‘Wait a minute, wait a minute,’ I held a hand up, stopping the presentation in its tracks.
‘Yeah, boss?’ Gary asked, squinting as the light from the projector bounced off his whiteboard and into his eyes.
‘Cut to the chase,’ I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. ‘What exactly are you trying to sell me?’
‘Uh,’ Gary stammered, adjusting the collar of his shirt. ‘Well, you see…’
Not good under pressure, I noted, mentally. Unable to improvise.
Necessary information to have the next time I was considering promotions. A few of the board members near me shifted uncomfortably, uneasy watching somebody flail so spectacularly in front of them.
I noted that down too.
‘Well?’ I barked at Gary, partly because I was waiting on an answer and partly because I wanted to see if I could get him to wet himself.
‘Commercial solar power around Melbourne,’ Gary started with a squeak. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. ‘Commercial solar power around Melbourne has never been such a good investment,’ he stated. ‘With our plentiful roof space, it would provide cheap, clean power that can easily power this company’s entire operation. Every day that we don’t have a panel on our roof is a day that we’re losing money.’
He ignored my instruction and clicked through to a nicely-shaded graph that showed exactly that projection. He did it with such confidence, too, I thought, giving him a mental tick.
‘What about the upfront cost?’ a board member across the table from me asked, his eyes nervously flicking over for my approval.
Sycophant, I noted.
‘There us a cost, to be sure,’ Gary said slowly. ‘But it’s an investment, not a purchase—’
‘Answer it,’ I said, gruffly. ‘How much will a commercial solar installation cost my company?’
Gary sighed and shifted the presentation forward by a few slides.
‘That much,’ he said, pointing at a number. My eyebrows raised.
‘That much?!’ I exclaimed. ‘Seriously?’
‘I know it can look like a lot–‘
‘That’s less than what I spent on champagne this month,’ I roared. ‘Done! Do it!’