An Abbreviated Cultural Translation Table

When shown a new software feature…

 

An American will say, “Wow, that’s awesome!”

A German will say, “Ja, well, it is adequate.”

And a Brit will say, “Oh, that’s just brilliant,” but you’re not sure if it’s sarcastic or not!

“Walk You Through Our Demo?”

Why do people always offer to “walk” me through a demo of their software? 

Frankly, I’d prefer to run!

 

“Walking” implies a long, detailed, painful, boring demo, drifting through irrelevant features, stumbling across extensive fields of Set-up Mode, twisting and turning down unproductive paths of meaningless options, while wondering and wandering towards hazy horizons…

 

Instead, please take the express route:

 

-       Show me the most important thing (I need) first

-       Do It in the fewest number of clicks

-       Map to my interests using Inverted Pyramid

 

And here’s the expert GPS to guide you!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

Demonstration or Demolition?

 

There are only a few letters difference between a demonstration and demolition!

 

Traditional approaches demolish demos by:

 

-       Saving the best for last

-       Showing how everything works

-       Making it a monologue

-       Focusing on the product

-       Ignoring meaningful personalization

 

Great Demo! practices drive conversions, wins, renewals, and expansion by:

 

-       Doing the Last Thing First

-       Showing only what your prospect wants and needs to see

-       Making it a two-way conversation

-       Focusing on your prospect

-       Precisely personalizing through intelligent discovery

 

For intriguing, stimulating, and pragmatic ideas, explore the blog and articles on the Resources pages at https://GreatDemo.com. 

 

For a deeper dive, read or listen to the Doing Discovery and Great Demo! books. 

 

And for a complete hands-on experience to improve your demo and discovery skills, enroll in a Great Demo! or Doing Discovery public or company-specific Workshop!

 

Great Demo! Third Edition:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

 

Doing Discovery

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

 

Suspending Disbelief:

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

Great Demo! Workshops

https://greatdemo.com/training/workshops/great-demo/ 

 

Doing Discovery Workshops

https://greatdemo.com/training/workshops/doing-discovery/ 

What Is the DIKW Pyramid – Why Is It Important and Where Do You Sit?

 

Data

Information

Knowledge

Wisdom

 

“The DIKW pyramid is a framework for transforming raw data into actionable wisdom through four progressive stages: 

 

Data, the raw facts and figures; 

Information, which adds context to data; 

Knowledge, the understanding of patterns and insights within information; 

and Wisdom, the application of knowledge to make sound judgments and anticipate future outcomes. 

 

This hierarchical model is crucial for data-driven decision-making, illustrating how to move from isolated data points to strategic foresight and effective action.” – Google summary.

 

For businesspeople, another way to express this is:

 

D = What (what needs to be done – executing a task)

I = How (how to do it)

K = When/Where (when and/or where to do it)

W = Why (why it needs to be done)

 

Example: DIKW for Demos:

 

Data: I can click through our software.

Information: I understand what our software’s dashboards, reports, workflows, and their outputs communicate.

Knowledge: I understand and can communicate the associated value.

Wisdom: I know what specific capabilities will resonate with our target job titles and markets.

Additional Wisdom: I know what to show and what to hold back, depending on the situation.

 

DIKW for Great Demo! Illustrations:

 

Data: I can run our software.

Information: I am familiar with our software’s dashboards, reports, workflows, and their outputs

Knowledge: I know how to select and present good Illustrations for our key prospect job titles.

Wisdom: I make presenting Illustrations an engaging, bidirectional conversation.

Additional Wisdom: I’ve built a library of high-probability Situation Slides and corresponding Illustrations for the whole team to use.

 

Example: DIKW for RFP Responses:

 

Data: I’ve got a lot of RFPs to answer.

Information: I have the answers for (most) of the questions.

Knowledge: I know how to draft the responses.

Wisdom: I’m not answering this RFP because it was written for a competitor.

Additional Wisdom: I know how to “add rows” to bias RFPs in our favor; I know how and when to “seed” RFP templates to our prospects, customers, and third parties.

 

If you were to draft DIKW progressions for your own practices, what would they look like – and where are you operating today?

And here are three terrific resources to help you move up the pyramid!

