Haymitch Abernathy (Hunger Games) (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} drunkstrategy) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} valarlogs,@ 2015-06-21 18:23:00 |
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When: Monday 15th June
Where: Abernathy PR Offices
What: Business Meeting
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
Haymitch was in the office more and more lately meeting with new and old clients. Generally he met with all new interests before selecting the best suited team to help them. He felt it gave all their users a more personable service which was what he was going for. He honestly cared about making sure the businesses and people he worked with got the best level of care in order to improve their business. After all, it was their livelihoods on the line in most cases.
Checking his diary he moved to the office door, opened it and called out, “Mr Winchester?”
~*~
Throwing his hands up in a sign of surrender, Dean stated, "No. Just Dean. Mr. Winchester was my old man and trust me: we don't want him here."
He wouldn't do either of them any good.
John Winchester had been a man with his own life, his own plans, his own way of getting by which had nothing to do with being a father and everything to do with being a man who'd lost his wife. Dean had learned everything he needed to know about hustling, fighting, roughhousing, and a ton of other things from John. He'd never learned a thing about being a good father. In many ways, some would say he'd learned exactly the right method to be a perfect son in spite of it.
Dean wouldn't protest it. He loved his parents. Dead or not. They were who he came from which was what made him who he was and he did love his legacy as it stood.
"I take it you're the guy I gotta impress to get to rep my failing attempt at consumer capitalism, huh?"
~*~
“Dean, then” Haymitch said with a smile, “I’m Haymitch Abernathy, call me Haymitch” he said as he gestured for Dean to enter his office.
Haymitch had an uneasy relationship with his own father so he wasn’t going to touch that subject for anything. He understood the difficulties in that area.
“I’m that guy” he grinned, “It doesn’t take a lot just tell me where you think you’re going wrong and what you think you need to do to improve and we’ll take it from there”
~*~
Dean resisted the urge to say if he knew what he was doing wrong, he wouldn't be there spending money he didn't have, wasn't making, and couldn't make on this guy to tell him how to do better.
His attitude got him nowhere.
Man caught a lot more flies with honey than vinegar.
John Winchester had taught him a lot of Old Dog Tricks including that one which was why he smiled as if he'd met a kindred spirit and lightly bumped his fist into Haymitch's shoulder. The buddy bump went a long way in his books. It was all about keeping people reeled in. Dean could work a hustle. He just couldn't start a business. That was why he really hoped this Haymitch guy was worth what he'd wind up paying him.
"I'm a little lost on what I'm doing wrong, man. That's the truth. I have loyals. The ones I see to every summer. I keep them at the same rate so they stay loyal. Problem with that? I barely break even with these guys and I certainly am not making any kind of profit. I can't seem to get new clients."
~*~
Sometimes Haymitch found the places people thought they were going wrong actually weren’t the issues at all which was why he asked. Luckily for Dean he didn’t give Haymitch a smart ass response, since he had little patience with people who did.
He also, however, wasn’t an idiot and in this business he was used to seeing through people. Admittedly he didn’t understand why this man was putting on such a buddy front but he knew he was.
“And how are your interactions with your regulars? Do you have regular conversations with them or is it all business?” he asked, because nowadays doing a good job wasn’t the be all and end all, it was about personal relationships too. “And how do you advertise?”
~*~
Dean wasn't all business with anyone. He chuckled softly at the question. It was hard to say how he interacted with most of his regulars. Some he knew from bars, some he'd hustled more than once, some were ladies who didn't mind seeing him stay over after he'd gotten done with the lawn work, and a few were randoms who'd happened into his care courtesy of his big mouth. Dean wasn't too particular about who he did business with or where as long as they paid what he asked.
He tried to put a better spin on it than all that all the same.
"Mostly? I see them where I see them. I don't stop by uninvited. I'm not a phone guy so calling isn't a thing I do. Advertisement ranges from bathroom walls in dive bars to word of mouth to my business partner putting up viral something or others which pop up on different sites. I don't know. They're people who know me. I'm not some guy in a truck to them. I'm Dean. I like that."
Dean didn't need a deep connection with someone. He only wanted the ability to be friendly while conducting business so it wasn't all about money.
Nothing in life should be all about money.
"I know I can't be that guy who does television spots or random radio things. I thought maybe doing more than being in the Yellow Pages would be a good idea though so that's why I'm here. Think you can get me on Angie's List or something?"
~*~
Haymitch nodded, “You sound like you have a good relationship with your clients” he observed, which meant that word of mouth should be working to some extent. So it obviously wasn’t a problem there.
“Hmmm” he wasn’t a fan of viral pop ups, most people tended to ignore them or see them as more of a nuisance than anything else. And bathroom walls were certainly not places he’d ever suggest but it was certainly one way of getting things out there.
“We can certainly help you out there, newspapers and magazines usually yield the best results. Obviously choosing the right sections of those is crucial and a member of one of my teams would go through their ideas and suggestions with you first before confirming anything”
~*~
Dean raised an eyebrow as he admitted, "Unless you're posting my ad in Hustler or Penthouse? I don't think any of my current clients will notice it. Makes sense if I'm going to be attracting more people though. I just don't know anyone who does that kind of thing."
