Sales Pitch: ‘Sell Me This Pen’, Why Don’t You?!

After seeing the famous Leonardo DiCaprio, in Wolf of Wall Street, there are two scenes when Jordan Belfort asks a group of people, ‘Sell Me This Pen’, why was the first group more successful? It’s very simple, your selling based on a human need (the need for written communication and connecting a thought process). No matter how old you are, you need written communication (not just computers either). If you are a young and you need a crayon to write or you are an adult in a business meeting taking notes on a company merger, when your laptop breakdown, you a pen. In both examples you are connecting your thought process in written communication.

Many recruiters and sales directors ask their candidates on interviews, “Please sell me this pencil or this highlighter?” This is a brilliant question because you don’t need specific industry or product knowledge.  This gets to the point of “pure” selling. No up selling, there is no fancy designer name to attach, so your customer won’t “buy” the brand name, their “buying” the basic product, which in this case is a pen.

When you pitch a basic product, make it about need. Also, don’t ramble. On an interview when giving an example, make it short and to the point. 

"Sell Me This Pen" First Scene From "Wolf of Wall Street"

 "Sell Me This Pen" Last Scene From "Wolf of Wall Street"