Well. Just how trite is that statement?
Most likely, some “Old Schoolers” still use this outdated statement in a sales interview. Do you? Leonardo DiCaprio did in The Wolf of Wall Street. I do. Every single time. The gen Z’ers say, “Figures, ‘ol man.” And I reply, “And why don’t you use it?”
So, I’m an old guy. My kids are all 40+. Which MAY mean, I’m passe, or wise beyond YOUR years…Humm. Hard to say it is. Right I may be…
Let’s get down to it. It is not THAT I tell you, so that you can try and sell me that pen. Nope. It’s all about WHY I tell you to sell me that pen. And in doing so, I incorporate many selling aspects at once.
Back in “the day”, yes, before many of you were a gleam in your daddy’s eye, this was used to see how the prospective rep would try to sell you the pen:
- How do they sell without prep?
- How do they do under pressure?
- What tactics they would use?
- Would they use a trial close?
- What close they would incorporate?
- How many times they would ask for the sale…
Whatever.
If I’m interviewing, or training an interviewer, and the candidate is a newbie, I’ll watch their style, confidence and persistence. I EXPECT them to studder, stumble, hesitate, get lost, etc. But I am watching just how they go about trying to recover from the hiccups.
If it’s an experienced sales rep, then it’s game on. No holds barred. I EXPECT them to bring it. Both the steak AND the sizzle. And if they can surprise me in the process, all the better.
With them, I am on another track. If the experienced applicant tries to sell me the pen, THEY ARE OUT. Unless they have just a killer personality that connects with me on a whole other level.
“Wow dude, that’s harsh man. You just like asked them to sell you the pen, and they tried man. And then you like, fired them…” Says one of the 70’s stoners.
Why, you ask? Simple. Because “we don’t sell no stinkin’ pens.” (In my best Italian accent) What? Huh? Right about now, you are saying, “I don’t get it.” That’s OK. No one knows you’re saying that. Just you & me.
HERE’S THE POINT OF IT ALL. In general, people DO NOT buy pens. Or any other product for that matter. They buy BENEFITS. (See my Module #17 F.A.B. Feature Advantage Benefit) I want to see how “mature” the applicant is in their sales knowledge and/or ability.
I want the rep to sell me the BENEFIT of me buying that pen from him, and nothing else.
I want to see if they use a defined process, or do they just “wing it”?
Do they have a defined direction they are taking that process?
Are they attempting to qualify me on the pen?
Are they using that qualifying to discover the Benefit I’m looking for in the pen?
And how are they going about discovering that?
I DO NOT want a pen. Oh, like, I must have a pen to carry and to draw with and to sign stuff with and autograph my pictures with and everything…NO. For cryin’ out loud.
I need a pen (the tool), so that I can:
Sign this contract,
So, I can buy the home that I LOVE!
No pen, no signature, no home. Simple, isn’t it?
Or,
I want this incredibly stunning pen because of how I feel when I whip it out and people gasp at how fantastic it looks.
I do not want the pen. But, I absolutely want what the pen can MEAN to me.
THE PEN IS SIMPLY A TOOL. Like your car, your drapes, your mattress, your big screen, etc.
A TOOL to get you the BENEFIT you’re really after.
Don’t sell the Feature, use the Feature, to show the Advantage of the Feature, that will give me the Benefit I’m looking for.
Please, do your due diligence. Ask yourself, next time you’re hungry, do you just buy the burger because it’s food, or the lack of hunger eating the burger creates, OR, the satisfaction and pleasure eating that delicious burger gives you?
You can take it from here. You can do it!
Sales a la Carte – Just the help you need, and nothing you don’t.
