Sales team wins trip to Fargo, not Honolulu
Business & Technology | Sales team wins trip to Fargo, not Honolulu | Seattle Times Newspaper
The candy company Just Born offered its sales team an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii if it met its annual goals, and a trip to the nation's arctic tundra if it didn't. The team missed its target.
By The Associated Press
Employees of Just Born — maker of Peeps, Mike and Ike, and other candies — bundle up for a stay in Fargo, N.D. The sales team missed its target and missed out on a free trip to Hawaii. Instead it got to enjoy December in Fargo.
FARGO, N.D. — There is an old saying in the sales business: Always be closing. Here is a new one: Always be freezing, if you do not sell enough.
The company that makes Peeps, Hot Tamales and other candy products offered its sales team an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii if it met its annual goals, and a trip to the nation's arctic tundra if it didn't.
The Just Born team missed its target. So on Tuesday, about two dozen salespeople gathered inside the 19-story Radisson hotel — the tallest building in frozen Fargo.
Outside, the temperature was 7 degrees. The ground had 2 feet of snow. Honolulu was sunny, and a comfortable 82 degrees.
"Fargo is not what you would think is one of the greatest locales in the United States, and technically we didn't make our year," said Dave Bayha, a Just Born manager. "It was somewhat of a punishment."
Would Bayha rather be in Hawaii? "Um, sure," the Phoenix resident said, laughing again.
The team had a good year, increasing sales from the previous year by 2 percent, said Josh Halperin, the company's director of U.S. sales. The goal was a 4 percent bump.
That earned them the trip to Fargo. Some had to shop for real winter clothes, such as furry bomber hats, long underwear and parkas. They are trying to make the best of it, with a little humor.
They planned tours of two North Dakota wineries and a winter extravaganza with a sleigh ride, tobogganing and hot toddies around a fireplace inside a chalet.
On their first night, they went to the VFW in West Fargo for a spaghetti dinner. Five bucks a plate, all you can eat. Afterward, they hauled an old-school popcorn machine into a conference room and watched a movie. The Coen brothers' "Fargo," of course. Ya sure, you betcha. "Watching 'Fargo' in Fargo is just one of those random bucket list things you get to check off," Halperin said.
"It doesn't resemble the community at all," he said. "Maybe a few of the expressions."
The 24 employees from Bethlehem, Pa.-based Just Born have been popular among the locals, too, handing out care packages with treats like Peeps, Mike and Ike, Peanut Chews and Teenie Beanie.
Next winter, if the group fails to reach its goal, they will get an all-expenses paid trip to Rapid City, S.D.
"As a team, this is something we will never forget," Bayha said. "Twenty to 30 years down the road, when we see each other, we're going to say, 'Remember Fargo?'"
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NB: Less funny than the initial French story suggested. They were told about the "punishment" (it's still a paid trip!) beforehand...
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