFTEEN Long Underwear Comes in Style

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Smart Drinks

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Make a Friend in San Diego

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Hospitality at the Pig Palace

CHAPTER NINETEEN Troubled Times and Regional Ideas

CHAPTER TWENTY May Starts the Moving Months

***

PROLOGUE

July 1967

LYNDON JOHNSON IS PRESIDENT of the USA. The Viet Nam conflict is being waged in Asia. In the States regular gasoline sells for 21.9 cents per gallon in the metro areas. Surface mail is 5 cents but you can send a letter by airmail for 6 cents. Cigarettes are $2.20 a ten-pack carton. The minimum wage has been raised to $1.15 per hour.

Gere Industries is a privately owned automotive replacement parts manufacturer located in Saint Louis. They market their under-the-car products all over the United States as well as worldwide. The company has a network of salesmen in the US and sells to warehouses that, in turn, sell to parts houses and garages.

***

CHAPTER ONE

The Factory

HE MOVED QUICKLY AROUND his small office, gathering all the information Marcus would need in the meeting. He grumbled to himself as he continued this menial task. He muttered, I sweat blood to get my MBA and graduate third in my class for this? Unbelievable. With an unconscious move he ran his fingers through his coal-black hair.

Alex Frost hated board meetings at Gere Industries for a very simple reason: he was not a board member. One day, he vowed to himself for the hundredth—no, for the thousandth—time, I will be one of those chosen few privileged people seated at the board of directors table in the red room. Of course, he reminded himself, he was a mere thirty-eight and it was seldom that anyone attained board member status so young. For the present he would be patient, work hard and keep a hidden file on everyone.

Now, as he held the handful of papers, his mind began checking that he had forgotten nothing before he left his own cramped quarters to go almost straight across the hall. He opened the tiny closet door to look at a small vertical mirror and make sure the crease in his trousers was visible and his shirt properly aligned. Noticing a slight paunch, he admonished himself: I’ve got to ease up on those big lunches. He closed the closet door to banish the sight of the paunch, pulled his shoulders back to stand more erect, making the most of his five feet eleven inches, and went to see his boss. The hallway blossomed into the secretarial area, which was inhabited by four ladies. Stacy was the secretary to the vice president of sales, Marcus Amburn. Alex walked past her to open the door with an authoritative air and did not trouble to knock before entering the vast office. Alex let his eyes sweep the room to make sure everything was in its place. Marcus was seated behind his desk, almost dwarfed by the huge room and its furnishings. Splendid oil renditions of country scenes adorned the walls with a few originals of note. Three large windows took up most of one wall, letting in an enormous amount of light. A five-foot-wide, hand-tooled, dark teakwood desk came close to being able to hold Marcus’s entire body stretched out. A large sofa, complete with a coffee table, was across from a custom-made overstuffed chair fitted to Marcus’s diminutive dimensions.

Alex glanced at his boss over the sheaf of papers he pretended to be reading before delivering. The man’s hair was in perfect shape, not a hair out of place, while it looked natural. Marcus always wore suits precisely tailored to fit his body, with matching ties and cuff links. As Alex noted all these things he suddenly caught sight of his boss’s eyes, which were normally a rich hazel, lit up in apparent distaste. Alex heard him speaking.

Alex, Marcus admonished, in a soft Georgia accent, you should always knock before you enter this office. One day you might be the resident vice president, and I am positive you would want other people to knock before they entered, wouldn’t you?

Alex didn’t even acknowledge the statement; instead he walked around the desk and reached in front of Marcus to lay out three separate stacks of papers. Then Alex pointed to the first stack. These are the figures on how much we are selling per salesman. This—he pointed to the next stack—shows what the national average is and how much we are ahead of it. The last stack shows nine territories where we need more salesmen.

He looked at Marcus just as his boss jammed his palms against the desk, starting to thrust his chair backwards. Alex had to jump away to keep from having his foot run over.

Do you think we have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting nine men?

We need them, Marcus. You know yourself the fifty-one salesmen we have is way below the national average. He took a deep breath and was about to continue when Marcus waved him off.

You might even get Wheeler Gere to agree that the company he owns should be up there with the national average. However, Buck Buchanan is going to stick that national average right up your ass. That, my dear Alex, is no fun when you’re in the red room, believe me.

Alex stopped himself from pouting but it took him a few seconds to form the words. Turning to face Marcus, he said, You could sell them if you tried.

