Margaret Peake’s Office, 7 Years Earlier

For several minutes, Carl Ritchie has been fighting off repeated attacks from his buyer. Margaret Peake wants a 3% price discount. Carl Ritchie again repeats, “I cannot agree to such terms with you, it’s impossible.”

However, he spots an opening: If he could get an exclusive deal with this customer for that range, the 3% discount would be acceptable to his line management.

“OK, I’ll agree to 3%,” Carl Ritchie interjects suddenly, “but I’d like to sign an exclusive deal for that range.”

Margaret Peake’s face remains impassive.

“Great, thanks for agreeing to the 3% discount. And as for the exclusive deal, I’m certainly not opposed to that idea.”

She then adds, “As you know, I do not have the power to make that decision on my own, and it’s something that cannot be achieved overnight. However, I promise you that we’ll look into that issue at the year end.” With that, Margaret Peake closes this issue and moves on to the next one.