Dman1b

Azure Specialist

SELL ME THIS PEN! Who's done it and how?

So we've probably all been asked in an interview to sell some cheesy ass sales manager their own pen. The question is simple, how'd you do it? Or did you walk out??

I smashed her damn laptop and created a need........didn't get the job though! But I didn't get a bill for the laptop either.....

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kgotti

Opinionated

Key Account Executive

Sell me this pen is all about creating a need by discovery and closing. As soon as the interviewer rolled the pen over to me, I asked when's the last time you used a pen and what for. He said to write a post-it for his wife to remind her of something.

I replied something like that sounds like an effective way for the two of you to stay on the same page, and for the nominal cost of this pen, you can extend that time of effective communication with your wife and be worry-free.

He replied that my answer "wasn't bad" which pissed me off and after the interview, I thought about the job for 10 minutes and decided I had no interest in working for a guy who slides a pen across a table at me and asks me to sell it. Especially when their product is cloud infrastructure monitoring and the sales cycle is 2-3 quarters.

Telehealth_2the_Moon

Notable Contributor

Director of Business Development

I agree. Especially in a complex, long cycle like that.

I think this question is for the interviewer to feel cool, not to judge your ability to sell.

Dman1b

Catalyst

Azure Specialist

You are my kindred spirit!

CadenceCombat

Tycoon

Account Executive

@kgotti 100%

Couldn’t agree more. It’s such a cringey question. It would be such a turnoff if a potential employer ever asked me that.

Bandido

Politicker

Client Director

Ask for the pen, hold it, stand up, walk out, enjoy your new free pen and the peace of mind knowing you won't work for that manager.

Dman1b

Catalyst

Azure Specialist

I love free pens! And other chotzkies.....

NorthernSalesGuru

Politicker

Manager, Outbound Sales

Lool. Have never actually experienced or done this.

Dman1b

Catalyst

Azure Specialist

One of the lucky ones.....

SalesPharaoh

Big Shot

Senior Account Executive

Pretty annoying question

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

I think you just finish out the interview and know you're not going to work there.

Dman1b

Catalyst

Azure Specialist

That is by far the least combative way to face reality.

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

I can’t imagine this is till being done, but if it was I’d politely excuse myself from the interview

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

⬆️ THIS ⬆️

Dman1b

Catalyst

Azure Specialist

Sadly, there is still a ton of poor sales management out there.

Stringer

Arsonist

SDR

This is easy. Ask 1 question, then give them this response.

You want me to sell this to you, but why do you want it?

(regardless of what they say, say this.)

You don't see the pen, the way I see the pen. You want it because (whatever reason they gave you), but the power of the pen and what it has done through the history of mankind, is beyond the value of what you have to offer. For that reason, I cannot sell you this pen.

This just goes to show you won't sell something if there is no value, and that you do things for a purpose.

After all that, decline the job offer and find an innovative sales leader.

notremovingfromlist

Good Citizen

Senior Account Executive

Grateful to have not heard this yet. I worked at a SaaS startup with a rookie manager who would ask candidates some variation of "if a water hose is x feet long, how many would it take to stretch around the globe" I hated that manager. If he was involved in the hiring when I interviewed I would have walked out. This was for a transactional sales role $2k ARR deals.

beerisforclosers

Politicker

Account Manager

I have had a cheesy sales manager do this to me. Easiest way to get them back on track with real interview questions quickly is to offer a demo.

"There's some nostalgia in writing things down; I would love to let you demo this pen and enjoy it for a week."

But I also did not take that job. The pen sale did weigh in on my decision.

Dman1b

Catalyst

Azure Specialist

Yeah, who wants to work for "that guy"?

Savagedoge

Tycoon

Account Executive

This is the one most annoying and useless question anyone can ask in an interview today. I've scoffed at the interviewer involuntarily once and they did hire me. We had a good laugh about it later. He never asked that again in any interviews after that.

WenWest15

Valued Contributor

Principal Business Development Manager

I took the pen away from him and told him to show me how he writes his signature. We laughed, but it's the worst interview question ever.

T3Tony

Valued Contributor

Regional Sales MAnager

Do you need a pen?

TheDragon

Good Citizen

CVO

I’d like to start by saying I love that movie. Anyone from those thinking of being in sales to the jaded sales veteran would agree. With that being said, I can give you some cliche answer about how it’s the one you sign million dollar deals with, or reminds you of a pen your great grandfather handed down through the generations, but is that what you’re looking for in a salesperson? How many of your sales conducted range from $5-10? I’d think it would serve us both better to sell you the company that makes them. With that we need to start a totally different conversation. Let’s talk about your needs for an acquisition of this size and how I can address any questions you might have regarding quality and profitability of the company I represent.

MardukOfSales

Good Citizen

District Manager

Been a long time since I've been asked this, probably 16 years or so. It's a dumb question, but they may be throwing it out there to see if you try to jump right in to feature selling.
So try something like this: Have you ever needed to sign something but had nothing to write with? Great, so you understand you need a pen. So let's make sure we get you the right one. What are the top 2 or 3 things that are important to you in a writing instrument?

Brando

Politicker

Account Executive

This so outdated! I can't even believe people still ask this!

If this is in the interview, you should probably expect the job to be straight out of boiler room

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Dman1b

SELL ME THIS PEN! Who's done it and how?

24 comments

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