Demonstrations: Where & How

Demonstrations allow you to show off key features of products to customers, for example…

Products:

• Espresso or coffee maker,
• Stereo and electronic equipment,
• Exercise Equipment

Services:

• Spa Seated Massage

Two questions to think about when selecting out-of-store events.

1. Where are your potential customers?
2. Of those locations, where would you fit in?

Demonstrations: In-Store

Set up a Demonstration Station in a visible area of your store, but away from narrow traffic flow and the cash register – you don’t want to block the sales path or path for browsing.

Create a self-contained area with all the supplies and tools you need to show off your product, and allow the customer a chance to play with the product as well.

Stereo stores have specially designed rooms – with sound protection – which allow customers to try products without disturbing other customers or the rest of the store.

Keep the product that’s for sale nearby so customers can easily grab to purchase after the demo.

SABON Body & Bath Shop

SABON is a retailer, based in Israel, with more than 130 stores around the world. They sell soaps and scrubs made from natural ingredients found in Israel. They sell a hand scrub made with sea salt that smoothes out rough hands making them baby soft. When you enter their stores, a sales associate guides you to the rear of the store, to a huge sink in the middle of the room. There, they roll up your sleeves and guide you through a hand-washing with their products, followed by lotion application.

You finish with your hands feeling and smelling amazing.

After that treatment, it is incredibly difficult to depart without buying something. It works!

Engage the Customer

Let the customer try it… Don’t only show them how it works – let them try for themselves how easy it is to operate.

And, talk with customers one-to-one. Don’t just give them a sales speech. This should be an intimate conversation with the customer.

Be Prepared for Questions

Rehearse. Anticipate questions customers may have and have answers prepared. But, be natural in your delivery.

Keep it Simple

You’re not training them how to use it, you just want them to experience it. They can learn the minute details later (but be prepared to know how to answer those minute questions if someone asks).

Have Trained Experts

Have demos when that expert is working. You’re better off asking a customer to come back… or booking an appointment when someone qualified is there vs. winging a demonstration with someone who isn’t qualified or comfortable. Know Customer Issues. Why might they need your product? What is it doing that will make their life easier?

Test Beforehand

What good is it if the product doesn’t work during the demo? If something is broken? Or missing? You waste everyone’s time and show the product in a poor light.

Know the Competition

Your customers are going to be shopping around, so you should know what they will learn about the competition and be prepared to explain why/what is different about your product

You should be able to answer the questions:

• “What would your competition say is your weakness?”
• And, “Why is your competition afraid of your product?”

Understanding this makes you more credible. By not knowing these answers, you show your customer you don’t care about their needs as much as simply trying to push a product. Finally, if you can’t clearly describe why/how your product is better, customers may assume it isn’t better.

Use Customer Stories

A product demonstration should never be a tour of a product’s features and functions. Instead, it should tell the customer’s story, with the product playing a crucial role. Know how all of the product works, but only show key features that are most (typically) important.

Be Present

Too often demos are done by that expert, and they get bored with it… that boredom comes through. Be sure to keep presentations fresh. While this may be your 423rd time saying the same thing, it is new to that potential customer. Train enough people on your team so it isn’t on the shoulders of only one person to do all the demo work.

Have the Product to Sell

Don’t bother sampling or demonstration if you don’t have the product for your customer can buy right then and there.

Ask For The Sale

Because “seeing is believing,” there is no better time than after a successful demo to ask for the sale. If you don’t do this, it implies that either the demo was a dud or the product isn’t worth buying in the first place.