That was the perfect technical demo ever…
I think that this arrives all the time, especially when you are selling a complex and technical product or software.
You present your product in the best way you can. In fact, you practiced so well that you know it is a killer demo and that everyone will definively be convinced about the incredible performance of your product.
You showed all the best features and the prospect seemed interested and asked you very pertinent questions.
You were the expert and you knew that with this product nothing can fail and that’s the best choice for your prospect.
But here’s what happened…
At the end of the presentation, when you ask about the next step, your prospect just tells you “I have to think it over”.
That’s a totally normal reaction in fact, because that’s a lot of money and if it was me, I would probably tell the same thing before spending so much…
So that’s what you tell him:
“Of course John, I understand that you are not the only decision maker and that there are a lot of things to think about… I guess you will contact me as soon as you will be ready to take a step further right?”
and then…you leave and thank your prospect for his time, telling him you will be glad to talk to him again any time if he needs your help.
And when you leave…
Maybe you are thinking in your head that your prospect is right and that he will take the time to evaluate all the aspect of your product…
Maybe you’re even thinking that he will take a full day off from his job just to list up all the features and make a serious comparison between your features and the features of the competitors.
The best product should always win, right?
And here’s what happened finally after few weeks…
Few weeks passed and no phone call from the prospect…
You were so excited few weeks ago, but now it seems like something went badly wrong and you just don’t know what.
Should you try to call to ask how is going on the assessment of your product?
Or maybe just send an email? After all you are not sure what happened and maybe the prospect is still testing… maybe you will bother him in his mad bench-marking fury.
And then after one more week…
Now that’s enough, I should do something man… that’s not possible to be testing for so long without any question, right?
Let’s ask!
…The phone call
“Hey, John, That’s Cyprien, from XYZ Company.”
“How is going the testing of the product I presented to you?”
John:
“Sorry, who have you said you are? Can you remind me your name again?”
“What product are you talking about?”
…Here’s when you realized what really happened
OMG, I was so stupid to think that he was testing the product… Actually, he didn’t even install it.
But… This guy told me that he would think it over and come back to me?
Why did that happened?
The conclusion
People never really think over with regards to products or sales… they often tell that only as a polite way to say “Good bye”.
People generally don’t say that they are not interested directly to you, because they know you made the effort to come and make this presentation for them. Because of that, at least, they should be grateful and tell you that they will “Think it over”.
What really happens is that as soon as you left, they are simply coming back to what they were doing before your visit and forget everything…
Of course, there are always some exceptions… but the exception is never the rule.
Don’t expect that you will be lucking and that the prospect will really “think it over”, that almost never happen..
What should you do then?
That’s the right question to ask! 🙂
Subscribe to the blog and I will probably give you some answers in one of the next posts.
Any comment? fell free to write them in the comment section.