You Need To "Sell Me This Pen!" On That Wall
Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 3:36 am
One of the core exercises a salesman can do to improve their sales acumen, regardless of sales experience, is the "Sell Me This Pen" challenge popularized by sales maestro Jordan Belfort.
Now, I'll be clear. As a longtime Jordan Belfort fan, I might look biased, and maybe I'm a little biased.
But the exercise will help you even if you're an old sales hand and you think you've seen it all. In fact, the exercise could benefit you more with the more experience you gain over the years. Your winning response to "Sell Me This Pen," changes constantly and gets richer and more nuanced as you layer on real sales and marketing insight and you realize what the prospect is really dying for and therefore what you can sell them when confronted with "Sell Me This Pen."
What is a pen worth, anyway?
If you're a new sales rep, with little to minimal training, you might think a pen is worth $1 or less, just another writing implement.
But if you're the managind director of a multinational bank, and you host important meetings in your office or boardroom, and you need a pen, you know that the right pen communicates much more eloquently than just about anything else on that desk about your position, prestige, negotiating power, and your supposed authority in the high stakes poker of the board room.
$15,000 for a pen? Not just any pen. The Boss's pen.
But it can't be sold by just ANY salesman. Oh no! It takes real acumen to sell this pen.
So, I challenge you to take the exercise today: "Sell Me This Pen!"
Now, I'll be clear. As a longtime Jordan Belfort fan, I might look biased, and maybe I'm a little biased.
But the exercise will help you even if you're an old sales hand and you think you've seen it all. In fact, the exercise could benefit you more with the more experience you gain over the years. Your winning response to "Sell Me This Pen," changes constantly and gets richer and more nuanced as you layer on real sales and marketing insight and you realize what the prospect is really dying for and therefore what you can sell them when confronted with "Sell Me This Pen."
What is a pen worth, anyway?
If you're a new sales rep, with little to minimal training, you might think a pen is worth $1 or less, just another writing implement.
But if you're the managind director of a multinational bank, and you host important meetings in your office or boardroom, and you need a pen, you know that the right pen communicates much more eloquently than just about anything else on that desk about your position, prestige, negotiating power, and your supposed authority in the high stakes poker of the board room.
$15,000 for a pen? Not just any pen. The Boss's pen.
But it can't be sold by just ANY salesman. Oh no! It takes real acumen to sell this pen.
So, I challenge you to take the exercise today: "Sell Me This Pen!"