Sell me this pen?
Interviewer gives you his/her pen and says "sell me this pen."
The most important thing is probably to just relax and give a coherent answer that you can justify.
But what the heck do I know.
interview answers for this interview question? Curious to hear what some people like to say/hear.
1) Actually sell the pen. Talk about the pen's features, attributes, and benefits (FAB). Close with why the person needs it. No more than 30 seconds. Craft a story/pitch and go.
2) Tell the interviewer to "write his name on a piece of paper". Oh what's that? You need the pen back? Supply/Demand bro you can buy it from me now. (Lol that's basically what happened in Wolf of Wall Street, it backfires if the interviewer has another pen and can also make you seem cheeky probably)
That's all I got. I feel like there is a better structure to address this question...any takers?
I feel like #1 is what most people would do, but that's the wrong way to do it. The way I would approach is to try and ask questions to find a reason why the person needs that pen. In a finance situation I would think of reasons why a banker may need the pen: for example to write down some important number or some shit like that.
Overall I feel like any good salesman asks a lot of questions to find out how their product can help their client
Take the pen from them and tell them they'll need a pen in order to take note of how clever this response is
Interesting article about Jordan Belfort from the perspective of the daughter of one of his business partners.
http://elitedaily.com/news/world/open-letter-makers-wolf-wall-street-ch…
Some Milton Friedman up this b*tch
Good find haha. A complete and thorough analysis of that pencil haha.
I jizzed a little
Actually very interested in this question as well.. Hope to see some interesting responses :)
I was asked this at an interview, here was my answer:
"How's it going? I understand that you are in the market for a new pen. The one you have been using works but the occasional ink smear really annoys you am I right? Don't worry lets explore some new options together. I have this brand new pen from Bic that doesn't smear and has the writing quality of that beautiful Cartier pen on your desk but with out the cost. Here you go, try it out. That pen you have in your hand is reliable enough for everyday to do lists yet refined enough for signing the back of your next multi-million dollar check. I'll put you down for 10, sign here with your new pen to accept the order."
-John
Not a special answer by any stretch...
Depending on what the position is for (IBD, S&T etc..) i would probably try to learn about your "customer" first, what they want from their pens etc. before trying to sell them something they don't want, isn't appropriate for their portfolio, has risks they aren't accustomed to, doesn't have a mega transaction status, or wont create the optimal synergies etc.....
The quoted answer lacks class, finesse, and any real thought...sort of like a car salesman.
Sell me this pen (Originally Posted: 12/28/2013)
"Write your name on this piece of paper"
Oh, you don't have a pen anymore. Supply and demand, bro.
Boom, solved.
"Sell Me This Pen" (Originally Posted: 04/21/2014)
I was never particularly skilled at or knowledgeable about salesmanship or marketing. So I found this article interesting, where the real-life Jordan Belfort explains his answer to the question "sell me this pen."
His basic point is that you can't sell the pen on its own merits, but on how the pen fits a particular need for a specific individual. I suppose one could apply that concept to many things in life. After all, it's that kind of persuasive intelligence that spawned the Wolf of Wall Street in the first place.
Thoughts?
Go with humour if all else fails.
When manipulated...the naive mind is able to make a respectable payment in exchange for junk.
Tailoring a pitch to the needs of the buyer is required for a successful sale. The more important and complete process, however, is the actual set up and delivery of the pitch. Like the saying old saying goes, it's not what you say but how you say it. In the article, Jordan talked about getting a buyer to qualify himself, which in turn would have given Belfort clues that he could use to reinforce thoughts that the purchaser already would have laid out. He would have used the basics of human psychology to his advantage, although the underlying broader framework would have still been the set up and delivery (his mannerisms, voice inflections and tones, speech pauses, etc).
We all at one point or another have customized something for our intended audience based on their needs. One example is spinning resumes and answers to questions in an interview setting. Even when going out you may end up telling a girl/guy something that you think he/she might want to hear. My point is that we all practice this tactic, but the ones who successful are the people who know how to set their pitch up and deliver it. For instance, Person A can say the exact same thing as Person B in interview, but if Person A presents his pitch wrong then Person B would get the job (assuming everything else equal).
Or you can do what Belfort actually did which was lie and defraud people. When you act with no conscience it's pretty easy to sell.
That's true, but he was a great salesperson regardless of his amoral tactics at Stratton. The man made about $40,000 (adjusted for inflation) over one summer selling Italian ice before he was even in college. He was practically born a salesman.
Just pull an American Hustle: "I don't think this pen is right for you. You are going to have to convince me that you are ready for the kind of writing that this pen can do."
You guys are obviously still teenagers because you forget the little thing called the real estate bubble that occurred in the 2000s up until about 2007/2008. If you tell people things that aren't true--the market is going to go up forever--or if you commit fraud--constructing fake W2s on a scanner--then it is extremely easy to make money in sales. EVERYONE who was dishonest was crushing it; those who were honest generally did just ok. My friend was recruited into selling mortgages at the age of 19 by an MS-13 gang member who was part of a larger gang culture in the business at the time.
Maybe it takes some incredible skill to sell knives, even with fraud and manipulation. But in the big money industries--stocks, bonds, real estate--it is EXTREMELY easy to be a great salesman if you are literally lying about everything and you have no problem doing it. Since virtually all of Belfort's wealth was accumulated via fraud, I would tend to disagree with the assertion that he is an amazing salesman.
