Typical Day
Chase Reclinerman gets out of bed at 7:00AM eager to start the day. He has a bet with his buddy, Peter Patter, that he can sell more furniture than Peter can by the end of the month. Today is the last day to make good on it. Chase is ahead by a beautiful dining room set that he sold yesterday, but like basketball, there's still a whole day left in the game—plenty of time for things to turn around.
"I should've bet him on dollar amount instead of deals, but I didn't think it through. If it were dollars, I'd win easy peazy. I mean all the guy's got are a few cheap loveseats, a four-poster, and a couple of end tables to his name. End tables! For crying out loud. I don't know what I was thinking."
"Mom, do we have to hear about furniture every morning? I mean seriously, who cares?" Karla, Chase's little sister whines.
"I'm just glad he's passionate about his job," his mom says, smiling.
Chase knows that she wishes he had gone straight to college instead of taking a gap year so he could work at the furniture store, but he's confident he made the right choice. This way, he's saving up a nice nest egg that will help carry him all through Harvard Business School, which he plans on attending once he gets his bachelor's degree in Business.
Besides, Chase is learning all about how to run a business and furniture sales. Big Al who owns the place is a great mentor and has taught Chase just how to read customers and seal the deal. This is stuff you can't learn in books.
Chase says goodbye to his mom and gives his little sister the stink eye. He grabs the sack lunch his mom packed for him (tuna on rye again, and two chocolate chip cookies), and high tails it out the door.
Chase climbs into his Kia through the passenger seat. He's got to get that door fixed, he thinks. As soon as payday rolls around. Even more reason to win the bet. Winner gets commission on the last deal of the day. Chase plans on selling an entire room's worth of furniture today for that deal—make that a living room.
When he gets to the store, Peter and William (the other salesman) are in the break room scarfing down the doughnuts that Big Al's sprung for.
"Chase, buddy, take one, you'll need it. It's the only sweet deal you'll be seeing today," Peter says, holding out the box of doughnuts.
"So, last day of the month. I hear we got a little competition going," says Al.
"No competition at all," says Peter. "Chase here's going down. You want in on some of the action, Will?"
"I don't have any money, but if I did, I'd put it on Chase."
Chase laughs. Peter doesn't.
"Traitor. You see if I share my victory with you, eh."
"All right, guys. Get on the floor and let's make some people happy."
The salesmen spread out on the floor, staking territory. Chase takes the living rooms while Peter takes the dining room sets, convinced they were an easier sale. Will is a floater. He doesn't have the best attention span and can't stay still anyway.
The first three hours tick by and nothing. No one comes in despite all the ads about the big sale that day. (To be fair, at Big Al's there's a sale every day.)
Then...success. A family of four—mother, father, and two kids—come in and head straight for the bedroom sets. Both Chase and Peter make a break for it, but it's Will who's got them first, in prime position as he has been taking a nap on the Queen pillow-top while Al wasn't looking.
Forty-five minutes and Will has the first sale of the day.
Chase and Peter are chomping at the bit.
As it gets close to noon, several customers filter in. Pretty soon all the salesmen are with customers. The tally begins.
First Chase makes a sale of a sleeper sofa and upsells it to a Serta mattress and down fill with the higher quality fabric. That makes for a nice commission.
Then Peter sells a glass and chrome dining room set. Not a big ticket item, but not too shabby.
In the next few hours, Will sells two more beds; Chase sells a dining room set and a breakfront; Peter sells a Lazyboy, a children's bedroom set, and a few accent tables.
While Chase's commissions are higher, Peter has sold more items and it's in the items that the contest lies.
At 4:30PM Chase gets a last minute customer and sells another sleeper sofa and a coffee table. Now he's in the lead.
At 5:30PM, Will sells a breakfront and Peter sells a kitchen table to tie it.
The shop closes at 6:00PM. At 5:55PM, Will gets the last customers of the day. He sells a master bedroom set, a kids bedroom set, and a new kitchen table and chairs to a couple who has just moved in town from India.
Will is the big winner of the day and he wasn't even in the contest. Peter and Chase have tied. Big Al is just plain elated at the good day everyone's had.
As Big Al closes up shop he thanks the guys and tells them they can always start a new contest next month.
"Next time you should play, Will," says Big Al.
"Nah, what for? I'm already winning without even having to risk anything."
Chase heads home, eating his soggy tuna sandwich that he didn't have time to eat during the day on the way.
His mother has his dinner wrapped up and waiting for him. He eats it even though he's not really hungry, watches some TV, and plays a few video games until it's bedtime and he gets to start all over again.