I was watching a demo yesterday and heard the presenter use the phrase, “What we call a ___” multiple times. Was it important that the prospect know and remember that vendor jargon? Nope!
We humans can only keep track of a very limited number of new pieces of information, so keep your demos focused on what is truly important. Feature names and even product names are largely irrelevant. It’s what they do, the solution and value they provide, that should be communicated.
"We eat with our eyes first": Apicius (a 1st century Roman gourmand) purportedly make this statement – and it’s also true for demos!
Don’t assume that your prospects understand what they are seeing in your software demo screens. While you may have seen those screens hundreds of times, it is the first time for your prospects. Don’t assume they “get it.”
Compare:
A. The waiter who simply plops a plate on the table without any explanation.
vs
B. The waiter who gently places the plate in front of a patron, rotates it carefully to present the dish optimally, and explains, “Viola! Your salad de maison! The lettuces and vegetables were grown right here in our organic garden and harvested just minutes ago: they are so fresh, so crisp! Those cheese morsels nestled amongst the greens are hand-made and were carefully rotated each week during aging. And these croutons were made from yesterday’s freshly baked crusty sourdough, then sauteed gently in our own extra-virgin olive oil made from the trees right outside, seasoned with fragrant cloves of fresh garlic and gently snipped herbs from the same garden. Enjoy!”
Which approach is more appetizing?
As vendors, we need to make each key software screen appear as appealing as possible. We do this by describing:
1. What our audience is seeing.
2. How it helps solve our prospect’s problems.
3. The value associated with consuming the screen.
(You’ll learn how to execute this in the Third Edition of Great Demo!)
Bon appétit!
How many of you do regular post-demo reviews (aka “curbside reviews”)? What do you assess? For example:
- What went well?
- What could have been done better or differently?
- What resonated and what did not?
- Was discovery done sufficiently and was it accurate?
- What were the action items for both parties?
- Were there any surprises?
- Did you achieve your objectives? Did your prospect achieve theirs?
How often are your post-demo reviews done?
- Always
- Most of the time
- Occasionally
- Never
Who participates?
- Sales
- Presales
- Sales management/frontline management
- Presales management/frontline management
- Others (who?)
In my experience, those who complete regular thoughtful, structured post-demo reviews enjoy increased rates of improvement in their demos and discovery processes yielding higher win rates and faster sales cycles. How about you?
In demos, present the “What” but only show the “How” if the prospect asks!
(See Great Demo! Third Edition for the delicious recipe for successful demos!)
A Never Stop Learning! Article
“After working as presales prior to the sale, then assisting with implementation, and then continuing in a CSM role, the customer said it was the most successful major project ROI they’d ever seen – and extended an offer to hire me!”
– Presales Practitioner
“Our objective is to maximize CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) for every customer.”
– Member, Board of Directors, SaaS Company
What’s in This Article for You?
- A customer’s perspective
- High-fidelity handoffs
- The enormous value of relationships
- What happens as companies grow?
- How about a hybrid approach?
- Another intriguing hybrid!
Nearly all vendors struggle to find the best approach to align staff for each of the various customer-facing roles from presales, through implementation, to customer success. Some organizations have an account-based approach, with one or more individuals assigned to handle the entire continuum. Others prefer a more specialized structure, where one set of players focuses entirely on presales, another on implementation, and yet another on customer success. And some organizations employ a hybrid approach, mixing and matching individuals’ skills and strengths to the various roles and combinations of roles.
Clearly, there are many options to explore! Let’s begin with the customer’s perspective.
You’ll find the balance of this article here: https://greatdemo.com/best-approaches-presales-customer-success-continuum/
Enjoy!
A Never Stop Learning! Article
“Stand away from the mouse and nobody will get hurt!”
– Salesperson at a tradeshow when a prospect tried running the software themselves
“Our objective is to ‘suspend disbelief.’”
– Me
Easy to Use?
One of prospects’ most common concerns is, “Will the software be easy to use?” Accordingly, an objective when presenting demos is to make our offerings appear as easy to use as possible.
Sadly, most traditional demos fail to achieve this! Why?
- They fail to discover prospect needs and desires, resulting in a generic demo that is confusing and complicated.
- They show too many features, resulting in Buying It Back.
- They show too many options, in the form of “if” and “or” diversions.
- They answer simple questions in depth, when a crisp “yes” may have been sufficient.
- They show a long “day in the life” story rather than focusing on specific workflows and deliverables.
These habits result in a misalignment between vendors’ desires to generate a vision of “ease of use” and prospects’ actual perceptions. How do we solve this?
Fewest Number of Clicks!
The “Do It” pathway in a Great Demo! is a terrific way to prove ease of use. Just Do It: Execute all demo pathways using the Fewest Number of Clicks. That should be a mantra for everyone who presents demos!
Reducing the number of clicks and moving the mouse deliberately can go a long way towards creating that ease-of-use vision. But there’s another, delightfully effective approach!
Let Your Champion Drive
Wait, what? Won’t they make a mistake and click on the wrong thing?
Possibly, but likely not if you do a dry run ahead of time. And who’s the best prospect player to drive? Your champion! After all, your champion also wants the demo to go well, so they are typically willing to invest a few minutes to practice.
When your prospect drives the demo or part of it, three fabulous advantages are gained:
1. The rest of the audience sees first-hand that their colleague can run the software successfully, proving ease of use.
2. The audience feels that they also can run the software: “If Bob can do it, then certainly I can as well…”
3. The prospect feels a stronger sense of proof of the Specific Capabilities than when the vendor drives. The sense of reality is deeper and there is less perceived “smoke and mirrors.”
