[thekevan]

That's a terrible answer and to be honest, I don't particularly believe this actually happened.

I was once asked to sell a pen to an interviewer and the first thing I asked them about was their pen use. After that, I pointed to things on the pen and told them about the benefits of it and why it was a good choice. he stopped me and said he heard enough because I established need, and then translated real features of the product into benefits of the customer.

[ebbv]

On top of all of that, it's titled "The Best .. I've Ever Seen" and it's his own anecdote. That's up there with Trump's "I have the best brain." crap. Terrible.

[SuperGent]

The best part is 'CEO: (picks jaw up off floor)'

The script he gave isn't that spectacular, and, if this did actually happen, the CEO was probably impressed that he had rehearsed.

I assume this question is used like the fizz-buzz coding test, although perhaps the CEO didn't know this.

[coldtea]

>it's titled "The Best .. I've Ever Seen" and it's his own anecdote

Obviously "the best (his) ever seen" would be "his own anecdote". How else could it be?

[ebbv]

What? First of all, ignoring the semantic argument of whether saying you've "seen" your own anecdote is proper; if you refer to yourself as the best ever for anything you better be world champion class at that thing or you're either a liar or really ignorant.

Based on the anecdote, the author one of the last two.

[pricechild]

I don't see the difference between your answer and his?

Both asked about recent pen use, both responded based on that?

[ebbv]

The original article is full of overly specific details that are typical of fabricated stories; he's not just talking to a hiring manager, he's talking to the CEO. The CEO wasn't just happy with his answer, he had to pick his jaw up off the floor, etc.

The commenter you're responding to gave a very typical template of how you're supposed to respond to the question (and how anyone who has any aptitude for sales would.) It's nothing special, and that's the point.

[thekevan]

His account talks about his overly verbose question and answer session and a bit of a click-baity "when they heard his response, they were floored!" ending.

Mine was a bit of I ascertained their need, talked up some of the benefits and the interviewer was like, "cool, you passed, we'll keep speaking". It wasn't an epic revelation that floored people. It was just, "okay, you have some sales skills, let's keep going."

[simias]

He also doesn't say how to react if the person does remember what pen they used. I have a couple of good pens on my desk that I use all the time for everything, that trick wouldn't really work with me. You better hope the CEO likes using disposable pens.