Demo Skills Level 10 – Methodology!

 

What’s important about “methodology”? A great deal!

 

A methodology is an integrated, coherent suite of skills that interconnect, leverage and support one another, enabling process, playbooks, coordinated motions, consistency, tracking, measurement, and structured coaching. Methodology addresses four key questions:

 

1.     Why do things a certain way.

2.     What should be done.

3.     How to execute specific skills: explicit instructions.

4.     When to apply the skills and in what order.

 

An Analogy: Let’s Build a House!

 

Contemplate construction skills: The ability to hammer nails, drill holes, saw wood, pour cement, connect wiring, plumb sinks, install drywall, paint, etc.

 

Each of these skills takes time to learn and master.

 

Building a house requires these skills and coordinated timing and flow.

 

In order to know what to build, an architect generates plans that include pages for the foundation, framing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, painting, cabinetry, and more.

 

The contractor takes the plans and coordinates the timing for each step: That’s the methodology of construction!

 

You can’t install wiring until the framing is in place, but you also need to do the electrical before internal drywall.

 

Imagine the disaster if a concrete foundation is poured and then the contractor realizes that plumbing and electrical conduits should have been installed first!

 

Methodology is what coordinates individual skills with the correct timing and flow.

 

Methodology enables skills to be taught and practiced, both individually and as integrated components.  In Great Demo! methodology, for example, Informal Success Stories feed Vision Generation Demos and associated Menus, supporting a variety of demo scenarios (including “just show me a demo” requests from prospects, Executive Briefing Center demos, demos for 3^rd parties, and many more). 

 

The application of the Inverted Pyramid structure in Great Demo! delivery is another example of methodology vs individual skills, guiding us to present the most important content early in our demos, followed by inviting our prospects to Peel Back the Layers as deeply as they desire. The Inverted Pyramid arrangement tells us why, what, how, and when to present information in a demo.

 

Fascinatingly, the VP of Enablement of one of our Great Demo! customers noted that, “Methodology enables enablement…!” An insightful and provocative perspective!

 

Measurement(s) for Achieving Level 10 – Methodology Implementation:

 

A)    Operates as a team or organization as opposed to individuals.

B)    Establishes objectives and tracks metrics to improve team performance and efficiency.

C)    Actively evolves and tunes the methodology in accord with company objectives, market changes, and culture.

 

Organizations that achieve Level 10 Methodology Implementation enjoy remarkable scaling and amplification metrics and establish substantial competitive advantages vs their peers.

 

 

 

Explore the Articles on our website for guidance on these individual topics, including:

 

-       Informal Success Stories:

https://greatdemo.com/fabulous-fuel-for-sales-presales-and-customer-success-the-incredible-utility-of-informal-success-stories/

 

-       The Menu Approach:

https://greatdemo.com/the-menu-approach-a-truly-terrific-demo-self-rescue-technique-3/

 

-       Demos for Executives:

https://greatdemo.com/demos-for-executives-a-never-stop-learning-article/ 

 

-       Presales Metrics:

https://greatdemo.com/presales-metrics-what-to-measure-and-why-2/ 

 

See the Third Edition of Great Demo! and Doing Discovery for the full methodologies!

 

Great Demo! Third Edition:

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

 

Doing Discovery:

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

 

Demo Skills Level 10 – Demo Assets!

 

What is “Demo Capital” and what does it enable?

 

Demo Capital supports amplification of demo and discovery best practices!

 

Level 10 is really an organizational objective. While one person can collect and leverage experiences, stories, and other demonstration capital and assets, contemplate what a team can amass with the appropriate guidance and support systems.

 

As presales, sales, and customer success practitioners mature, they recognize the importance of altruism and mutual enablement. Sharing what has worked and not worked with their peers generates a virtuous feedback loop, enabling individuals to tap into the broader experiences of the team.

 

These positive feedback loops often start informally with post-demo vendor team discussions of “What went well?” “What didn’t go so well?” and “What could we have done better or differently?” Formalizing this process to make post-demo reviews a structured, regular habit is a key indicator of Level 10 practice.

