[Warning: Shameless self-promotion alert!]
In conjunction with the 280 Group, we are offering two 1-Day Great Demo! Open (public) Workshops this fall in the San Francisco Bay Area. The first is scheduled on October 1st; the second on November 19th.
You can find more information including an overview, agenda, location and pricing at the 280 Group website.
This is a terrific opportunity to send individuals or small groups.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Stunningly Awful Demos Team Practices – Where 1 + 1 = 0
Here’s a collection of torturous team tactics, awful errors and faulty communications you can follow to increase the likelihood that your team’s demos will fail. We recommend that you avoid doing these things!
If your team’s demos are not as successful as you might wish, consider using this list as an assessment tool. If these items are occurring in your day-to-day demos then you may want to contemplate making some changes…
Some quick definitions:
Salesperson = Salesperson, Account Manager, Sales Rep, etc.
SC = Sales Consultant, Sales Engineer, Presales Person, etc.
Part 1 – Salesperson Strategies for Failure
No pre-call, no set-up, no info, no intro – (no order, no wonder)!
“And now, here’s Bob, my SC technical guy, who will tell you all about our product…”
Scenario: Set up a demo meeting with a prospect and be sure not to provide any qualification or discovery information on the prospect’s needs or situation to your SC. This will ensure that he presents a “Harbor Tour1” demo, showing all possible features, functions, applications and tasks that can fit in the allowed time.
This also ensures that the prospect will be bored and annoyed, with the high-ranking people leaving early in the demo…
Rescue: Pick up your phone and call your SC well before the scheduled date. Review what you know about the prospect – and what you don’t know. Agree on what capabilities will be presented and what shouldn’t be shown. Contemplate scheduling a conference call with your SC and the prospect together to discuss the prospect’s specific situation and interests.
[1Harbor Tour Demo – aka: Show-up-and-throw-up, Spray-and-pray, Deluge-and-drown, Educate-edify-and-exhaust, Death-by-demo, Oh-my-God-when-will-this-be-over? etc.]
Now I can get some other work done…
“I’ll be in the back with my Blackberry…”
Scenario: Kick things off and then retire to the rear of the room, where you tap away at your Blackberry. After all, you’ve seen the demo dozens of times! No need to be an active participant… Even better, go out into the hall way and make a few calls – might as well make good use of the time…
Your prospect will certainly appreciate the low level of importance you give to their meeting. Your absence will let them know what to expect for the balance of the sales process and (if they were to purchase) implementation steps.
Rescue: Be an active participant in the meeting. Be prepared to rescue your SC in the case of serious bugs or crashes; be ready to help “park” questions that will take him off-track. Watch audience body language and listen for comments. Step in to summarize, when necessary or appropriate.
A demo should be perceived, by the prospect, as a two-way conversation between the vendor and the prospect, rather than a one-way “fire-hose” delivery. The salesperson needs to serve as a facilitator and as an active listener.
Death by Corporate Overview
“Let me tell you about our company…”
Scenario: Start the meeting with a twenty minute corporate overview presentation. Regale your audience with your company’s formation and history (yawn), your revenues over time (yawn), office locations, markets, products, your mission statement (ick) and that smorgasbord of customer logos (yawn, yawn, yawn, snooze…). Add a few analysts’ statements and quotes to achieve a total disconnect.
This strategy will ensure that (1) the most important people leave before they even see the product and (2) everyone is already bored before your SC starts the demo.
Rescue: Reduce your corporate overview to a single slide – or, even better, to three simple verbal statements:
1. How long you’ve been in business
2. How many customers you’ve served and where they are located
3. Your general marketplace, as is relevant to the current prospect
Example: “Hi, we’re ACME Software. We’ve been in business since 1985 helping over 3000 customers in the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific address their sales and marketing effectiveness and productivity challenges. But enough about us, let’s talk about your situation…”
Surprise…!
“Hey Bob, show them the new Biframulator feature…”
Scenario: In the midst of the demo, tell your SC to show capabilities that you did not discuss previously. For the greatest effect, ask him to show the newest features or those not yet formally released – to maximize the probability that they won’t work properly. Nothing generates confidence in the prospect like running into bugs or crashes!
For more confusion, instruct your SC to show these capabilities in the midst of his flow to take him off path.
Rescue: Discuss and reach agreement on what you’d like to show the prospect (and what not to show) before the demo. (“Before” doesn’t mean in the lobby at the prospect’s site or in the car on the way there…!)
Alternative: verbally introduce the capability you’d like your SC to show – via a biased question – and “park” it yourself on a whiteboard, initially. This will let your SC know that you feel it is important to show the capability, yet lets him work it into his flow as appropriate (or to defer it until a later time, if necessary). Very elegant!
Crash…!
“Wow – Bob sure can sweat…!”
Scenario: Your SC’s computer just crashed. Add to his torment by focusing attention on him rebooting – make sure everyone is watching while he struggles to restart his machine and the applications needed for the demo. Be sure to blame the crash on someone else’s software. Tell a bad joke. Talk about sports. Tap dance…
Rescue: Be matter-of-fact and say, “Looks like Bob’s machine just suffered a crash.” Disconnect the LCD projector cable from his laptop – or turn off the projector. Draw the audience’s attention away from the scene of the disaster by addressing “parked” questions or similar topics. When your SC indicates he is ready, professionally pass control of the meeting back to him.
Alternative: if rebooting will take 10-15 minutes, call a break.
Part 2 –Presales Pathways to Pain
Show as much as possible…
“Wait – don’t go – we haven’t gotten to the really cool stuff yet…!”
Scenario: Demonstrate all the wonderful things your offering can do. Pack as much demo into your 1-hour slot as you possibly can. Delay showing your best material until the end so that people are glassy-eyed when you finally do get to it – and so that the high-ranking people have already left the meeting.
Since you have a range of job titles in the audience, spin a long, complicated story that attempts to integrate all of their needs and interests into one convoluted, tortured pathway. Make sure to add loops, flashbacks, flash forwards, and detailed digressions. Mix fictional names with real names and pronouns compound the confusion. This will ensure that their memory of your demo will consist of “Hi, my name is Bob…” and “In conclusion…”
Rescue: Do the Last Thing First. Start with the payoff screens that are most compelling. Show how to get to those in the fewest number of steps. Peel back the layers in accord with your audience’s depth and level of interest.
For groups with multiple job titles and interests, organize your demo into consumable components – chunks – that can be introduced, explored as deeply as desired (by the prospect audience members) and then exited via a verbal summary.
