What’s the Value of Better Demos?

For the clueless, not a thing. (Yes, there are those who believe their demos are just fine, no reason to change or improve. Let them continue with that belief…!)

 

But for those who are awake and aware, better demos are exceptionally valuable!

 

On a per-prospect basis:

 

-       Getting the initial business vs a competitor

-       Achieving the order with the least expensive form of proof

-       Securing the renewal (vs churn)

-       Upselling, cross-selling, and expansion

-       Improving sales-stage conversion rates

-       Avoiding POCs/POVs and other evaluations

-       Avoiding No Decision outcomes

 

With respect to your metrics and KPIs:

 

-       Improving sales-stage conversion rates

-       Improving win rates

-       Reducing No Decision outcomes

-       Reducing rates of “wasted demos”

-       Increasing ARR numbers

-       Reducing cost-of-sales and cost-of-renewals

-       Reducing churn

 

With respect to a market, vertical, or channel:

 

-       Establishing market presence and expansion into new verticals

-       Increasing one’s market share and blocking competition

-       Enabling market dominance

-       Gaining rapid traction with a newly launched product

-       Leveraging the investment made in new releases

-       Enabling an effective channel strategy

-       Amplifying sales overall

 

For sales, presales, and customer success leadership:

 

-       Achieving your quarterly objectives

-       Achieving your annual objectives

-       Increasing your team’s efficiency and effectiveness

-       Investing in your team’s growth and development

-       Reducing onboarding and time-to-competency/time-to-readiness

 

For the individual presales, sales, and customer success practitioner:

 

-       The joy of knowing that it was your demo that got it done!

-       Acclamation from your colleagues

-       The associated commission or bonus from that order

-       Winning just one or two more opportunities – to make quota

-       Winning just one or two more opportunities – to move to the next commission level

-       Winning just one or two more opportunities – to go to “President’s Club”

-       Achieving personal growth and development milestones

-       Becoming a mentor to others

-       Progressing towards a promotion or moving towards management

 

So, how could we not pursue improving our demos?

 

Resources:

 

Great Demo! Third Edition

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

 

Training

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

 

Supporting Articles

https://greatdemo.com/learn/articles/ 

What’s the Difference Between “Assess” and “Asses”?

 

It’s just one “s”…!

 

That’s right, the difference between “assess” and “asses” is just one “s,” but it can make all the difference in the world, like the difference – and the outcome – of doing great discovery vs jumping into a harbor tour demo!

Book Review: “Seller Activity Is Not Buyer Movement”

 

“Suspending Disbelief is one of those sales books where a lot of the lessons may feel familiar until you experience them through the stories.

 

That’s what Peter Cohan does particularly well.

 

Instead of telling you not to skip discovery, over-demo, make assumptions about the buyer, or keep selling after someone is ready to buy, he lets you watch those behaviors play out and see the consequences. That makes the lessons much harder to forget.

 

“You Know You’ve Already Closed Me” particularly resonated with me. I’m a big believer in diagnosing before prescribing. When a buyer believes you genuinely understand their situation, you’ve created more commercial trust than another twenty minutes talking about your product ever could.

 

But “A Prospect’s Tale” was the standout.

 

What struck me wasn’t simply the contrast between bad discovery and good discovery. It was seeing the seller’s entire operating system from the buyer’s side.

 

With one vendor, there’s plenty of activity. Meetings, demos, proposals, a POC, follow-up. From inside a sales organization, that can look like deal progression.

 

From the buyer’s perspective, almost every additional activity is creating more friction.

 

That distinction matters.

Seller activity is not buyer movement.

 

The contrast with the second buying experience makes the point even stronger. Good discovery doesn’t just produce a better demo. It shapes a better buying process, helps the customer make the internal decision, and carries forward into implementation and value realization.

 

My biggest takeaway from the book is probably this.

 

The seller’s operating system eventually becomes the buyer’s experience.

 

That’s what makes these stories useful. They aren’t simply reminders about better sales technique. They force you to see familiar seller behavior through the eyes of the person sitting on the other side of the table.

 

Well worth the read for anyone in sales, presales, or sales leadership.

 

-       Scott S”

My Favorite Discovery Question…

 

“Here’s my favorite discovery question…”

 

We see posts like this frequently, but they lack context about when, how, where, and why to use the question!

 

When should it be asked? 

 

Should it be asked at the beginning of discovery, somewhere in the middle, or at the end? Is it a key element in a specific flow?

 

How should it be asked? 

