How many times have you walked into Costco for a $4.99 rotisserie chicken and came out with the chicken, barbecue ribs, wine, a T-shirt and a cool new “something” you never knew you needed?
A research article on statista.com states that, depending on the age group, impulse and add-on sales account for between 35 and 50 percent of purchases. Those numbers seem a little high to me, but no matter how you look at it, impulse and add-on sales drive a lot of revenue for today’s retailers.
Think about your own tool and equipment sales. Are you getting your share of the impulse or add-on market?
This month’s Go Sell Something topic is product demonstrations. In addition, we’re going to focus on how to weave impulse sales into your personal product demonstrations.
Demonstrations are the key to moving a technician up to your product’s price point. As you develop your demonstrations, be sure to include the product benefits that make your product better, faster, safer, or more heavy duty than the competition. Customers need to be told and shown what makes your product better than the competition so they can justify purchasing your product at the price you’ve set.
Here’s an example. You go into your grocer on the way home to get some spaghetti sauce. There are four products available, each at different price points. The bargain brand is $2.99, the store brand is $3.99, the national brand is $4.99, and a brand you’ve never heard of is $6.50. Which will you purchase? Since your spouse didn’t tell you what brand to get, you’ll probably pick a popular national brand unless that $6.50 spaghetti sauce catches your attention.
You notice that it’s in a cool-looking jar, so you pick it up and begin to read the label.
Feature: Salt
Advantage: Low in sodium
Benefit: It’s healthy
Feature: Sugar
Advantage: Low in sugar
Benefit: That’s healthy too
Feature: Made at the farm with tomatoes picked the day they’re processed
Advantage: Fresh tomatoes you think to yourself: “I like fresh tomatoes”
Benefit: Farm fresh taste
Feature: Made with spices imported from Old World Italy
Advantage: Where spaghetti was invented
Benefit: Tastes "perfecto"
Result: Sold!
This may sound like old-school sales tactics, but feature, advantage, benefit, and closing (FABC) works. It was efficient back when you were called a Wagon Jobber, and FABC still works today now that we have mobile stores.
I went on a popular automotive warehouse distributor website and looked at a new aluminum manifold gauge set. Under the heading “Features and Benefits,” here’s what I found:
- Professional series
- 72" charging hoses
- R134a manual service couplers
- Valve core tool included
- R134a can tap and thermometer included
Not a benefit in the group. Consumers aren’t mind readers. Nothing in this feature set is enough to make you pay extra for this product or even begin to tell you why it’s better than the competition. A few advantages and benefits would really make a sales difference.
- Professional series
- Built for heavy duty usage
- No plastic connectors like the competition
- Won’t let you down when you need it most
- 72" charging hoses
- Reaches deep under the hood
- Compare to the competitors gauges which have 36” hoses
- Saves time on moving the unit around
But as important as language can be when lining out features and benefits, demonstrations are an important part of the process as well. Here are some hints to great demonstrations.
- Make a list of the top features of the product you want to demonstrate. Don’t get too fancy, as these are just the features.
- Automatic on/off switch
- Digital readout
- Low battery alarm
- USB port
- Make a list of those features’ advantages.
- The automatic on/off switch turns the unit off after 10 minutes of no activity.
- The digital readout gives you the exact result in an easy-to-read window.
- The low battery alarm warns you when to recharge the unit.
- The USB port connection is where you download the readouts and recharge the unit.
- Make a list of the benefits that are meaningful to the users.
- The automatic on/off switch turns the unit off after 10 minutes of no activity so you won’t have a dead battery when you need it most unlike those models that don’t offer this feature.
- The digital readout gives you the exact result in an easy-to-read window so no mistakes or hard gauges to read like on the lower priced units.
- The low battery alarm warns you when to recharge the unit again so it’s ready when you are.
- The USB port connection is where you download the readouts and recharge the unit. This feature alone is unique to our product, allowing you to give your customer a printout of the manifold pressure in black and white.
- Be prepared. If you are going to need supplies, like a nail to cut or a connector to crimp, have them ready before you start.
- If at all possible, carry the product you are going to present in to your sales call in a case, bag, or some type of covering so the customer does not have a chance to form an impression of the product before you say anything.
Now, let’s look at how an impulse or suggested sale of another product can help you make the initial product sale, and maybe the second product too.
If you’re presenting a hand grinder and the prospect hasn’t said yes after your perfect presentation, try moving on to grinding wheels or maybe cut-off wheels. Do a short demonstration on that secondary product, and then ask the customer if they’d like to purchase both the hand grinder and the wheels. Initially do not offer a discount on the accessory product. Just say “Do you want both the grinder and the wheels?” You’re giving the customer the choice between yes and yes. “Yes, I want both,” or “yes, I want just the grinder.”
Here are some simple add-on impulse ideas to use as closing options:
Sockets – Socket organizer
Pliers – Pliers rack
Flashlight – Extra batteries
Work Shoes – Belts or shirts
Hand Cleaner – Shop towels
Drill – Drill bits
Air Hammer - Chisels
Roller Cabinet – Portable tool trolley
As we all unfortunately know the Covid world of selling is much different and until this pandemic is solved and maybe thereafter things may not be the same. Giving a demonstration of a new do-hickey tool is difficult when the shop is not letting jobbers in the door or only letting technicians go out to the truck.
You can’t just give up, though. It’s your job to go sell something!
No, it’s not perfect, but a simple personalized video can really help. Don’t get carried away thinking you’re the next Steven Spielberg making Star Wars. Just get someone to hold your phone and record your presentation with a limit of two minutes. Make the video demonstration personal to the customer. Use their name, remind them of some personal issue you helped with. Text or email them the video and follow up ASAP to answer questions and close the sale.
The problem with many of the manufacturer videos is that they’re way too long to hold someone’s attention and often lack the advantages and benefits of the product being demonstrated. Sure, you can also send the prospect a link to the company video, but nothing beats a two-minute clip created personally by you for the customer.
Additionally, Zoom accounts are free for 40-minute meetings. Schedule a live demo on Zoom when the prospect is available. Does this take time? Of course, but if you have a better idea, please let me know.
Remember. In the end if you don’t ask for the order and close the sale, pretty much everything written above is just a waste of your time.
Now go sell something … and ask for the order.
