Sell Me This Pen: The Best Answers

Yes, this classic question still comes up in 21st-century job interviews—particularly those for sales roles.

By Martina Mascali, Monster Contributor

Sales employers are always on the lookout for candidates who possess strong communication and persuasion skills, both are considered valuable assets to any organization. Therefore, during a job interview, demonstrating your ability to sell can be just as important as your technical qualifications. The “sell me this pen” question is a simple yet effective way for interviewers to assess a candidate’s sales aptitude, problem-solving skills, and ability to think on their feet.

When asked to “Sell me this pen”, don’t see it as a trap but as an opportunity to show how well you can handle the challenge. With the tips and “sell me this pen” answer examples provided in this article, you’ll learn the best practices for how to sell a pen, or any item or service the interviewers asks you to demonstrate. We also explain exactly why recruiters make this demand, which approaches to avoid, and even how to sell a pen to someone who doesn’t need or want one.

Why Recruiters Ask You to "Sell Me This Pen”

Off the bat, the notorious “Sell me this pen” statement may seem like a gimmick. However, in reality it’s a versatile tool that can help recruiters evaluate a wide range of skills and qualities that are essential for success, particularly sales and marketing. Candidates who can answer effectively are more likely to stand out from the competition and impress recruiters with their sales competence.

Here are six real reasons why recruiters ask candidates to “sell me a pen” during job interviews:

To Assess Your Sales Aptitude

Of course, one of the main reasons why a recruiter will asks you to “Sell me this pencil/pen” is to assess your sales skills and understand how well you can sell a product, service, or idea. This question is typically asked as part of a standardized sales aptitude test to also assess your ability to persuade and influence others.

To Test Your Problem-Solving Skills

When recruiters ask you to sell them a pen, they often don’t make it easy for you. Expect to have your answer challenged to see if you react efficiently to still make your sale. Typical problematic scenarios that recruiters use to see how you approach and solve challenges include acting as a demanding, disinterested, or rude customer in response to your sale pitch.

To Measure Your Communication Skills

Possessing great communication skills is critical to your career success. These include your ability to listen carefully, communicate persuasively, and convey complex ideas clearly and concisely. People with strong communication skills achieve more at work, this is especially true for sales and marketing professionals.

To Evaluate Your Confidence

Candidates who don’t lose their cool, even under pressure, are more likely to succeed. When replying to the request to “Sell me this pen”, keep in mind that recruiters want to test your confidence as much as anything. But, strike the right balance and watch your body language to avoid acting over-confident or you could risk appearing cocky and arrogant.

To Assess Your Adaptability

Selling a pencil/pen to someone who needs one is easy, but what if the situation is less favorable? Recruiters want to see that you can adapt and that you’re flexible enough to change your approach when necessary. The benefits of adaptability and flexibility at work including increasing your chances of success, finding fulfilment, and being a better leader.

To Evaluate Your Creativity

Creativity helps us find solutions to hard problems. With originality and innovation, creative people are also great motivators. Creativity also shows that you have big picture vision, which is important in the business world.

“Sell Me This Pen”: Best Answer Approach

So, how do you best answer to “sell me this pen”? The approach requires asking more questions to your interviewer to gather more information and make them see the pen not as a commodity, but as a solution to their problem. On the other hand, if you answer the “sell me this pen” request with a direct sales pitch you risk looking inconsiderate of the buyer’s need and might lose the sale.

Here are a few key points to keep in mind for how to sell a pen the right way.

Understand the Product

To give an effective “sell me this pen” answer, you must understand the features and benefits of what you are selling. Examine the pen or, if you’re asked to sell an imaginary pen, ask questions to help you grasp its unique selling points. Understanding the product will allow you to tailor your sales pitch to the pen’s strengths.

Identify the Customer’s Needs

In sales, it’s all about solving a customer’s problem, so it is important to identify their specific needs. Start by asking open-ended questions to encourage your customers to share their experiences and offer you valuable insight into their habits, needs, and personal preferences. By doing this, you can tailor your pitch to offer your customers a personalized solution that solves their problems and satisfies their requirements.

Highlight the Benefits

Once you have identified the customer’s needs, it’s time to highlight what makes your product special and how your product can benefit them. By emphasizing the benefits that are most relevant to the customer you can make a more convincing case for why they “need” to buy the pen you are selling. Don’t just start listing all the features of your product but focus on the how they fulfill their needs instead.

Create a Sense of Urgency

Statistics confirm that you can use FOMO to benefit your business. FOMO is an acronym standing for “fear of missing out”, a phenomenon experienced by people of all ages but especially by millennials. FOMO sales techniques include:

  • limited time offers
  • special promotions
  • creating product scarcity
  • buyer incentives

Sell Me This Pen Answer Examples

Here’s an example of how you could reply to “Sell me this pen” in a job interview to someone looking for that product.

  • “I’d be happy to sell you this pen, but I would like to first understand your needs and ask you a few questions if you don’t mind. What are you currently using to write with? Where do you most often use this writing instrument and what types of things do you normally write? Are you happy with your current writing tools? If you were to consider another vendor for your writing implements, what would be important to you?”.

Listen to their response so you can tailor your pitch accordingly and then continue along the following lines:

  • “Fantastic. Based on what you’ve told me, I think this pen would be a perfect fit for you. Not only does it write in black, which I know is your preferred color, it also has a clip to easily carry it in your pocket, and it features smudge-proof ink when used on both paper and laminated documents, which you told me you use quite often. Plus, this pen is made with high-quality materials and built to last – which is perfect for you since you write frequently.

We are so confident in our product that if it is defective or breaks within 30 days of your purchase, we’ll replace it for free. Overall, I think this pen is a great choice for you and if you purchase today, you can take advantage of our promotion and get it for 20% off the regular price. The discount is valid just for today, and we only run promos this good twice per year. Would you like to jump on this deal and buy this pen at this special price right now?”

How to Sell a Pen to Someone Who Doesn’t Need or Want One

Unless you’re hoping to irritate someone into buying your pen, don’t keep pushing when the buyer (or interviewer in this case) says he doesn’t want or need one. Instead, try to still get something beneficial out of your interaction, such as:

  • A referral (like a friend or colleague who might want to buy your pen. You could also offer an incentive such as “for every three referrals who buy a pen, the original customer gets one free”.
    • Try saying: “Since you have no use for this pen I’m selling, is there someone else in your company who might need one?”
  • A sale for a different product. Here is your chance to be creative and find something else the customer might be interested in buying today.
    • Try saying: “As I have a great selection of other products, is there anything else you’re looking for that I might be able to help you with?”
  • A pledge to keep in touch and callback for a future purchase. For example, when their current pen runs out of ink, when they have funds available to purchase, or simply after a certain amount of time if they want to think about it.
    • Try saying: “If you are not ready or interested in buying a pen today, I completely understand. Would you be open to me contacting you next time we have a promotion, or at a later date, to see if you would be interested then?”

Wow Your Next Interviewer with Your Reply to “Sell Me This Pen”

Now that you know how to sell a pen by crafting the best answer, create a profile on Monster to find your next opportunity to do so in an interview. Set up customized alerts and we’ll send you tailored job listings to apply, so you can find your perfect job faster.