Heading to DemoFEST West? Stop By and Say Hi!

I’ll be hanging out in the Partners area (Pacific Gallery on the 5th Floor) – please drop by!

 

I’d be happy to chat, answer questions on the methodologies, explore new ideas, and just catch up. While I’m not scheduled to present, I’ll be sure to offer my observations, bon mots, and occasional mote of wisdom.

 

Additionally, bring your copy of Great Demo!, Doing Discovery, or both books and I’d be honored to scrawl my mark. Alternatively, if you’d like a signed copy, I should have signed copies available for you.

 

And for those of you perusing a prerelease copy of Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales and Presales Stories (and Lessons Learned), I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback!

 

You can register for DemoFESTx West here: https://goconsensus.com/demofestx/demofestx-west-coast-2025/ 

We Eat First with Our Eyes: With Food AND Demos

How you present software can be as important as what you present.

 

 

“We eat first with our eyes.”

– Apicius

 

 

On a business trip, my colleague and I went out to lunch, grabbed a table and ordered our food. 

 

A few minutes later plates were plopped down in front of us. We poked at the food, examining what we’d been served, then started eating. The fare was fine, but nothing remarkable. 

 

Later that week, we were at a table in an elegant restaurant, celebrating a sale with our customer. We’d ordered dinner and were enjoying drinks when the first dish arrived. 

 

The waiter placed it in front of my colleague and then carefully rotated the plate to a position that made it look most appealing. The waiter then explained, “What you are looking at here is your salmon filet, topped with the chef’s special butter-cream-herb sauce.” 

 

We examined the plate more carefully as the waiter continued, “The salmon was brought in just this morning, right off the boat. The butter was churned this morning as well, from cream provided by our farm next door. And the herbs were snipped just minutes ago from the garden right outside your window – you can see it just there! The sautéed vegetables were harvested moments ago, as well – they are exquisitely fresh and flavorful. Enjoy!”

 

As we ate, we recalled the waiter’s words, tasting and savoring each bite. “Wow!” exclaimed my colleague, “That’s really delicious…!” 

 

Compare these two approaches. Which was more effective?

 

 

Moral: Bring your software screens to life in a similar manner!

 

You’ll find many more tips and validated practices in Great Demo!

 

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

“Yes, But” = ?

 

“You’ve got a big fat butt!” exclaimed my roleplay partner Steve, triumphantly.

 

We were at a sales kickoff training session where the speaker exhorted us to change our typical “Yes, but…” responses in discussions to “Yes, and…” He pointed out that when most people hear “Yes, but…” what they are really hearing is “No.”

 

He said, “Yes, and…” is a stronger approach to offering a response, particularly when your reply represents a different opinion, direction, or guidance. He noted that comedians skilled in improv always build on their colleagues’ previous ideas. “Yes, and…” is a terrific way to accomplish this.

 

The speaker used a simple and ultimately very effective way to teach us the “Yes, and…” alternative. He paired us up, instructed us to choose a discussion topic, and told us to take opposing views.

 

“In your dialog,” he said, “any time you hear, ‘Yes, but…’ from your partner you need to yell, ‘You’ve got a big fat butt!’”

 

It didn’t long before people were shouting, “You’ve got a big fat butt!” across the venue, along with a lot of laughter. 

 

The training worked. I believe that nearly all of us who attended have been careful to use the “Yes, and…” approach ever since.

 

Moral: There’s a lot we can learn from improv!

 

Teaser: This is an example story from my upcoming new book, “Suspending Disbelief: A Collection of Sales and Presales Stories (and Lessons Learned)

How Are Typical Demos Like an Awful Cooking Class? How Do YOURS Compare?

 

Imagine you’ve signed up for an in-person cooking class experience…

 

You’ve been told you’ll be following a recipe to create a famous, delicious dish. 

 

You arrive at the cooking school and are shown to a workstation with a large cutting board, knives, bowls, spoons, and other tools. There is a large collection of various ingredients laid out as well. 

 

The class starts with the chef directing you review the tools and organize them in accord with your personal preferences. You’re not sure what you need, however, because you don’t yet know what you’re making! 

