Tom Cook
"Most AI products try too hard to feel premium. This one didn't have to."
Tom Cook · B2B Sales Coach · Sales Trainer & Entrepreneur
Tom Cook is a B2B Sales Coach with years of experience training high-performing sales teams. Before he even powered it on, Scriben made the right first impression — and in sales, first impressions are everything.
The short version
Tom Cook has spent his career teaching salespeople how to read a room, build trust, and close. He knows within minutes whether something is built for real use — or just built for marketing. Scriben passed that test before he even turned it on.
"You can tell within 5 minutes if a product was built for real users"
"Most AI products try way too hard to feel premium. This one didn't have to."
Tom Cook's entire profession is built around first impressions. As a B2B sales coach, he trains people to walk into a room and immediately establish credibility — with how they carry themselves, how they present, and whether the substance behind the surface actually holds up.
He applies the same filter to every product he picks up.
When his Scriben AI Pen arrived, Tom wasn't just unboxing a gadget. He was running an evaluation — the same instinctive audit he teaches his clients to run on every prospect, every pitch, every tool they bring into a sales meeting.
"Clean packaging. Simple setup. No unnecessary friction."
Scriben cleared all three.
The friction test
In sales, unnecessary friction is a deal-killer. A tool that takes too long to set up, comes with a thick manual no one will read, or requires a 30-minute onboarding before it works — that's a tool that gets abandoned in a drawer.
Tom noticed immediately that Scriben didn't play that game.
"It comes with a QR code to walk us through anything we need. This doesn't look too daunting or too hard to handle."
One manual. A QR code for anything extra. A pen that is, in his words, "pretty self-explanatory to use." For someone who coaches salespeople on removing friction from every stage of the buyer journey, this wasn't a small detail — it was the whole signal.
The charger. The extra pen tips. Everything accounted for, nothing overdone.
"First impression, what I'm getting out of Scriben is outstanding."
Built for real use — not for marketing
There's a category of products that exist primarily to look good in an ad. Tom has seen enough of them to spot one instantly. The telltale signs: packaging that oversells, complexity that signals sophistication rather than function, a setup experience designed for the unboxing video rather than the actual user.
Scriben read differently.
"You can usually tell within 5 minutes if a product was built for real users or just built for marketing. This feels built for real use."
For a sales coach who spends his days helping professionals show up with substance — not just style — that distinction matters. The best salespeople, like the best tools, don't have to perform credibility. They just have it.
What comes next
Tom is five days into his full evaluation. His first impression is clear. Whether Scriben's performance matches its presentation is the question he's now answering in the field — in the meetings, sales calls, and coaching sessions where tools either earn their place or don't.
"Now let's see if it performs as good as it looks."
For salespeople and entrepreneurs who've been curious, Tom has been sharing his experience in real time.
About Tom Cook
Tom Cook is a B2B Sales Coach and entrepreneur with extensive experience training sales professionals and leaders across industries.