By:  Ernest Saco

If you’ve ever applied for a sales job, been in sales, or seen The Wolf Of Wall Street, you’ve probably heard the statement “Sell Me This Pen.”  So how would you sell me a pen?

When I was originally asked this question I began to list the benefits of the pen… WRONG!  That is NOT what you’re supposed to do.  You need to:

First, Identify A Need

This is step one in any great sales process.  Asking a question like “Do you write?” or better yet “How often do you write?”.  More often than not, especially in this case, the answer will be some form of “Yes”.  Thus giving you the open door to continue your pitch.

Next, Go Over Likes & Dislikes

“What do you like about your current pen?” also “What would you change?”  This then provides you the ability to position your pitch according to what they like about their current pen and what they dislike about it.  For example, “I love the color this pen writes in, but I don’t like how hard I have to press to get the ink out.”

Then, Custom Tailor The Pen’s Benefits

Customize the pen to fit the needs of the customer.  In the example above, if the customer loves that their pen writes in blue but hates that they have to push so hard, position a pen that writes in blue that allows smooth, effortless writing.  This pen now becomes appealing because it doesn’t only have the positive attributes that their existing pen has, it also SOLVES THE PAIN POINTS caused by their existing pen.  This is crucial in the sales process!  People buy solutions to their problems far more often than buying based on bonus features.  However, you cannot know the paint points unless you ask the questions mentioned in step 2.

Last, Ask For (or assume) The Sale

“Mr Customer, this pen (has benefits you like) and (solves your current pain points), how many would you like?”

 

Now that you know.. go ahead..