When is 1 + 1 much greater than 2?

Great Demo! is ground-breaking, Doing Discovery is delightfully differentiating, and together they are truly game-changing!

While both methodologies can stand on their own, they are best when combined as an integrated set of practices. Doing Discovery enables Great Demo! and Great Demo! yields successes that feed back into Doing Discovery: It’s a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement!

Which book or course should you consume first? Start with where you think you have the most to gain or (pro tip!) adopt a parallel approach, learning and applying the skills in both books, or take a combined course!

Great Demo! and Doing Discovery Workshops are available worldwide and the books can be found on Amazon in paperback, Audiobook, and Kindle formats. Never Stop Learning!

For those of you who have already embraced both methodologies, where have you seen examples of 1 + 1 >> 2?

Avoiding No Decision Outcomes – The Surprisingly Large Opportunity for Improvement

 

Avoiding No Decision Outcomes – The Surprisingly Large Opportunity for Improvement

(A Never Stop Learning! Article)

What’s in this article for you?

• A Sadly Surprising Discovery
• A Painful Analysis
• Surviving BANT
• Surviving MEDDIC, MEDDPIC, Etc.
• Presales Input
• Senior Sales Staff Observations
• Three Reasons for No Decision Outcomes
• Re-Analysis and Illumination

A Sadly Surprising Discovery

A Head of Sales was reviewing his quarterly forecast and noted that a large number of opportunities had been “rolled-over” from the previous quarter. Curious, he examined several prior quarters and found a distressing trend: These opportunities had been rolling-over from quarter to quarter for several quarters and, in many cases, for years!

He said, “These will clearly never close…!” and removed them from the current quarter’s forecast.

He thought for a moment, and then asked a staff member to perform an analysis of all of the opportunities that had been forecasted to close in previous quarters but had not closed. A short time later, the results were presented…

https://greatdemo.com/avoiding-no-decision-outcomes/

Upcoming Webinar: How Much Discovery Is Enough – Or Too Much?

Join us on Wednesday November 8 at 11:00 Pacific Time as we explore a number of intriguing and surprisingly important discovery parameters, based on Peter Cohan’s Doing Discovery book and methodology. How do you get what you need without overwhelming your prospect? How much is enough? What do you need to capture, and how? We’ll examine:

• Qualification vs Discovery
• “Just Browsing” vs “Active Buying Process”
• Simple Tools vs Complex Offerings
• Other Impactful Prospect Parameters
• Executives vs Everybody Else
• A Medical Analogy
• Full Discovery Methodology
• Seven Levels of Skills
• So How Much Discovery Is Enough?

The live webinar is free for all, but please note that the recording will only be available to NAASE and EASE members! To attend this event, email info@sales-engineering.org to receive the proper link for invitation.

Old vs New – Why Upgrade to Great Demo! Third Edition?

Great Demo! first appeared in 2003 – twenty years ago – and represented a major change in the process of preparing and delivering software demos, based on the revelation of “Do the Last Thing First!”

The second edition was published in 2005 and included additional chapters and enhancements to the methodology. It’s a great book presenting a highly effective and validated demonstration methodology.

The 2005 edition is still terrific, if outdated regarding some of its technology references. I don’t believe any organization still uses “overhead projectors” and we are highly unlikely to need a standalone modem for a demo at a customer site anymore. I hope.

Great Demo! practices have evolved, and new methods have emerged, been tested, and hardened through day-to-day use. The Third Edition of Great Demo! brings these new skills and techniques to all customer-facing vendor staff, including presales, sales, customer success, professional services, and marketing: It’s for everyone who touches a mouse or taps a screen in front of a customer!

What’s new?

Great Demo! is now two books in one! Part 1 focuses on the core Great Demo! methodology while Part 2 offers skills, tips, and truly best practices for:

• Complex Demo Scenarios
• Vision Generation Demos
• Virtual Demos
• Storytelling
• Elements of Style
• Other Forms of Proof (e.g., POCs, POVs, etc.)
• Your Demo Environment
• Implementing the Methodology

If you are new to demos, this is the place to start!

If you are an existing Great Demo! practitioner, this Third Edition serves to update, refresh, and expand your skillset.

And if you’ve been exposed to other demo skills, this is the opportunity to advance to a methodology that has been validated in studies of tens of thousands of demos!

Great Demo! Third Edition is available in paperback, Kindle, and Audiobook versions. You can also contact me for volume purchases as well at PCohan@GreatDemo.com. Looking forward to your feedback on this new edition!

Just Do It in Demos!

Is there anything you do, at work, that you’d want to take any longer than necessary?

Nope.

Then why would we show anything but the shortest possible path to complete example tasks in our demos?

We shouldn’t!

How many times in demos do you hear vendors go on and on (and on and on!) showing multiple options and alternative pathways?

