Sell me this pen!
Remember the scene in the film The Wolf of Wall Street where Jordan Belfort walks up to the audience and asks them to sell the pen he is holding? Someone from the front row fumbles then talks about the pen’s features, and so on. Well, that was a movie, but nowadays, “Sell me this pen” has become a favorite sales interview question. Why pen? Understanding how to sell a small commodity, like a pen, may demonstrate to the interviewer your marketing and commercial abilities.
How to sell a pen will teach you one of the most fundamental lessons in sales which is demand generation. The interviewers see whether you can do demand generation.
How can I sell a pen most effectively during a job interview?
You can successfully sell a pen in an interview by taking into account:
- Reasons why the interviewer might need or want a pen
- What advantages there could be in buying a new pen
- How they could write with a pen at work
When you are asked a question like “Sell me this pen, pencil, coffee” or anything. You should not start talking about the features of the product don’t even introduce your product. Instead, you start a conversation with the person in front of you. Ask them what they do, Ask them about their work. And put a scenario in front of them that is incomplete without your product. Something that the person can relate to.
For Example, Imagine your vendor decides to give you the best offer. An offer that will help you make 2X profit. Only if you sign the check on the spot. If you don’t they will pass the deal to your competitor. But you realize you don’t have a pen, or your pen is not working. You won’t get the deal or it will leave a bad impression.
This was an example of demand generation. If you find it difficult you can ask them what are your goals, etc. Once you have completed the demand building. You talk about supply. You Introduce your product as a solution.
You can now talk about the features or unique selling propositions of your product accordingly.
For example, If the pen is cheap you can say. You can avoid that situation if you have this pen. It is just 5Rs. You can always keep this pen in your bag or buy 10 such pens and keep them in all your bags.
For example, If the pen is expensive you can say. You can avoid that situation and this pen will enhance your personality as well.
Are you facing problems with sales? use the Sales Sunday platform. With Sales Sunday you don’t have to think but read instead. It makes your sales fun with gamification. And AI Sunday will give you suggestions based on machine learning, data science, and algorithms.
What you can read next:
7 powerful steps in a sales process.
Top 5 Sales objections and proven ways to deal with it.
To turn your sales employees into high performing use Sales Sunday.