Marcus shook his head at the childish statement before he replied, How many men do we actually need? He held off the answer with an upraised palm. Don’t give me any bullshit now. How many? Right now.

Alex shifted his weight from one foot to the other before saying, Five.

Four, Marcus countered. And that will include one for Southern California, whether you like it or not.

Alex hated Jason Saunders, the district manager of Southern California. His reasons were many but the one that inflamed him the most concerned their yearly income. Jason Saunders was a district manager while Alex was a national sales manager. Yet they both made within a few thousand dollars of each other. Alex could ill afford to let Jason have another man to help increase his bonus. Those thoughts plus others plunged deep into his heart, sending his blood pressure soaring.

Alex noticed Marcus watching him with intent. He knew his boss was waiting for him to give Jason what Marcus felt Jason deserved. He tried to get back on an even keel with him by agreeing with the man.

Yes, I included one for Jason; I left a man out for Denver, Alex responded with a blatant lie.

The meeting starts in thirty minutes. Come back in here in twenty and, oh yes—his hand pointed toward the door—make sure you knock next time. Marcus sat down in his chair and began to look at the information on the desk.

Alex knew he had been dismissed and was furious with the attitude of his employer. He made a mental note to remember that attitude and one day even the score. He went back to his small office to sit in his favorite chair and think about the manpower situation.

The company had a sales force of twenty-four district managers to cover the forty-eight states. Some men had huge territories. The district managers had to pay all of their own expenses except for the telephone bills and about half of the car payments. The area reps had cars and all expenses covered by the company. The area reps made out an expense report (yellow sheet) that was reimbursed usually after about twelve days, depending on the mail. There were twenty-seven area reps, and the four new men (if the board approved them) would bring the total salesmen up to fifty-five. That was not an empire yet . . .

Alex needed more men to help build his empire and he was determined to have an empire. He knew a lot of men would have to travel twenty or twenty-five, even forty, weeks out of the year, to make his empire survive. That thought led him back to Jason Saunders. The California district manager seldom traveled more than eight to ten days a year and it burned Alex. He thought, I’m the national sales manager and I have to be away from home five or six weeks a year. Why should Jason have it so easy?

The intercom lit up, interrupting his thoughts. He punched the button to talk to Noreen Phipps, his thirty-six-year-old secretary.

Yes, Noreen?

Alex, you have a call on line two from a Doctor Headquist at Selective Employment in McClain, South Dakota. Do you want to take it?

Yes, thanks, Noreen.

In a nice cordial voice he said, Well hello there, Doctor Headquist, how are you today?

I’m fine, Mr. Frost. I hope things are going well in Saint Louis? she said but didn’t wait for a response as she launched into the reason for her call. Your personnel manager Ted Henderson told me to give you a call. He said you would want some people tested soon. Is that correct, Mr. Frost?

Please call me Alex; I hate to be so formal. As for testing some people, I’m afraid that Ted has gotten a little ahead of the facts. We have not quite decided yet who and how many we want to test. But I will get in touch with you as soon as I, I mean we, decide. You can rest assured of that.

I’m sorry, Alex, she said.

Yes, that’s better.

Well, I’m sorry about calling so early then. To be honest, I wasn’t trying to be pushy.

That’s quite all right. It would seem that Ted just got a little anxious. Thank you for your attention, though. I am sure we will be doing a lot of business in the years to come, Doctor.

Oh please, make it Pricilla.

Fine, Pricilla, I’ll give you a call when we’re ready. Good-bye.

As he hung up the phone, Alex vowed to make Ted Henderson understand his place in this company. It was up to Alex and the sales department to make the call for the testing, not Ted.

He again walked across the hall but this time made sure to knock. (Marcus’s secretary, Stacy, smiled in proud amusement that her boss had gotten the message across.)

Alex heard the familiar chuckle before he was told to enter. Marcus was putting on his coat and looking at Alex.

You better straighten your tie and put a coat on, Alex. You are going with me to the board meeting. Showing a broad smile, he concluded, You’re going to get a chance to show off your college degree by selling the board on why they should let us hire nine new men.

Nine? But you said four. Alex quailed now that it appeared the task would be up to him.

You told me originally we needed nine. That’s what I told the board and that’s what we are trying to get. The okay for nine men—is that understood? And don’t argue with me.

