Demo Skills Assessment Time!

 

Where are you with the ten levels of demo skills?

 

Level 1:            Follows the standard demo script.

Level 2:            Customizes based on the prospect’s market/industry

Level 3:            Customizes based on the discovery information uncovered

Level 4:            Communicates tangible business value

Level 5:            Applies both Vision Generation and Technical Proof demos

Level 6:            Manages and explores prospect questions

Level 7:            Uses Biased Questions to outflank competition and reengineer vision

Level 8:            Applies storytelling techniques to reinforce key ideas

Level 9:            Applies these skills to the broad range of demo scenarios required, including demos for prospects   occupying different portions of the Technology Adoption Curve, transactional sales cycles, expansion opportunities,   Executive Briefing Centers, presenting new products, lunch and learn sessions, tradeshows, demos for analysts and   third parties, channel partners, internal demos, and other scenarios

Level 10:          Captures and reuses demo success scenarios, and integrates, aligns, and leverages the skills above into a cohesive demonstration methodology.

 

It can often take six months or longer for a new hire to adequately achieve Level 1. The next several levels may require years to attain, and for many people Level 9 is a lifetime journey!

 

Read the list again and honestly assess yourself (or your team).

 

If you are unfamiliar with any of the terms or practices, grab or listen to a copy of Great Demo! to improve and expand your skillset: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

 

Even better, take a Great Demo! Workshop to accelerate your skills learning and application!

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

Take a Break from Your Reading…?

 

I was surprised when I heard this recommendation from three separate people…

 

They said they were working their way through business books and needed a break, so they picked up a copy of “Suspending Disbelief” and enjoyed a few of the short stories. Each story, they observed, was a refreshing pause from their heavier reading!

 

One person described these breaks as a “remise en bouche” noting that the stories in Suspending Disbelief are like palate cleansers to refresh the taste buds between courses (or “amuse-bouche” before a meal). Delightful!

 

But be forewarned: Two of these folks also reported that they ended up finishing Suspending Disbelief before returning to their previous tomes…!

 

Order your break here!

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

"With great curiosity comes great opportunity!"

Be curious - it's an evolutionary advantage!

Acronym Musings

 

Forty years ago when electrons were slower, there was an acronym that guided development, marketing, and sales of software: RSVP. (And no, in this case RSVP did not mean, “répondez s'il vous plait!”)

 

RSVP:

 

R = Register (provide the ability to capture and store data and information)

S = Search (search for desired data and information)

V = View (present the results to the viewer for analysis)

P = Print (enable printing of the results)

 

But things have advanced:

 

“Register” has become “Ingest” and “Digest.”

“Search” has morphed into “Explore.”

“View” and “Print” have evolved into “Visualize” and “Analyze.”

And now many tools (AI in particular) offer “Suggest.”

 

Which yields IDEAS!

 

I = Ingest

D = Digest

E = Explore

A = Analyze

S = Suggest

 

Thoughts?

Practical Pointing Practices for Demos

“There are always three demos for every one you actually gave. 

The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.”

– Dale Carnegie, paraphrased

 

What’s in this article for you?

 

-       General Great Demo! Pointing Principles

-       Pointing Practices for Face-to-Face Demos

-       Practical Pointing for Online Demos

-       And a Few Ideas for Whiteboarding

 

Including:

 

-       Can You See My Mouse?

-       Be Aware!

-       Older Audience?

-       Please Stop!

-       Look, Find, and Then Move

-       A True Story

-       Click-Click-ClickClickClickClickClickClick…!

-       Face-to-Face Demos

-       I Have to Point This Out!

-       Get Up!

-       Tap the Screen!

-       Beware of Laser Pointers

-       What About Not Pointing?

-       Online Demos

-       Can You See My Mouse Here and Here?

-       Whiteboarding

-       Get the Point?

 

Now move your mouse smoothly and deliberately to this link and click!

https://greatdemo.com/can-you-see-my-mouse-2/ 

That’s a Zippy Mouse! A True Tradeshow Story

 

Some habits can be changed…

 

We were on booth duty the morning after a long, but enjoyable evening on Bourbon Street listening to Dixieland. Well, I’d been in a club taking in the music, Kevin had been elsewhere and had returned to the hotel on the late side of night or more accurately, the early side of morning.

 

While I wasn’t feeling my best, Kevin appeared to be his normal, remarkably chipper and vibrant self. Or perhaps it was a few healthy doses of caffeine.

 

While Kevin staffed a demo station, my job was to trawl for prospects lurking just beyond our booth. Many folks would stand just out of range, so to speak, and I’d learned that if you walked directly up to them, you’d likely scare them away.

 

Instead, I applied what chemists would call an SN2 backside attack. I would note my target’s location and circle around, finally approaching them from behind and sidling up alongside. After a moment, I’d ask, “What caught your attention about our booth?”

 

Surprised, they’d admit they were interested in one product or another but were clearly holding back, cautious to engage. I’d ask, “Would you like a brief demo of that offering?”

 

Most prospects replied, “Sure.” And I’d escort them to Kevin’s demo station.

 

To fully set the scene, you need to visualize a very bright, earnest, smiling character in his late twenties, attired in a button-down long sleeve shirt topped with a handtied bowtie. Nearly a clone of Pee-wee Herman (in his prime)!

 

The gentleman who I brought over to Kevin this particular time had a deep Texas drawl that was slow, mellifluous, and filled with inspirational homilies.

