A Target's Love

12

Javier sat with the rest of the Database Management team in the main meeting room and looked around at the perplexed faces of the other Tech-Knowledge employees in attendance. The last-minute conference was the result of a rather disturbing email Elizabeth had sent out earlier. She sat now at the head of the large oval table speaking tersely into her phone, a serious look on her face. Across from Javier's team, the Client Success team was fidgeting nervously. A few of them even looked like they were about to start hyperventilating at any second.

For some unknown reason, Tech-Knowledge's Net Promoter Score had dropped significantly in the last twenty-four hours, quickly followed by a mass exodus of over fifty clients who had put in cancellation notices without any explanations. This issue was concerning, because it meant a drastic drop in monthly recurring revenue, which in turn signaled a decrease in the company's profit margins. 

"I don't know what's happening, or why it's happening." Denzel frowned.

Sandra nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I mean, nothing like this has ever happened before."

Lisa bit her lip and cleared her throat. "RossIMT just put in their notice five minutes ago, guys."

The room grew quiet as everyone stared at her, not sure if they'd heard correctly. RossIMT had been their most loyal client ever since Tech-Knowledge had added a database management system to their operations. Lisa fidgeted slightly and looked down. She hated attention of any sort.

"What?" Elizabeth exclaimed, shocked, then turned to the Client Success team. "Jamal, that's your account. Did you have any idea that this was coming?"

The man in question squirmed, beads of sweat popping out onto his forehead. "None. Raisa had nothing but good things to say on our last touch base."

"There are so many things wrong with this situation," Javier piped up, flipping through a stack of files on the table before him. "They've been our most loyal client. I agree with Denzel. Something's definitely up. It's impossible that they'd go from green to red overnight."

"Jamal, can you try contacting them?" Matthew asked. "You know, to confirm it?"

"Good thinking, Matthew." Elizabeth nodded and continued briskly, "Alright, listen up. Dane, get all of your Account Executives to reach out to their client reps ASAP and set up urgent touch bases. I want this done regardless of if the client has put in a cancellation notice or not. The first method of contact should be a personal phone call, then a follow-up email. I want copious notes, so ensure all assistants are also in attendance on the call. Get a report to me within 48 hours. We've still got time to find out what the hell is happening and save these accounts. Got it?" 

Dane, a tall, lanky guy with scruffy hair and goggle-like glasses, nodded, his pen flying over the page of his notepad as he tried to keep up with Elizabeth's instructions. 

"Good." Elizabeth nodded and turned to Javier's team. "Sandra, have Comms draft an email and get it to me for approval first thing in the morning. A mass exodus can cause panic, and the last thing we need is our other clients getting wind of this, getting scared, and bailing on us for no reason. We need to get ahead of it." 

Sandra nodded. "You got it, boss."

"I'll contact my father," Elizabeth continued, "He can get in touch with Johnson or Matteson from the international offices to see if we're the only ones with this problem. Fingers crossed."

The meeting adjourned and the teams began to disperse. Elizabeth pulled her phone from her pocket. As she dialed, she spoke, "Javier, I need you to get to work on an internal audit with Sandra. Run a check through the archives, and see if maybe you could find an error--a mistake of some sort. And please, contact IT and have them run some checks, too. Maybe we were hacked. God only knows, but we don't want to take any chances."