 

Is it a simple question about demographics, or seeking to understand a prospect’s workflow, or uncovering key elements of value or culture? 

 

Is it best framed with an analogy, metaphor, or supported with a story?

 

Where should it be asked? 

 

Is it dependent on location or similar factors (e.g., face-to-face vs online)? In the prospect’s office vs a conference room or other location?

 

And why should it be asked? 

 

What is the purpose behind the question? Is it pure query or does it offer a quid pro quo?

 

Let’s take two examples of some of my favorite discovery questions. 

 

First is, “Anything else?”

 

Of course, this needs to follow a prospect’s response to another question! It is a great way to generate a list of wants and needs, using this simple prompt. (Thanks, Mike Bosworth, who first taught its use!)

 

Second example: “Is there anything I haven’t asked that I should be asking?”

 

Clearly, this is a question to use just before the Wrap Up section of your discovery call. It is a terrific way to uncover something you hadn’t considered! Alternatively, it may confirm that you’ve got everything your prospect wants you to know.

 

Methodology provides explicit guides to know Why, When, Where, What, and How to approach elements of discovery!

 

 

Example Methodology Resources:

 

“Anything else?” – See page 82 in Doing Discovery

 

“Is there anything I haven’t asked that I should be asking?” – See page 135

 

And for more on the importance and use of quid pro quo see page 199 in Doing Discovery here:

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

 

Great Demo! Third Edition:

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

 

Suspending Disbelief:

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

How Are Demo and Discovery Tips Like a Pile of LEGO Bricks?

 

We see posts like these all the time:

 

    “The 8 Discovery Questions My Best AEs Use”

 

    “My Favorite Demo Tip”

 

    “5 Discovery Must-Haves!”

 

    “Demo Tip of the Day!”

 

    “10 Top Discovery Questions”

 

Individual tips, skills, and short lists of questions are a lot like LEGO bricks. Used by themselves, they are nearly useless and occasionally painful (ever walk on one in your bare feet?).

 

And sticking a few tips and skills together won’t yield the desired result, either! 

 

Connect a few LEGO bricks and you’ll get a strange shape or random blob. Applying individual discovery questions or demo tips gives similar results!

 

Consider how you would go about building those famous LEGO sets, “Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon” (7,541 bricks) or “Titanic” (9,090 bricks).

 

Would you simply start slapping bricks together and see what happens? Likely not!

 

Instead, you follow a structured approach that tells you which subassemblies to build first, then how to build the sections, followed by how they are connected, all using detailed instructions of hundreds of steps.

 

Those instructions are the methodology for building and successfully completing LEGO sets.

 

The same principles are true for creating and delivering compelling demos, and when having discovery conversations. Combining a few tips, techniques, and unaligned skills may produce a painful result: A Millennium Falcon that can’t get off the ground or a Titanic that heads straight for the bottom, no iceberg needed!

 

Will employing a tip help? Maybe. But it you want to enjoy accelerated progress to best practices, pursue methodology.

 

Only by following a proven methodology can success be assured!

 

 

Example Methodology Resources:

 

Doing Discovery:

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

 

Great Demo! Third Edition:

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

 

Suspending Disbelief:

https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy 

 

An Amusing Example of Skills vs Methodology

 

Brushing your teeth!

 

Skills include:

 

1.     Opening the tube of toothpaste

2.     Putting toothpaste on the brush

3.     Brushing

4.     Rinsing the brush

 

Pretty simple!

 

But what happens if you change the order, such as:

 

1.     Rinsing the brush

2.     Brushing

3.     Putting toothpaste on the brush

4.     Opening the tube of toothpaste

 

Not quite as effective…!

 

And, of course, there are questions like:

 

-       What kind/brand of toothpaste?

-       How much toothpaste to use?

-       How long to brush?

-       Manual or electric?

-       What kind of motion(s) to use?

-       When do you need to replace the brush?

-       How much post-brushing rinsing to do?

 

Skills on their own are not enough.

 

A stepwise process helps but still leaves much unaddressed:

 

-       When should I brush?

-       What should I brush?

-       Where should I brush?

-       How should I brush?

-       Why should I brush?

 

It is methodology that provides the full set of answers!

 

Now, contemplate a set of demo skills vs a demonstration methodology: a set of skills on their own are not sufficient to answer the full set of questions. The result is ineffective demos.

 

And contemplate a set of discovery skills vs a discovery methodology: same challenge. The result is poor discovery.

 

Methodology provides the full set of answers!

 

(Now, don’t forget to brush your teeth…!)