An additional advantage is often enjoyed: The demo becomes remarkable. The prospect team talks about the demo afterwards, “You should have seen the demo today. Bob drove and it was really cool!” The result can generate a very positive word-of-mouth effect that ripples through the prospect’s organization.
A Few Pragmatic Guidelines
Work with your champion or other volunteer ahead of time. They need to be comfortable and confident that they know what to do and how to do it. A practice session is a great solution for this.
Interestingly, offering to “Let Your Champion Drive” can also serve to validate that your champion is, indeed, really a champion! They should be willing to invest time to get it right.
Involving your champion in delivering the demo also increases their ownership in the process. This generates a positive feedback loop: The more involved, the more ownership; the more ownership, the more involved.
Another recommendation? Simplify! Consider limiting your champion’s driving to a Do It pathway. The longer the segment, the greater the risk.
What About Online Demos?
This approach also works wonderfully with demos delivered over the web: Just make sure that the tool you use allows your prospect to have “mouse control.” And definitely practice transitioning between you and your champion (or other prospect player) doing the driving!
Two More Options
If no champion is available, you can still contemplate using an audience volunteer. You will have to give guidance on the individual steps, but the effect will still be very positive.
Another approach is to ask the audience while you drive, “What would be my next step?” or “Where should I click to…?” This provides the ability to manage the process and reduces the risk of things going wrong but decreases the impact of a volunteer stepping up to the mouse.
The moral: It is good when you prove your capabilities; it is great when your prospect does it!
Copyright © 2005-2024 The Second Derivative – All Rights Reserved.
To learn the methods introduced above, consider enrolling in a Great Demo! Doing Discovery or Demonstration Skills Workshop. For more demo and discovery tips, best practices, tools and techniques, explore our books, blog and articles on the Resources pages of our website at https://GreatDemo.com and join the Great Demo! & Doing Discovery LinkedIn Group to learn from others and share your experiences.
Buying processes, as typically defined by most vendors, run from initial contact to the close. Perhaps we should rethink this and consider a richer customer-oriented approach.
A more enlightened vendor might define a “Buying and Rebuying Process” that spans initial contact through initial close, to achievement of Value Realization Events, to renewal, to expansion (and beyond!). This model seeks to maximize Customer Lifetime Value and vendor revenues while minimizing cost of sales.
Achieving this may require rethinking customer-facing roles, training, compensation, and mindset.
Thoughts?
Vendors often get questions during demos and discovery calls from prospects and customers who want to know, “Can your software do ___?” The best answer is, “Yes it can.” (When it actually can, of course!)
But what if that capability is not currently available?
Here is a framework of five answers that can help you “bin” your responses:
1. It’s available today: It’s in the current release.
2. It’s coming soon: It’s scheduled for the next release.
3. It’s planned: It’s on the product roadmap. Let us know the level of importance and urgency from your perspective.
4. It’s possible: It’s achievable within the product architecture and can be implemented via consulting/professional services.
5. Nope: It’s not achievable in the architecture and we don’t expect to have that capability in the foreseeable future.
This framework has proven to be a very successful approach, offering consistency in communications with prospects and customers. In addition, of course, you should explore your prospects’ and customers’ motives and rationale: “Why is this important? What’s does this capability enable or impact? How important is this to you? What specific value would this provide?” and related exploration.
Let me know how it works for you!
PS: Why do people look upwards when thinking about answers to questions?
Ah - the Power of the Pause! Even if you already HAVE an answer to a question, sometimes pausing thoughtfully for a moment gives your response more gravitas and apparent depth!
The Power of Analogies and Metaphors in Demos and Discovery
A Never Stop Learning! Article
“The world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome, dubious eggs, called possibilities.”
– Mary Ann Evans (pen name George Eliot)
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. It’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
– Mark Twain
“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”
– Albert Einstein
What’s in This Article for You?
- A couple of demo and discovery analogies.
- Why use analogies and metaphors? Retention!
- Why use analogies and metaphors? Understanding!
- Manufacturing metaphors and accumulating analogies.
- Beware the morass of mixed metaphors.
- Stories: the best!
Analogies, metaphors, and similes: Which is which? I was once told an analogous story about a metaphor, or perhaps it was a metaphorical tale of an analogy? Or a simile-like metaphor? In any case, as Steven Wright once quipped, “It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it…!”
Demos Can Be Like…
A stunningly awful demo is like being stuck for an hour listening to music that you loathe: You can’t wait to leave the venue!
On the other hand, a great demo is like enjoying a delicious meal: Just the right flavors, textures, colors, scents, timing, and just the right amount of food!
Discovery Can Be Like…
For many prospects, discovery calls often feel like an inquisition, answering question after remorseless question about speeds, feeds, and needs tonelessly recited by vendors from a never-ending list!
In contrast, well-executed discovery conversations are an engaging, mutual learning experience, like a first meeting with someone who becomes a lifelong friend. These are dialogues where both parties are mentally stimulated, curious, and are often sad to see the discussion end!
Well-crafted analogies and metaphors help our audiences understand and remember the key ideas we present in our demos and discovery conversations. How does this happen?
You can find the balance of this article here – enjoy!
https://greatdemo.com/analogies-and-metaphors-in-demos-and-discovery/
Yes, really simple! Take a look at your Talk:Listen ratio:
45:55 – If you are here or better (less talking), congratulations! You are at the level found by Gong (and others) as the sweet spot for high performers.
55:45 – You could improve: Dig deeper! Explore impact, tangible value, related pains, culture, and vision reengineering.
65:35 (or worse) – You could definitely improve: This isn’t a discovery call anymore! If you are including a corporate overview or product preso in the call, stop it!
Take a quick look at your discovery call Talk:Listen ratios and see where you stand. And if you’d like to get better, read or listen to Doing Discovery or enroll in a Doing Discovery Workshop!
