Ryan was only one week into his job at corporate before he was forced to make a visit to the Scranton branch.  He had been told in no uncertain terms that he was to come in and set some ground rules with Michael, especially given the strange dynamic that his promotion was going to create. 

Of course, he probably would have been able to do it by phone  if Michael would actually speak to him.  Instead, Jim had been his go-between.  Jim seemed to be taking no small amount of pleasure in his role.

"Jim, can you tell Michael that he will have to talk to me when I get there?  I am on my way now.  I'll hopefully be there in a couple of hours."

"Oh, Michael said to tell you he's dead."

"Nice."

"He also said to tell you that the numbers have gone up since you left, so it's clear you were no big loss.  I think that's the broken heart talking though."

"Why is he taking this so personal?  It was a huge promotion."

"You have met Michael, haven't you?  There is no line.  We're family here in Scranton, after all."

"Sour grapes, Halpert?"

"Nope.  I am where I chose to be.  So, are we going to be seeing you as often as we saw Jan?  I'm not sure Kelly has enough 'look what you passed up' outfits for that."

Ryan sighed.  "Can you just get Pam to babysit Michael so he doesn't leave?"

"Michael won't be leaving.  He already made reservations at Chili's for the three of us.  Because we need reservations at Chili's.  At 11:30.  On a Wednesday."

"Why the three of us?"

"Because as Assistant Regional Manager, I was named mediator.  We are not leaving until we win-win-win."

"Fine.  I'll see you then."

With that Ryan hung up, and shook his head in exasperation.  He already knew Jim was going to have way too much fun in his role as mediator.  He just hoped he didn't bring Pam along so they could tag team him.  It always unnerved him a bit  how in sync they would be when they would amuse themselves at the expense of others.  He rarely saw them plot anything, yet they always seemed to know what the other was thinking. 

Ryan almost never seemed to quite know what to expect out of people, which he knew was one of the reasons he was such a crappy salesperson.  Jim was so much better at hitting those right notes with people, which he seemed to innately do.  Because Jim could never get caught trying hard at anything. 

Ryan started to think back to the time he accompanied Jim on a sales call.  It was right after he had returned from Stamford, and Ryan still had no luck making sales.  He was hoping that maybe Jim could give him some further guidance, as he seemed to have a gift with sales considering his general lack of dedication to the endeavor.

Jim had amicably agreed to let him come along, which Ryan had expected.  He had also expected the comment about not expecting to learn much, as Jim even bored himself on sales call.  Too much talking about paper.

"Well, that's what I'm trying to learn how to do.  So I would appreciate any guidance you have," Ryan said, trying to sound appreciative and not irritated.

"Sure.  Just don't say I didn't warn ya."

Jim drove, while Ryan sat back and mentally prepared. 

"Do you want to take the lead?  It's not a client I've worked with before, so I don't think they have any huge attachment to me."

"Okay.  Thanks man."

"No problem."

"So, how desperate were you to come to me for help?  I heard you already had gone on a call with Dwight, which is pretty desperate in its own right."

"Dwight wasn't so bad.  Well, he did abandon me on the beet farm.  And he wanted me to wrestle his cousin Mose."

"Wow, Dwight really let you into the inner sanctum.  Dwight and I have been on dozens of sales calls, and I've never had the privilege of seeing the beet farm."

"If you laid off the guy a bit you might get the opportunity someday," Ryan said, a bit testier than he intended.

"Maybe.  But then what would I do with my days? Sell paper?"

Ryan decided to let that go, as he didn't feel like discussing Jim's general lack of motivation and ambition.  Ryan didn't get it, and he didn't really care to.

Thankfully, they arrived at the client's office shortly thereafter.

True to his word, Jim let Ryan take the lead.  Which was a way of putting things nicely, as Ryan floundered a bit from the get-go, forgetting to keep it simple as Dwight had advised.

Instead, he started rattling off numbers and random information from the company's website.  He talked about how it was smart to go with the smaller outfit, as it would lead to increased productivity overall for staff who would not be constantly making complaint calls or waiting for orders.  Eventually, Ryan wasn't sure what he was saying.  But he was pretty sure most of it had come from his textbooks, and hoped he had at least sounded educated.