 

Informal Success Stories are part of the lifeblood of an vendor organization and are used by seasoned customer-facing folks as integral components of their processes. They provide the foundation materials for the Menu Approach, Vision Generation Demonstrations, Biased Questions, Vision Reengineering, and storytelling. 

 

Application of these in customer-facing situations often starts with a phrase such as, “Let me share how another customer, very similar to you, solved this…” The balance of the story (often a “Hero’s Journey”) describes how your customer’s challenges were overcome by using your offering.

 

Now, imagine a room of fifty presales, sales, and customer success team members at an annual kickoff meeting. Each person has been asked to document a customer success story that they personally experienced: just one story each. Fifteen minutes later they send those stories to an enablement person who organizes them into a library. Suddenly, everyone has forty-nine new success stories to draw from and use in their sales, presales, and customer success efforts.

 

That’s a nearly fifty-fold amplification effect in a quarter of an hour!

 

Additionally, these success stories are terrific examples of what good, well-qualified prospects look like, representing high product “fit” with respect to prospect needs and wants, enabling happier customers and reducing churn.

 

Next, collect and share particularly compelling Illustrations, successful Menus, Biased Questions and examples of Vision Reengineering. These valuable demo assets can and should be leveraged to accelerate onboarding, upskilling, and advancing your team’s overall level of execution.

 

Organizations that achieve Level 10 enjoy remarkable amplification and acceleration of sales, presales, and customer success processes while rather dramatically reducing the number of wasted demos and No Decision outcomes. They become organizations that high-performing customer-facing people want to join!

 

Individual Measurement(s) for Achieving Level 10:

 

A)    Completes regular, structured post-demo reviews.

B)    Submits Informal Success Stories, Illustrations, Menus, and other demo assets into a team or corporate library.

C)    Bonus for serving as a mentor to others.

 

Organizational Measurement(s) for Achieving Level 10:

 

A)    Captures the key output of regular, structured post-demo reviews.

B)    Collects, curates, and distributes Informal Success Stories, Illustrations, Menus, and other demo assets.

C)    Implements and applies consistent feedback loops to drive a constant practice of improvement.

 

Pros:

 

-       Amplifies and scales across your entire customer-facing team.

-       Generates, attracts, develops, and retains high-performing staff, mentors, and front-line managers.

 

Cons:

 

-       Requires personnel tasked to establish, develop, and maintain supporting processes and systems.

 

Organizational Grade: A+

 

 

 

Explore the Articles on our website for guidance on these individual topics, including:

 

-       The Menu Approach:

https://greatdemo.com/the-menu-approach-a-truly-terrific-demo-self-rescue-technique-3/

 

-       Informal Success Stories:

https://greatdemo.com/fabulous-fuel-for-sales-presales-and-customer-success-the-incredible-utility-of-informal-success-stories/

 

-       Demo Capital:

https://greatdemo.com/demo-capital-underutilized-undervalued-and-often-insufficient/

 

See the Third Edition of Great Demo! and Doing Discovery for the full methodologies!

 

Great Demo! Third Edition:

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

 

Doing Discovery:

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

Demo Skills Level 9 – Adapts Across a Broad Range of Demo Scenarios

 

How adept are you with these?

 

-       Demos to the 5 Technology Adoption Curve Populations

-       “Burn Victims”

-       Executive Briefing Centers

-       New Products and New Categories

-       Transactional and High Velocity Sales Cycles

-       Expansion Opportunities

-       Tradeshows

-       Lunch and Learn Sessions

-       Internal Players, Third Parties, and Analysts

-       Channel Partners and Resellers

-       Demos at Conferences

-       Demos to Individuals

-       Small Groups (e.g., 2-10 participants)

-       Large Groups (11-50 people

-       Huge Groups (100s)

-       And more!

 

One of the key ideas in Great Demo! methodology is that there is no such thing as “one demo fits all prospects.” 

 

A basic Great Demo! principle is to align your demo with each of your prospect’s specific job titles. A CRO has different requirements than a VP of sales, whose needs are different from the those of front-line managers, who also have distinct requirements vs their salespeople staff. 

