Majority prospects need to see concrete solutions to their problems. They don’t react strongly to vision-of-the-future pitches. In many cases, you not only need to communicate the possible solutions to Majority prospects, you may also have to help them see the problems they face!
Next, where technology demos were sufficient for the prior categories, those in the Early Majority want to see proof of solutions to their problems. This is where Great Demo! methodology is particularly effective, providing a successful, validated approach that frequently satisfies the proof requirements of Early Majority prospects.
As you progress further into the Early Majority, you find that prospects demand short POCs, when previously a Technical Proof Demo was sufficient. Advancing still further into the category, you’ll receive requests for longer, detailed POCs and POVs. Later on, sometimes years after your initial customers purchased your fabulous new technology, prospects present you with RFPs and RFIs, followed by excruciatingly long evaluation, proof, and buying processes.
Applying Great Demo! principles can reduce the requirements and timelines for POCs as you move to the right, on the graph, from Early to Late Majority. That’s part of the purpose of a Technical Proof Demo: To prove as much as possible in the demonstration stage and reduce (or eliminate!) the need for POCs.
Another trait of being mired in the Chasm is that your No Decision rates change, rising dramatically from comparatively very few to far too many! Early Adopters and Innovators can often make (small) purchases rapidly, but the balance of the categories move like glaciers.
The Early Majority will frequently delay buying until they feel confident about the new technology’s pragmatic application and market acceptance. They need to see success with their perceived peers before moving forward with a purchase, and this could take many months or longer. They only are willing to implement mature, production-hardened software. It’s very unlikely that a Majority prospect will purchase a version 1.0 release!
Great Demo! Third Edition
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/
Parts 1, 2, and 3:
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