Site visits and demonstrations that close rather than inform

4 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

A site visit or demonstration late in the process is expensive. It consumes travel, preparation and several hours of somebody's time, and it happens at the point where the buyer is closest to deciding. Businesses routinely treat it as an opportunity to show everything they can do, which is the least effective use of it.

By this stage the buyer is not evaluating capability. They have one or two remaining doubts, and the visit is either the thing that resolves them or an hour of general presentation that leaves them exactly where they started. Structuring it around what they still need to be sure of converts a substantially higher proportion of the visits you make.

1. Site visits and demonstrations that close are built around the remaining doubt

The organising principle.

Find out before you go what is still open. Everything in the visit should serve that, and anything else is consuming the attention you needed for it. A visit with one clear purpose is shorter, better received and more likely to end in a decision.

2. Ask what they want to get out of it

The preparation call.

A five-minute conversation beforehand about what they hope to see, and who will be there, changes the whole event. Arriving without it means guessing at the agenda. It also signals that you take their time seriously, which is itself part of the impression.

3. Find out who is attending and why

The audience question.

A technical person, a finance person and a decision maker want different things. Preparing for the actual attendees rather than a generic buyer is what makes the visit efficient. If the person who decides will not be there, the visit has a different purpose and should be planned as such.

4. Show the specific thing, not the range

The content discipline.

The nearest equivalent to their job, in detail, rather than a tour of everything you offer. Depth on the relevant case is persuasive; breadth is forgettable. One closely matched example does more than six loosely related ones.

5. Let them talk more than you do

The behaviour that works.

A visit where the buyer describes their situation and asks questions produces more information and more commitment than one where you present. Prepare questions rather than a presentation.

6. Bring the awkward things forward

The credibility move.

Show the constraint, the tricky detail, the thing that will cost more than they expect. Raising it yourself is far more convincing than being asked about it later, and it prevents a surprise during the work.

7. Have the paperwork with you

The practical readiness.

If the visit resolves the last doubt, the buyer may be ready to proceed there and then. Leaving to prepare documents afterwards introduces the delay that these visits exist to remove.

8. Agree the next step before leaving

The step most often skipped.

What happens now, by when, and who does it. A visit that ends with "we will be in touch" has converted a significant investment into an indefinite wait.

9. Follow up the same day

The reinforcement.

A short message confirming what was discussed, what was agreed and what happens next, while the visit is fresh. This is when the buyer is most receptive and most businesses wait a week.

Be careful about visits that are really unpaid consultancy. Where the buyer wants a survey, a design or a detailed assessment, that is work rather than a sales activity, and it may be reasonable to charge for it or to defer it until there is a commitment.

Conclusion

Structure the visit around what the buyer still needs to be sure of.

Establish the remaining doubt and the attendees before you go, show the closest equivalent to their job in depth rather than your full range, prepare questions rather than a presentation, raise the awkward details yourself, bring the paperwork in case they are ready, agree a specific next step before leaving, follow up the same day, and treat a visit that is really unpaid survey work as something separate.