Dealing with "Just Show Me a Demo?" Seven 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 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 your demo, because that’s what it will take to go through our offering. Or we could invest thirty minutes to discuss your situation so that we can focus on what’s important for you. 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 one thousand 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 discuss your situation to 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 surgeon, would you want me to 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 want to eat and start bringing out dishes or would you want me to offer you a menu?”

 

(“And while you’re waiting, we’ll play music and try to guess what music you like. Let’s start with heavy metal/baroque/pure percussion/Grateful Dead ‘space’ etc.”)

 

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

 

And we can use The Menu Approach to focus on the topics of highest interest for your prospect (also in Chapter 11 in Great Demo!)!

 

Any other ideas to suggest?