Tricky question? Yes. Answerable? Also yes.
More often than not, when we’re in the middle of an interview, questions come up to test how we would react to hypothetical situations. Some are quite common, while others are more challenging to answer.
These questions are meant to show the interviewer what type of person you are. To add to that list, we have the infamous question “Sell me this pen”.
Below, we will walk you through some steps that will help you tackle this question head on.
Why hiring managers ask this question
This question is related to sales positions most of the time. It’s meant to show the hiring manager your ability to sell a product. It’s an easy way to demonstrate your ability to sell anything, even something as small as a pen.
Your approach and body language will play a major part in this demonstration. The interviewer wants to see how you can stand out amongst all the salespeople out there and understand why they should hire you.
There’s a lot of components that go into the perfect salesperson, and a set of skills that need to be constantly refined. It’s also a great way to showcase your skills beyond your résumé.
Sales are one of the most important roles within any company, because that’s how most of the revenue is generated. Therefore, the hiring manager needs to ensure that any new talent brought on board has what it takes to sell any product or service.
Your answer will also help the hiring manager understand your overall sales process and style. There is no right or wrong answer here; it’s all about how you approach any type of sales environment.
Tips for crafting an effective response
Answering this question successfully is all about preparation. You should be prepared for your interview anyway, but it’s important to practice specific job-related examples, too. You want to appear to be the expert in your field and have the best responses ready.
Here are a few tips to help you plan your response if this question is asked during your interview:
1. Act like you love the question
While “Sell me this pen” is among the most dreaded interview questions, you don’t want to show the interviewer your dissatisfaction or discomfort in this question. Instead, embrace it and answer it enthusiastically — remember: enthusiasm is one of the main qualities that companies look for in potential salespeople.
2. Build rapport
The first step is to build up rapport. Ask the interviewer professional questions about what they do and how tough their job is, and find ways to be relatable to them.
At the same time, try to get an idea of their personality and bring an element of emotion into your answer. Finding common ground is important when deciding which approach to take with your answer.
3. Be confident
You don’t want to seem like you’re trying too hard to sell the interviewer that pen. The goal is to have an engaging discussion with them.
Keep your tone level, and try to keep your nerves in check. The key is to make the person feel comfortable and to capture their attention with your presentation and approach.
4. Bring up the pen naturally
Use an anecdotal story or something related to the interviewer’s job, and tie it in with the selling points you come up with about the pen. Bring it up naturally in conversation, and showcase how the pen is essential to that person or their job through a tailored response.
5. Highlight its usefulness
Start talking more about the pen and all its features once you have made your introduction.
Mention all the different ways the pen can have an impact, and focus on any especial features or elements. Always make sure it’s relatable to the rapport-building stage.
You don’t want to overexplain features, or simply list them out one by one; you want to focus on the features that make sense in this situation.
6. Stay relevant
Keep your answer relevant to the pen, the person you’re trying to sell it to and the overall usefulness it has to them. You want to build a picture of why the interviewer needs the pen.
7. Ask direct questions
Remember: this interview question isn’t your typical Q&A. It’s instead meant to be approached as a two-way conversation with a “client”.
This can be achieved by asking the interviewer questions relating to their direct experience with pens and how they use them in their daily lives.
8. Close the deal
Hand back the pen, and close that deal. This is the most important part, and it needs to be paired with a strong concluding point.
By building up rapport, relating the pen to the interviewer and tailoring your pitch to their needs, you should have shown your “client” how they got the best possible deal.
9. Be prepared for refusals
Like with real customers, your interviewer may take a hard-to-get approach, and may object to being sold the pen for its price tag or because they “don’t need a new pen”.
Your job as a salesperson is to be prepared for such push-back and objections, and to refocus your overall approach. You might even consider offering alternative pen suggestions in their price range, for example.
10. Practice your delivery
As with any interview question, it’s always a good idea to rehearse your response and practice your delivery, which you can do with a friend or relative. Ask someone you trust to play the interviewer asking you this question, and apply their feedback into your response.
