Sell me this pen

I've always hated that question because honestly it is always asked by people who don't really know how to sell themselves.

I don't need to have someone sell a pen to me in an interview. If the interview is going well they are already selling me..... on themselves.

It's far easier to judge how one sells by watching them sell when they are just "doing". Anyone can fake a process or "sell" if they have been taught. But do they know how to ask questions? Do they know how to answer questions? And can they make the person want to buy?

If they can I will want to hire them. Hell I might have another 10 interviews set up for the position and I will hire them on the spot.

But most interviewers don't get that. The jobs where I learned the most about selling never once asked me to "sell the pen(or whatever else they use)" because those sales managers understood something that I never understood till years later and that was that I was already selling. I just never realized it.

In the end if you can't sell yourself it means you either can't sell something you believe in or you don't believe in yourself. And no matter which it is I know that person will not be able to sell what I want them to sell for me.

On a related side note I have a personal policy now that if I am asked to "sell the pen" that I turn down the job offer. I know the company can offer me nothing but money and I can get money anywhere.

I have never been asked that...
I have thought about it though.

I like how he started.
I don't know if I would have asked about pricing right there.

On one hand it tells you whether or not he's willing to spend $500
On the other hand, I don't think enough value has been built...

Thoughts

What I really liked about his post was the last line:

Hopefully you have gotten the hint. Before you ever introduce the pen into the presentation you need to know that I actually want a pen. Always, Always, Always focus on the client’s needs and you will be surprised how easy it is to sell a pen. Focus on the pen and you will always struggle.

I clicked this link and got some really good stuff as well:

Supercharge your sales speak with these simple standardised statements… « How to be a hardcore salesperson

Sell me this pen, G.U.T.S. Style:

Good stuff. The problem with asking "How much are you looking to spend?" right away is that, once a price is uttered, that price kind of firms up in the prospect's mind. What if he said "Something really good. I'll go as much as $3."?

I might say 'In the finest gift pen sets, we have a few price ranges. Some people consider price as no object, and they spend as much as $1,000 for a set. Some are wanting the gift to be remembered, and used for years. Our most popular pen gift sets are in the $200-$500 range. And some are on a budget and can't go more than $100-$200 for a gift. Where would you fit in there?"

Now, instead of saying $3, the guy may say "Well, I wasn't thinking of spending $200, but what do you have?"

That's a very powerful technique to get the price expectation up there. I fudged the prices. I have no idea how much pens cost.

I've never read that book. Would you recommend it beyond just the one tip you mention here?

Please, please... just take the pen. It's on me!

And when you need refills, it only takes the ones I sell.

The "free" (or cheap) pen and charging for refills is a business model I am suprised we don't see more of today. It's been a proven money maker for years. But it seems outside of a few industries (razors the biggest) that it has fallen out of fashion. I think we have become a great throw away society. Why buy a refill when you can just buy another from China?

The biggest relatively new version of this would be the Kindle Fire. Sold for break even prices in the hopes that Amazon becomes your content provider.

Can anyone thing of any other companies really using it today with newer products?

I've had my fair share of having to interview new hires. I've always loved it when I asked them to sell me something so common as a pen.

Some of them came up with the most random stuff, like the pen could transform in a lightsaber and stuff like that. Made me laugh real hard in the interview room.

A good salesperson, however, will know how to sell something as an ordinary pen. Why? Because he/she understands that people still need pens. Even if we're living in an age where we usually just face a tablet, smartphone or computer, when all else fails, we have to go back to the basics.

So how do you sell a pen? Well... find someone who needs a pen!

But why should I expand energy trying to convince someone to buy a pen when I could instead look to sell a pen where circumstances are ripe for pen sales? A road sign that says: