Hosting live product demonstrations is a common occurrence on the trade show floor. Showing attendees how your products work and informing them as to how your products will benefit their company is a great way to turn prospects into customers. While exhibitors frequently give demos within their space, we all know they can be boring and seem pointless at times. We want your exhibit to be the best it can be, which is why we want to share some tips on hosting great, successful demonstrations.
It’s good to look at your demo as a live presentation or theatrical production. Breaking it into acts.
The first act is to deliver a solid hook as to why the attendee should be interested in seeing how your product performs. This portion of the demo should be no longer than 2 minutes. For the second act, you will want to move directly into the actual product demo. You want to follow a logical path of what your product does, from beginning to end. Highlighting functionality and unique features. The last act is where you want to talk about what your company has accomplished with the product, what the product has done for you company, like bringing in new talent, and what’s coming next. Basically, you want to tell attendees why your company is here and how you are going to change the industry, if not the world.
Here are some tips on giving a wonderful demonstration:
- Sell the demo, not the product.
- Your demo should last no more than 15 to 20 minutes.
- When you are inviting people to participate in a live demo, something you should be doing with your pre-show communications, give them information about how long the demo will take, what they will learn from attending and the features that will be highlighted.
- Ditch the bullet points. Don’t talk like you are giving power point presentation. You want to engage with potential customers while showing them the all the ways your product can enhance solve problems in their company.
- Practice until you feel like you can give the demonstration perfectly, then practice twice more.
- You must show enthusiasim about your product. If you are not excited your customers will lose interest before the demo even begins.
- Like any good marketing technique, you should end your presentation with by asking the attendees to do something, like a follow up call, the steps to move forward etc.
A good product demonstration is an important part of selling products and gaining new qualified leads.
It is a skill you must master if you plan on giving demos anywhere, but especially on the trade show floor where people see hundreds of demos in a day. Your demo must be engaging, unique and showcase all the benefits of your products and why they are superior to your competitors to help you increase ROI and rise to become the qualified #leadschamp in your office.