For extra credit: if you are done before the end of the allotted time, stop! Give that time back to your audience (they’ll love you for it…!).
Answer all questions immediately and in depth…
“You asked what time is it? First, let me tell you how this watch was made…”
Scenario: Someone asks about database support – you begin to discuss which databases, which versions, how much file space is needed, how they will grow over time, the impact of patches, etc. Meanwhile, the audience has checked-out – even the person who asked, “Do you support SQL Server?” (A simple “Yes” would have been sufficient…)
Rescue: Parse questions: Is it a Great Question, which you should answer crisply and right away? Or is it a Good Question, which you should capture on a “Parking Lot” and queue up to be addressed later.
You are not obligated to know all of the answers to all of the questions in the universe, even though you are the technical person on the team…!
Alternative: your salesperson can also step in to rescue you, by gently suggesting that you “park” the question if she senses that you are going too deep into the answer.
Hit a bug? Try it again…
“Insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result…”
Scenario: You say, “Let me show you this really cool new capability they put into the last release and *wham*! That was weird, I’ve never seen it crash there before. Hmmm… Let me try that again…” and *wham*! again.
You’ve now proven that (1) your software really doesn’t work and (2) you, the technical player, don’t even know it. For added pain, your salesperson counterpart starts to tell you to “try clicking on xxx…”
Rescue: Announce, calmly, that you hit a bug. Don’t try it again, simply explain what the audience should have seen. Either you or your salesperson can do this. Use other visuals (screenshots captured in PowerPoint, for example) to illustrate, if available. Then, jump over the bug and go on, if possible, into another portion of your demo.
Later on, if the capability is important for the audience to see, you can test and find a path to show it. Setting this up in a break is a good strategy…
Part 3 – Team Tactics for Torture
Dry Run? We don’t have time to practice…
“Why’d you show them that?”
Scenario: An important portion of the quarter’s quota depends on the outcome of the upcoming demo. Bias towards failure by:
- Don’t do a dry run or practice session with the sales team.
- Don’t discuss or provide updates or changes to the prospect’s situation or needs.
- Don’t review the infrastructure plan.
- Don’t capture key screenshots or reports into PowerPoint as backups.
- Definitely don’t dry run the demo with your customer champion – to make sure that you’ve really addressed all of the key capabilities his team needs to see…
This tactic helps to ensure that surprises (really bad ones) will be certain to take place during the demo, leaving you embarrassed, your quota at risk – and your champion’s credibility damaged for supporting you.
Rescue: Many people say that they don’t have time to practice. Other people say that because they practice, they find they have more time!
Dry runs help reduce surprises, uncover bugs, and establish the best demo pathways for specific capabilities. Practice sessions also enable you choreograph your meeting – who should introduce, who should review the customer’s situation, when to hand-off to one another, what topics to plan to “park” for later, opportunities for biased questions, etc.
Remote Demos – Make sure nobody from your team is at the customer site…
“They didn’t say a thing the whole time – just the sound of crickets in an empty room!”
Scenario: Both of you stay in your office for a Remote Demo to a prospect. For an even worse effect, go into a conference room and use (yell into) a speaker-phone.
For added pain, don’t use the annotation tools in the collaboration software, point at your own screen repeatedly with your finger, and never pause when speaking into the speaker-phone so that your audience has no chance to break in with a question or comment.
Rescue: Split your forces and have one of you travel to the customer’s site (Salesperson, most typically). That way your audience’s attention is compelled (by you being present).
The role of the person at the customer’s site is to be an active conduit of information and status back to the person operating remotely: new people arriving, questions on people’s faces (but not yet verbalized), the lag time being seen on the audience computer, etc.
Part 4 – A True Story
Using Email (or IM) to communicate during a demo…
“Ignore that guy – he’s an idiot!”
Scenario – True Story: A vendor was presenting a demo to us, with the SC in the front of the room working from his laptop via our LCD projector and screen. His salesperson counterpart was in the back of the room, seated near the door.
One person on our team asked a question (granted, it wasn’t the most insightful question, but it was well-meaning and earnest). I noted the salesperson typing briefly on his Blackberry and then – suddenly, on the bottom-right corner of the projector screen we saw the email message that read, “Pay no attention to that guy – he’s an idiot.”
Rescue: There was no rescue! The vendor (1) didn’t get the business and (2) was never invited back. (“Parking” the question would have been a good strategy, instead…!)
Following the Scenarios described above will certainly increase the probability that your team’s demos will not help you achieve your goals. The Rescues, on the other hand, may help you secure the business you want – and make your quarterly and annual numbers!
Copyright © 2009 The Second Derivative – All Rights Reserved.
If your team’s demos are not as successful as you might wish, consider using this list as an assessment tool. If these items are occurring in your day-to-day demos then you may want to contemplate making some changes…
Some quick definitions:
Salesperson = Salesperson, Account Manager, Sales Rep, etc.
SC = Sales Consultant, Sales Engineer, Presales Person, etc.
Part 1 – Salesperson Strategies for Failure
No pre-call, no set-up, no info, no intro – (no order, no wonder)!
“And now, here’s Bob, my SC technical guy, who will tell you all about our product…”
Scenario: Set up a demo meeting with a prospect and be sure not to provide any qualification or discovery information on the prospect’s needs or situation to your SC. This will ensure that he presents a “Harbor Tour1” demo, showing all possible features, functions, applications and tasks that can fit in the allowed time.
This also ensures that the prospect will be bored and annoyed, with the high-ranking people leaving early in the demo…
Rescue: Pick up your phone and call your SC well before the scheduled date. Review what you know about the prospect – and what you don’t know. Agree on what capabilities will be presented and what shouldn’t be shown. Contemplate scheduling a conference call with your SC and the prospect together to discuss the prospect’s specific situation and interests.
[1Harbor Tour Demo – aka: Show-up-and-throw-up, Spray-and-pray, Deluge-and-drown, Educate-edify-and-exhaust, Death-by-demo, Oh-my-God-when-will-this-be-over? etc.]
Now I can get some other work done…
“I’ll be in the back with my Blackberry…”
Scenario: Kick things off and then retire to the rear of the room, where you tap away at your Blackberry. After all, you’ve seen the demo dozens of times! No need to be an active participant… Even better, go out into the hall way and make a few calls – might as well make good use of the time…
Your prospect will certainly appreciate the low level of importance you give to their meeting. Your absence will let them know what to expect for the balance of the sales process and (if they were to purchase) implementation steps.
