Dirty Jobs

A summary of something interesting I found out about Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs.  The source for this article is an section answering a question on Mike’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheRealMikeRowe/posts/944287745581369:0 

Mike started his television career in 1990, the QVC Channel was looking for new talent. Mike Rowe who “needed a job and thought TV might be a fun way to pay the bills” decided to go and audition.  He went to the specified location and after waiting for several minutes, he was brought into the audition and seated across from a man behind a large desk with a timer and a tripod camera.  Mike was asked to talk about something for eight minutes without losing it or making a fool of himself.  He asked what he would be talking about, this was the response given.  “The man pulled a pencil from behind his ear and rolled it across the desk. “’Talk to me about that pencil. Sell it. Make me want it. But be yourself. If you can do that for eight minutes, the job is yours. Ok?’”

Rowe accepted the challenge, and the timer was set, the pencil was an ordinary, yellow number 2, sharpened pencil.  The camera began recording and the timer began to count, and Mike instantly began to talk.  He began by introducing himself, and saying: “I only have eight minutes to tell you why this is finest pencil on Planet Earth. So let’s get right to it.”  He found a piece of paper and wrote the word QUALITY in all capital letters, then showed it to the camera.  He discusses how the Dixon Ticonderoga number 2 pencil gives a better quality line than the #1 or #3 pencil, and is made from nice, safe graphite.  To emphasize safer graphite, he licked the pencil tip.

He commented on how the yellow color makes the pencil easier to find on a desk, and how the shape was made for comfort.  How the non-circular shape was better for not causing your hand fatigue and how the pencil was designed to be able to write for hours on end.  Rowe commented on how the eraser would be attached completely even until the pencil was an “unusable nub.”  He commented on the American made quality, and the nice feel of holding a wooden pencil.  “In a world overrun with plastic and high tech gadgets, isn’t it comforting to know that some things haven’t evolved into something shiny and gleaming and completely unrecognizable?’”

After all of this, Rowe glanced at the timer, five minutes left.  He decided to shift gears, he discussed the “pencils’s impact on Western Civilization,” how Picasso and Van Gogh had done so many pencil drawings, and how Einstein and Hawking had written so many equations in pencil.  Comparing the pencil to a pen, Rowe said: “Pen and ink are fine for memorializing contracts, but real progress relies on the ability to erase and start anew.”  He relates  the ability of the pencil to Archimedes saying he could have made a lever large enough to move the world, but he needed a pencil to make the point.

Three minutes left, Rowe moves on to personal recollections.  He talked about writing his name for the first time, writing book reports, writing love letters, and writing his first love letter in 6th grade.  This worked the clock down to 30 seconds, so he decided to wrap it up.  His final words were: “We call it a pencil, because all things need a name. But today, let’s call it what it really is. A time machine. A match maker. A magic wand. And let’s say it can all be yours…for just .99 cents.”

The timer was at 0:00, the man came back around the desk, took the pencil and wrote “You’re hired” on the stationary.  A few days later, Rowe moved to West Chester PA and was selling on QVC.  A job he worked for three months on the Graveyard shift being “trained” although he notes he had no supervision.

There is a lot to be learned from this, I think a big one is that one can sell pretty much anything.  If Mike Rowe can make a pencil look like the most innovative and incredible product in the world then anything can be sold.  The product has to be made appealing, has to be something needed, Rowe made the pencil appealing and created need by focusing on how much you can do with it and adding sentimental value.  This is an excellent sales example, I’m sure there are lots of other good aspects about the sale, any thoughts?