Monday, February 25, 2013

[Warning: Shameless Self-Promotion Alert] Upcoming Great Demo! Public Workshop March 6-7 – Next Week

Our next Great Demo! Public Workshop is scheduled for May 22-23 in San Jose, California – Registration information can be found here   (http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2012/10/26/great-demo-workshop-on-may-22-23-2013/).

This is a 1.5-Day Workshop, with the first day focusing largely on core Great Demo! material, and the morning of the second day addressing more advanced topics and techniques.  This is an excellent opportunity for individuals, small groups or for teams that have new hires.

Contact me for more information or to reserve seats (PCohan@SecondDerivative.com).

Friday, February 22, 2013

Discovery: Unique, But Part of a Group

People (and companies) perceive themselves as unique, particularly with respect to their situations – but they also want to feel that they are not alone, that others suffer from similar problems (and have found good ways to solve those problems that may also apply to them…). 

When doing Discovery, one objective is to make the customer feel comfortable that you understand their unique situation.  This is best accomplished by asking good, relevant questions. 

A second objective in the Discovery process is to help the customer visualize the possibility of a solution to their problems (not the details, just that a solution is possible).  One way to achieve this is, after you have a clear understanding of their situation, is to comment “We’ve been able to help others in situations that were very similar to yours…”  This places them into a group where they perceive they are not alone…  [Some sales methodologies, e.g., Solution Selling and CustomerCentric Selling, call this generating “hope and curiosity” – great phrase!).

It is interesting how the humans hold onto both ideas – of being unique and part of a group – simultaneously.  Humans are really fascinating…!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Doing Discovery “Beyond the Fence” – Other Important Questions to Ask

Imagine you are doing a major remodel of your house and you are in a discussion with the architect about new house design – what should you consider?

There are two sets of items: “inside the fence” and “beyond the fence”.  Most people focus their attention on the “inside the fence” items, such as the new layout, fixtures, trim, appliances, paint color, etc.

This thought process is similar to what many sales teams address when doing Discovery with their customers – the sales team focuses on the items that are closely related to the features and functions of their software – existing vs. desired workflow, pain points in the current process, missing capabilities, etc.  That’s good, but we can do better…!

A great architect asks questions about the remodel customer’s “beyond the fence” items:  E.g., neighborhood and general look of the neighborhood, weather, prevailing wind and storm conditions, local traffic and typical flow, noise sources, sun arc and hours, streetlights, schools, crime, specific neighbors (and their pets/livestock), etc.  A great sales team similarly asks questions that go “beyond the fence” from typical product-specific thinking with doing Discovery.

What are example questions you might ask “beyond the fence” for your offerings?  (You might consider adding these to any existing "Discovery Documents" you already use...)

Thursday, February 14, 2013

[Warning: Shameless Self-Promotion Alert] Upcoming Great Demo! Public Workshop March 6-7

Our next Great Demo! Public Workshop is scheduled for March 6-7 in San Jose, California – Registration information can be found here (http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2012/11/02/great-demo-workshop-march-6-2013/).

This is a 1.5-Day Workshop, with the first day focusing largely on core Great Demo! material, and the morning of the second day addressing more advanced topics and techniques.  This is an excellent opportunity for individuals, small groups or for teams that have new hires.

Contact me for more information or to reserve seats (PCohan@SecondDerivative.com).

UPDATES:  Here are two brief testimonials from recent Workshop participants:  http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2013/02/18/chris-kane-great-demos-impact-on-the-vendorrisk-sales-presentation/

http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2013/02/19/ilya-semin-of-datanyze-on-value-of-great-demo-workshop/ 

Monday, February 11, 2013

Mixed Face-to-Face and Remote Demos – 3 Good Practices

What should you do when find yourself in a demo where part of the audience is face-to-face with you in a conference room and a number of additional participants are connecting remotely (e.g., via WebEx or GoToMeeting)?  In addition to the ideas already published in my Remote Demos articles and blog tips, here are three more “best” practices to consider:

First, operate as if everyone is remote.  That way, you are using your mouse and various annotation tools to draw attention to elements of your software on both the projector screen in the face-to-face room and the remote participants’ screens as well.  Clearly, any physical pointing you do using your hands (or stick or laser pointers) can only be seen by those who are face-to-face. 

However, there is an additional twist:  you also need to be the “Active Conduit” of information, communicating what is going on in the face-to-face room out to those who are remote.  For example, if there is a side-bar conversation, you need to let the remote participants know and give them updates and the outcome, as appropriate, when that side conversation completes.  Similarly, if someone asks a question in the face-to-face room, you may need to repeat it for the remote participants. 

Along similar lines, you also need to continue to drive interactivity with your remote participants, using the annotation tools, asking questions of them, checking latency with them, etc., to keep them engaged.  There is a tendency for presenters to forget about those who are connecting remotely and simply focus on those who are face-to-face…!

[Send me an email at PCohan@SecondDerivative.com if you’d like copies of the articles I mentioned]

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Recording Web Demos - An Elegant Approach

I often recommend that sales and presales teams record their web-delivered demos (e.g., via WebEx and GoToMeeting) so that they can watch/listen to the recordings and improve their practices (pace, tone, mousing, word-choice, use of annotation tools, hearing customer questions accurately, etc.).  It can sometimes be a bit uncomfortable to ask the customer if it is OK to record the session, however. 

One delightful approach is to ask the customer if it is acceptable to record the demo “so that you can replay it for yourselves, if desired, or share with colleagues”.  Wonderful!