Rescue: Be an active participant in the meeting. Be prepared to rescue your SC in the case of serious bugs or crashes; be ready to help “park” questions that will take him off-track. Watch audience body language and listen for comments. Step in to summarize, when necessary or appropriate.
A demo should be perceived, by the prospect, as a two-way conversation between the vendor and the prospect, rather than a one-way “fire-hose” delivery. The salesperson needs to serve as a facilitator and as an active listener.
Death by Corporate Overview
“Let me tell you about our company…”
Scenario: Start the meeting with a twenty minute corporate overview presentation. Regale your audience with your company’s formation and history (yawn), your revenues over time (yawn), office locations, markets, products, your mission statement (ick) and that smorgasbord of customer logos (yawn, yawn, yawn, snooze…). Add a few analysts’ statements and quotes to achieve a total disconnect.
This strategy will ensure that (1) the most important people leave before they even see the product and (2) everyone is already bored before your SC starts the demo.
Rescue: Reduce your corporate overview to a single slide – or, even better, to three simple verbal statements:
1. How long you’ve been in business
2. How many customers you’ve served and where they are located
3. Your general marketplace, as is relevant to the current prospect
Example: “Hi, we’re ACME Software. We’ve been in business since 1985 helping over 3000 customers in the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific address their sales and marketing effectiveness and productivity challenges. But enough about us, let’s talk about your situation…”
Surprise…!
“Hey Bob, show them the new Biframulator feature…”
Scenario: In the midst of the demo, tell your SC to show capabilities that you did not discuss previously. For the greatest effect, ask him to show the newest features or those not yet formally released – to maximize the probability that they won’t work properly. Nothing generates confidence in the prospect like running into bugs or crashes!
For more confusion, instruct your SC to show these capabilities in the midst of his flow to take him off path.
Rescue: Discuss and reach agreement on what you’d like to show the prospect (and what not to show) before the demo. (“Before” doesn’t mean in the lobby at the prospect’s site or in the car on the way there…!)
Alternative: verbally introduce the capability you’d like your SC to show – via a biased question – and “park” it yourself on a whiteboard, initially. This will let your SC know that you feel it is important to show the capability, yet lets him work it into his flow as appropriate (or to defer it until a later time, if necessary). Very elegant!
Crash…!
“Wow – Bob sure can sweat…!”
Scenario: Your SC’s computer just crashed. Add to his torment by focusing attention on him rebooting – make sure everyone is watching while he struggles to restart his machine and the applications needed for the demo. Be sure to blame the crash on someone else’s software. Tell a bad joke. Talk about sports. Tap dance…
Rescue: Be matter-of-fact and say, “Looks like Bob’s machine just suffered a crash.” Disconnect the LCD projector cable from his laptop – or turn off the projector. Draw the audience’s attention away from the scene of the disaster by addressing “parked” questions or similar topics. When your SC indicates he is ready, professionally pass control of the meeting back to him.
Alternative: if rebooting will take 10-15 minutes, call a break.
Part 2 –Presales Pathways to Pain
Show as much as possible…
“Wait – don’t go – we haven’t gotten to the really cool stuff yet…!”
Scenario: Demonstrate all the wonderful things your offering can do. Pack as much demo into your 1-hour slot as you possibly can. Delay showing your best material until the end so that people are glassy-eyed when you finally do get to it – and so that the high-ranking people have already left the meeting.
Since you have a range of job titles in the audience, spin a long, complicated story that attempts to integrate all of their needs and interests into one convoluted, tortured pathway. Make sure to add loops, flashbacks, flash forwards, and detailed digressions. Mix fictional names with real names and pronouns compound the confusion. This will ensure that their memory of your demo will consist of “Hi, my name is Bob…” and “In conclusion…”
Rescue: Do the Last Thing First. Start with the payoff screens that are most compelling. Show how to get to those in the fewest number of steps. Peel back the layers in accord with your audience’s depth and level of interest.
For groups with multiple job titles and interests, organize your demo into consumable components – chunks – that can be introduced, explored as deeply as desired (by the prospect audience members) and then exited via a verbal summary.
For extra credit: if you are done before the end of the allotted time, stop! Give that time back to your audience (they’ll love you for it…!).
Answer all questions immediately and in depth…
“You asked what time is it? First, let me tell you how this watch was made…”
Scenario: Someone asks about database support – you begin to discuss which databases, which versions, how much file space is needed, how they will grow over time, the impact of patches, etc. Meanwhile, the audience has checked-out – even the person who asked, “Do you support SQL Server?” (A simple “Yes” would have been sufficient…)
Rescue: Parse questions: Is it a Great Question, which you should answer crisply and right away? Or is it a Good Question, which you should capture on a “Parking Lot” and queue up to be addressed later.
You are not obligated to know all of the answers to all of the questions in the universe, even though you are the technical person on the team…!
Alternative: your salesperson can also step in to rescue you, by gently suggesting that you “park” the question if she senses that you are going too deep into the answer.
Hit a bug? Try it again…
“Insanity is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result…”
Scenario: You say, “Let me show you this really cool new capability they put into the last release and *wham*! That was weird, I’ve never seen it crash there before. Hmmm… Let me try that again…” and *wham*! again.
You’ve now proven that (1) your software really doesn’t work and (2) you, the technical player, don’t even know it. For added pain, your salesperson counterpart starts to tell you to “try clicking on xxx…”
Rescue: Announce, calmly, that you hit a bug. Don’t try it again, simply explain what the audience should have seen. Either you or your salesperson can do this. Use other visuals (screenshots captured in PowerPoint, for example) to illustrate, if available. Then, jump over the bug and go on, if possible, into another portion of your demo.
Later on, if the capability is important for the audience to see, you can test and find a path to show it. Setting this up in a break is a good strategy…
Part 3 – Team Tactics for Torture
Dry Run? We don’t have time to practice…
“Why’d you show them that?”
Scenario: An important portion of the quarter’s quota depends on the outcome of the upcoming demo. Bias towards failure by:
- Don’t do a dry run or practice session with the sales team.
- Don’t discuss or provide updates or changes to the prospect’s situation or needs.
- Don’t review the infrastructure plan.
- Don’t capture key screenshots or reports into PowerPoint as backups.
- Definitely don’t dry run the demo with your customer champion – to make sure that you’ve really addressed all of the key capabilities his team needs to see…
This tactic helps to ensure that surprises (really bad ones) will be certain to take place during the demo, leaving you embarrassed, your quota at risk – and your champion’s credibility damaged for supporting you.
Rescue: Many people say that they don’t have time to practice. Other people say that because they practice, they find they have more time!
