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Pizza Meets Sandwich on the Fast
Track to Success
Tooling up in his sleek and sporty Mercedes to greet the candidates at the
start of week 8 of the 15-week interview process,
Mr. Trump revved the candidates up about
the new
task: To create a customized promotional
item campaign incorporating the 7-Eleven Indy racing team, then use that
item to boost sales of the new P'EatZZa sandwich.
Feeling the need for speed after a long, slow idle with Gold Rush,
Leslie stepped up as project manager: "I'm
the last one from Gold Rush to be project manager. I've been waiting a long
time for this chance." Her colleague
Lee said she may have waited too long. "It
definitely sends a bad message to Mr. Trump to wait so long to be project
manager," he said. "If she loses, she's finished." And for Synergy
Corporation,
Andrea seized the opportunity to put the
pedal to the metal as
project manager.
Hats Off to the New Boss . . . Or Not
During Synergy Corporation's brainstorming,
Andrea
refused to listen to colleagues'
suggestions for promotional items such as coffee cups to give away with
7-Eleven's P'EatZZa sandwich. Andrea thought a racing hat was a good
giveaway—end of discussion: "I'm letting you know right now, it is hats."
Later,
Carolyn would echo the others' misgivings,
"I don't see a correlation between these hats and a pizza sandwich." Synergy
put forward a good effort, marketing with flyers the night before, pricing
their product at $4 and exhibiting strong sales skills.
Roxanne noted, however, that "If we win
this task, it won't be because we had a really great project manager."
Things were more harmonious on Gold Rush, which hoped to end a three week
losing streak now that
Michael had joined them. The corporation
decided to give away a free mini cooler with each sandwich, but differed on
the price point. PM
Leslie thought
$7.99 was good and most agreed. But
Lee, who had attended college near their
location, said that was too high. Lee nonetheless contributed mightily by
convincing the store manager to "completely strip the shelves of all the
other sandwiches." Further, during the sales event he was thinking outside
the box as he attempted (unsuccessfully)
to sell 1,000 P'EatZZas to a local business owner.
Jetting to D.C.: Capital Idea, Old
Chap
Back in the boardroom,
George reported that Gold Rush had pumped
receipts up by a whopping 608 percent.
Carolyn reported even better numbers for
Synergy: a sales increase of 997 percent!
For their reward, Synergy flew to Washington, D.C. on a Jet Network luxury
plane. Once in Washington, they met NY Senator Chuck Schumer over
breakfast at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel.
The Senator spoke of the Brooklyn roots he shares with
Trump: "His father and my grandfather were
builders together." From their Presidential Suite perch, the candidates and
the senator shared a stunning view of the White House. After breakfast they
visited the President's stately manor, where U.K.-native
Sean was obviously moved. "Since getting my
green card," he said. "I feel a much bigger sense of belonging. And this is
just icing on the cake."
Andrea seconded that emotion: "Everybody in
this job interview process is living the American dream right now, so to see
him appreciating it that much was really profound."
Yet some dreams don't turn out so well, as Gold Rush would soon discover in
the boardroom.
Leslie: Birthday Bashed
Leslie's big day in the boardroom was also
her birthday, an irony she described as
"really depressing." Down though not yet out, she defended her leadership of
the corporation and most of her hardworking colleagues. But she singled out
Lee
for criticism, suggesting that the time he
spent trying to orchestrate a big deal to sell 1,000 sandwiches actually
depleted the corporation's manpower. Lee countered that, "If the deal went
through we would have won. I like to think big." Leslie chose to bring only
Lee back to the final boardroom, but the strategy backfired.
Trump,
George and
Carolyn all highlighted Leslie's $7.99
price point as the main fault with Gold Rush's effort.
Lee, who had pressed for a lower price, made his case by noting that "If
you're pennies off, you can lose the whole market—I learned that from you
Mr. Trump." Lee almost shot himself in the foot, however, by trying to
steamroll Leslie, with Trump stepping in to her defense. "Lee, I think
you're more talented than what you showed tonight and you're not really
jiving." Leslie tried to take the opportunity to criticize Lee at this
point, but
Trump shut her down: "He wanted the price
lower. You didn't want the price point lowered and that's why you lost.
Leslie, you're fired."
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