BHS Mobile Showrooms Offer Try Before You Buy Experience, Boost Sales


Most people wouldn’t buy a car without a test drive. And most business managers wouldn’t invest in a new collection of printers without testing one out on-site. Across all industries, consumers show a strong preference for trying products before deciding to buy.

Purchasers of forklift battery handling equipment are subject to the same consumer psychology, a phenomenon that marketing analysts call, appropriately, “the foot in the door.” That explains the sales bump that dealers see when they offer product demonstrations of battery handling systems.

BHS-Mobile-Showroom-Try-Before-you-Buy The most effective demonstrations give customers hands-on time with products. When potential customers get the chance to operate a BHS Battery Extractor in person, it’s easy for them to grasp the benefits. That’s why BHS offers its valued dealers the chance to schedule visits from the BHS Mobile Showroom, a 53-foot portable battery room that allows customers to experience the ease, simplicity, and power of BHS products right outside their own facilities.

Consumer Demonstrations Introduce Product Benefits Directly

Allowing customers to operate equipment themselves, under the guidance of a trained expert from the manufacturer, is a crucial sales tool for dealers. The research is clear. In a seminal study published in the Journal of Marketing Research, Amir Heiman and Eitan Muller point out the advantages of what they call the “dealer’s showroom/consumer’s demonstration” model of introducing products.

“The main advantage of this mode of demonstration is its interactive nature,” the researchers write. “The salesperson can relate in real time to the consumer’s concerns as these concerns are being revealed throughout the demonstration process.”

In the same study, Heiman and Muller found that consumers who had heard of a new car just reaching the market, but had not yet driven the model, had a 33 percent probability of buying after a short demonstration. Eighty percent of the consumers who spent 1 to 2 hours with the car chose to buy.

This is a clear indication of the “try before you buy” effect. But there are also powerful subconscious forces at work when you devote face-time to showing customers how premium products work. Dan Ariely, a Duke University behavioral economist, spoke to "The Atlantic" about in-store samples, a related concept, in 2014.

"Reciprocity is a very, very strong instinct," Ariely told "The Atlantic." "If somebody does something for you, you really feel a rather surprisingly strong obligation to do something back for them."

When you're in the business of selling forklift battery handling equipment, there's only one way to give customers a taste of the merchandise before they put down a deposit: Show them the machines in action.

Harnessing the "Try Before You Buy" Effect with BHS Mobile Showrooms

Obviously, the decision to make a huge capital investment in industrial equipment is very different than choosing a new family car. If anything, though, it's even more important to let customers get their hands on a battery changer before they make that investment.

The BHS Battery Handling Equipment Mobile Showroom is a 53-foot trailer that's available to travel anywhere in the contiguous United States. Inside, dealers and customers will find a fully-functional battery room, complete with an Operator Aboard Battery Extractor and Battery Stands.

The trailer even includes a Recirculation/Neutralization System for handling wastewater, as well as a full sampling of other BHS battery handling equipment.

There's no better way to expose customers to the excellent design and functionality of the BHS battery room than to place them in one. With the BHS Mobile Showroom, the BHS battery room comes to you.

Schedule your visit from the BHS Battery Handling Equipment Mobile Showroom — or its sister-truck, the BHS Warehouse Equipment Mobile Showroom — today.

References:

Pinsker, Joe. “The Psychology Behind Costco’s Free Samples.” TheAtlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

Heiman, Amir, and Eitan Muller. "Using Demonstration To Increase New Product Acceptance: Controlling Demonstration Time." Journal Of Marketing Research (JMR) 33.4 (1996): 422-430. Business Source Premier. Web. 2 Nov. 2016.