Page 158 - James Caan - The Real Deal

The Real Deal

You can imagine what happened in the building for the rest of
the day: the place was on fire because the boss had given a guy
who’d only been in the company four weeks his brand new
Porsche.
Mike paid me for that car by month eight. My philosophy of
giving recognition before it’s asked for made him realise I believed
in him, and so he really started to believe in himself. In giving him
the car I had given him a tangible target to aim for and he raced
towards it. The car crystallised what he was working for and his
billing started to soar: by the end of the year he’d actually billed
£460,000. That’s 50 per cent more than he’d predicted.
I hadn’t really been in any doubt that he could do it. After a
month working with him I was convinced he could bill, and when
I tossed him the keys I said to myself: ‘If I gave him a reason to
bill at a level he’s never billed before, would I take a bet he could
do it?’ The answer was yes. I didn’t think he’d ever had something
to aim for like that, something to believe in, and my dad’s maxim
of always doing the opposite was really playing in my head. Most
employers would offer the car only when the guy had billed the
£300k, but I just thought: imagine what he’d do if I gave him the
car now. What are the chances of me giving him that car, and him
turning round in twelve months’ time and saying: ‘James, I’m
really sorry, I had a shit year . . .’ That just wasn’t going to
happen: there was no way he would ever give that car back to me.
His family, his girlfriend, the entire office were all impressed.
Imagine what he would feel like if he turned up in his old Mini
one day? If I gave him the car, I knew I could be absolutely certain
he’d bring in that £300k. The extra £160k he billed wasn’t entirely
a surprise either. Win, win, win: he won, Alexander Mann won
and I won.
The impact of that sent ripples through the business, and
everybody’s motivation levels increased. Everyone wanted to know
what Mike was billing and if he was going to keep the car. I can’t

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