Dry runs help reduce surprises, uncover bugs, and establish the best demo pathways for specific capabilities. Practice sessions also enable you choreograph your meeting – who should introduce, who should review the customer’s situation, when to hand-off to one another, what topics to plan to “park” for later, opportunities for biased questions, etc.
Remote Demos – Make sure nobody from your team is at the customer site…
“They didn’t say a thing the whole time – just the sound of crickets in an empty room!”
Scenario: Both of you stay in your office for a Remote Demo to a prospect. For an even worse effect, go into a conference room and use (yell into) a speaker-phone.
For added pain, don’t use the annotation tools in the collaboration software, point at your own screen repeatedly with your finger, and never pause when speaking into the speaker-phone so that your audience has no chance to break in with a question or comment.
Rescue: Split your forces and have one of you travel to the customer’s site (Salesperson, most typically). That way your audience’s attention is compelled (by you being present).
The role of the person at the customer’s site is to be an active conduit of information and status back to the person operating remotely: new people arriving, questions on people’s faces (but not yet verbalized), the lag time being seen on the audience computer, etc.
Part 4 – A True Story
Using Email (or IM) to communicate during a demo…
“Ignore that guy – he’s an idiot!”
Scenario – True Story: A vendor was presenting a demo to us, with the SC in the front of the room working from his laptop via our LCD projector and screen. His salesperson counterpart was in the back of the room, seated near the door.
One person on our team asked a question (granted, it wasn’t the most insightful question, but it was well-meaning and earnest). I noted the salesperson typing briefly on his Blackberry and then – suddenly, on the bottom-right corner of the projector screen we saw the email message that read, “Pay no attention to that guy – he’s an idiot.”
Rescue: There was no rescue! The vendor (1) didn’t get the business and (2) was never invited back. (“Parking” the question would have been a good strategy, instead…!)
Following the Scenarios described above will certainly increase the probability that your team’s demos will not help you achieve your goals. The Rescues, on the other hand, may help you secure the business you want – and make your quarterly and annual numbers!
Copyright © 2009 The Second Derivative – All Rights Reserved.
Friday, July 3, 2009
GoView – Citrix Screening Recording Tool
First of all, this tool is currently being offered free from Citrix. Simply navigate to http://goview.com/goldwyn/spring/play?method=indexPage, register, and you can begin using it.
Next, the recording is captured on Citrix’ servers, from which the recording can be edited, titles added, etc.
The recording is accessed via a URL, so distribution can be done by sharing the URL, adding it to emails, and so forth.
Support is currently limited to Mozilla Firefox 2.0/3.0 and Internet Explorer 6.0/7.0, so folks who have upgraded to IE 8 use at their own risk… It also uses a slightly older version of Java.
It is my understanding that the tool is currently in Beta testing, providing an opportunity to try it out and send feedback to Citrix.
Next, the recording is captured on Citrix’ servers, from which the recording can be edited, titles added, etc.
The recording is accessed via a URL, so distribution can be done by sharing the URL, adding it to emails, and so forth.
Support is currently limited to Mozilla Firefox 2.0/3.0 and Internet Explorer 6.0/7.0, so folks who have upgraded to IE 8 use at their own risk… It also uses a slightly older version of Java.
It is my understanding that the tool is currently in Beta testing, providing an opportunity to try it out and send feedback to Citrix.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Value of Value = 2.5x
In 2008 Gartner surveyed over 600 IT buyers, asking them to identify both the strengths and the weaknesses of marketing and sales efforts across all types of technology providers.
“More than half the respondents said the biggest weakness or shortcoming in IT sales and marketing efforts is the lack of a quantified value proposition. The survey data also showed that, on average, buyers are 2.5 times more likely to buy products if a vendor is able to effectively quantify its value proposition.”
[I’ve added the underlines]
This is a rather compelling reason to uncover the Delta, the value associated with the prospect making the change from their current situation to the solution you are offering. As Gartner points out, this Delta must be expressed in tangible terms of time, people or money – specific numbers.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Gwabbit – Capturing Email Contact Information Automatically
Ever found yourself cutting and pasting email signature information, line-by-line-by-line-by-line, into an Outlook contact record? Technicopia has produced a nifty little utility that makes this a one-click process.
Gwabbit (www.Gwabbit.com) is an Outlook Add-in that provides this capability. $19.95 purchase price; free trial available as well. Nice tool!
Gwabbit (www.Gwabbit.com) is an Outlook Add-in that provides this capability. $19.95 purchase price; free trial available as well. Nice tool!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Webinar Links: Make Your Numbers over the Web: Compelling Presentations and Demos for Inside Sales
[Warning: Shameless semi-self promotion!]
Here are links to my two most recent webinars, both entitled "Make Your Numbers over the Web: Compelling Presentations and Demos for Inside Sales". The first was targeted for U.S. audiences; the second for UK and European folks. Enjoy!
http://learn.gotomeeting.com/forms/060309-NA-G2MC-WBRARC?ID=701000000005DBC
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/519679179
In each webinar, a Citrix inside sales manager shared experiences to set the stage; I then presented ideas on how to engage a prospect, gather key pieces of information conversationally, and provide a brief demo in accord with the prospects' interest.
While the ideas are generally applicable to a range of sales situations, the content of this webinar was focused primarily on those working with highly "transactional" sales processes (many small orders).
Here are links to my two most recent webinars, both entitled "Make Your Numbers over the Web: Compelling Presentations and Demos for Inside Sales". The first was targeted for U.S. audiences; the second for UK and European folks. Enjoy!
http://learn.gotomeeting.com/forms/060309-NA-G2MC-WBRARC?ID=701000000005DBC
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/519679179
In each webinar, a Citrix inside sales manager shared experiences to set the stage; I then presented ideas on how to engage a prospect, gather key pieces of information conversationally, and provide a brief demo in accord with the prospects' interest.
While the ideas are generally applicable to a range of sales situations, the content of this webinar was focused primarily on those working with highly "transactional" sales processes (many small orders).
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Photo Clip Art Tips 2 of 3: Sources and Rights to Use
While great photos abound around the web, a few sources are set up specifically for presentations and similar uses. There are two main issues to be aware of:
1. Copyrights
2. Costs
Generally speaking, we should not simply copy images from company websites or the “image” areas of Google and Yahoo – these images are generally marked directly or indirectly with “Copyright xxx – All rights reserved”, meaning these images are not being offered for use. Using them, in fact, puts your organization at risk of copyright infringement. [The same is true for copying comic strips or “Dilbert”...]
