Knock 'em Dead :: Tough Questions and Poise Under Fire Test

Tough Questions and
Poise Under Fire Test

Job hunter went for a retail sales job where the first question was,

"Sell me this $1 pen."

For the interviewer's second question, she held the first $1 pen in one hand and, in the other a $28 pen. The question was,

"how to sell the higher profit margin item without losing the sale?"

This is an example of situational interviewing techniques (see Knock 'em Dead 2006, The Ultimate Job Seeker's Guide); and a stress inducing one-two punch. The examples in such questions can be translated to any professional job where quick thinking, analytical and verbal communication skills are necessary for success. Now before reading the answer, think what you would do in a job interview when these two questions got fired at you one after another.

Both questions relate to your understanding of "feature and benefit selling;" and they are both designed to examine your analytical processes when focused on a specific goal: in other words, what are the features and the benefits of a given product, which when explained encourage its sale.

"It lasts a month under normal usage, and it's completely reliable, it never stutters as the ink runs low, you know how annoying that is."

"It has a bright body color so you'll never lose it on a crowded desk."

"The retractable pen tip means you'll never have to search for a lost cap, or worry about it coming off and staining your clothes."

"It comes in three ink colors. Red, black and a companion highlighter in yellow, which really helps your notes stand out."

"And it's disposable, so at $1 it has to be the best value on the market."

Then, of course, you must go for the close; here you'll get additional points for "upselling" (encouraging further sales) as part of your close.

"You can buy just the one, but the professional's set of three is a bigger value. In fact, with today's more flexible work hours, most people are buying two sets, one for work and one for home."

Your answer recognizes the features of the product and demonstrates how they can benefit the user; and your close changes the customer's decision from, "shall I buy one or not?" to,"shall I buy one, three or six?"

The second question in the sequence is a little tougher, asking you beat you earlier stellar sales performance, by selling a more expensive product. This requires the appropriate positioning of your more expensive pen to make the bigger sale, without denigrating the qualities of the cheaper pen, an approach that would only serve to throw the integrity of the company into question. This is difficult given the limited features of pens.

As feature and benefit selling has, at its heart, an appreciation for customer needs and product usage you can start your answer with a question of your own that demonstrates this awareness, and buys you some time, for example, "We have many different pens for a wide range of applications, how will you be using your pen?"

It also helps to understand the psychology of the customer, as it relates to your product and its ultimate application once sold. Let me explain.