National Sales Center

Billy Mays Knew How To Demonstrate Products

I just got the sad news that Billy Mays died today at the age of 50. As a sales trainer, I always enjoyed Billy Mays and his product demonstrations. Billy Mays was more than just a pitchman. He was a salesman with solid product demonstration skills.

The challenge for informercials is to cover the entire sales process in a flash. That’s not easy but Billy Mays always got the job done. I don’t know if he wrote his own copy but he sure delivered the message with a unique style.

There is a difference between how professional salespeople sell and how informercials sell. I’m passionate about salesmanship so I observe it all around me and study every form.  Say what you want about them but informercials use some powerful sales techniques to get customers. I don’t recommend that professional sales reps try to copy Billy Mays. All I’m saying is that you can learn a lot about selling by studying his informercials.

Yes, they can be annoying at times but informercials got the sales process down to a science. Billy Mays would greet you with that big smile, introduce the product, demonstrate how it worked, promote the benefits… and close the deal with a passion. Billy Mays made you wonder how you got along without it.  Billy Mays also mastered the sales process.

Billy Mays was the king of the one call sales close.

Nick

Tags: product demonstrations