How many times have you heard the expression “A picture is worth a thousand words”?
I accompanied many sales people on customer visits and found that when talking with customers, no matter how good your pitch is, there is nothing like seeing and interacting with the actual product.
No fancy brochure, presentation, webinar, technical spec or even a great discount will sell the customer on your product, unless they have had the opportunity to use it and see for themselves how it addresses their needs.
I can already see my fellow colleagues raising an eyebrow and wondering: does it mean that for every product I am building I need a demo? In theory that would be ideal, but we all know it is not always practical. There are other ways to get customers to touch and feel the product. Here are some suggestions:
- Sign up some of your potential customers as your beta users giving them the opportunity to see the product for themselves. This process achieves two things: your customers get to test drive your product and make useful suggestions, and they can serve as advocates and references for it.
- If your product lends itself to a Flash demo, you can show the customer the way your product will look and some features it will have. If they buy into the concept, you are onto something.
- Create a prototype that highlights the key features your product has.
The more exposure and feedback your product gets early on, the better its chances of making it in the market. If your product has already been released, make sure your sales people demo the real thing. After all, would you buy a car without test driving it?
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