"Life is too short for you to be the caretaker of the wrong details."
– Alexandra Stoddard
I watched a ninety-minute demo recording and noted two rather astonishing things…
Astonishing Thing Number One:
Approximately half of the demo was consumed by setup and configuration items, including setting up the environment, configuring the application, creating and editing templates, forms, reports, dashboards, etc.
This wasn’t astonishing on its own, perhaps, until…
Astonishing Thing Number Two:
At the end of all this setup activity the vendor said proudly, “Of course, you won’t have to do any of this. We take care of it during implementation. It’s all done by our Professional Services team…”
Wait. What did you say?
You just spent forty-five minutes showing stuff your prospect will never need to use? (Enter your choice of an appropriate exclamation of surprise and astonishment here ______.)
But wait, there’s more: A bonus Astonishing Thing!
I called the presales manager who had sent me the recording and asked, “Why did half of the demo present capabilities that your prospect will never use?”
They responded, “Oh! We’ve been told that these are key differentiators and that we must include them in every demo!”
Moral: Don’t take guidance from the Sales Prevention Team!
Resources:
Stunningly Awful Demos – The Painful Irrelevance of Setup Mode
https://greatdemo.com/stunningly-awful-demos-the-painful-irrelevance-of-setup-mode/
Page 244 in Great Demo!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/
And see the stories in “Suspending Disbelief” for more gems!
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