 

Add presales players to the mix and you have another set of specific needs and wants. Include marketing, professional services, and customer success, and your complexity increases.

 

One demo does not fit all prospect job titles.

 

Similarly, there are differences across a broad range of other prospect dimensions that need to be taken into account in your demos:

 

-       Technology Adoption Curve: Each category has specific needs, desires, and differing willingness to accept risk. A technology demo (or painful Harbor Tour) may actually be preferred by some Innovators. Conversely, the Early Majority will want extensive discovery followed by fairly detailed demos of the functionality they plan to use. The Late Majority will require “comprehensive” demos as well deeper additional forms of proof (e.g., POCs and POVs).

 

-       “Burn Victims”: These are prospects that suffered a failed implementation or the inability to achieve a predicted ROI. Discovery and demos for this group will require gaining a clear understanding of what happened previously along with demonstrated proof that these Burn Victims won’t endure the same result again.

 

-       Executive Briefing Centers (EBCs): These demos need to educate prospect leadership and staff about possibilities and solutions for the future. They leverage Vision Generation Demos, the Menu Approach, and often include substantial Vision Reengineering.

 

-       New Products and New Categories: Success with these demos requires a clear understanding of the Technology Adoption Curve as it applies to discovery and demos.

 

-       Transactional and High Velocity Sales Cycles: How do you execute sufficient discovery and deliver compelling demos in a highly transactional mode?

 

-       Expansion Opportunities: How do you leverage your position as the incumbent vendor to expand your solution footprint?

 

-       Lunch and Learn Sessions: What is the best way to execute Lunch and Learn demos and similar events? Skilled practitioners find success applying the Menu Approach and Vision Generation Demos for these opportunities.

 

-       Tradeshows: The perfect environment to apply the Menu Approach and Vison Generation Demos!

 

And that’s just the visible portion of the iceberg. You can (and should!) apply Great Demo! principles and skills for demos to internal players, third parties, and analysts. Vendors that sell through channel partners or resellers represent additional dimensions.

 

If you mentally revisit Level 1 where new hires are learning the “standard” demo, you’ll realize that this is where the trouble begins! Modifying your onboarding training to embrace Great Demo! and Doing Discovery practices will both accelerate time-to-competency and eliminate the need to retrain staff.

 

Putting it all together takes training, experience, practice, and coaching. Read A Prospect’s Tale for a humorous, yet pragmatic story that illustrates what not to do and, more importantly, what success looks like (The last story in Suspending Disbelief)!

 

Measurement(s) for Achieving Level 9:

 

-       Applies Great Demo! and Doing Discovery methodologies across the full range of demo situations you encounter.

 

Pros:

 

-       Embraces a broad set of demo scenarios confidently.

-       Reduces onboarding time.

 

Cons:

 

-       Requires extensive personal experience, training, and coaching.

 

Grade: A+

 

 

 

Explore the Articles on our website for guidance on these individual topics, including:

 

-       Technology Adoption Curve populations:

https://greatdemo.com/discovery-and-demos-across-technology-adoption-curve/ 

 

-       The Menu Approach:

https://greatdemo.com/the-menu-approach-a-truly-terrific-demo-self-rescue-technique-3/

 

-       Demos for Executives:

https://greatdemo.com/demos-for-executives-a-never-stop-learning-article/ 

 

-       Transactional Sales Cycles:

https://greatdemo.com/discovery-and-demos-for-transactional-sales-cycles-when-more-must-be-less-and-less-more/

 

-       The Advantages of the Incumbent Vendor:

https://greatdemo.com/the-advantages-of-the-incumbent-vendor/

 

-       Expansion and Renewal Scenarios:

https://greatdemo.com/expansion-and-renewal-demos/

 

-       Lunch and Learn Sessions:

https://greatdemo.com/lunch-and-learn-demos-a-potent-practice/ 

 

 

See the Third Edition of Great Demo! and Doing Discovery for the full methodologies!

 

Great Demo! Third Edition:

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