Step Three: Demonstration

You have set the stage for your product demonstration. Your prospects are anxious to see your window in action for themselves, and you are about to demonstrate that performs well and benefits your prospects in the way they desire.

The Four Keys to a successful demonstration: Educate - Involve - Prove - Apply

Educate: Make sense out of a complex topic

In a recent poll from W&D Weekly, about 70% of participants said that “Homeowners shopping for replacement windows and doors want an education, which sometimes means a longer sales process.”

The only problem is that as windows become more technically advanced, they become harder to understand.

What happens if you do a poor job educating your prospects - or worse yet, you confuse them?

1) They sit silently, afraid to speak up and ask questions, and decide that they need to learn more about the subject after you leave (without closing the sale of course)

2) They start asking you questions, putting you on the defensive, thus taking control of the sales situation

Needless to say, a confused shopper is very unlikely to make a purchase from you. Luckily, you don’t need to be an expert teacher for your prospects to learn what they want and need to know before making a window purchase. Just follow the forms linked in the next column and let your prospect fill in the blanks.

Educate and Compare <Click Here>

Timing is everything

The beginning of your product demonstration is the perfect time to take a few minutes and teach your prospects about the most important performance characteristics involved in choosing a window. Get on the same page with your prospect now, so you don't get into the demonstration only to realize the prospect doesn't have a clue what you are talking about.

Just tell them: "Before we go on, I want to make sure you fully understand the terms we're going to be using in the demonstration. Take a look at this form with me, and let's make sure we're on the same page."

Involve Prospects in your Demonstration

A tell tale sign of a powerful product demonstration is when a customer takes a hands on approach as opposed to sitting on their thumbs watching you. Maximize your the impact of your demonstration by encouraging them to examine your samples and demonstration tools in their own hands. Work as the demonstration facilitator - verbally walking them through the demonstration while they do most of the work and find the results for themselves.

Just as the car shopper is the one that gets to take the wheel during a test drive, the window shopper should take the reigns of the product demonstration - seeing, touching and feeling your high quality product on the way to truly understanding how your product will benefit them.

A great way to get your prospects involved is by turning up the heat with an Infrared Heat Lamp. Perform the following demonstration that will stimulate your prospect's senses and hopefully make them sweat a little:

Start by turning on the Heat Lamp. The amount of heat the this lamp emits will immediately be noticed by your prospect.

Tell the prospect to think of the heat lamp like the sun, noting it can get up to 500 degrees. Have the prospect put their hands a couple of inches away from the lamp. Then, tell them you are going to try to block the heat with a glass sample (similar to what they have now if applicable).

Place a glass sample in front of the lamp, and your prospect will immediately recognize that it doesn't do much to stop the heat. If applicable, remind them that their current windows - or other glass on the market is conductive just like this sample, as they do little to stop the heat from the sun.

Next, place a sample of your window in front of the heat lamp and ask the question like:

"Can you feel how this window is going to keep the elements out and save you money on your energy bills?" There is no other answer to that question but "yes."

Keep in mind: this is a subjective demonstration, but it will make your prospect start thinking about the consequences of having inferior quality windows in their home. Even though this demonstration didn't really give any quantifiable evidence about the difference your window makes, your next demonstration will...

Prove the difference your window product makes

Remember this key point, and be sure to have this mind set: during the demonstration, the Spectrum Detective, for example, isn't a sales tool for the salesperson, it is a tool used by the prospect to discover and prove for themselves that the window is worth investing in.

Anyone can read performance numbers out of their own product literature. To really make an impression, let your prospect discover these numbers for themselves while proving that you have a high quality product that will make their life easier and better.

Since you are working as the demonstration facilitator, they are actually proving to themselves that your window is worth investing in regardless of what your product literature says - which they may perceive as being biased.

If there are at least 2 prospects you are presenting to, have one of them take control of the Spectrum Detective and the glass samples, while the other writes down the performance numbers on a sheet of paper to compare later.

Have the prospects start by testing and recording the lowest performing glass sample you have and continue until they get to your glass. During each step explain to them exactly what the glass samples are, and for added effect, let them know which sample is most similar to what they currently own.

This test will show that your window is vastly superior to what the prospects currently have and other alternatives on the market. In the next step, you will capitalize on the demonstration by really applying your window's performance to your prospect's situation.

Apply performance to their situation and needs

You have now positioned your product ahead of other alternatives in quality and performance, but that's only half of your demonstration objective. Make sure and apply these demonstration numbers to their situation. Do this by continuing to ask specific questions that will get a "yes" response:

"Can you see how this window is going to save you money on your energy bills every month?" (yes)

"Can you see how this window is going to protect your new carpet or priceless antiques or artwork from being damaged by the sun?" (yes)

Notice what happens when you approach your demonstration in this manner. They use your demonstration tools to prove to themselves that your product is of high quality and performance, and that it solves the specific problems they have already laid out earlier in the presentation.

Take a moment to examine the difference between this approach and the average sales approach:

New:
• Prospects acknowledge ways that a window could make their quality of life better
• With your guidance, prospects prove to themselves that your window can meet those wants and needs

Average:
• Salesperson tells prospects that their window is the best - focusing mainly on product features instead of benefits to the prospect
• Salesperson relies on convincing the prospect to trust them

You have done a great job so far. Closing the sale is all that's left.