Mastering Sales: Demonstrations, Objections, and Closing

Posted on Feb 26, 2025 in Business Administration and Management (BAM)

ITEM 8: Mastering the Art of Sales

1. The Power of Product Demonstration

Proof is a powerful tool to support sales by capturing the customer’s attention immediately, bringing them into contact with the product, and allowing them to explore its advantages, instructions, and operation on their own. Its purpose is to make the customer want to buy the product and persuade them that it is appropriate for their needs.

Requirements for a Good Demonstration

To show that a demonstration effectively strengthens the effectiveness of the seller, the following requirements must be taken into account:

  • Preparing the show: The seller should plan and rehearse the demonstration to ensure it is executed correctly. The demonstration should be tailored to the customer’s specific circumstances.
  • Awakening the customer’s desire: Generally, demonstrations rely on sight, although certain products also appeal to taste, touch, hearing, and smell. It’s also important to ensure that the customer participates in the demonstration. The seller should put the product in the customer’s hands so that it can speak for itself, but avoid involving the client in a demonstration that requires specialized skills.
  • Avoiding common errors: The most frequent errors are:
    • Talking too much and demonstrating too little.
    • Delaying the demonstration for too long.
    • Treating the product without respect.
    • Not knowing the proper management or operation of the product.
  • Demonstration of intangible products: This presents some difficulties because these products have no physical substance. The best demonstration involves using words that describe vivid images associated with the product in one way or another.

2. Essential Support Materials

Support material includes an almost limitless number of options, but the most widely used are: photographs, drawings, models, samples, charts, graphs, testimonials, and technical support material (slides, transparencies, videos, computer programs, etc.).

3. Understanding Customer Objections

Objections are the “buts,” “doubts,” “unknowns,” etc., that the customer expresses. Although they may appear at any time during the sales process, they are most frequently produced after the demonstration. An objection always reveals something important:

  • Customer interest.
  • The measure of the customer’s resistance points.
  • Golden opportunities to build customer loyalty and show what we can do to keep them with our company.

Types of Objections:

  1. To avoid a sales presentation: The situation where the client does not want to devote time to the seller.
  2. Reflection Objections: Used to set or postpone the decision.
  3. Purchase Sign Objections: These seek confirmations, explanations, or additional arguments.
  4. Excuse Objections: Symptoms of an apparent lack of interest. The customer uses them to avoid making a purchase or to delay it.
  5. Authentic Objections: These are not excuses, but authentic reasons the customer has for not buying.
  6. Hidden Objections: Those that are behind a stated reason not to buy. These are difficult to identify.

All these types of objections may be related to the market, fashion, product, or competition.

4. Handling Customer Objections Effectively

To address objections, the seller should respect these six points:

  1. Listen to the customer with the utmost care.
  2. Never interrupt the customer.
  3. Treat objections respectfully.
  4. Reply briefly.
  5. After answering the objection, continue selling.

Techniques to Address Objections:

  1. Boomerang: Refuting the objection with a strong counter-argument.
  2. Yes, but…: Acknowledging the customer’s point, then strengthening your own argument.
  3. Formulate Questions: Responding to an objection with a question.
  4. Direct Denial: Sometimes the client makes an objection that is not true, possibly due to misinformation. In this situation, the vendor should deny it, but add a true and correct argument.
  5. Prevent the Objection: Anticipating a potential objection and addressing it proactively.

5. Closing the Sale Successfully

Closing the sale is also known as the “auction.” A sale does not end until the customer says, “Okay, I’ll take it.” To know when the client is ready, there are some indicators called “buying signals.”