***

The red room was a good-size conference room that the company had let the interior decorator have free rein with when they built the new office building three years ago. Three of the walls were paneled in richly colored cherrywood with a few artistic depictions alongside actual photos of past and present buildings and an artistic depiction of the company’s future home. The fourth wall was small because of the odd configuration of the room. On this wall the decorator had decided to make the cherrywood panels one foot wide and two and a half feet apart from floor to ceiling. In between each panel he had inlaid a line of veined, smoked mirrors. This gave the illusion of elongating the room to huge dimensions. The nine-foot-high ceiling held built-in baby spotlights strategically placed to give the room enough light, with the conference table itself very well lit. Added to all these rich colors and lights, the man had put down an inch-thick fire engine red carpet. The mini-spots bounced the bright red hue over everything. After your eyes became accustomed to the color, you found it to be easy on the eyes as well as the nerves.

Marcus and Alex arrived about the same time as everyone else. Since there were no strangers, Wheeler Gere brought the meeting to order then turned it over to his executive vice president, Buck Buchanan.

Buck looked directly at Marcus and smiled. Marcus, I see you brought along some help. I take it that you want to talk about the manpower issue. Let’s do that first and then we can let Alex go back to work.

Marcus spoke first to give Alex a little help. After all, Marcus was an empire builder too. The sales force along with the total sales of the company was his empire. His salary, year-end bonus and profit-sharing checks increased his wealth tremendously. Hell yes, he wanted nine men; he wanted ninety men. He knew, however, that Buck had the real power in the company and would only let them have what he deemed to be necessary.

Gentlemen, Marcus began, Alex is going to pass out a paper.

At this point he handed a stunned Alex Frost a small group of papers to be distributed. He let Alex return to his seat before he went on. Since Alex has done most of the work here, I’ll let him tell you our side of it, but I want you to think about the last two years of growth here at the company. We’ve been like a child before, increasing our size and strength a little at a time. Most of you have children and you know after they reach the school years it seems like they start growing in leaps and bounds. Their pants are always too short and as soon as you buy them another pair, they up and grow a couple of inches and the pants are too short again. Gentlemen, we are at that juncture now. And just like a child needs food and clothing, we need salesmen and sales to help us grow big and strong.

He stopped and looked around the room to see that, as usual, he had their attention. He handed the meeting over to his sales manager by saying, Alex?

***

CHAPTER TWO

The Manpower Agenda

ALEX PACED THE FLOOR in his office, waiting for his secretary to tell him when Marcus returned from the meeting. Even now his body was a little sweaty as he thought about the board meeting. It’s so easy to talk to and command some of the area reps I’ve hired. I can even boss around some of the district managers who normally report to Marcus. The board meeting this morning was pure hell. Every one of the directors has more power than I do and I had to beg. I felt like a little kid asking for a piece of candy. God, how I hate it.

Alex looked at his watch and thought, It’s over two and a half hours since I left. Where the hell is Marcus?

Then he heard the click of the intercom and Noreen’s voice. Alex?

Yes.

She kept her voice to a soft whisper. He just went into his office.

Alex didn’t even bother saying thanks. He opened his door to rush across the hallway and rap on the door to the vice president’s office. He heard Marcus invite him inside and he almost burst into the room. Without preamble, he fired the questions nonstop: What did they say? How many men will they give us? Did I do okay?

Slow down, son, Marcus said like a harried father. One question at a time, okay? Then he looked at Alex with a slow grin.

Well, Marcus continued, you did a reasonable job, although you acted like your pants were on fire. Slow down when you’re in the red room. You are talking about important matters and you can’t rush those things.

Alex was exasperated. Marcus. Damn it. Tell me what they said. Then Alex watched in amazement as Marcus sat down at his desk and opened a drawer to extract a cigar. When Marcus took his time unwrapping it and starting to clip the ends, Alex’s own brain got his attention and delivered the message for him to sit down and wait as his boss lit the cigar.

Marcus put a small cloud of smoke above his head and sighed. Alex could see him visibly relax. Now he looked at his boss and thought, Marcus never shows it but I’ll bet he gets nervous in the red room too.

Now Marcus was ready to speak. They gave us the okay to hire four men now, Marcus told Alex. Then he smiled again and continued, But the good news is that if this quarter holds up and we get a good response on the first couple of weeks in September with the Happy Holiday sale, then we can hire five more men right after the first of the year.

Alex hated to admit it but he knew Marcus must have done a terrific job of selling after he had left the room, because he had been a little fainthearted on nine men and instead had concentrated on four. Of course, he wouldn’t say that to Marcus. Instead he grinned, saying, That’s great. Nine men, Wow.

