Product Promotion Workers
Promote products and services by supporting marketing campaigns, demonstrating and displaying products, and telemarketing to customers.
A weekend at the home and garden show
You are a sales demonstrator and part-time marketing assistant for a kitchenware brand, running a stand at a regional home and garden expo. It is Saturday at 11am. The hall is filling up. Your blender demonstration starts in ten minutes, your phone is pinging with messages from head office and a queue is already forming.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I only want one that can crush ice and also grind coffee beans. Can this one do both? I have a feeling the cheaper one at the next stand cannot. Is yours really better?
Say yes to both and add that the product at the next stand is not as good as yours
Beverley buys it, then finds it cannot grind beans. She returns it and tells her friends. Overstating a product cost you a sale and some goodwill.
Say what it does well, what it does not, and which model suits her
Beverley picks the model that really can grind beans. Her honesty from you is the reason she buys, and she tells two friends at the show.
Say it is a great all-rounder and change the subject to a special offer today
You avoided saying anything false, but you avoided her question too. She notices, and slowly walks to the next stand to ask the same thing.
Post the before and after photo of the stained pan on our page. We cleaned the after one with another product and touched it up, but it looks amazing. Just caption it as made with our new cleaning range.
Post it as asked, since it is head office's decision and not yours to question
A follower spots that the pan was edited and posts about it. The brand is accused of faking results, and your name is on the post.
Offer to post a real before and after photo from the stand instead
Rob grumbles but agrees. A real photo, taken that afternoon, does better than expected and nobody can challenge it.
Post it with a tiny note saying results may vary, as a kind of warning
The caption is technically a warning, but the picture is still misleading. A small disclaimer does not turn an edited photo into a fair one.
That thing is a rip-off, I bought one last year and it died in a month! You people just say whatever it takes to make a sale. Why should anyone believe a word you are saying?
Ask him calmly what happened, and offer to pass his details to customer service
He cools down and gives you the details. The crowd sees that you listen even when someone is being rude, and a few lean in to ask questions.
Argue back that his experience was surely his own fault
The crowd goes quiet and some people walk away. Winning an argument with an unhappy customer is rarely the same as winning a sale.
Ignore him and speak louder to keep the demonstration going
The demo continues, but his words hang in the air. People heard the complaint and did not hear an answer.
How it went
By the end of the day you had given eight demonstrations, posted one honest photo and answered a heckler without raising your voice. Product promotion work is a mix of performing, listening and telling the truth well. Which would you enjoy more: the stage, the screen or the phone?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The call that ended kindly
A fictional case set in a home and garden expo, a call centre desk and a shop window display for a fictional kitchenware brand.
The situation
Anjali worked as a telemarketer for a company that sold home phone and internet packages. One evening she rang a long-time customer, Mr Rossi, about an upgrade. He sounded confused, said he was not sure what he had now and that his daughter normally handled these things. Anjali's targets for the week were looking tight. The script suggested pressing a little harder and asking for a decision on the spot while she had him on the line.
What they did
Anjali slowed down and said there was no rush. She asked whether she could send a short summary in writing for his daughter to read, and made sure the plan he currently had was clearly described. She did not push for a yes, and she noted in the system that the customer wanted his family involved before any change. She finished the call by thanking him and telling him he could ring back at any time.
How it turned out
A week later Mr Rossi's daughter rang, understood the offer and decided against it. Anjali's call that week had no sale on it. Her team leader reviewed the call and said it was exactly the sort of respect the company wanted customers to hear.
What would you do?
- Why might Anjali have been right to let a sale go?
- How can a sales worker stay honest when targets feel tight?
- Which kinds of promotion work would you find most interesting: speaking, creating or calling?