A demo unit policy for dental equipment is not a discount schedule. It is a set of rules that decide who owns the unit, who carries the depreciation, how long it stays in the field, what the reseller may do with it afterwards, and who pays for the return if the trial fails. Distributors who write those rules before the first unit ships lose less stock and close more accounts than those who improvise per deal.
Why a demo unit policy dental equipment resellers can enforce beats a verbal agreement
Trials go wrong in predictable ways. The unit stays with a clinic for nine months because nobody set an end date. It comes back with a scratched screen and a missing tip, and the argument about who pays starts from zero. A second clinic wants the same unit next week, and nobody knows where it is. Every one of those problems is a clause, not a personality flaw.
The policy has three jobs: protect the asset, define the decision, and make the unit available again quickly. If a policy does not do all three, it is a discount with extra paperwork.
Demo unit, loaner and evaluation unit are three different things
The words get used interchangeably and the financial treatment should not be. A demo unit is owned by the distributor or manufacturer and travels to showrooms, exhibitions and clinic visits. A loaner is a unit placed with a customer temporarily, usually to cover a repair or a waiting period. An evaluation unit is placed with a specific buyer for a defined period to support a purchase decision.
| Type | Ownership | Typical duration | Who pays depreciation | Return condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo unit | Distributor or manufacturer | Rolling, 6 to 18 months in service | Owner, recovered through sales margin | Cleaned, recalibrated, accessories complete |
| Loaner | Owner, placed temporarily | Days to a few weeks | Owner | Same condition as dispatch, documented |
| Evaluation unit | Owner until conversion | Two to four weeks | Owner, or shared if the trial extends | Full accessory set, scan volume report attached |
| Sold demonstration stock | Buyer after conversion | Permanent | Buyer, reflected in the price | Sold as demonstration stock, stated in writing |
The fourth row is the one that causes disputes. If a demonstration unit is later sold, the buyer must know it is demonstration stock, what its service history is, and what the price adjustment reflects. A unit that quietly becomes new stock is a warranty argument two years later.
Terms to fix before the first unit leaves the warehouse
Six clauses cover most of the risk. Keep them short enough that a clinic manager will actually read them.
- Registration. Record the serial number, the dispatch date, the named clinic, the named contact and the expected return date. A unit without a serial number in a register is a unit you cannot chase.
- Duration and extension. Set a fixed evaluation period, typically two to four weeks, and state that any extension must be agreed in writing before the end date.
- Insurance and damage. State who insures the unit in the field and what happens with accidental damage, water ingress or a dropped wand. A clinic's own policy often excludes equipment on loan.
- Consumables and accessories. Define what is included, what the clinic replaces at its own cost, and what must be returned. Sleeves, tips and powder are the usual gaps.
- Return freight. Decide who books and who pays. Return freight paid by the distributor is a real cost per trial and belongs in the margin calculation, not in a surprise invoice.
- Conversion credit. If the trial converts, state whether any trial fee is credited against the order. If it does not convert, state that no fee is charged or exactly what is.
How to design a scanner trial programme that produces a decision
A trial without a scorecard produces a feeling. The clinic says the scanner was nice, the salesperson says the clinic was interested, and the deal stalls for a quarter. Give the clinic a one-page scorecard on day one and ask for it back on the last day, and the conversation changes from opinion to evidence.
Score only what the clinic can observe in its own workflow. Scan time per arch, number of rescans in a normal day, how often the margin needed manual repair, whether the software opened the lab's preferred file format, and whether the staff who would actually use the unit were comfortable after two days. Add one commercial line: whether the total cost of ownership fits the practice's equipment budget this year.
| Scorecard item | How to measure | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Full arch scan time | Time ten arches, take the median | 20% |
| Rescan rate in a normal day | Count rescans against total scans | 20% |
| Margin and contact quality | Review ten models in cross-section with the clinician | 20% |
| File compatibility with the lab | Send one case to the clinic's usual lab and confirm import | 20% |
| Staff comfort after two days | Ask the two people who will use it most | 10% |
| Budget fit | Clinic's own assessment, no pressure to answer during the trial | 10% |
Trial design for a demo unit policy dental equipment programme in export markets
Export trials add three complications: freight, customs and time zone support. A unit that crosses a border may attract a temporary import procedure, and a trial that runs three weeks can spend one of them in transit. Plan for that by shortening the on-site window and using remote support to cover the setup.
Remote support is where a distributor can differentiate. A structured onboarding call on day one, a check-in on day three and a review call on the last day costs almost nothing and converts far better than a unit shipped with a manual.
For export accounts, confirm the power configuration before dispatch. A trolley-based workstation with an internal UPS designed for unstable mains is a different proposition from a bare scanner, and the difference matters in markets where voltage fluctuates. The dental supplies and workstation range is worth reviewing alongside the scanner itself, because a trial that includes the workstation shows the clinic the whole chairside setup rather than one component.
Matching the trial to the product being sold
An evaluation unit dental teams will actually use is the only fair test, so place the unit in the room where it will live. A scanner trial and a printer trial are not the same exercise. A scanner trial is about capture quality and chair time, and it can be assessed in a week. A printer trial is about workflow, resin handling, post-processing and repeatability, and it needs enough print cycles to show consistency. A four-week printer trial that produces two prints proves nothing.
Design the trial around the decision the buyer has to make. For an intraoral scanner, that is whether the scan is good enough to send to the lab without a remake, which means confirming that the exported STL opens in the clinic's CAD package and that a 198 g wand such as the AI-30 stays comfortable across a full clinic list. For a laboratory scanner, it is whether throughput and accuracy hold at the end of a busy day. For a printer, it is whether the tenth print matches the first. Each of those needs a different number of cycles and a different scorecard.
If you are building a trial programme for a new territory, start with one product category and one scorecard, run it for a quarter, then extend. Distributors who try to run scanner, printer and resin trials at once usually end up with three half-documented fleets and no comparable data. To review demo unit terms for your market, contact our distributor support team and we will share the agreement structure we use with partners.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a dental equipment trial last?
Two to four weeks for a scanner, because the clinic needs enough working days to see its own rescan rate. A printer trial needs longer, typically four to six weeks, to cover enough print cycles and a resin change. Anything shorter produces a first-impression judgement rather than a workflow assessment.
Who should own the demo unit during a trial?
The distributor or manufacturer should retain ownership until the order is confirmed. Transferring ownership during a trial removes the return path and turns a demonstration into a sale. If the clinic needs to hold the unit on its books, use a loan agreement with a stated value rather than a transfer.
Should we charge for a trial?
Charging a refundable trial fee is defensible and filters out clinics that are not serious. The key is to state clearly whether the fee is credited against the order and what happens if the clinic returns the unit. An unstated fee is the fastest way to lose a reference account.
What do we do with a demonstration unit at the end of its service life?
Sell it as demonstration stock with the service history disclosed, or keep it as a spare for loaner coverage. Do not return it to new stock. The price adjustment should reflect the service history, and the disclosure should be in writing.
A trial programme is a logistics business wearing a sales coat. Get the register, the agreement and the scorecard right, and the same five units will support a territory for years. If you want to see how the scanner and workstation combinations are typically configured for demonstration, review the intraoral scanner options or browse the full product range before you set your first dispatch date.