 

Next, you are told to select the ingredients you’d like to use. You are confused and you ask, “Which ones will we need?” The chef responds, “Hang on, we’ll get there soon!”

 

You’re directed to wash lettuce, chop onions, dice peppers, mix spices, grind meat, grate cheese, smash tomatoes, shell peas… And you’re getting frustrated because you still have no idea what you’re making!

 

This process continues for the full three hours of the class. At the end of the allotted time, you are surrounded by bowls of ingredients, all of which have been carefully prepared in accord with the chef’s specific instructions, but you still have no idea how they will be combined.

 

As the clock strikes the top of the hour, the chef says, “Well, that’s it – we’re out of time! Any questions?” 

 

Would you recommend this cooking class to your colleagues and friends? Nope!

 

And that’s what a typical demo looks and feels like!

 

In real life, consider how successful cooking classes and programs begin: They show you the completed dish, tantalizingly displayed and ready to serve. It looks delicious! The chef engages you right from the very start by showing you the end result, the end deliverable. The chef invites you to participate, saying, “We’ll be making this fabulous dish today – doesn’t it look terrific?

 

Do the Last Thing First: That’s a Great Demo!

 

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

Data – Information – Knowledge – Wisdom: Where Are You on This Spectrum for Demos?

 

Here’s an example of the DIKW progression – contemplate crossing a small lake in the winter:

 

• Data: The temperature is below freezing.
• Information: There is a layer of ice across the surface of the lake.
• Knowledge: The ice might be too thin to walk across.
• Wisdom: Let’s measure the thickness in several spots to make sure the ice will support our weight.
• Additional Wisdom: And let’s carry self-rescue equipment in case there is a thin spot where we might break through.
• Deep Wisdom: My wife says to me, “You go across first and then report back!”

And here’s an example regarding software demos:

• Data: Follows the standard script (Great Demo! Level 1).
• Information: Customizes based on discovery (Great Demo! Levels 2-3).
• Knowledge: Communicates tangible value, does both Vision Generation and Technical Proof Demos, manages questions, applies Biased Questions, Reengineers Vision, and applies effective storytelling (Great Demo! Levels 4-8).
• Wisdom: Integrates, aligns, and leverages these skills into a cohesive demo methodology (Great Demo! Levels 9-10). 

Where are you on this spectrum?

 

Uplevel your DIKW with Great Demo! Training and other Resources! https://GreatDemo.com

Are You in Software Presales or Sales? We Need Your Insights!

The fine folks at Saleo are running an important survey of sales and presales demo practices: Please provide your input! Here’s their description:

 

“We’re compiling the definitive software demo benchmark report and want to hear from professionals like you. The survey should take just 5 minutes, and your input will help shape key industry insights.

Share your experience with:

📅 Workload and preptime around demos
💻 Leading methods of demo delivery
📈 Measuring demo success and analytics
✨ And more

As a bonus: 20 respondents will be randomly selected to snag a $25 Visa gift card as a thank-you.

Share your thoughts here:  https://h6kq7zlpn98.typeform.com/to/Hr2gXjZO#source=cohan

Participants will receive an early copy of the benchmark report!”

Lessons Learned Writing Books about Sales and Presales

If you are thinking of drafting a book, or in the process of writing a book, this episode is for you!

 

In this podcast, host Evgeniy Kharam interviews Peter E. Cohan – the author of Great Demo! and Doing Discovery – to explore what it takes to draft, publish, and revise successful business books.

 

In this twenty-seven-minute discussion, we explored:

 

00:01   Intros

00:02   Why write Great Demo! – what was the inspiration?

00:04   Developing, testing, tuning, and hardening the new approach

00:05   Who should consume the book? “Anyone who moves a mouse…”

00:06   Traditional vs modern routes to publishing

00:08   Strategies for drafting content – gush vs structured approach

00:10   Book release strategies and marketing

00:11   How books can drive training

00:12   Why write a second edition – how books can age 

00:14   Personal “voice;” proofing, and copyediting; production strategies; improving your voice

00:16   Time (mis)management and breathers while drafting

00:17   How do you deal with rejection? (Poorly!)

00:18   Embracing feedback

00:19   How long should your book be, and in what formats?