Here are a few sources that I’d recommend, along with comments on copyright and cost (caveat: based on my understanding – you should check on your own to be sure!):
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx
This is Microsoft’s clip art website, specifically created to support users of PowerPoint and other MS applications. A subset of these images is typically installed on computers with Office. The online listing is more “evergreen” and tends to include old and new images.
The great news about all of these images is that they are (1) able to be used freely (no copyright restrictions) and (2) can be used free of charge.
Searching is simple – in both meanings of the phrase. You may have to browse through piles of thumbnails to find images that work best for you.
http://www.istockphoto.com and www.fotolia.com
iStockphoto and fotalia each have a large range of images – some of which are really terrific – for sale. Searching is more effective than with the Microsoft website, in my opinion, and there are capabilities to rapidly expand each image to get a better view than in a thumbnail.
Pricing is based on buying “credits” which then are used to purchase images. Usage rights start at one-person-one-computer and can extend to larger, corporate-use arrangements. Images are typically prices in accord with resolution – higher resolution images require more credits. Images are also typically available in a range of sizes.
Cost for a typical image suitable for a PowerPoint presentation by projector (or the web) runs from ~$1-4. You generally have the right to use that image as many times as you like, without time or geographic restriction.
Other sources you’d recommend? Please let me know!
1. Copyrights
2. Costs
Generally speaking, we should not simply copy images from company websites or the “image” areas of Google and Yahoo – these images are generally marked directly or indirectly with “Copyright xxx – All rights reserved”, meaning these images are not being offered for use. Using them, in fact, puts your organization at risk of copyright infringement. [The same is true for copying comic strips or “Dilbert”...]
Here are a few sources that I’d recommend, along with comments on copyright and cost (caveat: based on my understanding – you should check on your own to be sure!):
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx
This is Microsoft’s clip art website, specifically created to support users of PowerPoint and other MS applications. A subset of these images is typically installed on computers with Office. The online listing is more “evergreen” and tends to include old and new images.
The great news about all of these images is that they are (1) able to be used freely (no copyright restrictions) and (2) can be used free of charge.
Searching is simple – in both meanings of the phrase. You may have to browse through piles of thumbnails to find images that work best for you.
http://www.istockphoto.com and www.fotolia.com
iStockphoto and fotalia each have a large range of images – some of which are really terrific – for sale. Searching is more effective than with the Microsoft website, in my opinion, and there are capabilities to rapidly expand each image to get a better view than in a thumbnail.
Pricing is based on buying “credits” which then are used to purchase images. Usage rights start at one-person-one-computer and can extend to larger, corporate-use arrangements. Images are typically prices in accord with resolution – higher resolution images require more credits. Images are also typically available in a range of sizes.
Cost for a typical image suitable for a PowerPoint presentation by projector (or the web) runs from ~$1-4. You generally have the right to use that image as many times as you like, without time or geographic restriction.
Other sources you’d recommend? Please let me know!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Photo Clip Art Tips – 1 of 3
Using photos in presentations can be a much stronger method of communicating ideas than using bulleted text. (After all, if “one picture is worth a thousand words” then you’d need a pile of PowerPoint bullets to achieve the equivalent…!)
For Great Demo! Illustrations, photos showing frustration, piles of paperwork, stacks of files and related photos can be terrific “before” images.
A number of presentation skills books recommend the same idea including:
- Beyond Bullet Points – Cliff Atkinson – available on Amazon.com
- Presentation Zen – Garr Reynolds – available on Amazon.com
In a live presentation or demo, an evocative photo enables and supports the verbal message you are delivering. Contrariwise, a long list of bulleted sentences on a slide forces the audience to read – and ignore the presenter’s words.
Interestingly, “real” photos have proven to be much more effective than drawn clip art. Consider reviewing your “in-use” presentations and overhaul them:
- Remove old drawn clip art and replace, as appropriate, with real photos
- Explore where you can condense text – shorten sentences to phrases
- Seek to replace slides of text with one or two strong photo images
I’ll explore a few sources for good photos and guidelines for use (size, orientation) in the next few tips.
For Great Demo! Illustrations, photos showing frustration, piles of paperwork, stacks of files and related photos can be terrific “before” images.
A number of presentation skills books recommend the same idea including:
- Beyond Bullet Points – Cliff Atkinson – available on Amazon.com
- Presentation Zen – Garr Reynolds – available on Amazon.com
In a live presentation or demo, an evocative photo enables and supports the verbal message you are delivering. Contrariwise, a long list of bulleted sentences on a slide forces the audience to read – and ignore the presenter’s words.
Interestingly, “real” photos have proven to be much more effective than drawn clip art. Consider reviewing your “in-use” presentations and overhaul them:
- Remove old drawn clip art and replace, as appropriate, with real photos
- Explore where you can condense text – shorten sentences to phrases
- Seek to replace slides of text with one or two strong photo images
I’ll explore a few sources for good photos and guidelines for use (size, orientation) in the next few tips.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Great Demo! Webinars
[Warning – shameless self-promotion alert!] Our next webinar is scheduled for June 3rd at 11:00 AM Pacific Time, on Surprisingly Compelling Demos for Inside Sales – Making Your Numbers Over the Web. Citrix will be hosting this event – you can register here for the event.
Another Citrix webinar is scheduled for June 23rd for European audiences on a related topic, at 3:00 PM London time. Please contact me for registration information at PCohan@SecondDerivative.com.
Another Citrix webinar is scheduled for June 23rd for European audiences on a related topic, at 3:00 PM London time. Please contact me for registration information at PCohan@SecondDerivative.com.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
www.salesengineer.com
Looking for new position? Looking to hire presales staff?
www.salesengineer.com appears to be a bulletin-board service to enable job-seekers and companies to connect. You need to register – I’m not sure whether a fee is involved either direction. Feedback solicited!
www.salesengineer.com appears to be a bulletin-board service to enable job-seekers and companies to connect. You need to register – I’m not sure whether a fee is involved either direction. Feedback solicited!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Why Structure Your Demos Like News Articles?
Pick up this morning’s newspaper or scan today’s web news and consider two things:
1. How you select which articles to read
2. How the articles are written
News organizations have been presenting information for several hundreds of years, in print and now via the web, and they have learned some highly effective practices that we can employ in demonstrating software.
Consider organizing your demonstrations like a news article. Here’s why:
Imagine you’ve just picked up today’s newspaper. What section do you turn to first? In many cases, people immediately select the sports section, or finance, or entertainment. Readers explore that section is as much depth as desired, then turn to the next section of interest.
