Demonstration- The most important element in the Sales Process

You have worked your way to the Customer’s heart by properly following the MEET & GREET stage. Thereafter, during the QUALIFICATION process you asked him the relevant questions and listened to him effectively and made all the notes required for you to understand what the prospective customer wants from his new car/ product.

Now you need to effectively convince the client that your product meets all his requirements and hence you must now demonstrate the product to him/ her. If you have understood all his needs/ wants, then during DEMONSTRATION, you should only focus and demonstrate those features of the product which will satisfy his needs/ wants. This means that you should show the benefits that a particular feature provides. E.g.; if the client wants his family to be safe at all times in the new car, then you must show him how SAFE your car is from his perspective. So, in this case you will show him how good the seat belt system is e.g. a three point seat belt, or how long and wide is the beam of the headlights is which are great in the night while driving, additional safety is ensured by 4 Airbags, etc, etc.

However you have to be properly prepared before any demonstration appointment.

1) You must be completely knowledgeable about the product, as the client can ask any technical/ non-technical queries at the time of the demo. If your product/ service has any WOW factors (USP) which your competitor may not have then you must highlight it, e.g. pedestrian safety feature where the bumpers of your vehicle are designed in such a way that, in an unfortunate event of an accident the pedestrian does not go under the vehicle, but rolls over the bonnet. In this case you do not accidently harm the person fatally.

2) You must be extremely enthusiastic and excited about your product/ service and it should be seen through in the way you demonstrate the product.

3) Always build a story around your demonstration, so that the demo sticks in the mind of the prospect.

4) Create an image in the mind of the prospect that he is already owning the product and enjoying its use.

5) Stress only on the benefits with respect to the needs expressed by the prospect during the QUALIFICATION stage.

Above all, make the demonstration and interesting exercise and not a boring one, where both, the prospect and you enjoy the entire process. This will be the biggest differentiator between a Good demonstration and a Brilliant demonstration

Happy Selling!

If you want more information on how to sell effectively, and more so if you want your team to succeed in the ever increasing competitive world, then, visit my website at www.prashantwelling.com or better still arrange for a training program for you sales team. All details are available on the website.

Qualification- Why it is the most important part in the Selling Process

Let me first introduce you to the various steps in the selling process:

1)         Meet & Greet- Here you introduce yourself and get to know the prospects name and     other initial details. (In some cases, you might be lucky to get hold of his Visiting card straightaway)

2)         Qualification- Understand the prospective customer’s needs and wants

3)         Presentation- Present the product/ service

4)         Overcome Objections- Effectively clarifies/ answers/ satisfies queries and questions of the prospect.

5)         Negotiation- Negotiate the deal (Price, terms and conditions, etc)

6)         Close- gets the contract signed and seals the deal

If you have noticed, Qualification comes immediately after the meeting and greeting stage. Have you ever wondered why?

It is one the most important steps in the selling process. It helps in saving a huge amount of time and gets you to close the deal effectively and smoothly.

If Qualification of the prospect is done in a proper way then you will not have to deal with a lot of objections regarding the product/ service at a later stage and also the price negotiation will not be a long and tedious process. Most salesmen try to cut short the qualification process and then spend huge amounts of time and energy in overcoming objections and clarifications about the product/ service, thus putting pressure on themselves and end up delaying the process or even losing the deal and also converting a perfect good prospective customer into a dis-satisfied customer who will damage the reputation of your brand.

For example, look at this scenario;

A prospect comes into a car showroom looking to purchase a car which has good safety standards and features. He has a family with children whose safety is his concern.

The salesman at the dealership does not qualify his requirements/ needs properly and shows him a vehicle, which is known for speed e.g.; this car, goes from 0-100 Kph in just 8 seconds.

Now the customer who is looking for safety, will immediately reject this vehicle in his mind, as he is looking for safety and not speed, will raise objections at a later stage of the sales process, which will either delay the deal or even reject the proposition totally leading to a loss of sale to the dealership and the brand too.

Now consider this: If the salesman informs the prospective customer that this vehicle has Airbags, ABS Braking system, bigger headlamps which will illuminate the road ahead and on the sides for a longer area while driving and additionally it also has child locking system on the doors which will not allow the doors to open accidentally while driving. These and other safety features of the same vehicle if presented properly (after understanding the prospects requirements) will lead to lesser objections and also help in closing the deal for the salesman and end up getting a happy and a satisfied customer for life.

As you can see from this small example it is extremely important to qualify the needs and wants and the overall requirements of the prospect before suggesting a product in your portfolio. Your product/ service has many features which will benefit the prospect’s various needs and wants, but the salesman must be aware of all these and must present them selectively to the prospect, in order to convince him/her that this is the right choice of brand for his/ her requirement.

The qualification process is effectively managed with the help of these six open ended questions;

What, When, Where, How and Why

If the salesman uses these effectively to ask the relevant questions then you can be sure you will be on the road to successful selling.

So, practice these questions and use them as much as you can till you have understood the prospects requirements and then move ahead on the sales process as mentioned above.

All The Best!

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