First off, I'm not a teenager. I'm not saying Belfort's actions at Stratton are admirable either, but an individual can still learn effective salesmanship from him. I don't know if he can ever prove that he made 40K over the summer selling Italian ice, but no one can definitively disprove his claims either. Maybe he is exaggerating the sales he made, but I want to believe him.
You're asserting that he was the most egregious liar in New York at that time and are attributing his success solely to his lies. I beg to differ. There were a bunch of two-bit penny broker chop shops in NYC then. Jordan became the king of frauds because his tactics had a substance that other brokers pitches didn't have. If everyone on WSO could go back in time and were allowed to do whatever as brokers, Belfort would still be more successful than any of us.
What you're saying is truly astounding. Jordan Belfort has never made an honest sale in his entire life and yet you're attributing to him royalty among salespeople. It's an absolutely remarkable claim. He is royalty among fraudsters--he's a sociopath and liar. I'm not sure what's more amazing--that you think he's a great salesman or that you actually believe his claims about Italian ice. The guy is a proven pathological liar. Generally, most normal people would require proof to even entertain the claims of one of history's greatest fraudsters, but apparently it's on me to disprove the claims of Jordan Belfort--we should just accept them at face value.
I can understand both arguments, but when you're talking about investments the lies create the ability to sell something. Would Belfort be a better than average shoe salesman? I guess, who really cares - he wasn't selling shoes... Essentially it's guys like Madoff or more so Marc Drier (or any other ponzi schemer who has been featured on American Greed), who make the point DCDepository is trying to make. Marc Dreier could walk into a hedge fund's office and sell a $10 mil construction note very easily because the deal was so lucrative, with brand name backing like Sheldon Solow, nobody ever asked any questions. Dreier wasn't a fantastic "salesperson," but he was a an excellent conman who was simply LYING (Solow had no idea he was borrowing money in his name). I could be a good salesperson or a shitty salesperson, but if I rolled into $10b credit fund and said I was raising money on behalf of Gary Barnett and it was believable (not because of my salesmanship, but rather if I could provide fraudulent documents or other prior affiliations), I could offer them some mezz rate for two years, and they'd cut me a monster check. If I strolled into the same fund and said, I, TripleNet would like the fund to make the same investment in me at the same rate for the same project, I could be the greatest salesman in the world and they would laugh at me. The only difference is the deal - the developer, the fraud of it. It has nothing to do with persuasion.
This argument is really silly. While it appears that you are debating whether or not Jordan was a good salesman in reality you are debating whether or not a salesman can be unethical. Personally, I'm of the camp that would allow for dishonesty in defining a great salesman because being lying in it self does not generate sales. Its the smooth talking, understanding of the situation, ability to read people that does. Likely a guy that is great at being a salesman with dishonest tactics could find similar success in a less dishonest fashion. Conversely, you couldn't take a bad ethical salesman and all of a sudden through dishonest tactics he would be good.
I'm sorry but you know absolute dick about sales. I spent 2 years running a sales group and what you're saying is just psycho babble. You ABSOLUTELY can vastly improve poor salesman by using dishonesty and manipulation. This isn't even debatable. I feel like I'm in f*cking the twilight zone.
This. 1+
Again, I'm not condoning his actions, nor am I trying to glorify him. He was simply good at what he did and there could be some valuable takeaways from his approach.
Also, we can debate about ethical sales tactics all day, but it is completely subjective as the line between manipulation and persuasion can get blurry.
In regard to his Italian ice claim, I personally know someone who has done something similar with another product and that person wasn't saying he was raising funds for starving infants or running some other scam. So in my opinion, it could have happened.
I personally know someone who ran a 5 minute mile. In my opinion, anyone who claims to have done so could theoretically have accomplished the task. Again, the word of a pathologial liar is meaningless without proof.
Dude you are so angry. Always. Calm down, its just a debate of opinions on a dorky finance message board.
You are thinking absolute not relative. The all star honest salesman would get greater potential gains from dishonesty than the crappy honest salesman. Likewise the all star dishonest salesman would out preform the crappy dishonest salesman in an honest situation. The point its their underlying abilities regardless of honest or not. While there may be gains from dishonesty, that would be more of a "dishonestly premium" built into an underlying sales baseline based on ability.
You're talking out of your ass.
The fact is, Jordan Belfort hasn't helped any individual make an honest living in sales in his entire life. Even bad salesmen can give good advice about sales--you can read stuff in a book and re-copy it into your own words. Being a great honest salesman is largely intuitive with a few coaching tweeks here and there. Belfort made up fake stocks and told people that they were amazing. You want to learn sales? Check out Brian Buffini. You want to learn how to defraud people? Jordan Belfort. He isn't and never was a salesman. There's literally nothing Belfort could teach people about sales that isn't already written down in a book somewhere.
DCD your recent anger on this message board is quite interesting.. you never showed these tendencies in the past? Has the real world gone sour for you, that you bring the hostility to this message board?
@AcctNerd : I'll raise you this quote from The Internship:
"I can sell prosciutto to a rabbi...and I have."
SB for you.
fight, fight, fight, fight
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