Newspapers (and news websites) organize information in a hierarchy of consumable components – components that can be accessed rapidly, explored as deeply as desired, and the exited at any point to move to the next component. The top level of the news hierarchy is the section – sports, finance, international, entertainment, comics…
Next, how do you choose which article you want to read? Typically, you scan for headlines that catch your interest. For many articles, you may only read the headline and move on rapidly – you’re not interested in the topic. Other articles engage your attention sufficiently to review the first few paragraphs, after which you stop and move on. Some articles you read all the way through, because they address a topic of real interest to you.
Each individual article is cleverly organized to enable readers to make rapid decisions about their depth of interest. The headline presents the topic – providing a binary opportunity for readers to pursue it or move on. The first one or two paragraphs of the article summarize the story, concisely. Many readers are completely satisfied with this level of information and read no further, returning to scan other headlines.
The subsequent paragraphs drill deeper and explore the story in more detail. Readers who are truly interested in the topic are the typical consumers of this level of information.
This organization and presentation of information is sometimes referred to as the “inverted pyramid” style of writing. It presents the most important information right at the beginning, in the first few paragraphs. Material in subsequent paragraphs is more and more detailed and of less importance.
In the bad old days of paper and ink, newspaper editors were able to cut articles to fit the space available – by cutting from the bottom of the article upwards. That way they knew they’d be removing the least important information.
News organizations have evolved this “inverted pyramid” method of presenting information over literally hundreds of years. Why not take advantage of this learning?
Consider organizing your demonstrations like a news article. Present a “headline” succinctly and rapidly. In Great Demo! methodology we call this an Illustration.
Assuming your audience is interested, present the key capabilities using a minimum of mouse clicks – like reading the first one or two paragraphs in a news article. The audience just wants a summary at this point – not all of the details! This corresponds to the Great Demo! “Do It” pathway.
Finally, for audiences that are really interested, you can dig deeper and explore the breadth and depth of the relevant capabilities – similar to those who wish to read more of the article. In Great Demo! we call this “Do It Again” or “Peel Back the Layers”.
Interestingly, also note that there are very few readers of the news who read everything in a newspaper or news website – similarly, you are not obligated to present everything that your software can do...!
News organizations present information in a hierarchy of consumable components – why not apply the same ideas to your demos?
1. How you select which articles to read
2. How the articles are written
News organizations have been presenting information for several hundreds of years, in print and now via the web, and they have learned some highly effective practices that we can employ in demonstrating software.
Consider organizing your demonstrations like a news article. Here’s why:
Imagine you’ve just picked up today’s newspaper. What section do you turn to first? In many cases, people immediately select the sports section, or finance, or entertainment. Readers explore that section is as much depth as desired, then turn to the next section of interest.
Newspapers (and news websites) organize information in a hierarchy of consumable components – components that can be accessed rapidly, explored as deeply as desired, and the exited at any point to move to the next component. The top level of the news hierarchy is the section – sports, finance, international, entertainment, comics…
Next, how do you choose which article you want to read? Typically, you scan for headlines that catch your interest. For many articles, you may only read the headline and move on rapidly – you’re not interested in the topic. Other articles engage your attention sufficiently to review the first few paragraphs, after which you stop and move on. Some articles you read all the way through, because they address a topic of real interest to you.
Each individual article is cleverly organized to enable readers to make rapid decisions about their depth of interest. The headline presents the topic – providing a binary opportunity for readers to pursue it or move on. The first one or two paragraphs of the article summarize the story, concisely. Many readers are completely satisfied with this level of information and read no further, returning to scan other headlines.
The subsequent paragraphs drill deeper and explore the story in more detail. Readers who are truly interested in the topic are the typical consumers of this level of information.
This organization and presentation of information is sometimes referred to as the “inverted pyramid” style of writing. It presents the most important information right at the beginning, in the first few paragraphs. Material in subsequent paragraphs is more and more detailed and of less importance.
In the bad old days of paper and ink, newspaper editors were able to cut articles to fit the space available – by cutting from the bottom of the article upwards. That way they knew they’d be removing the least important information.
News organizations have evolved this “inverted pyramid” method of presenting information over literally hundreds of years. Why not take advantage of this learning?
Consider organizing your demonstrations like a news article. Present a “headline” succinctly and rapidly. In Great Demo! methodology we call this an Illustration.
Assuming your audience is interested, present the key capabilities using a minimum of mouse clicks – like reading the first one or two paragraphs in a news article. The audience just wants a summary at this point – not all of the details! This corresponds to the Great Demo! “Do It” pathway.
Finally, for audiences that are really interested, you can dig deeper and explore the breadth and depth of the relevant capabilities – similar to those who wish to read more of the article. In Great Demo! we call this “Do It Again” or “Peel Back the Layers”.
Interestingly, also note that there are very few readers of the news who read everything in a newspaper or news website – similarly, you are not obligated to present everything that your software can do...!
News organizations present information in a hierarchy of consumable components – why not apply the same ideas to your demos?
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Demo Builder – Tool for Preparing Recorded Demos
A Great Demo! Workshop participant noted another tool for creating recorded demos: Demo Builder, from Tanida Inc. Here is their contact information and more about the tool itself:
Sales@demo-builder.com
http://www.demo-builder.com/
+1 (914) 410-6429
2313 Lakeshore Blvd. W #914
Toronto
M8V 1A8, Canada
From their website:
“Demo Builder is the experts authoring tool of choice for creating professional and fully interactive application simulations, presentations and tutorials. The best part is that Demo Builder is so easy to use! Unlike some other tools, with Demo Builder there is no complex interface and no previous programming knowledge is required. You'll be up and running and creating superior presentations in no time. Your audience will love it and you'll get the results you deserve.
Demo Builder version 7 further extends and expands on the features available in previous versions to enable you to create audio-visual Flash movies that show how software, systems and processes work. It offers the ability to capture all actions taken in a running application, which can then be edited and annotated to produce interactive demonstrations and simulations.”
A free trial version is available for download.
Pricing is currently as follows:
Professional Version: $249 for 1 user; $559 for 3 users; $869 for 5 users.
Standard Version: $199 for 1 user; $449 for 3 users; $699 for 5 users.
Feedback solicited…!
Sales@demo-builder.com
http://www.demo-builder.com/
+1 (914) 410-6429
2313 Lakeshore Blvd. W #914
Toronto
M8V 1A8, Canada
From their website:
“Demo Builder is the experts authoring tool of choice for creating professional and fully interactive application simulations, presentations and tutorials. The best part is that Demo Builder is so easy to use! Unlike some other tools, with Demo Builder there is no complex interface and no previous programming knowledge is required. You'll be up and running and creating superior presentations in no time. Your audience will love it and you'll get the results you deserve.