Writing was on the level of things Dean didn't do or wasn't interested in. He had no time for reading really nor did he have the inclination for it. There were times he played on the web for his own amusement. Flirtations were fun to strike up. It was nice to get to play pretend as a man behind a screen. He didn't have to be anyone of good standing to get a girl's attention online. All he had to do was hope she appreciated a bad pick-up line.
"Do you know people in the magazine business? What kind of money are we talking for something like that?"
It seemed as if this guy would level with him on costs. Dean knew how much he could afford to sink into the business. There were limits to what he could spend. He wasn't totally capable of putting everything into it over and over again without worrying over when the well would run dry. His friends had bailed him out a time or two, but Dean wanted to make it on his own. He really wanted to prove he could do something.
"I'm barely staying in the black as it stands. If you think I can't make it? You can tell me. I don't need a hustle. I need to know if I've got a shot. I really want to make it work. I've tried, but I haven't gotten too far. People see me, they think I'm not the smartest guy in any room. They aren't wrong. I am the guy who'll do whatever it takes to make good on our deal though. If they want me to put in a freaking fire-spouting fountain? I'll make that happen. If they want me to mow their lawn like a chessboard? I will do it. Even in the rain. I'm like the UPS Man of Mowers. I just need people to---give me a chance? If that makes any sense?"
~*~
“You will probably attract a different type of clientele but I think expanding your client base can only be a good thing” Haymitch advised him, “Just be yourself and I am sure you’ll be fine” He had a feeling Dean could charm whoever he encountered. He seemed adaptable.
“It makes sense and once you get a few new people on the books I think word of mouth will increase your workload naturally” he said, “How about this I’ll get the figures together for the magazine costs and the time it’ll take to work on your advert and then we’ll charge depending on the percentage increase in business? That way if it doesn’t work out you’ll not have lost money” Haymitch tried to be a decent guy and Dean seemed like he just needed a bit of a break so he could prove himself capable and up to the task. Haymitch knew what that was like.
~*~
Charity felt different from giving a guy a good deal. Dean Winchester knew all about being a charity case. He'd been the oldest son of a widower who spent all his free time down the bottom of a bottle while expecting Dean to raise his kid brother. People had kept them fed based solely on their charitable natures. He'd learned to take what he could get where he could get it.
There wouldn't be any complaints from him about being given a break.
Dean would just do what he could to pay it back in kind.
"I'll owe you one for that, man. I don't suppose you need a landscaper? Or a guy who can teach you how to hustle pool? I'm good at that, too, probably better at that than landscaping if we're being totally honest with each other."
~*~
Haymitch definitely wasn’t offering charity but a break? Yeah he was offering that. Why not? He could help out so why shouldn’t he. It was worth taking a risk every now and then and honestly Haymitch thought Dean would do well with a little more direction in his marketing. It would be good for his newer team to see how good they really were. He’d be keeping an eye on this one himself.
He chuckled, “It’s been awhile since I’ve played pool” he admitted, “Can’t promise I’ll be any good” he grinned, Dean may have his work cut out for him there but Haymitch could do with more friends to do things with.
~*~
Dean shook his head with a laugh, "It's not about being good. It's about wearing the right kind of jeans, saying exactly what they want to hear, and getting too close when it's their turn to take a shot. They can be great players, but even great players become mediocre with enough distraction on the table."
It hadn't taken much to fluster the people he'd done business with in the past. Younger women were a favorite of Dean's, but he could play with men, too. Depended on the person more or less. He knew how to work any angle. That was one of the few things his old man had given him which he was more than grateful to have in his arsenal: the ability to read people from less than five minutes of observation.
Fast scans were what it took to hustle people in a bar scene. A guy didn't have time for a long con in a bar. No one was sticking around that kind of time and if they were in the kind of bars Dean Winchester frequented? They weren't worth the effort of a long con. It was all in how much there was to be made versus how much effort it would take to make it.
"I really am looking forward to working with you. I was worried at first. I don't do so good with suits. The business type, you know? They're typically the guys I spend my time taking for a ride. Thanks for giving me a shot."
~*~
“I’m not sure the right kind of jeans will help me” he smirked amused but interested nonetheless. “Distraction I understand though” he added, because they used all kinds of techniques in marketing too.
Ironically for a man in PR Haymitch wasn’t all that great with people, some people anyway. Businesswise he was wonderful but personally, not so much. Flirting and all that was definitely way out of his comfort zone.
“Well I’m glad I’m not as bad as you were expecting” he said, “And I hope I can help, I’m looking forward to seeing what we can come up with for you Dean” he added holding out his hand to ‘seal the deal’ as it were.
~*~
"The right jeans can help anyone. Male or female. Trust me on this one."
Dean shook his hand firmly and winked before heading to the elevator. It was a decent day for him. On the whole, it was a far cry from where he'd started out thinking he'd end up. Haymitch seemed solid. There wasn't anything oily about him or any feelings of---something bad which Dean got from people from time to time.
He had a good feeling about this one.
Things might actually be looking up for a change.