"So, how's business in your area?"

March 27, 2013
One manufacturer can't believe his ears after he asks if a distributor provides tool demonstrations to customers.

So here I am, in our booth, at one of the recent mobile jobber shows, selling up a storm and having a great time.

A customer approaches our booth and I ask him if he has ever seen or used our cool screwdriver demo. He says no that he really doesn't like giving demos. Being a hardcore sales trainer all my life, his response really piqued my interest. I then asked him "If you don't do demos how do you introduce new products to your customers?"

He responded that he just hands some literature and the product to the prospective customer and doesn't really say too much about the product. His next comment really floored me: "My customers are professionals and they know if they want a tool or not."

My brain was ready to explode.

Then I asked him the big question: "So, how's business in your area?"

You'll love his response: "My sales are really bad and I'm pretty sure I will be getting out of the business soon."

He turned around and left our booth after I asked: "Do you think giving demo's would help?"

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