The four men will go to Florida, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles. Do you understand?

But what about Texas? Alex was seething inside.

Los Angeles! Marcus roared.

As Alex rose to leave, Marcus conceded that Texas needed a man. But I already told Jason Saunders that Los Angeles would get the next available man. Now he shook his head and muttered, Oh well, it will all work out.

***

MEMO To: District Managers Houston, Bennett, Mitchell and Saunders

July 10, 1967

Ref. Manpower

Each of you is now authorized to interview applicants for one territory area representative. Take your time and make it a good choice. Then submit the name, address and phone number to this office so we can have the person tested as soon as possible. Call me if you have any questions.

Alex Frost

National Sales Manager, Gere Industries

Alex sat back and reread the memo again. Yes, it was right, although he would have to find a way to stop Jason from getting the man he wanted so badly. Alex smiled to himself as he thought of some possibilities. Then he went out to Noreen’s desk. Type it up and send it. He was still smiling as he walked down the hall.

***

A little after eight in the evening in late July, Doctor Pricilla Headquist parked her car at the offices of Select Employment in McLain, South Dakota. She unlocked the door and entered her office to start work at this odd hour. She was the evaluating doctor for the new client: Gere Industries of Saint Louis. Gere wanted four men tested, so tonight she would call each one and set up the three-hour timed test. As it happened, each man was in a different time zone and she could call each at the preferred time of 9:45 p.m. She readied everything—the computer, the tape recorder (a shade illegal)—and then brought up the applicant’s file with all his data on the screen. Since this was the start, the data so far included only the essential name and address, plus whom they would possibly test with, and where. To finish her setup she added a legal pad on which to write notes. The doctor took a sip from a cup of freshly brewed coffee from her new coffeemaker, which had just come on the market. Glancing at her watch, she picked up the phone.

When she finished her work, it was after midnight. She had made all the calls and typed up her notes for each applicant.

Ten days later, after the test had been administered, she started her evaluations, typing up all the information along with each man’s test results. She added a synopsis of the group before she gathered it all together to mail to Alex Frost at Gere Industries in Saint Louis.

***

On the first of August Alex received an airmail package from Select Employment. He was anxious to read the test results and opened it immediately to look at Fred Bennett’s selection. Fred was the district manager of the Chicago territory and had run into trouble before, trying to get a man hired. Alex swiftly read the attached cover letter:

The enclosed letters in this package are couched in lay terminology in the interest of brevity and understanding. A clinical evaluation of each applicant is also included on the bottom of the stack. A brief synopsis of the group has also been attached on page 2 of this letter. Read each letter for details.

At 9:45 p.m. (EDT) we called the Jacksonville, Florida, area for Billy Joe Crews and had a very nice conversation with him, which lasted 23 minutes. He was well mannered, intelligent, even humorous at times and ready to go to work for the company. The test mirrored those same qualities. We think he will make an excellent salesman and we recommend that you hire him.

At 9:45 p.m. (CDT) we called the Chicago, Illinois, area for George McDermott and were shocked at the rude, uncivilized, ill-mannered way he answered the phone and conducted his side of a nasty conversation. He came to the point of saying, Lady, why don’t you do both of us a favor and call me tomorrow. This was said an instant before he disconnected. This whole conversation is also available on tape if you should wish to hear it. Our recommendation is not to test or hire this man under any circumstance.

At 10:04 p.m. (MDT) we called the Colorado Springs-Denver area for Anthony Prentis and had an excellent conversation, which lasted 29 minutes. He is very well mannered and intelligent, with a good business sense. He is eager to go to work for Gere. Tony, as he prefers to be called, tested very well in almost all categories. We think he will make an excellent employee and recommend that you hire him for the sales position.

At 10:21 p.m. (PDT) we called the Los Angeles, California, area for Mathew Duffy and had a very interesting conversation with him. He is intelligent and well mannered and seems business oriented, even to the point of being aware of time zones. He also has a good sense of humor. He performed very well on the test and has a high IQ. We very highly recommend that you hire him for the sales position.

This evaluation was performed by: Doctor Pricilla Headquist.

***

Alex read the letters and then the synopsis. He was furious. He read every line of all the doctor’s evaluations of the applicants. Taking an extra minute, he reread Bennett’s selection for the second time so as not to miss a single word. Then he put all the tests and the synopsis away. He didn’t want Marcus getting too involved, especially with Jason Saunders’ applicant. He put this applicant’s information