Demo Builder version 7 further extends and expands on the features available in previous versions to enable you to create audio-visual Flash movies that show how software, systems and processes work. It offers the ability to capture all actions taken in a running application, which can then be edited and annotated to produce interactive demonstrations and simulations.”
A free trial version is available for download.
Pricing is currently as follows:
Professional Version: $249 for 1 user; $559 for 3 users; $869 for 5 users.
Standard Version: $199 for 1 user; $449 for 3 users; $699 for 5 users.
Feedback solicited…!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Dyyno - Video and Application Sharing Tool
I note the launch of a new web collaboration and sharing tool called Dyyno Personal Channel (http://www.dyyno.com/) and related tools.
It looks like Dyyno is working to address one of the weaknesses of the “WebEx” flock of offerings: the inability by the current vendors’ tools to rapidly render graphics-intensive applications.
They do not yet support Macintosh, which may be important if your audience is not entirely PC-based. In any case, they are offering a 1-month free trial period, so you can explore for yourself…
Feedback welcomed…!
It looks like Dyyno is working to address one of the weaknesses of the “WebEx” flock of offerings: the inability by the current vendors’ tools to rapidly render graphics-intensive applications.
They do not yet support Macintosh, which may be important if your audience is not entirely PC-based. In any case, they are offering a 1-month free trial period, so you can explore for yourself…
Feedback welcomed…!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Nice “Adaptive” Touch…
In a recent Great Demo! Workshop, held in a company’s training room, I noted a box full of various power-plug adapters for the use of the participants who may have arrived from out of the country. This was welcomed and several of the adapters were used during the Workshop. Nice touch!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Loss of Trust and Credibility
In a recent Great Demo! Workshop, an audience member suggested adding an item to the list of “What bad things happen when the demo goes poorly”: Loss of trust and credibility between sales and presales.
Very good point – this can be extremely damaging on a personal level in addition to a team or organizational level.
Very good point – this can be extremely damaging on a personal level in addition to a team or organizational level.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
What Do Cookbooks Have to Do with Demos?
You are paging through a new cookbook, trying to get ideas for an upcoming important meal. Which recipes do you tend to explore – those that are simply text descriptions or those that also include a photo of the finished dish?
Cookbook publishers know that most readers prefer cookbooks with photos of the finished product. The pictures help readers gain a rapid understanding of what the completed recipe should look like – if it looks appetizing, it has a higher likelihood of being pursued.
The Great Demo! concept of Illustrations works the same way: the prospect is presented with an image of what the final deliverable looks like, right at the beginning of the demo. If the end deliverable looks interesting, the prospect will be more likely to pursue exploring the offering further.
This suggests that we should work to make our Illustrations and end deliverables appear to be as appetizing as possible!
Cookbook publishers know that most readers prefer cookbooks with photos of the finished product. The pictures help readers gain a rapid understanding of what the completed recipe should look like – if it looks appetizing, it has a higher likelihood of being pursued.
The Great Demo! concept of Illustrations works the same way: the prospect is presented with an image of what the final deliverable looks like, right at the beginning of the demo. If the end deliverable looks interesting, the prospect will be more likely to pursue exploring the offering further.
This suggests that we should work to make our Illustrations and end deliverables appear to be as appetizing as possible!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Customer’s Perspective: The Impact of the Initial Screen in a Demo
I met a CFO on a plane flight recently who commented on the importance of the first screen he sees in a software demo. He noted that the more complicated that first screen appears to be, the less likely he will be to purchase the product.
He also commented that a key point here is “appearance”:
- He said that some screens that could have been perceived as complicated were made simple and clear by equally simple and clear descriptions by the demo presenter;
- Conversely, he also said that other screens started off appearing to be easy to understand, but became complicated and confusing by the too detailed and lengthy verbal descriptions.
Albert Einstein summed this up nicely when he observed, “Everything should be a simple as possible, but not simpler…”
He also commented that a key point here is “appearance”:
- He said that some screens that could have been perceived as complicated were made simple and clear by equally simple and clear descriptions by the demo presenter;
- Conversely, he also said that other screens started off appearing to be easy to understand, but became complicated and confusing by the too detailed and lengthy verbal descriptions.
Albert Einstein summed this up nicely when he observed, “Everything should be a simple as possible, but not simpler…”
Monday, April 13, 2009
What Does a Jigsaw Puzzle Have to Do with Demos?
Imagine that someone has just dumped a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle on a table in front of you – a large pile of unintelligible puzzle pieces – but you cannot see the box cover.
(And for those who are experienced at working jigsaw puzzles, to make things even tougher imagine that the puzzle appears to have no distinct edges…)
Where do you begin? Without a clear understanding of what the puzzle is supposed to look like, it will be very tough to complete it.
Imagine being presented a demo delivered the same way – lots of individual pieces but no clear picture of the end result…
On the other hand, if you are shown a picture of the completed puzzle up-front, then you have a reasonable possibility of working the puzzle. Similarly, it you are shown the end result of a demo at the beginning, then you have an understanding of how the various pieces contribute to the end deliverable.
A jigsaw puzzle is a wonderful example of a Great Demo! before-and-after Illustration in practice. The “before” is the image of the pile of confusing puzzle pieces; the “after” is the picture of the completed puzzle.
(And for those who are experienced at working jigsaw puzzles, to make things even tougher imagine that the puzzle appears to have no distinct edges…)
Where do you begin? Without a clear understanding of what the puzzle is supposed to look like, it will be very tough to complete it.
Imagine being presented a demo delivered the same way – lots of individual pieces but no clear picture of the end result…
On the other hand, if you are shown a picture of the completed puzzle up-front, then you have a reasonable possibility of working the puzzle. Similarly, it you are shown the end result of a demo at the beginning, then you have an understanding of how the various pieces contribute to the end deliverable.
A jigsaw puzzle is a wonderful example of a Great Demo! before-and-after Illustration in practice. The “before” is the image of the pile of confusing puzzle pieces; the “after” is the picture of the completed puzzle.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Great Quote
“Sure, I can show you a day-in-the-life demo, but it will take a week…!”
- Great quote from a Great Demo! Workshop participant.
- Great quote from a Great Demo! Workshop participant.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Another Reason to Arrive 15 Minutes Early for Web Meetings…
This sadly funny video shows why you may want to consider setting the time for your web meeting to start 15 minutes before the formal meeting is scheduled to begin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5bduokoNN8.
