New Product Promotion – Sampling Works!

What better way to introduce a new product or service to potential customers than to actually let them try it?

Opting to buy a new brand, a new type of food or a service is always a leap of faith. You are spending money on something that you might not ultimately like, which is why people can be reluctant to try innovative tastes, flavours or unusual products. For example, visiting a shop recently and being offered tea scented with coconut or bonfire flavours makes customers think twice until offered a taster cup, or having the fragrance wafted across your nose.

Sampling is without doubt the perfect way to introduce innovative, unusual products. If people like the sample, you are well on the way to gaining a new customer who may be then encouraged to try other products or services that your company provides. People are more likely to make repeat purchases when they actually like a product.

Including sampling as part of your promotional offer at exhibitions, trade shows, special events is a sure fire way to attract attention. People like tasting something new. The key is having staff at hand who can encourage visitors to try a new product or service, and be able to talk about the product. Hiring special product demonstrators and brand ambassadors can make a tremendous difference to your sales effort. Such sampling staff ensure that visitors have the chance to not only try the product but gain all the information that is needed to encourage them to consider buying or using it again.

Offering a sample is a good way to develop conversations with potential long term customers. All too frequently, there may be just one person behind the counter serving customers, taking orders and making sales. This becomes a missed opportunity to discuss the product with potential customers, encourage them to try more than one product, carry out some basic market research and get feedback.

Having other staff on the stand makes an immediate difference. Hiring people to organise sampling or demonstrate a product leaves you with time to undertake other tasks such as market research or making sales.

There is also the question of hygiene that has to be considered. Any stand where products are being sampled needs to be kept consistently clean and tidy.

Preparations have to be made well in advance, and incorporated into the stand design. Depending on the type of food being sampled, you might need to include a fridge, a separate surface on which to prepare the samples, cleaning materials, crockery on which to place the samples, even a dustpan and brush. Think too about presentation – the samples need to be presented nicely and look attractive to encourage people to try them. Hiring professional sampling staff means that you can rely on their skills to deal with preparation, cleaning, presentation, and customer interaction.

Hire sampling and demonstrating staff

Demonstrators and promotional staff play an equally important role when it comes to creating experiences or trying out software and new technology. They can provide the information, the background and supervise the customer using it so as to minimise the risk of damage leaving you to concentrate on making sure that every aspect of your exhibition participation goes to plan, maximising sales and marketing.