Even an Idiot Executive Can Run It!

 

He did indeed touch type: He just used two fingers.

 

 

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"

– Leonardo da Vinci

 

 

I once worked for a wonderful head of sales named Tom Jones. No, not Tom Jones the singer, Tom was an ex-Marine, ex-hardware salesperson who ascended the ladder and joined our software company as the Global VP of Sales.

 

He was highly skilled in sales practices, but woeful at actually using software.

 

As an example, all his email messages were short and drafted in ALL CAPS. We were never sure if he had hit the Caps Lock key accidentally and never turned it off, or if he really wanted it to appear that he was yelling!

 

We were looking to purchase a new sales forecasting system. While I felt the product had what we needed and was far superior to the other, less capable options also under consideration, there were concerns from the sales team that this offering might be too difficult to use. 

 

A demo had been scheduled to address this concern.

 

I met with the vendor salesperson and suggested that we ask Tom to drive a short portion of the demo to really prove how easy it was to use. The rep was reluctant but agreed.

 

And so, very early in the demo, the vendor rep invited Tom to take the mouse and execute a few tasks, including accessing reports for the current forecast and next two quarters’ pipeline. Tom managed it without error and immediately several of our team members exclaimed, “Well, if Tom can do it, we can do it!”

 

Done deal.

 

 

Moral: That’s a very effective way to prove ease of use!

This is a great example of “Let Your Prospect Drive” in demos – see the section starting on page 197 in Great Demo! here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

 

And here’s some great summer reading – at the beach, on a plane, in your favorite spot! “Suspending Disbelief” offers 35 fun, bitesize, engaging stories and lessons learned like the one above. https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

Multiple Currencies?

 

(Before the appearance of the Euro, we had a collection of envelopes each containing a European currency: German Marks, French Francs, Italian Lira, Spanish Peseta, etc. Preparing for a trip included remembering to select and bring the appropriate envelopes. Things are much easier now...!)

 

 

“Money often costs too much.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

From a colleague: “I once heard a story of a sales consultant being asked about their ERP system’s ability to handle multiple currencies. She pulled some dollars out of one pocket and another currency from another pocket, shoved them back in and said, ‘Yup, we handle multiple currencies ...”

 

Delightful!

 

 

Moral: Props and visual aids should be easily transportable or locally procurable!

 

 

And here’s some great summer reading – at the beach, on a plane, in your favorite spot! “Suspending Disbelief” offers 35 fun, bitesize, engaging stories and lessons learned like the one above.

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

For practical guidance on the use of props and visual aids in demos see the section starting on page 376 in Great Demo! here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

English, Simply

  

This was a personal Dunning Kruger experience for me.

 

 

“In literature the ambition of the novice is to acquire the literary language; the struggle of the adept is to get rid of it.”

– George Bernard Shaw

 

 

Many years ago, I participated in several face-to-face users’ group meetings in Europe. I thought my presentations at these conferences were well above average, and much better, particularly, than our CEO’s talks, whose delivery in my opinion was overly simple and deliberate.

 

At the close of the first day of one meeting, a few customer participants and speakers gathered in the hotel bar to socialize. Fishing for compliments (I was much younger and perhaps less wise than today), I asked some of my European customers who they appreciated most as speakers.

 

I was surprised (and slightly appalled, initially!) to learn that “the best speaker, without question, is your CEO…” When I asked, “Why?” they pointed out that for all the Continental participants, English was a second language. They said that “Your CEO’s delivery is easy to understand, and he uses words that we don’t have to look up afterwards!”

 

Lesson learned!

 

 

Moral: Use international English and slow down your delivery.

 

 

And here is more great summer reading – at the beach, on a plane, in your favorite spot! “Suspending Disbelief” is 35 fun, bitesize, engaging stories and lessons learned like the one above.

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

For practical guidance on the use of language, humor, and other factors in demos see Chapter 15 in Great Demo! here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

Demos: Stuff Over Fluff

 

If your demo content isn’t meaningful, adding decorations won’t help. In fact, it may hurt!

 

 

“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”

– Mark Twain

 

 

You’ve just entered an elegant restaurant for a celebratory dinner (congratulations!). The lobby is beautiful, but you wait a long time to be seated. Finally, you are escorted to your table and are seated in architecturally stunning, but uncomfortable chairs. The table is covered with white linen with an extensive array of plates, glasses and silverware, and each napkin is cleverly folded into a swan in the precise center of each dinner plate. A fresh bouquet of flowers decorates the center of your table, flanked by expensive salt and pepper grinders.

 

Everything looks fantastic!

 

Your waiter takes your napkin, opens it with a flourish, and drapes it carefully across your lap, then hands you the menu showing today’s offerings, luxuriously described with an abundance of adjectives.

 

Everything sounds fabulous!

 

After perusing the options, your waiter takes your order and then returns with mineral water, bread rolls, butter, and a glass of the wine that you’ve chosen.

 

You sip some water, but it is tepid and flat. You taste the wine, but it is not particularly good, and it is certainly not what you would have expected from this restaurant (and for the price)! The butter is warm, and the rolls are hard and dry. You are beginning to get disappointed, but you brush it off thinking, “I’m sure the balance of the food will be wonderful…”

 

Sadly, it’s not! The salad lettuce is wilted and old, the salad dressing is simply sour, the croutons lack crunch, the soup arrived cold (albeit in a gorgeous tureen), and your main dish was unacceptably awful. Overall, while the plating and presentation of each dish were exceptional, the food itself was pretty poor. 

