Dealing with "Just Show Me a Demo?" Seven (Gentle, But Firm) Methods to Move into Discovery

Far too often, prospects demand, “Just show me a demo…” when we know the correct approach is to invest, mutually, in a substantive discovery conversation. But how do we convince prospects to make this change? Here are seven ideas:

Prospect says, “Just show me a demo…”

 

1.     You respond, “Terrific! Let’s schedule eight hours for the demo, because it will take that long to go through our offering. Or we could invest thirty minutes to discuss your situation so that we can focus on what is most important for you and the resulting demo will likely last well under an hour.”

 

2.     You offer, “You are investing a great deal of time and energy in finding and implementing a new system. Let’s ensure that investment pays off for you by helping us understand your situation/goals/needs/etc. fully before we present a demo.”

 

3.     You say, “Oh! This is exactly like having a severe headache and going to the doctor and the doctor says, ‘You have a headache? Great! Go down to the pharmacy and try each of the 1000 drugs we offer and then let me know which one works best…!’ We can continue on that pathway or, if you allow me to be your ‘physician’, I can ask questions that enable an accurate diagnosis and a focused demo prescription.”

 

4.     You respond, “I’m presuming you don’t want to pay for capabilities that you don’t need so instead of guessing, and likely wasting your time and mine, let’s invest a few minutes to discuss your actual needs. The demo can then focus specifically on those capabilities.”

 

5.     You offer, “If I were a doctor, would you prefer that I grab a scalpel and open you up or would you prefer that I ask a few questions first?”

 

6.     You counter, “Imagine you just sat down for a meal in a nice restaurant and I’m your waiter. Should I simply guess what you might want to eat and start bringing out dishes or would you want me to offer you a menu?”

 

7.     (My favorite!) You say, “Fine…” and move (gently but firmly) into a Vision Generation Demo both satisfies your prospect’s desire to “see what’s possible” while moving delightfully into a discovery conversation. (See Chapter 11 in Great Demo!)

 

Any other ideas to suggest?