In part 1, I showed how three sales and career experts would answer the classic question “can you sell me this pen or pencil?”
Here is part 2 of the post. I will provide part 3 soon with some more videos.
This is how Brian Burns, author of “The Maverick Selling Method,” would answer the question –
Scott Bell, a Sales Consultant, has a different approach –
Claude Diamond, applies his G.U.T.S sales and success system when he does some role-playing to sell a pencil –
One of the classic questions during an interview for a sales position is “can you sell me this pencil or pen? Frankly, I think this is a ridiculous question. I’ve never been asked this question in any of my previous interviews. However, recently the question has become more popular because of The Wolf of Wall Street movie. In two scenes in the movie, Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) asks the question.
As a result of the popularity of the movie, I suspect that more sales candidates will be asked this question too. How are you going to answer it?
Below are some videos from YouTube on how these sales and career experts would answer the question. I will include more videos in parts 2 and 3.
This is how Alan Gordon from “The Big Book of Sales” would answer the question –
This is how Graham Martin, the Recruitment Guy, would answer the question –
Sales Recruiter Peggy McKee explains how she would answer the question –
In the video below, Bob Perkins, founder of AA-ISP, offered three tips for sales managers. He discussed how important is it to create a motivating cultural and to ensure that salespeople are valued. He advises sales managers to do the following –
1). Make prospecting sales calls with your sales team. Among other things, this will help sales managers gain credibility with their sales team. This is important because too often sales managers are either busy working in an office, or attending department level meetings, and don’t always have a good understanding of what is going on in the real world. Getting on the sales floor and showing your team that you are willing to get in the trenches with them is a major morale buster. It reminds me of the movie “Patton”, where the general at one point decides to walk among his troops along a dirt road. Sometimes you need to walk the same path with your sales team to gain their respect and earn their credibility.
2). Delegate. He advises sales managers to delegate some projects to team members. Not only does this relieve the sales manager’s workload, but it also shows that he respects his team members to be problem solvers. He argues that team members will feel valued and invested in the sales process. I should add that is this also a good way of grooming future managers down the road. Too often when sales managers leave or are promoted, companies are faced with the daunting task of hiring or promoting a new manager. By giving team members a chance to solve problems and work on projects, you will begin to see who your next potential new manager may be.
3). Make it personal. Take team members out to lunch or dinner. Take the time to get to know your salespeople as human beings and that you care about them. Great advice! Some sales managers will only treat their salespeople as meal tickets rather than as real people who have goals to achieve and problems to resolve.
Here is the video of Bob Perkins advice –
I’m an active member of AA-ISP. If you have time, I would encourage you to attend the AA-ISP Inside Sales Conference Series in to San Francisco on February 12th. This is a one-day event that will help inside sales people serving on the frontlines of sales. They are not going to bore you with a lot of academic discussions. Instead, they have invited more than 20 inside sales experts who will offer you real world advice to help your career.
They will focus on providing you with solutions and best practices to help increase your sales, and make you more successful.
Based on the organization’s website, topics will include effective prospecting lead generation, social media trends, and sales coaching.
Some of the speakers will include Steve Richard, Founder of VorsightBP (I took training from his company – very good), Sally Duby, GM of The Bridge Group, and Henry Danser, Regional VP of Sales for Noble Systems.
I will offer more details later.