The client, a portly middle-aged man, just smiled at him.  "Well, son, I really just was interested in buying some paper.  But thanks for the business model advice."

Jim then came to life.  "Well, sir, thank you for your patience.  Young Ryan here is just starting out, and he just wanted to show you how smart he is.  But don't worry, I can definitely hook you up with some mean paper.  Plain, three whole punched, recycled, you name it."

Jim proceeded to outline price packages, and talked more succinctly about the value of good customer service.  "Ryan mentioned to you our superior customer service, which was an excellent point. Do you really want your office staff to shoot themselves while listening to muzak on hold with Staples? "

The client chuckled a bit, and told him he would review the price packages and get back to them, and asked Jim for his card.  "I will be dealing with you directly, right Jim?"

Ryan looked down, embarrassed.  "Yes, sir.  I will take on your account personally, and you only will deal with me and our lovely receptionist."

Jim thanked him for his time, and with that they walked out. 

When they started driving back, Ryan shook his head in disgust with himself.  "That did not go well. Why can't I get this?  Do you know how many marketing classes I've taken?"

"How many?"

"Enough.  Enough to be able to make one sale."

"Well, I've been doing this a long, long, long time.  It gets better, but I think you are basing your sales strategy on a different sort of product."

"What do you mean?"

"We don't necessarily have a better product.  We sell paper.  Don't forget at the end of the day, a good portion of what we sell will be shredded.  So who really cares what sort of paper it is, and why not just go with the cheapest source?"

"Customer service is what we sell.  I know that."

"No, grasshopper.  It is not entirely what we sell.  We are selling ourselves.  You have to make sure they like you.  That is your first priority.  Make them laugh, loosen them up.  Make buying paper like a call to a friend."

Ryan sat back and realized he was right.  And he was also a bit taken aback.  Jim had clearly put some thought into this, and really knew what he was doing.  His natural charm helped him, but Jim was savvy enough to know that his personality was his greatest asset in making sales.

"You know, you're really good at this.  I wish things came as naturally to me," Ryan said.

Jim chuckled a bit. "Some people just aren't born to sell paper for a living like I am," Jim said, clearly trying to deflect away the compliment.

"Why do you do that, man?"

"Do what?"

"You do clearly know what you are doing, and you are good at your job.  But you just outwardly blow it all off like it's no big deal, and you're above it all."

"Wow. Getting intense, there Temp."

Jim had rarely if ever called him Temp.  It was so typically flippant of him. 

"Whatever, man.  Thanks for helping show me the ropes."

Jim took a breath, and Ryan wasn't sure if Jim was angry or going to make another glib remark.  Instead, he chose that moment to look sincere.

"Look, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to turn this into something awkward.  I'll tell you why I don't beam with pride all the time from a job well done."

Ryan nodded, feeling a bit strange that Jim was opening up to him.

"If I really and truly gave this my everything, then "I'm a paper salesman" might become the answer to the question of who I am, and not just what I do for a living.  I'm not sure I could take that."

"Well, then, who are you now?"

"I'd like to say a work in progress.  Ask me again in a couple of years."

___________________________________________________________________

Ryan snapped out of his memory and pulled into the Dunder-Mifflin Scranton parking lot, braving himself to face Michael and endure Jim-as-mediator. 

However, remembering that not so long ago conversation with Jim made it seem so much more manageable, as knowing Jim's biggest fear made him more vulnerable in his eyes, no matter what Jim tried to pull over on him during this "mediation." 

Ryan knew that Jim's biggest fear was to some day wake up and be Michael.  For Jim's sake, Ryan sure hoped things were working out with Pam, or ten years from now that might be exactly who he would become.  A man who has nothing in his life other than his mid-level manager job, no identity other than that as a paper salesman. 

At least Ryan knew he was avoiding that fate.  After all, he was an executive of a company that sold paper.  That made a huge difference.