Karl's Year In Chastity

Chapter Two-3

“What about experienced telesales women?” Karl said as he handed the bottles of water to Laurie and Franck.

“What?” Franck said irritably.

“Sorry...I know I shouldn’t have been listening,” Karl said carefully, “but if you want females who understand both the business case and the technology then we have a whole bunch of telesales people. Most of them are women and probably a handful are savvy enough about the technology to complete a proper enterprise sale. And the tragedy for us is that the best of them tend to leave the job because it’s really boring working in telesales; so the staff turnover is crazy. At the point where they know the most about what we do they end up leaving so all that knowledge and experience is lost to the company.”

“And if we recruit internally,” Laurie said, “we save a fortune in head hunter fees. We could use that savings to set up a training program, and try to create a career progression from telesales into business sales. We’d retain the best people, and get more women into the front line. That would be brilliant, Karl!”

“Err...actually,” Karl said, “there’s a girl I know from the Chess Club who’s in the UK telesales team. She’s really bright…but I honestly don’t know if she’s any good at sales, you’d have to check with her boss. I can tell you that she kicks the crap out of me at chess. For all I know she may already know about the technology, but I think she’d pick it up pretty quickly if not.”

“Do you think she’d make a presentable sales person, Karl?” Laurie asked.

“Definitely,” he replied. “She’s assertive, she’s articulate, and she looks classy. Yes, I think she’d be a great choice; but you should probably check first if she’s any good at sales with her boss.”

“She works at UK telesales?” Franck asked.

“Yes, in HQ,” Karl confirmed.

“Well that’s fine by me then!” Franck chuckled. “She would be John’s problem, not mine!” John Saunders was UK Sales Director.

“I wonder if John knows her,” Laurie said. “What’s her name?”

“Asha Patel,” Karl answered.

Later during the outdoor barbecue John Saunders cornered Karl. Luckily the two of them had hit it off during the card games the previous two nights.

“Who the f**k is Asha Patel?” Saunders asked with a grin, thrusting a bottle of cold beer into Karl’s hand. “Are you screwing her or something?”

Karl laughed out loud. “I wish I was, John!” he said. “She’s gorgeous.”

“Hmm,” Saunders grunted. “You know, various people have suggested more women in Enterprise Sales in the past. I’m all for it if they can flutter their eyelashes and flash their t**s to close a deal who the f**k am I to complain? Laurie says she’s got brains.”

“She seems bright and articulate to me,” Karl said. “As I say she’s very attractive, but classy with it. I’ve no idea if she’s actually any good at selling though.”

“Well I spoke to her manager on the phone about half an hour ago,” Saunders said. “She’s one of the top performing telesales people in the UK, and apparently has a particular knack for closing difficult or complicated contracts. But she’s also got a growing reputation for not getting on with her colleagues – especially other women, which is most of them. Her manager thinks she might be looking around for another job because of friction in the team.”

“Dare I suggest jealousy might play a part?” Karl chuckled.

“Well if she’s pretty, and she’s good at her job then that wouldn’t surprise me one bit. These f*****g telesales girls can be nasty when they get together and turn on somebody. OK, I’m going to get her in for a chat next week. Are there any more like her?”

“There may well be,” Karl said. “You should ask Asha for suggestions. She’d know better than I would.”

“Fair enough,” Saunders said, slapping him on the back. “Are you playing cards again tonight, mate? You were the only reason I didn’t lose money last night.”

Karl smiled ruefully. “To tell you the truth, John, I need an early night. I’m really not sleeping too well at the moment.”