 

Would you return or recommend this restaurant to others? Likely not!

 

Moral: In your demos focus on substance first, then style.

PS – just wait until you get your bill (which will be presented in an extravagant custom holder)!

 

 

Want more fun, bitesize, engaging stories and lessons learned? See my new book “Suspending Disbelief!”

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

For practical guidance on the use of humor, language, and other factors in demos see Chapter 15 in Great Demo! here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

The Sales Distraction Team

This took place when screen sharing was still comparatively crude.

 

 

“You can always find a distraction if you're looking for one.”

– Tom Kite

 

I was a participant in a public webinar that had a very large audience, with perhaps eight or nine hundred people in the session. Everything was going well until a rather embarrassing email preview message appeared in the bottom-right corner of the presenter’s screen.

 

The message described plans for a date that evening in rather graphic and embarrassingly intriguing terms!

 

And while audience engagement suddenly shot up, it was not in the form the presenter would have desired. Chat was swiftly overflowing with comments about the impending date, and the balance of the webinar was lost in the chaos!

 

 

Moral: Be careful what you share!

 

 

Want more fun, bitesize, engaging stories and lessons learned? See my new book “Suspending Disbelief!”

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

For more tips and best practices for online and virtual demos see Chapter 13 in Great Demo! here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

Another Member of the Sales Prevention Team

 

A lack of situational awareness can be costly.

 

 

"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

–  John Wooden

 

 

Want another horror story? (I love sales and demo horror stories!)

 

I was watching an online demo a while ago, when one of the prospect team members asked a question. The salesperson chatted to the presenter, “Ignore that question – that guy is an idiot!” Sadly, the salesperson didn’t realize that he had included “Everyone” in the chat, not just the presenter. 

 

End of demo, end of sales cycle…

 

 

Moral: Be careful of what you chat and to whom!

 

 

Want more fun, bitesize, engaging stories and lessons learned? See my new book “Suspending Disbelief!”

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

For more tips and best practices for online and virtual demos see Chapter 13 in Great Demo! here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

A Refreshing Example of Using Props and Visual Aids in Vision Reengineering

Prospects don’t know what they don’t know, and part of discovery is to understand and address this.

 

 

“An optimist will tell you the glass is half-full; the pessimist, half-empty; and the engineer will tell you the glass is twice the size it needs to be.”

– Oscar Wilde

 

 

A terrific use of props (or visual aids) that I once saw went as follows (in a face-to-face meeting): The vendor rep was discussing how their solution eliminated silos and enabled improved consumption of a prospect’s internal data.

 

The rep took two full water bottles, held them up and said, “So, I understand your organization has its data sitting in silos, like these water bottles…” He banged the bottles together, pointing out that “You can’t bring this data together.” Bang, bang went the water bottles.

 

He then opened each bottle and placed a cup in front of him on the table.

 

He said, “What we propose is to enable you to combine data in ways you’ve never been able to combine before…” as he poured water from both water bottles into the cup. He then picked up the cup and continued, “…and enable you to consume your data in ways you’ve never been able to do before!” and he took a sip of the pooled mix from the cup.

 

He finished with a satisfied “Ah, refreshing!” Fabulous!

 

 

Moral: Effective props can be highly memorable.

 

 

Want more fun, bitesize, engaging stories and lessons learned? See my new book “Suspending Disbelief!”

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

You’ll find details on Vision Reengineering starting on page 217 in Doing Discovery here: https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

Verbal Aikido

 

 

One of the key ideas of Aikido is to deflect your opponent’s energy and momentum or use it against them. The same idea can apply to demos.

 

 

“If you're going through hell, keep going.”

– Winston Churchill

 

 

I was delivering a demo and halfway through the meeting a hostile audience member said, “How come your software sucks so bad and costs so much?” (This is verbatim!)

 

Clearly, this was not a Great Question or Good Question.

 

I responded, “This requires more development than I’d like to invest right now. I’m going to capture it here on the whiteboard, along with all the other questions. We’ll plan to address it later on or during our Q&A session.”

 

This was acceptable to everyone, but I hesitated before adding it to the list. The classic method of “parking” the topic would be to write it as it was expressed. However, I didn’t want the audience to stare at “How come your software sucks so bad and costs so much?” for the balance of the meeting. A slightly distilled version like, “software sucks, costs so much” wouldn’t improve things.

 

I recalled a lesson I’d learned in a training session that discussed reducing questions to their “Neutral Pillars,” which is a terrific method of capturing an idea with a positive spin.

 

I applied the Neutral Pillars approach and wrote down, “Quality and Value” on the whiteboard. Much better: a bit of verbal aikido!

 

 

Moral: Park hostile (and Stupid) questions and use Neutral Pillars!

 

Discussion: Note that if I had written down the question verbatim or distilled it, the audience would be seeing that text the balance of the demo. Instead, I identified two relevant Neutral Pillars, translating “software sucks so bad” to “Quality,” and “costs so much” to “Value.”

 

These were the words the audience saw on the whiteboard Parking Lot for the balance of the meeting. Much better!

 

 

Want more bitesize engaging stories and lessons learned? See my new book “Suspending Disbelief!”

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

And you’ll find more details on when and how to elegantly and effectively park questions in Chapter 8 “Managing Time and Questions” of Great Demo! here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/