Internet and technological advancements have made customers smart and intelligent. The economic slump further made them cautious and vigilant. Hence, they are not ready to take anything at face value. Once a product is launched, they want to be doubly sure about its use and performance before purchasing the product.

1. Let Customers have Hands-On Experience with Evaluation Systems
Internet and technological advancements have made customers smart and intelligent. The economic slump further
made them cautious and vigilant. Hence, they are not ready to take anything at face value. Once a product is launched,
they want to be doubly sure about its use and performance before purchasing the product. They do not want their hard-
earned penny to go down the drain just like that. They want value for money and hence wait for the initial excitement to
die down before making the plunge. In the meantime, they pay close attention to all those reviews and criticism about
the product. From the perspective of the companies and organizations, such an attitude on the part of the customers is
detrimental to their business growth and success.
In today’ cut throat competition it is highly necessary for the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to ensure
business and sales continuity as it translates into future growth. However, the attitude of the customers to wait and
watch is not at all a positive sign for the business’ well-being. What the OEMs want is a platform to display their
revolutionary products to their customers. Hence, they decided to display and demonstrate their products at
tradeshows and exhibitions. Though it ensured maximum visibility of their products, it was not enough to convince the
customers of its effectiveness, performance, features and quality.
Today’s customers are not ready to believe what the salespersons have to say about the product. They want to evaluate
the product themselves before making the actual purchase. Companies realized that instead of bringing the customers
to the products the strategy should be to bring the products to the customers. Hence, they decided to use the ‘try
before you buy’ program to convince the customers. This evaluation system allowed the customers to try the product
free and evaluate the product features, performance, usability and quality before purchasing the product.
Though demo loaner/evaluation programs are one of the best sales channels for the customers it has not received the
attention that it deserves. This is because of the various problems associated with it such as loss of demo equipment,
monitoring problems, delayed returns management, inadequate help for test or evaluation, program information loss
due to the mobility of the salesperson, variation in demand and more. Instead of setting up a state-of-the-art
Demo/Loaner program, companies and organizations must get the services of those who are adept in providing
demo/loaner programs that are customized to meet client needs. By doing so companies get to enjoy reduced asset
loss, real time monitoring and enhanced customer experience.
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