It almost seems like a silly question – should I demo our solution
or not? But there are certain scenarios
when you should consider tapping the brakes when a prospect asks you to demo
your product. Here’s an example of when
that’s the case.
My rep has a very good customer who buys a significant
amount of product from us. And, our
vendor manager there is fantastic. She
is constantly introducing our capabilities to colleagues within her company and
brokering introductions for us. Just
recently, a business unit approached her with a problem and she immediately
recommended our solution (this is an information-centric product
offering). She reached out to my rep and
asked if he could schedule a WebEx demo of our solution. This was a very nice development for
us.
Blog continued below
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Here’s
a very
recent example of how and email from my book worked yet again. I was conducting a pipeline call with a
rep. He was frustrated that a prospect
had gone dark. After a few great
meetings his contact was not returning calls or emails. I suggested that the rep send an “Are You?”
email right then, during our call.
He did and guess what happened?
The prospect emailed him back while we were still on the phone. This, after weeks of ignoring repeated calls
and emails. That’s why I wrote the
book. The emails work – all the
time! If you have prospects that have
“gone dark” – and who hasn’t – the book is for you. There is also an email for following up on
leads, and another for planning killer sales calls. What are you waiting for? Those deals won’t wake up on their own!
The book, Click “Send” and Sell! Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Success is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.
No eReader? No problem! Click HEREto download and print the book in any format you want.
_____________________________________________________________________________
However, I told the rep to hold off on the demo and ask
instead for a brief meeting with the business users who had approached our champion
with their problem. Why in the world
would I recommend something like that?
Simple, really. We don’t know
anything about the problem that they are trying to solve, and our champion –
while she is really great – may not have recommended our best solution to her
colleagues. So instead of agreeing to perform a demo, I directed the rep to request a 30-minute call
with the customer in order to learn more about their specific situation and
whether or not a demo would be appropriate.
That suggestion was extremely well received by the customer and they are
grateful that he was willing to take the time to understand their needs before
performing a demo.
We live in a world of instant gratification and as sellers
we are constantly being pushed to close deals today. Delaying a demo for a few days is a bad idea
when you are farther along in a sales process.
But if you are conducting your first meeting, why in the world would you
do a product demo (again, think more of a complex sale here) before you understand
your prospects pains and opportunities?
Take the time to listen to your prospect before you ever
make a recommendation or demonstrate a potential solution. Chances are you may lengthen the sales
process a little bit, but it will very likely increase your odds of winning
their business and their trust.
No comments:
Post a Comment