He saw an ad in the newspaper about a sales position
He didn’t know the first thing about sales, but figured he could learn, and so he contacted the company.
“It’s simple,” said the hiring manager
“You go door-to-door selling toothbrushes
Everyone needs a toothbrush, you should be able to sell lots of them.”
The man agreed, and went out to a large housing tract for the day
When he returned to the office he was asked how his day went.
“I sold one toothbrush,” he said.
The hiring manager was not happy
“Look, I know it’s your first day in sales, so I’ll forgive it this time
But you gotta sell more than one if you want to keep your job.”
The next day the man went to another neighborhood
When he returned to the office at the end of the day he said, “I sold two toothbrushes today!”
Now the hiring manager was furious
“That’s not nearly enough! You have one more day to get this right
If you don’t sell a lot more tomorrow, you’re fired.”
When the man came back to the office at the end of the next day, again he was asked how he did
“I sold 1500 toothbrushes!” he proclaimed.
“Oh my god!” said the hiring manager
“That’s incredible
It’s more than anyone has ever sold in one day before
How did you do it?”
“Well,” he began, “I went to a grocery store and set up a table outside with some chips and some dip
And I asked people to try them
They would taste it and say, ‘This dip tastes like shit!’”
And I would say, “It is! Would you like to buy a toothbrush?”