 

Suspending Disbelief – fast, easy to consume, high value short stories

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

Doing Discovery – the foundation for effective sales (and buying)

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

 

Great Demo! Third Edition – validated best practices for stunningly successful demos

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

What’s a Story? What’s a Good Story? What’s a Great Story?

 

Articulating pain, followed by a few features, and then a value statement is not a compelling story: it is simply an advantage or benefit statement. 

 

That’s like saying a human needs to move, and a few leg bones and muscles provide the ability, enabling people to cross a street. Boring and insufficient. 

 

There needs to be more to make it a compelling, resonating story that gets remembered and retold.

 

Chip and Dan Heath in their seminal work on storytelling, “Made to Stick,” identified five key attributes to make a story successfully sticky:

 

Simple Message:         The concept or message needs to be clear and easy to understand

Real Experience:         It must be believable and perceived as being true 

Element of Surprise:   An unexpected twist, event or outcome generates interest and tension

Evokes Emotion:          The best stories are those that generate an emotional response 

Relevant:                     Good stories relate directly to the subject or key point

 

The “pain, features, value” structure may satisfy three of these five, but ignore two. 

 

Is there an element of surprise? Nope.

 

Does that structure evoke an emotional response? Hardly.

 

Triggering our emotions is what makes a story great and memorable. For example:

 

   Empathy: “I’ve also been in this position!”

            Shock: “OMG – that’s terrible!”

            Surprise: “Oh no! What happened next?”

            Humorous: “Well, that’s sad, but also very funny!”

            Cleverness: “Oh wow, that’s a really elegant solution!”

 

Evaluate the stories you use – how many of these five attributes do they communicate?

 

Let’s take storytelling up a level or two!

“I Got the Job!”

 

“I got the job!” she reported, triumphantly.

 

She said, “I used the stories in ‘Suspending Disbelief’ to answer the interviewer’s questions – and after I received the job offer, they told me, ‘You nailed it!”

 

Previously an SDR/BDR, she is now about to start as a presales Solution Consultant, her goal for the past many months. After struggling in interview after interview, a colleague suggested she use the stories in “Suspending Disbelief” to broaden her skillset. She commented, “I read the entire book in just two days!”

 

When responding to the interviewer’s questions, she reported that she began her answers using the stories’ morals and then used the stories themselves when she needed more explanation. “The List of Morals in the back of the book really helped me prepare,” she added.

 

She noted, “I’ve just started reading ‘Doing Discovery’ and it is opening my eyes! I’m really excited about applying all this in my new role.”

 

This was an unexpected, delightful message to receive about my books!

 

Perhaps “Suspending Disbelief” can also help you or your colleagues land that new role, whether it is moving into presales, sales, marketing, customer success, or another customer-facing role.

 

You can find “Suspending Disbelief” here, and best of luck with your next job interview!

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy

The Important Difference Between Symptoms vs a Correct Diagnosis When Doing Discovery

 

Pain is often a symptom of a bigger issue: a Critical Business Issue.

 

Here’s a true story related to me recently:

 

A friend complained of pain in his stomach, or more accurately his lower-right side adjacent to his stomach. 

 

The pain increased dramatically over a few hours, and he went to the hospital emergency room. After waiting for a while (“What felt like forever…!”) he finally saw a doctor. At first the doctor said, “Sounds like you have gas in your bowels, but let’s do some tests…” 

 

They ran assays for C-reactive protein and complete blood count, followed by an Ultrasound and CT-scan, after which the doctor revised his diagnosis. “You’ve got appendicitis, and we’ve got to get it out of you right away!” 

 

While recovering from surgery he was informed, “Well, it was good we got that done when we did. One quarter of your appendix had burst, and the rest was ready to go!”

 

 

The moral? When doing discovery, make sure you and your prospect both understand the impact and implications of their pain!

 

 

And here are two resources to help:

 

“Uncovering Critical Business Issues – What, Why, and How”

https://greatdemo.com/uncovering-critical-business-issues-what-why-and-how/

 

Doing Discovery

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

Three Thoughts on a Tuesday Morning

I rarely learn while I’m talking…

 

Knowledge is finite, ignorance infinite!

 

Some people are wise, but not decisive; 

some people are decisive, but not wise. 

Can we be both wise and decisive?