Wednesday, September 23, 2026

What’s the Value of Better Demos? Part 3: Waste Avoidance!

 

What constitutes a “wasted” demo? 

 

1.        Stunningly awful Harbor Tour demos

2.        "Overview” demos that go nowhere

3.        Demos that result in No Decision outcomes

4.        Unnecessary repeated demos

5.        Traditional demos delivered to large, unqualified audiences

6.        Any “deep dive” demo presented to an executive

7.        Demos that should have been sufficient to close the business that ended up in a POC or POV

8.        Nearly all “end-to-end”, “show-them-the-full-range-of-our-offerings” demos

 

It is interesting but not surprising to note that this list is largely comprised of demos delivered without sufficient discovery. This suggests that one practical solution is to invest in improving the team’s discovery skills. 

 

Archimedes said, “Give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world.” This could be rephrased for sales as, “Give me superior discovery skills, and a few good leads, and I will move the SaaS world!”

 

If you can avoid wasted demos, you’ll enjoy some terrific gains.

 

 

Resources:

 

The Gruesome Anatomy of a Typical One-Hour Web Overview Demonstration

https://greatdemo.com/the-anatomy-of-a-typical-web-overview-demonstration/ 

 

Great Demo! Third Edition

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

 

Doing Discovery:

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

 

Training

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

 

Supporting Articles

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

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