 

After showing a crisp, compelling example of what our chemistry tool could do, we would invite our prospect to suggest their own search.

 

“Would you like to look for something you are working on?” suggested Kevin.

 

“Could ah? Why, certainly!” he replied. He drew a few structures on a sheet of paper and Kevin got to work forming a search query. As Kevin labored, the mouse moved furiously around the screen and as he paused to think, the mouse twitched, circled aimlessly, and migrated wildly from location to location.

 

“Son, y’all should put the brakes on that mouse,” intoned our guest.

 

Kevin glanced up and smiled, then returned to drawing the desired reaction.

 

Our prospect watched the mouse gyrations for another moment then gently reached down and placed his hand on Kevin’s, saying, “Son, y’all’ve got a real zippy mouse there! Can ya sloooooooow it down?”

 

There were two pieces of good news that came from this interaction. First, this prospect did end up licensing our software and became a strong supporter, serving as a reference, and providing terrific talks at our users’ conferences.

 

Second, Kevin did learn to slow his mouse down.

 

Moral: Zippy Mouse Syndrome is curable!

 

From Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales, Presales, and Marketing Stories (and Lessons Learned) https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

Get Up!

Demo Presenters: You are not bound to your chair!

 

I watched a ninety-minute face-to-face demo, and the presenter never left his chair! 

 

Result? 

 

He missed many opportunities to engage the prospect and make the demo more memorable.

And it was painfully boring! Click talk click talk talk click talk click click talk talk… Zzzzzzz.

 

I’ve done the research, and I have yet to find seatbelts, straps, or other rigging that ties or bolts you to your chair in face-to-face demos. And sitting for a half an hour or longer in a chair is boring – both for you and your audience.

 

Solution?

 

Get up and go to the screen! 

 

Complete a demo pathway and then get up from your chair, move to the display screen, and point precisely at the desired software element as you communicate the capability and its value, or provide an interim summary.

 

Bonus Solution?

 

Get up and develop an idea on a whiteboard!

 

Moving to a whiteboard will engage your audience. As you poise your pen just off the surface, your audience is wondering, “What will they draw?”

 

And moving to a whiteboard, particularly away from your chair, will refresh both you and your audience! Yes, simply turning in their seats provides a simple, but surprisingly effective “refresh” of their attention.

 

Remember: The average adult human can only pay attention for about ten minutes. They need to be refreshed at least every ten minutes, or boredom sets in!

 

And here’s a wonderful example of another approach to refreshing your audience: using props and visual aids: https://greatdemo.com/a-refreshing-example-of-using-props-and-visual-aids-in-vision-reengineering/ 

Click-Click-ClickClickClickClickClickClick-Clickety-Click…!

 

That’s the sound of an over-enthusiastic mouse…

 

I was watching a demo from the founder of a startup who was excited to share his new technology. I was amazed, but not in a good way, at how fast he drove through his software!

 

If clicking the most buttons and commands in the least time and moving as fast as possible from screen to screen were an Olympic sport, he’d have definitely qualified for the finals! 

 

However, demos are where “slow and steady” truly wins the race.

 

Your objective is clear communication, not speed. Execute a function, point precisely, and describe what the feature provides, how it solves your prospect’s business issues, and the value your prospect can expect to enjoy using the feature. Summarize as appropriate, particularly for longer pathways.

 

Then pause.

 

Let your audience take it in. Give them a chance to offer a comment or an observation or frame a question. Linger lovingly over your most exciting and valuable capabilities – give them time to sink in and resonate!

 

If you are limited in time, then apply the inverted pyramid approach and choose the few most important ideas to present. (And it is rare that we are not limited in time!)

 

Finally, slowing down is even more important when you are presenting to audiences who are not native speakers of your language. You may enjoy exploring Chapter 14 “Style” in Great Demo! for more guidance on the use humor, language, appearance, buzzwords, pace, props and visual aids, and other practices in your demos.

WHAT Time Is that Meeting?

 

Be aware that different countries start and end Daylight Savings Time on different dates!

 

So, what was once a comparatively comfortable time to meet for one party may be an hour earlier or an hour later for another.

 

“Daylight Saving Time (DST) is observed differently across the globe, with some countries changing their clocks twice a year, while others have abolished it entirely or maintain a permanent time. A majority of countries, particularly those near the equator, do not observe DST because the length of their daylight hours is more constant year-round. Europe and parts of North America observe DST, but with different start and end dates.”

 

And note that, “The dates for DST can vary. For example, the U.S. typically starts on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November, while Europe starts on the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October.”

 

Also be aware that countries in the Southern Hemisphere who observe DST are on it now!

 

Here’s more:

 

“Regions with Daylight Saving Time

• North America: The United States and Canada have many regions that observe Daylight Saving Time.
• Europe: All European Union countries and many European non-members continue to observe it.
• South America: Some South American countries, such as Chile and Paraguay, observe DST.
• Oceania: New Zealand observes DST, as do parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory).
• Africa: Some countries, like Egypt, have re-implemented DST in recent years. 

Regions without Daylight Saving Time

• Asia: China, Japan, India, and other countries do not observe DST.
• Africa: Most African countries do not observe DST.
• Americas: Some parts of the United States (e.g., Hawaii, most of Arizona) and Canada (e.g., Saskatchewan, Yukon) do not observe DST. 

Countries that have abolished DST

• Russia, Turkey, and Iran are examples of countries that have abolished DST in recent years.
• Most of Mexico has stopped adjusting its clocks.”