Page 153 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

‘That’s not the point. I want you to sell me the ashtray.’
Whatever they were going to say to me, I was going to give them
a hard time.
They would get into the pitch: ‘Hi, I’m from the Diamond
Ashtray Company and, James, I’d like to present this ashtray.’

At this point I’d say, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t smoke.’ Whatever angle
they took, I’d come up with a counter. In a post-smoking-ban
world, I had to come up with a new version – so I might pick up

my mobile phone and say, ‘I’m thinking of changing my phone.
Sell me yours,’ and whatever feature of their phone they pitch, I’ll
say I don’t need it.
The objective of the exercise is not to ascertain your technical
knowledge of the ins and outs of ashtrays or mobile phones.

What I am trying to establish is how much grit there is inside you,
how resilient you are, how you respond to rejection. Because if
you are going to join me in sales, how many times do you think

you are going to be rejected? I am putting you on the spot to see
how creatively you can think under pressure. How quickly do you
give up?
I know it sounds crazy, but so many times this exercise made
up my mind. If the candidate did freeze, even though I might have

liked them, even though their C V might have been exceptional,
I would be thinking, ‘This is a sales position. In this job they’re
going to pick up the phone, or go out and see somebody, and the

potential customer will say, “I’m not interested.” If the candidate
has dried up, hasn’t even attempted to come back to me, I am not
interested in his background. I don’t think he’s right for the job.’
Too many people would take the exercise literally. My

141 power