Gong, in their terrific study, identifies the final
part of demo meeting as the Wrap Up and comments that this is the most
appropriate time for pricing and next steps discussions. Makes sense.
However, the concept of “next steps” is broad and is
an opportunity to differentiate. In traditional demos, most vendors focus
on “trial closes”, “handling objections”, and related tactics. This is
adequate behavior, but not exceptional.
Truly great sales teams interpret part of “next steps”
to include a discussion of how the customer can move from their current painful
state, through deployment, all the way to the point in time where the customer
is beginning to get tangible value from the offering. This dialog may include outlining a rough schedule of
implementation – set-up, data migration, training, go-live, roll-out, etc. – to
enable the customer to gain an understanding of a possible plan moving forward.
This establishes a “Transition Vision” in the
customer’s mind – and the vendor that invests a few minutes of the Wrap Up with
this conversation will be in a competitively advantageous position vs.
traditional vendors. We teach this process in Great Demo! Workshops and
identify (at least) two key entities:
- A
Critical Date or Compelling Event that drives the customer’s go-live date,
and
- A
Value Realization Event that defines an early win or small ROI, post
go-live.
A Value Realization Event is particularly differentiating,
as it demonstrates to the customer that the vendor is not just interested in
getting the order but has a genuine and tangible interest in the customer’s
success.
So, use the Wrap Up wisely…!
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