2. How to sell a pen?
Early on in my career I had to do this with an interviewer who was testing my sales
abilities;
• I asked the question, “Do you need a
pen?” He said, “Yes”.
• Great, how much money do you have in
your wallet?
• He gave me the $150. I folded it and put it
in my pocket
• Then I told him that wasn’t near enough –
but it was a reasonable down payment.
With age comes wisdom [and just a touch of
impatience for stupid parlor tricks].
Here's what I did the last time someone did
this to me.
• I asked the interviewer, "do you need a
pen?"
• He said, "no".
• I said great, so what do you need?
• "Nothing", he said.
• To which I said "terrific I'll be on my way
because you're neither a suspect nor a
prospect”.
You don’t need to perform parlor tricks for interviewers. You also don't need to
waste your time with people who have no intention of hiring you - unless of course
you want to practice your closing routines. Remember that the next time an
interviewer asks you a stupid question.