The folks at Glance (http://www.glance.net/) offer an alternative, “instant on” web meeting tool that also helps to address the problem so wonderfully articulated in the video.
The folks at Glance (http://www.glance.net/) offer an alternative, “instant on” web meeting tool that also helps to address the problem so wonderfully articulated in the video.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Annotating over Live Meeting Shared Applications
Can you recommend any third-party annotation tools - tools that can be used to annotate over a Live Meeting session, for example, since Live Meeting does not currently provide capabilities for annotating over a shared application.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Out-of-the-office Email Messages
Out-of-the-office email (automated) reponse messages range from non-existent to full-blown advertising. As a customer, it is good to know:
- The dates when the person is unavailable
- Whether or not the person will be checking voicemail/email
- Who are alternative people that can be contacted
Here is an example of a nicely executed out-of-the-office message:
**This is an Automatically Generated Message**
Thank you for your e-mail. I will be out of the office on vacation from Monday March 16 through Friday March 20, and will be back on Monday March 23rd. I will not have access to e-mail or voicemail during this time, but will respond as soon as I return.For any immediate concerns please contact:
Customer Service:
Toll-Free phone number: 1-800-555-5555
Email: service@OurCo.com
Hours: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm PST Mon-Fri
For Technical Support:
Toll-Free phone number: 1-800-555-5553
Email: techsupport@OurCo.com
Hours: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm PST Mon-Fri
Best Regards,
Bob
*******************************************************************
Bob Sanchez
OurCo Inc.
1538 Windblown Blvd.
Centerville, CA 94555
Telephone: +1 800 555 5525
Email: BSanchez@OurCo.com
Website: www.OurCo.com
*******************************************************************
- The dates when the person is unavailable
- Whether or not the person will be checking voicemail/email
- Who are alternative people that can be contacted
Here is an example of a nicely executed out-of-the-office message:
**This is an Automatically Generated Message**
Thank you for your e-mail. I will be out of the office on vacation from Monday March 16 through Friday March 20, and will be back on Monday March 23rd. I will not have access to e-mail or voicemail during this time, but will respond as soon as I return.For any immediate concerns please contact:
Customer Service:
Toll-Free phone number: 1-800-555-5555
Email: service@OurCo.com
Hours: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm PST Mon-Fri
For Technical Support:
Toll-Free phone number: 1-800-555-5553
Email: techsupport@OurCo.com
Hours: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm PST Mon-Fri
Best Regards,
Bob
*******************************************************************
Bob Sanchez
OurCo Inc.
1538 Windblown Blvd.
Centerville, CA 94555
Telephone: +1 800 555 5525
Email: BSanchez@OurCo.com
Website: www.OurCo.com
*******************************************************************
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Buyer’s Perspective – “That was very helpful…”
A colleague who often assists customers in selecting software relates a true-life story regarding the impact of poorly-constructed and poorly-delivered demos:
At the close of a demo from one of several candidate vendors, the key player at the prospect said, “That was very helpful….” The vendor went away happy.
However, after the vendor had left the room, the key player turned to the other meeting participants and elaborated. He said, “That was very helpful – they just helped us eliminate a candidate – them!”
At the close of a demo from one of several candidate vendors, the key player at the prospect said, “That was very helpful….” The vendor went away happy.
However, after the vendor had left the room, the key player turned to the other meeting participants and elaborated. He said, “That was very helpful – they just helped us eliminate a candidate – them!”
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A Tool to Capture Discovery Information
A very nice tool is now available to capture and communicate prospect discovery/qualification information, internally within your organization.
At a high level, the tool from pebble Discovery (www.pebblediscovery.com) helps to avoid your prospect asking,
“Didn’t I just answer all of these questions from your sales person last week?” – told to the presales person…
“Didn’t I just answer all of these questions from your presales person, before we signed the contact?” – told to the implementation team…
Here’s more from pebble Discovery’s 1-pager overview:
We provide a software system to support presales discovery efforts for software vendors and VARs.
· Get more done in less time.
o Leverage resources.
o Produce the one document prospects say will speed up the buying process.
· Optimize the investment for your prospect and you.
o Provide continuity between presales and implementation.
This system helps you establish:
· Why do they need a new system now
· Who’s involved in the buying process
· What are their hot buttons
· What are the functional requirements
· Limitations of the current system
· How your system can help the prospect
· What’s needed for a winning demo.
How It Works
Pebble Discovery is a client-server system. Discovery templates are maintained, by industry, on the server. Your presales people can enter information into their laptops offline and then sync with the server database. If you have multiple people working on a prospect, everyone can sync with the database to keep up-to-date. The information is then available to the implementation team who can also work offline on their laptops reviewing and analyzing the information they need.
At a high level, the tool from pebble Discovery (www.pebblediscovery.com) helps to avoid your prospect asking,
“Didn’t I just answer all of these questions from your sales person last week?” – told to the presales person…
“Didn’t I just answer all of these questions from your presales person, before we signed the contact?” – told to the implementation team…
Here’s more from pebble Discovery’s 1-pager overview:
We provide a software system to support presales discovery efforts for software vendors and VARs.
· Get more done in less time.
o Leverage resources.
o Produce the one document prospects say will speed up the buying process.
· Optimize the investment for your prospect and you.
o Provide continuity between presales and implementation.
This system helps you establish:
· Why do they need a new system now
· Who’s involved in the buying process
· What are their hot buttons
· What are the functional requirements
· Limitations of the current system
· How your system can help the prospect
· What’s needed for a winning demo.
How It Works
Pebble Discovery is a client-server system. Discovery templates are maintained, by industry, on the server. Your presales people can enter information into their laptops offline and then sync with the server database. If you have multiple people working on a prospect, everyone can sync with the database to keep up-to-date. The information is then available to the implementation team who can also work offline on their laptops reviewing and analyzing the information they need.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
20,000 Words Per Day…
The author, Joseph Sommerville, notes:
"Effective communication skills are essential to successful business development. Yet they're often under-emphasized and sometimes completely ignored. Why? Because we communicate so much and so often (approximately 20,000 words per day) we often take it for granted. But regardless of how good your product or service is and how much expertise you have in your area, it all goes to waste unless you can communicate it to others."
"Effective communication skills are essential to successful business development. Yet they're often under-emphasized and sometimes completely ignored. Why? Because we communicate so much and so often (approximately 20,000 words per day) we often take it for granted. But regardless of how good your product or service is and how much expertise you have in your area, it all goes to waste unless you can communicate it to others."
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