Choose the fewest number of steps to complete all demo pathways!

In Great Demo!, we say, just “Do It”!

No extra steps, no “if”, no “or”, no “also”. Just the shortest path. The fewest number of clicks.

Just Do It!

You’ll find details on this simple, effective, and validated approach in the Third Edition of Great Demo! and Great Demo! Workshops.

Who’s Afraid of Asking Prospects for Specific Value Numbers?

Apparently, far too many sales and presales folks! Many sales leaders remark that “failure to uncover the value” is one of their sales teams’ biggest weaknesses.

Why don’t sales teams pursue this information? I’m not sure…! It could be a lack of training or practice, but I often hear sales reps and presales people comment that “they are uncomfortable asking those kinds of questions…”

Given that “Insufficient Perception of Value” is one of the three typical reasons for No Decision outcomes, perhaps a change is in order.

When you are Doing Discovery, remember to get the Delta: the specific value associated with making the change.

Let’s all stop being afraid of asking prospects about specific value elements!

Reducing “No Decision” Outcomes

“Nearly half of the forecasted opportunities you pursue end in No Decision – would you like some of that time back in your life…?”

According to Gartner and many other sources, ~45% of all B2B software forecasted opportunities end in No Decision outcomes – you don’t win the business, you don’t lose to a competitor, your prospect chooses to do nothing. This means that nearly half of the time you invest in sales goes … nowhere!

Finding a way to reduce No Decision outcomes is one of the biggest “knobs” that can be turned to improve sales process productivity and efficiency.

Hmmmm… What a great topic for a sales kickoff session!

What Should Stand-up Comedians and Presales Have in Common?

What can presales (and other customer-facing folks) learn from stand-up comedians about demos and presentations? They test, discard, keep, refine, and harden new and existing content through iterative experimentation!

They test new material and, if it works, continue to refine and include it in their “act” going forward. And, of course, new content that fails is scrapped, as is old content that no longer resonates. You can apply these same methods in your demos.

Stand-up comedians work constantly to improve their material. They introduce new ideas, assess audience reaction, and add, modify, or delete accordingly. Their expectation is that each subsequent performance will be better than the previous. It is evolution at its best: survival of the fittest jokes…! For demos, it is survival of the fittest pathways and methods of delivery.

Consider: Comedians need to present material that is consistently remarkable. Should demos be any different? (No!)

• When you use a prop or visual aid in a demo that really engages your audience and makes them light up, repeat it for the next group (that has the same or similar situation)

• When you present a terrific pay-off screen or key report (an Illustration) that really resonates with the key player, reprise it the next time you demo to someone with the same or similar job title

• When you tell a story that has the audience on the edge of their seats, keep it in the act

• When you see the key member of your audience making notes about the Informal Success Story you just related, plan to do it again

• And, of course, if you present capabilities that fall flat, take them out of your demo…!

Demo elements that were memorable – that were particularly remarkable – are the elements to harvest, refine, and reuse. Demos should evolve to incorporate the best material for each prospect situation.

Never Stop Learning! 

Pearls and Epiphanies: One Picture Is Worth 1000 Words; One Illustration Is Worth…?

 

One picture is worth 1000 words; one Great Demo! Illustration is worth 1000 mouse clicks!

A Prospect’s Tale

A Hopefully Humorous Account of Woe and Triumph

(A Never Stop Learning! Article)

What’s in this article for you?

Part 1: The Long Trip to Nowhere

• A Lesson in Lead Churn
• False Pretenses
• A Harbor Tour Demo
• A Pointless Proposal
• A Murky Deep Dive
• Another Pointless Proposal
• A Painful POC
• A Proposal of Pure Panic
• Ghosting to No Decision

Part 2: Buying Beautifully

• A Knowledgeable Initial Contact
• Enablement Enlightenment
• Once Burned…
• Delightful Discovery
• A Great Demo!
• A Pleasant Purchase
• An Intelligent Implementation
• An Expansive Renewal

I was at a conference and ran into an old colleague who is now the CRO at a successful, mid-size B2B software company. After a brief dialog, he said, “I have a great story for you…!”

You’ll find the rest of this saga here: https://greatdemo.com/a-prospects-tale-humorous-account-of-woe-and-triumph/

Enjoy!

Thinking About Your SKO?

W. Edwards Deming said, “Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.”

Are you unhappy with your sales-stage conversion rates?

Are your No Decision outcomes too high?

Are other important metrics at risk?

If you want different results, consider changing your system: Great Demo! & Doing Discovery methodologies provide the levers and fulcrums to move your world!

How?

• Start Great Demo! & Doing Discovery book clubs now and harvest at your SKO
• Schedule a thought-provoking, change-inducing Seminar or Webinar for your SKO
• Include a Great Demo!, Doing Discovery, or combined Workshop with your SKO

Contact us to discuss!