Why did Roma win the Cadillac?

Question

When Roma closed the deal with Lingk, he comes at the office in the morning claiming the first prize, a Cadillac. He looks so pumped and confident about it that he removes the Cadillac poster as if the contest is over and he won.

But to me, it seems the sales contest is not finished as it should last until the end of this month.

BLAKE: We're adding something to this month's sales contest. You all know first prize is a Cadillac. ( . . . ) Second prize is a set of steak knives. ( . . . ) Third prize is you're fired.

Earlier he says:

BLAKE: All you've got is one week to regain your job.

So, as Blake's speech occurs exactly one week before the end of the month, Roma shouldn't win so quickly...

Why did he win after just one day?

Answer 1

Ricky Roma had not officially won when he took down the Cadillac poster. He did this as an act of bravado. It is the manager Williamson (Kevin Spacey), as an representative of Mitch & Murray, who would be the person with the authority to announce a winner.

You have to keep in mind not only the personality of Roma but the incredible stress the salesmen were under to either come in 1st or 2nd place or get fired. That partially accounts for Roma's braggadocio: an expression of stress relief.

The other factor is that if you look at his lead over the other salesmen, and the amount a good salesmen can make in a week, he is impossible to catch. That is why he says, "Then I'm over the fucking top! You owe me a Cadillac!" At the time, the chalkboard has Roma at $90,000, Moss at $27,500, Levene at 0, and Aaronow at $7,000. So even if Levene's "miracle" sale of $82,000 stuck, he doesn't beat Roma.