I have always felt that there's nothing wrong with using your attractiveness as a woman to gain an advantage in the workplace. I'm attractive, young, and flirtatious. If that gets me ahead, so be it.
In fact, it has. I got my job in sales that way. A little extra leg showing and a look in your eyes that says "fuck me, big boy!" went a long way in my interviews for the job at TPC.
Once on the job, I kept using my charms. I worked Bruce hard. He was the head of sales. It didn't take long before he was increasing my sales territory at the expense of old veterans. Inside of one year, I had a sales territory as big as the most senior sales people at TPC.
That didn't sit well with my colleagues in sales, but I really didn't care. Those old white guys were so jealous. Of course, they didn't mind having me around at sales meetings when I was wearing one of my low cut blouses.
Cathy was jealous too, and I couldn't blame her. She'd been the darling of the sales force once, but not anymore. She was pushing her mid-late thirties and the magic was gone. Here I was, younger, more attractive, smarter, hungrier. It drove her crazy.
Anyway, it didn't bother me. My sales were growing and I was making more and more money. I bought an expensive car and moved into an expensive apartment expecting to make even more the each year.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" jealous Cathy asked me one time. "What if you have a bad year?"
What a bitch. I was about to tell her that I was doing just fine, in fact better than she'd ever done, and it wasn't my fault that I was prettier than her. But then I realized why she'd acted out: she'd walked in on me bragging to her male colleagues, teasing and flirting with them.
So I just ignored Cathy. I'm sure the look on my face gave my feelings away however.
And then things went bad. First, the economy took a downturn. Since I was new and Bruce's favorite, I wasn't worried about my future, although I did worry about how my bonus might be affected by lower sales. A few wiggles of my ass in Bruce's direction solved that however. He promised to adjust my quota level before bonus time.
But then things got worse. The company announced a management restructuring with a round of layoffs to follow.
The really bad news:
Bruce was let go!
And then the nightmare:
Cathy was named head of sales!
I started looking for a new job that day, just assuming I'd lose my job. To my surprise, things were even worse in the job market than I'd expected. There was nothing. Abslutely nothing! Probably realizing the same, Bruce decided he was going to take time off from working.
I was in deep trouble.
Cathy called a sales meeting at the end of the first quarter to detail the layoff plan. Things were so bad, she said, that thirty percent of us would be let go. The number was mind-blowing. Thirty percent!
I thought I was dead in the water, but then Cathy explained the criteria for layoffs: the bottom thirty percent producers at the end of the second quarter would be let go. Simple as that.
Draconian as the thirty percent figure was, I realized that this was going to work to my advantage. I was easily and routinely in the top two-thirds of sales people.
All I'd have to do was close my regular rate of business and she wouldn't be able to fire me!
Cathy explained that the new MXZ series was going to be announced in early Q3 and that we needed to clear out the MXT series inventory before then, so the urgency reflected business needs as well.
The MXZ announcement was to be top secret, she said. Any word of the pending MXZ announcement would spread quickly and would cost us millions of dollars in inventory pile-up.
"Just tell them we have no plans for an announcement of new products" she told us, and repeated that violation of this rule would be equivalent to a resignation letter.
I got right to work. My first few sales went smoothly, and I thought everything was going to be fine.
But by the third week of the quarter, sales were drying up fast and I couldn't understand why. Suddenly clients started delaying purchases until the second half of the year.
Half way through the quarter, almost no business of mine was closing and I was falling into the bottom thirty percent.
I started to calculate the financial and career damage that falling into the bottom thirty percent would mean, and it wasn't pretty. All our competitors knew that we would be laying off the bottom thirty percent of producers. Being laid off was going to be equivalent to being labeled a poor producer!
I started getting desperate.
When yet another of my best clients told me he'd decided to delay his purchase until the second half, I finally broke down, practically begging him to explain why. At first he gave me the usual excuses, but when he saw that I wasn't believing him, he let down his guard and told me the truth:
He'd heard that the MXZ series was going to be released in the second half. Why would he buy the MXT series now?
I couldn't believe it! Someone had been leaking the word about the MXZ series and my clients were hearing about it!
I asked him how he'd heard such a thing. He refused to say.
I suggested that my competitors at MKS had been spreading the word. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say that it was possible.
Those assholes!
He asked me if it was true that the MXZ series would be announced, and I answered that we had no plans for any new product announcements.
I stormed back to the office and got on Cathy's calendar for her first availability.
"Those pricks at MKS heard about the MXZ series and they're telling my clients!"
"Those ASSHOLES!" she exclaimed.
Cathy told me she would find out who had leaked the news and fire them on the spot.
"I need to be able to tell my clients about the MXZ," I told her, but she said no.
"I told you what to say, and you better stick to that line!" she warned me.
"But... they know about it and I can't even address it!" I pleaded.
"I said no!"
Fucking bitch! I thought to myself, but there was nothing I could do. I had no leverage.
By the last few weeks of the quarter, I was in terrible shape. I was well below the thirty percent mark. Left and right, clients were indicating that they'd heard about the MXZ and delaying purchases.
I picked up some business here and there. Those MKS assholes hadn't reached every client of mine, clearly.
But it wasn't enough. With a week to go in the quarter, I was as good as unemployed.
On Monday of the last week of the quarter, I noticed a call come in from Tom Zivins.
He was a real creep. Late thirties/early forties, sun-tanned, even nice looking, but he had made suggestive comments to me when we'd met, as if expecting something extra for his sales dollars. I'd decided to avoid this asshole despite his huge budget.
I let my assistant pick up as usual.
She put him on hold and then called into me.
"It's Tom Zivins" she said.
"I know. You can handle it."
"Well, he said he may have a big purchase but he needs to see you to go through some questions."
I paused and did some math in my head. Tom Zivins hadn't had a big order with us in five years, but the last one had been huge. An order that big was going to catapult me into the top half of our sales ranks.
"How big?"
"I don't know."
"Tell him I'm in a meeting and try to figure out how big and then we'll go from there."
Sales really dried up over the next two days. I complained to Cathy about my predicament. I complained again that the MKS people were freezing my business.
"You think you're the only one?" she asked.
I cried myself to sleep Wednesday night. I was angry and bitter. Angry at those MKS idiots. I was angry at Bruce for getting fired and leaving me at the mercy of Cathy's thirty percent rule. And of course I was angry at Cathy for being such a cold bitch.
I woke up on Thursday morning determined not to let them win. I was going to close the business and shove it up Cathy's nose that she couldn't fire me!
I spent the morning on the phone with each of my biggest clients. None had anything to offer me. I offered the maximum discounts possible. Nothing! They'd heard of the MXZ series and weren't about to look like fools to their organizations by buying old technology.
The fire inside me in the morning was flickering on the edge of extinction by lunch time.
I had one last big client on my list. Tom Zivins.
He was the last person on earth that I would ever consider calling in desperate times. I was down to the last person.
I called my assistant into my office.
"What's the status of Tom Zivins?" I asked.
"Wow, you're really desperate huh?" she answered.
She told me he was looking to make a significant purchase. She gave me a number. It was a huge number. One that would save my job and even get me close to quota.
After moments in silence, I instructed my assistant to set up an appointment.
My assistant called fifteen minutes later.
"He's booked solid" she told me, and my heart sank into my stomach. Another postponed deal. The MKS people had gotten to him too. I wanted to cry.
