Hello all,
You might know this epic “Sell me this pen” narrative from Leo in the Wolf of Wall Street movie.
This is a pretty cliche in the sales world but on the other hand, it is a great exercise to understand what exactly selling is all about.
Most salespeople approach the “sell me this pen” exercise in the wrong way. They actually start to sell you a pen. They start telling prospects “This pen is the best pen in the world”, “This pen provides you the best value for the money”, “This pen will last forever”, “Buy this pen now”, etc.
With this approach, you totally convey salesy impression to your prospects; aggressive and superficial selling, like the majority of salespeople do.
Here is the thing; instead of this approach, you should start with asking pointed questions to your prospects to understand what they really need, what their pain points with the existing product they use, and how do they feel about it? Don’t forget that they are humans. They have emotions to be touched and fixed.
For this exercise, you should asking questions such as “What type of pen have you been looking at in the market?”, “What purpose will you use this pen for; business or personal?”, “How much money do you spend on a pen; do you buy an expensive pen?”, etc.
When you just go and try to sell something to them, they are like “I don’t give a shit about you, man”.
Always start with asking questions but not any questions, really pointed questions to identify prospect’s needs and pains. You should also consider that you can’t sell it to everybody. This is the most common mistake rookie salespeople do.
By asking these questions, I can get a good sense of what you’re about, your values, and then when I’m done asking questions and I know what I need to know based on your replies to my questions.
Then I say “This pen is the perfect fit for you, let me tell you why”. Now actually I am matching my pen to what you need, and I tailor my pitch to fill that need. This is a much more elegant way to sell.
Now the pen is like a euphemism for any product. You can apply this to any product or service.
Some things sound cliche but the devil is in the details.
Sell me this pen, my friends!
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Till the next issue, take care!
Furkan