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They want to know how your products and services will help make them more productive, competitive and profitable. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less.
You’re not there to teach your prospect about your software. Their understanding your software isn’t the mark of an effective demonstration. It’s not an educational session in the traditional sense. You’re presenting your software for the sole purpose of providing them with a vision of how it can improve their company. That’s it.
An effective demonstration “bridges” the gap between how the prospect does things today and how your product will help them do it faster, better or cheaper in the future.
The Bridge Analogy
An effective demonstration means they discover how your software will help them, not how it works!
Attendee Checklist
Idea - Create an attendee checklist and send it to your sponsor as "homework" ahead of big meetings.
If you are given the opportunity to perform Discovery interviews on-site, try to hold your meetings with people in their normal working environment.
“If it was completely up to you, what three things would you change about your existing system?” Then ask, “What are the three best things about your existing system?” If appropriate, ask, “What are the three things you’d like demonstrated when I come back?” Basically,
“Why are you better than your competitor?”
Sales Enablement Asset: Make an elevator pitch that is MEMORIZED versus each competitor.
Process flows are key to a successful demonstration. They’re the routines of the business world. Ignore them and your demonstration will inevitably fail. Exploit them and your demonstration will soar.
The first is the type your competitor will attempt to highlight. It may be product or service related.
BRIDGE-BUILDING The “Bridge-Building” concept is the most important fundamental you can learn about demonstrating. This concept involves bridging the mental gap between how your prospect performs their job today and how they’ll perform it with your software in the future.
Bridge-Building is the essential goal of demo. You want the prospect to envision how they do their job today and envision how they will do it with DD in the future. The gap = pain.
It’s a habit they’ve formed over a great deal of time. Their existing methods have the powerful force of inertia behind them.
In all likelihood, change is being forced on your prospect.
Think of a deep canyon. At the beginning of the demonstration your prospect is on one side of the canyon (with their software or solution). You’re asking them to move to the other side (to your software). The prospect knows there’s good reason to cross this canyon (compelling event). However, they’re not very excited about it (fear of change).
Bridge Diagram
THE TELL-SHOW-TELL TECHNIQUE
Critical Skill: The Tell-Show-Tell Technique
The concept is simple. It’s the ability to tell the prospect what they’re about to see, show them what you just told them they’d see and finally, tell them what they just saw.
You demonstrated a single feature of your software and combined it with a single benefit for the prospect. This technique makes it easier for the prospect to absorb your feature along with its corresponding benefit.
ENGAGING
Demo Skill: Engaging
demonstration. But whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of challenging your audience with comments like, “Boy, are you all quiet!” Keep in mind, it’s not their problem they’re quiet…it’s yours.
by engaging in the demonstration, your prospect will begin to assume some ownership of the information being presented.
“Y’all need to pay attention to this next section of the demonstration. I’m gonna show you how I can take an order over the telephone. Then, at the end of this session, I’m gonna ask you a few questions.”
Engaging: Technique 1
“Did anyone see what I did that improves customer service?”
After demonstrating a process or feature, I ask an individual (by name) if she can see how this feature will benefit her. To keep from becoming redundant, I ask these temperature questions in many forms. Some other examples include, “Karen, does this make sense to you?” or “Karen, can you see how your people will use this to save time?” In addition to engaging the audience, these questions help me gauge how my demonstration is going.
Engaging: Technique 2
What you want to do is discuss them a bit before you demonstrate your solution to the problem. Pour a little gas on the fire before you put it out! “Karen, you explained that you have trouble entering orders over the telephone when some of the products the customer needs aren’t in stock. You don’t really have a quick way of entering that information. Is this correct?” Karen replies, “That’s right. It’s driven me crazy as long as I’ve been here!” Although it may not sound engaging, Karen is now paying attention. She also knows, as does everybody else in the room, you listened to her during the
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Engaging: Technique 3
Finally, one of the simplest but best ways to engage the prospect is to relate to them. Whenever possible during your demonstration, incorporate examples from their world.
TRUST
Skill: Establishing Trust
The best way to build trust is by establishing credibility. This is best done through knowledge of their business, knowledge of your software, confidence, customer references and, most important, your ability to build a Demonstration Bridge.
natural law to gain credibility and trust
Nothing builds confidence more than the way you address their questions. Notice I said address, not answer.
It's the way you address their questions... not the way you answer the questions.
Here’s what I do. I pause, think for a moment and then respond honestly with, “I’m really not sure. I have a suspicion I know, but I’d prefer to provide you with a precise answer. Would it be ok if I write that one down and follow-up with you in a day or two? Now, to make sure I’ve got it right, let me repeat the question.”
What to say when you don't know the answer to a question.
THEME DEMONSTRATING Every demonstration or presentation, no matter how short or long, needs a theme. Why? Prospects like organization, form and structure.
Skill: Establishing a theme
Your entire demonstration should wrap around your theme. Here are a couple suggestions: Introduce it when you open the demonstration. Even if it is only a 30 minute web demo, always open with a theme. Lace your theme into as many aspects of your initial presentation as possible. Tie the value (the benefits) of what you are showing back to that theme, helping to reinforce it. A theme should differentiate you from your competition, thus becoming a competitive advantage. Don’t pick a theme you can’t build a story around. Pick a theme you’re personally passionate about.
How to build & reinforce a theme. DD Themes
1. Visibility
2. Ease of Use / Time to Value
EFFECTIVE TIME UTILIZATION
Skill: Effective Time Utilization
If your demonstration is longer than 90 minutes, you will need to plan on breaks.
THE FIELD BY FIELDER
What will help them is an understanding of how they’ll use the system on a day-to-day basis and how streamlining existing tasks will help them get their jobs done. They want to understand how software features they can relate to can add to their company’s bottom line. They want to hear how you can solve some of the problems and aggravations they face today. They want to know if you can take them forward. They don’t want to hear about file maintenance and administrative capabilities!
The first is simply a lack of comfort. The act of reading screens (or slides) is a very common error when you feel uncomfortable with your material.
The second common cause behind the crime is demonstrating without a plan.
DATA DUMP
Data dumping has a number of causes.
Second, data dumping comes from a lack of proper preparation.
Third, data dumping can be a byproduct of sheer excitement.
Finally, data dumping is caused by not following a feature with a benefit.
WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST FINISH THAT THOUGHT?
This crime is driven by a fear that you won’t have another opportunity to show them other important features later on in the demonstration or presentation.
“Man, this order-entry system is really complicated!”
It’s easy to jump from one point to another in the software and there can be any number of ways to accomplish a single task. That flexibility is great for the user, but can be very distracting during a presentation. Avoid the trap of meandering through the software. Create a plan for your demonstration or presentation and stick to it. Give the prospect a clear picture of how they’ll use the software and how they’ll benefit from the software.
Which by the way…
Cues that you're meandering
I LOVE THIS PART OF OUR SOFTWARE
TEACHING VERSUS DEMONSTRATING
