The Deal

Pitch Day

It was 6:00am. Lisa and Eddie were showered, dressed and ready to go but their presentation time wasn't scheduled until 7:30am. They had an opportunity to eat a healthy breakfast and complete one last preparation cycle, their fifteenth practice run. They were ready.

The presentation would be taking place in the Tribeca Room of the Peninsula Hotel. It was a classical and beautiful room. Both Eddie and Lisa were familiar with the room from previous meetings and presentations. The Tribeca was one of Lisa's favorites. They knew the layout of the room and were comfortable with its technical set up.

As 7:30am approached Lisa and Eddie left their room and headed for the elevator and then down to the presentation room. As they waited outside the Tribeca each were fully entrenched in their personal pre-presentation rituals. Lisa was mindfully focused on her breathing and occasionally going over the first few sentences of her presentation. Eddie was pacing with his Beats Headphones on as they blasted the most offensive rap songs imaginable. They were both nervous but they knew how to manage their own anxiety.

At 7:30am sharp, the doors to the Tribeca Room opened and a slight younger lady with glasses and short hair appeared. She smugly looked at Lisa then at Eddie, keeping her gaze on Eddie for slightly longer. "The representatives from WMT may come in." She stated, and then turned to walk back into the room. Lisa and Eddie gathered their laptop bags and followed the lady.

When entering the room Lisa noticed no surprises. There was one long table with five people from DHD. They sat panel style with Co-founders Trudy Stein and Aiden Wall in the middle. Rebecca Rather and Steven Lester flanked the founders. The unknown women who invited them into the room was seated at the end of the table. There were no handshakes or smiles as they entered the room and began to set up. After a few moments Aiden Wall greeted the presenters, "Thank you of coming, Windom Marketing and Technology. You have 20 minutes to present followed by some Q&A time."

Trudy Stein was a powerful business woman. There was no doubt, Trudy ran the show at DHD. She had porcelain white skin with long straight jet black hair tied back tightly. Her eyes had professionally applied black makeup and her lipstick was such a dark red some may mistake it for black. Somehow she was able to pull off a 5 foot 9 inch hour glass frame but only weigh in at 129 pounds. Trudy was stunningly beautiful and she knew it.

Aiden Wall was a burley geologist who looked like a guy that liked talking about rock formations. Also at 5'9'', but 205 pounds, he had thick curly hair and a trimmed beard. He always seemed to breathe heavily and sweat a lot, like he was about to keel over from a heart attack at any moment.

With the laptop all set up and the slides successfully projected onto the large television screen on the wall Lisa launched into the well prepared start of her presentation. "Thank you for this opportunity today." She then paused for an uncomfortable but fully planned 3 seconds. "12 billion dollars." She said followed by another small pause. "12 billion dollars of revenue and a reputation as the most successful luxury jewellery company in the history of the world is what Devon High Diamonds can expect, but only if you choose to partner with Windom Marketing and Technology today. My name is Lisa Filmore and this is my colleague Edward Roberts, his friends and clients call him Eddie. Today we're excited to share with you how a partnership with WMT will take DHD to new frontiers." Lisa smiled and the normally stoic Trudy Stein gently smiled back. Lisa had Trudy firmly within the palm on her hand.

The presentation lasted just beyond 18 minutes, exactly as planned. There were no hiccups. The panel was engaged and occasionally took notes only to be drawn back to watch Lisa and Eddie work their presentation magic. As Lisa closed the presentation and welcomed questions from the panel Aiden immediately asked questions about price while Trudy focussed on the creative concepts. Lisa and Eddie were masterful in addressing every question during the Q&A session. After 22 minutes of questions it was over, except for one last question from Trudy.

"Company culture is very important to us. Whoever wins this bid needs to become a part of our unique company culture. We plan on having a special gathering in two weeks and we would like our new marketing partners to attend. It's an eventful and exciting evening event. Should you be selected we would require both of you to be there. Is that okay on your end?"

Eddie smiled and began to open his mouth to answer when Lisa jumped in quickly, "Absolutely! We know how important cultural fit is with all of our clients. Send us the date, time and location. It would be our pleasure to attend." Lisa then used the opportunity to shoot another smile at the panel while Eddie reluctantly forced a smile as well.

Trudy took it upon herself to close the session. "Lisa and Eddie, thank you for your presentation today. As we've mentioned to the other bidders, we will be letting you know our decision by this afternoon at 1:00pm at the latest. Our decision will be delivered in writing via a courier to your New York offices. Have a good day." Surprisingly, Trudy came from behind the table and shook hands with both Lisa and Eddie, smiling gently at each one of them before exiting the room.

Lisa and Eddie quickly packed up their bags and also left the room walking towards an open and waiting elevator. The two stood silently in the elevator while the doors slowly closed.

As the elevator began to decent Eddie broke the silence, "Well, that was fucking awesome."

"It sure was." Lisa said calmly but with a massive smile on her face. "I need a stiff drink."

After a sincere and congratulatory hug in the elevator Lisa and Eddie grabbed their luggage from the bell man in the lobby and darted into a cab. It was back to the office for the two corporate superstars. There was nothing to do but wait for a decision.