00:20   Fundamentals vs advanced topics

00:22   Will the Third Edition be the final one?

00:23   Evergreening your book: strategies for updating and providing supplementary material

00:25   How do you know when you are done?

 

You can find the podcast here: https://www.security-architecture.org/episode/cie082-peter-cohan

 

And if you are working on a book now or contemplating it, feel free to contact me at PCohan@GreatDemo.com! 

 

Enjoy!

Can AI Agents Do Effective Discovery?

Can an AI agent evince real curiosity? Can an AI agent show real empathy? Can an AI agent make it a real conversation?

 

Not yet... 

 

Can an AI agent detect frustration, anger, sadness, loss, joy, happiness, relief, and other important human emotions? Can an AI agent respond appropriately to these emotions?

 

Not yet... But perhaps soon.

 

So, one next major logical step could be buyers' AI agents interacting with vendors' AI agents, on behalf of their humans, seeking (hopefully) optimized win-win outcomes.

 

In this case, our jobs may move from human-to-human interactions to training, testing, and improving our respective AI agents!

 

We have a similar example, perhaps, in the change from individual, piece-by-piece hand production to automated production lines. Worker’s jobs changed from making each article to managing the production lines, with a loss of traditional jobs due to automation. But other jobs appeared, including designing, implementing, testing, troubleshooting, and improving these same production lines.

 

Thoughts?

AI and Humans: Perhaps Not So Different?

 

Someone recently posted that they “had watched twenty demos” and dispensed advice based on this limited experience.

 

I thought, “Oh, that’s so cute: twenty demos. I’ve seen and analyzed literally thousands of software demos!”

 

And I suddenly realized that AI and humans both base their analyses on the training sets that we have ingested. In the case of humans, we phrase this as, “In my experience…”

 

In both cases, the depth, breadth, and key attributes of our mutual training sets determine the nature and accuracy of our outputs, in addition to our analytical methods!

Lunch and Learn Demos: A Potent Practice

 

"There are no wrong turns, only unexpected paths."

– Mark Nepo

 

What’s in this article for you?

 

-       How to prepare your Lunch and Learn demos

-       Starting your sessions

-       Executing your sessions

-       Additional tips

 

Lunch and Learn demo meetings are terrific vehicles for securing renewals and driving expansion.

 

It can take enormous effort and energy to complete your initial order with a customer. As the incumbent vendor, growing your product footprint should be much easier. Lunch and Learn sessions are one excellent method to achieve this.

 

Read more here! https://greatdemo.com/lunch-and-learn-demos-a-potent-practice/ 

Signing and Signed Great Demo! and Doing Discovery at DemoFESTx West Coast

Want your copy of Great Demo! and/or Doing Discovery signed by the author? Or would you like to acquire a signed copy while you are there?

 

Bring your copy of either or both books to DemoFESTx West in San Francisco on February 20 and I’d be honored to scrawl my mark. Alternatively, if you’d like a signed copy of either or both, I’ll have signed copies available for you!

 

Drop by and say “Hello!” I’d be happy to chat, answer questions on the methodologies, explore new ideas, and just catch up. While I’m not scheduled to present, I’ll be sure to offer my observations, bon mots, and occasional mote of wisdom.

 

And, there may be a new book coming, as well!

People Talk about Learning from One’s Mistakes, But…

People are always talking about learning from one’s mistakes, and this is a good strategy.

 

But wouldn’t it be better to learn from other peoples’ mistakes, instead, so that you can avoid making those mistakes?

Does LinkedIn Suffer from Brandolini’s Law?

“Brandolini's law, also known as the bulls**t asymmetry principle, is an internet adage coined in 2013 by Alberto Brandolini, an Italian programmer, that emphasizes the effort of debunking misinformation in comparison to the relative ease of creating it in the first place. The law states:

 

‘The amount of energy needed to refute bulls**t is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.’

 

The rise of easy popularization of ideas through the internet has greatly increased the relevant examples, but the asymmetry principle itself has long been recognized.”

– Wikipedia ( ** added by me)

 

I’d suggest Brandolini’s Law also applies to the enormous number of platitudes and generalizations that are popular posts today.

What do you think?