To be a great salesman you must be able to sell a pencil. That’s right, a pencil. As a matter of fact, this is a common training technique used by many sales managers so let’s just see how you measure up to the pros.

Let’s put this situation into play. You are sitting across from a client (for now, a friend or co-worker). With you is a pen, nothing expensive, nothing fancy, just an ordinary pen. Now, your job is to get the client to buy the pen from you. How do you do it? What do you ask them?

If you actually sat down and tried it, you probably just figured out it how hard it really is to sell a pencil. I can’t give you the exact things to say because that would depend upon the individual you are working with. When selling to a client you must take into consideration their social style, motivations, goals, etc. Getting back on track, these are only a few tings you should attempt to uncover from the client before actually trying to sell them the pencil:

Does the client currently us a pen or a pencil?
Does the client have a need for a pen?
Has the client every heard of the pen before?
What features does the client look for in a pen?
What will the client use the pen for?
How often will the client use the pen?
How could the pen benefit the client?
Does the client like the feel of the pen?
Does the client like how the pen writes?
Does the client have any concerns about the pen?
Is price important to the client? Quality?