Have you ever faced an interview? Even if you haven’t there are a lot of instances where an interviewer brings in weird questions to the candidate to check his smartness and presence of mind. We have heard about instances where a candidate is asked to ‘sell a pen’ or ‘sell a pencil’ to the interviewer.
The more unique you are, the more will you fetch the likes of an interviewer. But no doubt it can be sometimes a tough decision how to start and keep your points up in such a situation. So here we have come up with an answer of a guy who gives a reply in a perfect way to ‘sell me a tie’!
Quora has become one of those social media platforms in last few years which gives insights into the life of individuals where you can learn from their experiences and gain confidence. The success stories there posted by various individuals gives us a lot of advice and lessons.
Question Asked On Quora
What are some of the best responses to “sell me this pen/pencil” in a job interview?
The Answer
I was ones asked a similar question in an interview, this is how it went. I can’t say this is the best response, but it worked for me.
I-Interviewer: semi formally dressed, in a dark colored blazer, white shirt, and a beige colored pant.
M-Myself, immaculately dressed in a full suit with a tie.
I:(almost 30 minutes into the interview)-You seem to be wearing a nice tie. See I don’t wear a tie. Sell me your tie.
M: May I please take 30 seconds to think about the answer?
I:(smiling) – sure take a minute, but it better be worth the wait.
after almost 50-55 seconds
M: Sir as a National Head, you must be having a lot of meetings to attend daily rate?
I: (jubilantly)- Yeah! sometimes my whole day goes in meetings.
M: Sir, as per a research 9 out of 10 people believe that dressing is an integral part of one’s life. and 8 out of 10 people believe that being properly dressed in formals, makes people take you more seriously in a meeting as compared to casual dressing.
A full Formal clothing is incomplete without a tie. And, Sir… you know something interesting and special about a tie?
I: What?
M: A good tie may or may not give a great impression, but a poor quality tie certainly does a lot of harm to one’s impression.
I: (Laughs)
M: Sir, I present to you a tie from company X (X is the name of the company I was interviewing for). I’m sure you know and believe in the quality of products manufactured by X.
I:(Sighs)-Are you using my companies brand name to sell me this tie?
M: Sir, I’m leveraging the quality impression that X carries.
I:(Laughs)
M: Sir, we did a small survey with the people who do not like wearing a tie, 6 out of 10 people believe that it takes a lot of time to tie a knot. Thus our ties come pre-knotted, all you need to do is put your head in the loop and adjust it on your neck.
Another common complaint that the users in this survey had was the discomfort, thus our tie is ergonomically designed with a thick loop and ultra light weight, you will not feel anything around your neck.
I: OK! it sounds good, how much does it cost?
M: Sir, there is a massive discount as a part of our sales promotion scheme for high priority customers. It’s available at INR 1500 only.
I: (lifting his eye-brows) That is too much.
M: Well, I forgot to mention that it comes with a gold plated tie-pin with brand X embossed on its upper surface.
I: (Laughs out loud)- Stop selling my company to me, fine I’ll buy your tie. Thank you.
M: Thank you for the purchase, sir! I can guarantee you will never regret it. I’ll, however, like to come back in a week to check on its performance.
I: (Smiling), You are always welcomed!
Result: I cleared the interview.
Thanks!
Now that’s good marketing for sure!
