Elliot posted an update
a year ago (edited)
339
Points How to Answer “Sell Me This Pen”
When I first started asking this question, I noticed that it drew a number of cliché or pre-prepared responses. It makes sense though. I would say a solid majority of the sales community knows this example at this point. That’s why I started bringing a pair of sunglasses to my interviews.
I would keep them next to my notepad and the candidate’s resume as they presented. At one stage in the interview — normally toward the end — I would place my iPhone carefully on the middle of the table and say, “Sell me these sunglasses.”
I would get a number of responses, most of which would fall into one of two buckets:
- Value-based selling: The candidate would try to sell me on all the exciting features these sunglasses had to offer. They’d emphasize something like the glasses’ polarized lenses or high-brow brand name.
- Solution-based selling: The candidate asks me questions about my daily life to see if the product could potentially solve any of these for me, such as, “Do you have trouble seeing while driving?” or “Do you like to go to the beach?”
None of these candidates were nailing the question. In fact, it took a full 34 interviews before I found the unicorn.
After asking another candidate to sell me my sunglasses, they sat there in silence and didn’t ask any questions. Seeing the iPhone, they simply turned on the flashlight, shone it in my eyes, and said, “How would you like some sunglasses now?”
Needless to say, they got the job, and I know I made the right call. They went on to be one of my highest performers and most loyal employees.
That’s the kind of mentality you need to bring to the table if you really want to “sell me this pen.” Get me thinking of a problem I didn’t even know I had: a problem that only “this pen” can solve. If you can do that — and do it compellingly — you’re the kind of salesperson hiring managers are after.
The moral of the story? A good salesperson can solve a problem a buyer can see, but a great one can solve a problem a buyer didn’t know they had.
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