surgeon for more than ten years and was a general surgeon before that. Let me give you a copy of my CV.’ He opened his desk drawer and took out a printed information sheet. ‘This is what I give to my patients. You can keep that copy.’
Rachel looked at the sheet. It had a large picture of Lloyd in the top left-hand corner that looked more like a photo of an actor than a surgeon. She sensed that Lloyd rather liked giving out his CV.
‘I do a lot of facial cosmetic surgery − face lifts and so on − but I also do a number of our other main procedures, such a breast augmentation. I’m particularly well known for my short-scar or mini facelifts, which are very subtle and have much lower levels of scarring than a more traditional facelift.’
Rachel nodded as she wrote her notes. ‘Where do your clients mainly come from?’
‘A combination really. I’ve lectured quite extensively around the world, which means that I’m pretty well known in the industry. As a result, I have quite an international client base. Many clients come from word of mouth referrals from satisfied customers and then there’s a reasonable level of repeat business.’
‘I see,’ said Rachel.
‘You’ve probably seen my sales figures,’ said Lloyd. ‘I’m sure they will look good on one of those pretty charts you people always end up producing.’
Rachel bit her lip. ‘Yes, we’re just going through those and it’s clear that the business has been growing pretty quickly,’ she said, not able to bring herself to flatter him directly. ‘There is one thing that I wanted to run through with you. It’s about some of your sales records − they don’t seem to have the procedures noted down on them correctly. Do you know why that might have happened?’
‘Ah, we will have to bring in my lovely assistant at this point. She takes care of all my paperwork,’ said Lloyd. He picked up the phone. ‘Audrey, would you mind popping in? Thanks.’
A few moments later there was a knock on the door and a tall, blonde woman came into the room. She was dressed in a white coat teamed with a pair of high gold sandals.
‘Rachel, this is Audrey Fox. She’s my assistant nurse.’
Audrey Fox was probably in her late forties, although Rachel found it a bit difficult to tell. She was very attractive but in a way that somehow spelled trouble. Maybe it was the slightly overdone make-up or the out of place shoes; Rachel couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
‘Could you just explain to Audrey what it is that you wanted to know about my paperwork?’ said Lloyd. ‘She’s boss of that department. Bedside manner is more my forte than paperwork.’
He put his arm around Audrey’s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.
Rachel explained the problem again to Audrey.
‘Oh, there could be quite a number of reasons,’ said Audrey. ‘Sometimes the systems are down so we can’t look up all the codes. And we had a new secretary for a while and it took her quite some time to get the hang of things. Or sometimes Lloyd gets so busy that we have to work late and we do the paperwork manually.’
‘Oh, I see,’ said Rachel. ‘I also noticed that a number of payments by your clients were made in cash. Is that normal?’
‘As I was telling you earlier, we have quite a number of overseas clients and many of them like to pay in cash,’ said Lloyd. ‘Plus, you know sometimes people save up, cash under the mattress, all that sort of thing.’
Rachel didn’t think that was likely to happen very often, and certainly not as often as the number of cash payments she’d found. But she was hardly the expert here and they both seemed quite certain.
‘Right, okay. And would it also be normal for you to charge people well above the list price?’
‘Well now,’ said Lloyd, puffing his chest out slightly. ‘I don’t wish to blow my own trumpet but I do often charge my clients a premium. They know of my reputation, you see. I do also tend to get referred some
Rachel looked at the sheet. It had a large picture of Lloyd in the top left-hand corner that looked more like a photo of an actor than a surgeon. She sensed that Lloyd rather liked giving out his CV.
‘I do a lot of facial cosmetic surgery − face lifts and so on − but I also do a number of our other main procedures, such a breast augmentation. I’m particularly well known for my short-scar or mini facelifts, which are very subtle and have much lower levels of scarring than a more traditional facelift.’
Rachel nodded as she wrote her notes. ‘Where do your clients mainly come from?’
‘A combination really. I’ve lectured quite extensively around the world, which means that I’m pretty well known in the industry. As a result, I have quite an international client base. Many clients come from word of mouth referrals from satisfied customers and then there’s a reasonable level of repeat business.’
‘I see,’ said Rachel.
‘You’ve probably seen my sales figures,’ said Lloyd. ‘I’m sure they will look good on one of those pretty charts you people always end up producing.’
Rachel bit her lip. ‘Yes, we’re just going through those and it’s clear that the business has been growing pretty quickly,’ she said, not able to bring herself to flatter him directly. ‘There is one thing that I wanted to run through with you. It’s about some of your sales records − they don’t seem to have the procedures noted down on them correctly. Do you know why that might have happened?’
‘Ah, we will have to bring in my lovely assistant at this point. She takes care of all my paperwork,’ said Lloyd. He picked up the phone. ‘Audrey, would you mind popping in? Thanks.’
A few moments later there was a knock on the door and a tall, blonde woman came into the room. She was dressed in a white coat teamed with a pair of high gold sandals.
‘Rachel, this is Audrey Fox. She’s my assistant nurse.’
Audrey Fox was probably in her late forties, although Rachel found it a bit difficult to tell. She was very attractive but in a way that somehow spelled trouble. Maybe it was the slightly overdone make-up or the out of place shoes; Rachel couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
‘Could you just explain to Audrey what it is that you wanted to know about my paperwork?’ said Lloyd. ‘She’s boss of that department. Bedside manner is more my forte than paperwork.’
He put his arm around Audrey’s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.
Rachel explained the problem again to Audrey.
‘Oh, there could be quite a number of reasons,’ said Audrey. ‘Sometimes the systems are down so we can’t look up all the codes. And we had a new secretary for a while and it took her quite some time to get the hang of things. Or sometimes Lloyd gets so busy that we have to work late and we do the paperwork manually.’
‘Oh, I see,’ said Rachel. ‘I also noticed that a number of payments by your clients were made in cash. Is that normal?’
‘As I was telling you earlier, we have quite a number of overseas clients and many of them like to pay in cash,’ said Lloyd. ‘Plus, you know sometimes people save up, cash under the mattress, all that sort of thing.’
Rachel didn’t think that was likely to happen very often, and certainly not as often as the number of cash payments she’d found. But she was hardly the expert here and they both seemed quite certain.
‘Right, okay. And would it also be normal for you to charge people well above the list price?’
‘Well now,’ said Lloyd, puffing his chest out slightly. ‘I don’t wish to blow my own trumpet but I do often charge my clients a premium. They know of my reputation, you see. I do also tend to get referred some
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