"Ms. Hayes," he said, trying to regain the formality appropriate to a business discussion, "I'd be pleased to show you the passenger vans personally." Gloria shook her head.
"No, thank you. Anna has earned that responsibility. She's the one who asked about the routes, went to the depot, and prepared the proposal. I want to continue with her."
Malcolm looked toward Anna again. "Would you be comfortable leading the meeting?" "Yes, sir," Anna answered after a brief breath. "The proposal is complete, although there are two matters on the delivery sequence I'd like the customer to review before making a decision."
"Good," Malcolm said. "That's exactly the sort of thing she needs to hear. Let's use the conference room, and we'll keep this meeting about the vehicles."
They moved to a table behind the commercial showroom, where Anna spread out her documents with hands that were steadying a little at a time. She had organized the proposal into sections for specifications, purchase price, delivery, maintenance, warranty, and escalation procedures. The first page summarized the route profile Gloria had given her, and the second showed exactly which vehicle configuration Anna believed would meet the operation's needs. Malcolm read the summary and realized how much more accurately it described the customer than anything Derek had said about her.
"The request is for fourteen passenger vans," Anna began, "all assigned to college and university shuttle service, not to the school bus fleet. Your priority is operational reliability, especially on early-morning and evening routes. The price matters, but it has to be considered alongside the time a vehicle could be unavailable when a part fails." Gloria nodded. "That's right."
Anna went through the available models without rushing. She explained why one configuration had better passenger access for frequent stops and why another, although less expensive to purchase, might create higher operating costs over the service life Gloria expected. She showed which claims came from manufacturer data and which came from the dealership's own maintenance records. Where figures depended on mileage or route conditions, she said so plainly instead of presenting estimates as guarantees.
"Delivery is the part I want you to look at most carefully," Anna said. "The fleet department can confirm all fourteen vehicles, but not as a single same-day handover. The proposal has staged deliveries, and I arranged for inspections to take place before each group is accepted, so your mechanics have time to check them. We can also coordinate driver orientation before the campus expansion begins." Gloria studied the schedule for several minutes.
"And if one of the first deliveries fails inspection?" she asked. Anna flipped to the next page. "Then it isn't accepted. The service team corrects the problem, we document it, and the agreed contingency schedule applies. I won't ask you to sign for a vehicle your operations manager hasn't approved." Calvin would like that sentence, Gloria thought, and made a note beside it.