Have you ever encountered this situation in your store? When a customer comes to your display stand and faces a wide variety of fountain pens, they don’t know how to choose the one that meets their psychological expectations. Some wrong choices will cause customers to encounter a series of problems after purchase, such as ink spillage, sloppy writing, and even waste of money. As a seller, what aspects should we focus on when recommending products to customers? Let’s continue reading.
From what aspects should you recommend fountain pens to customers?
As a fountain pen enthusiast or user, They usually considers the following aspects when purchasing a fountain pen, because these factors directly affect the user experience, collection value and emotional connection:
1、Nib performance (core focus)
- Material and elasticity:Gold nibs (14K/18K/21K) are more popular for their soft and elastic touch, suitable for those who pursue writing expressiveness; steel nibs are harder, smoother and more durable, suitable for daily sketching.
- Polishing process:The shape of the iridium grains of the nib (such as round, blade shape) affects the writing feedback, and the balance between smoothness and moderate damping is the key.
- Thickness selection (EF/F/M/B, etc.):Choose according to the purpose (such as writing small characters, painting or signing). Japanese nibs are usually thinner than European nibs.
2、Writing experience
- Ink delivery system: Stable ink supply to avoid ink splashing or accumulation, large piston ink filling capacity, and negative pressure ink filling is interesting.
- Balance:The center of gravity distribution of the pen body affects the fatigue of long-term writing. Usually, the natural weight when the pen cap is not inserted backward is preferred.
3、Materials and craftsmanship
- Pen body material: Resin is light and warm, metal (copper, titanium) is durable and textured, and lacquer/maki-e craftsmanship gives artistic value.
- Craftsmanship details: Hand-carved, limited edition design (such as Montblanc Patron series) enhance collection value.
4、Brand and history
- Brand: We can recommend some well-known brands to customers with sufficient budget. For example, Montblanc and other well-known brands
- History: Select some companies with more than ten years of operation and production, so that both after-sales and quality are guaranteed. (For example: Tiantianxing)
5、Ergonomic design
- Handling comfort: The thickness of the pen grip and the anti-slip treatment (adding some textures or PU wrapping to the place where you hold your hand and write (generally referred to as the middle part)) affect the grip posture, which is especially important for those who write for a long time.
- Pen barrel size: The large pen barrel is more suitable for big hands, and the portable type is easy to carry around and for people with slender hands.
6、Ink system and maintenance
- Filling method: Piston filling is suitable for ink lovers and those who have many years of experience in using fountain pens. The ink cartridge/converter can quickly change various colors and is suitable for people who travel on business trips.
- Easy to maintain: Removable nibs (such as TWSBI) are easy to clean and avoid clogging. Flexible filling options are suitable for different usage scenarios, and easy maintenance extends the life of the pen
How Should We Introduce Our Products to Customers?
Our customers are fountain pen enthusiasts or users. They hope that we can introduce our products in a professional, detailed and user-friendly way, rather than just piling up parameters or force-selling high-priced products. You can refer to the following introduction methods:
1、 Start with user needs, not “memorize parameters”
1、Proactively ask about usage scenarios:
- “Are you buying this pen for daily writing, calligraphy practice, or collection? Do you usually like fine characters or thick strokes?”(Recommend nib thickness, material, or design style based on the answer)
2、Understand your customers’ preferences:
- “Do you care more about soft writing feel or hard and smooth feedback? Are you interested in a certain brand/historical series?” Avoid asking unnecessary questions so that you can understand the customer’s actual usage needs more quickly and save the customer’s hesitation time.
2、Provide pens for customers to try out! Don’t skimp on the ink
- Put some white paper on the counter: “Try this! Press lightly, the lines are clear; press hard, the lines are soft”No matter how hard you write, the ink will come out continuously, and it is very comfortable to write cursive characters
- Comparison demonstration: “Try writing with different nibs (such as EF vs. M nib, gold nib vs. steel nib) with the same ink to show the line changes and touch differences. The elasticity of the 18K gold nib is more suitable for the pauses of Chinese characters, while the hard and smooth feeling of the steel nib is suitable for shorthand.
- Take out a magnifying glass: “Look at the small round ball on the nib of this pen. The flatter it is, the smoother it is to write. The sharper one is suitable for writing small characters!”No matter how much you say, it is better to let the customer write a few strokes by hand!
3、You should state the pros and cons directly, and don’t treat customers as fools.
For example:
- “This pen looks very nice. But it has a resin shell, and after using it for a long time, it will be scratched due to some bumps, which may make it not so good-looking.
- “This pen has a large ink storage capacity, but if you don’t use it for ten days or half a month, it may start to leak ink as soon as you open it for the next use.”
- “This pen looks expensive, but in fact, you can continue to use it for ten years by changing the nib, which is more cost-effective than changing a mobile phone!”
What questions are customers most likely to ask you when buying a fountain pen?
1、The Nib: The “Soul” of a Pen
1.1、Material Matters:
- Steel Nibs: Hard as nails, perfect for students or heavy-handed writers.
- Gold Nibs (14K/18K): Springy “memory foam” feel, ideal for calligraphy.
1.2、Size by Usage
- Japanese Nibs (e.g., TTX): EF nibs are needle-thin for tiny handwriting.
- European Nibs (e.g., Montblanc): Same label = one size thicker. B nibs for fancy scripts.
1.3、Grinding Secrets:
Blade-shaped nibs suit Chinese strokes; round nibs for quick notes—always test with characters like “永” or “8”!
2.Weight: The Stealthy “Handfeel Assassin”
- 20-30g: Sweet spot . Light enough for all-day writing.
- 30-40g: Calligraphy must-have . Never write with the cap on!
- 40g+: Collector’s “dumbbell” (e.g., Kaweco Brass). If your fingers and wrists are not strong enough, please do not try this weight pen easily, because it will make you write more strenuously.
Tips:
- Pls remove the cap when trying out the pen!
- Write “THE THE THE” quickly for 30 seconds. If you feel tired during this process, pls give up, no matter how beautiful it is!
- Metal pens will be relatively cool in winter, but resin pens can avoid this problem.
Conclusion
Whether we open our store online or offline, we must have a deeper understanding of the metal pens we sell. This will allow us to more calmly answer questions that customers may ask at any time and recommend pens suitable for customers from a more professional perspective.If you encounter any problems when selling pens, you can also contact us at any time
