By Saeed Khan
Have you ever sat through a product demo and then at the end of it thought, “Well that’s an hour of my life I’m never getting back.”
But almost certainly, the reason you attended the demo in the first place was that you thought (or expected) the product could help you in some way.
And yet, after the demo, none of that hopeful expectation was fulfilled. What happened? Why wasn’t the demo relevant?
Over the years, I’ve given a lot of demos, watched a lot of demos, and spent a lot of time working with others to try and create really compelling demos.
It’s easy to spot a really bad demo. In most cases, the demo is a beautiful example of “Show up and Throw up”. You know what I’m talking about. 🙂 The demonstrator is so enamored by the product, or simply doesn’t know any better, and spends the entire time talking about the product: it’s features and capabilities, it’s history and of course, it’s overall awesomeness.
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Before long, you’re thinking “Who cares?”, watching the clock, and hoping the demo ends as soon as possible. Want an analogy?
Imagine a first date where the other person spends the whole time talking about themselves. What are the chances of a second date? Enough said.
Demo-God Rule #1 – It’s about the problems not the product
Demos need to stop answering the question “What can the product do?” and start answering “What can the product do for you? (Mr. Customer)”
This simple change in thinking turns the message around 180 degrees. Think of the adage “People don’t need drills, they need holes.”
But even this change in perspective is not enough to make a compelling demo. People attend demos because they have specific problems they need to solve and they are assessing whether your product solves it better than other available options.
Demo-God Rule #2 – Demo at the right time in the sales cycle
A product demo should show how the product addresses the prospect’s specific needs. This can only happen once the sales rep has had the right discussions with the prospect, understood their needs and confirmed there is budget available. Ideally the demo is designed to show how the product can meet most, if not all, of those needs.
Far too often, sales reps demo the product very early in the sales cycle, to generate interest from a prospect, or simply because the prospect asks for a demo. That’s a recipe for failure. Without a clear understanding of customer problems and situation, the demo will give ammunition to the “haters” on the prospect side to more easily reject the product.
Demo-God Rule #3 – Focus on a few clear use cases
Use cases – remember those things? In theory, the functionality in the product was added to address certain use cases. So why is it that when it comes to demoing the product, those use cases are nowhere to be seen? Find out what use cases are important to your audience, select a couple of them and focus on those in the demo.
They’ll clearly demonstrate the value in your product, and even if everyone isn’t convinced, they will lead to questions about how your product can address the needs of the prospect.
Demo-God Rule #4 – Speak s-l-o-w-l-y
You probably don’t realize it, but your regular speaking voice is way too fast for a product demo. When you’re demoing a product, the audience has to listen to you, watch your demo and correlate all of that with their own needs and pre- (or mis-) conceptions of your product.
It’s not easy, and if you speak slowly, pause between sentences, and enunciate, the audience will be able to process and understand what you say far more easily. Don’t believe me? Have you ever seen a demo and heard people ask a question that was actually explained only two minutes earlier? It happens all the time. Help them by taking it slow. One more thing. It’s OK to repeat something, particularly to emphasize an important point. Watch this video, particularly from about the 2:00 minute mark.
Demo-God Rule #5 – Have a conversation, not a monologue
Most demos start off with the demonstrator saying something like “And feel free to ask me questions at any time.” Then the demonstrator begins a non-stop barrage of product features and capabilities without pauses or breaks.
I once saw a demo where the demonstrator spoke for 15-20 minutes non-stop, focused intently on his computer screen, never looking up at the people in the room. When he did pause, he looked up for about 2 seconds, asked “Does anyone have any questions? No? OK. Let me continue.”
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The audience couldn’t get a word in and he clearly was OK with that. Looking around the room, it was clear people were tuning out. The sales rep noticed this, interjected and tried (somewhat in vain) to slow the demonstrator down and get the audience re-engaged. Needless to say, the demo wasn’t well received.
The demo needs to be a structured conversation with the audience so that they are active participants, not simply observers.
Demo-God Rule #6 – Have an “Oh Wow” moment in the demo
Make your demo memorable. After they leave, most people will forget at least half of what you showed them. And keep in mind, they are probably getting demos of other competitive products as well, as part of their evaluation process. In order to make the sale, you first have to win mindshare. One way to do that is to have an unforgettable scenario in your demo.
If you’ve seen a TV infomercial , they always have one of these “Oh Wow” moments:
- a vacuum cleaner is so powerful it can pick up a bowling ball
- a knife is so sharp and strong it can cut into a metal bar
- a frying pan with burnt food on it’s cooking surface is cleaned with only a paper towel
You might be thinking it’s more difficult to demonstrate an “Oh Wow” moment with software, but the question you should ask yourself is “Why”? Doesn’t your product do at least one amazing thing for your customers? If so, then show that. If not, why? You might want to fix that gap in the next release of the product, don’t you think?
Demo-God Rule #7 – Leave them wanting more
To paraphrase an old saying, “In demos as in show business, always leave them wanting more.” If you’ve done a good job with the demo, focused on clear use cases, spoken slowly and clearly, had a dialogue, and wowed them at least once, then you will definitely generate serious interest in the product. But in order to do all that, you almost certainly WON’T have covered everything they want or need to know.
In show business, they have curtain calls or encores. In sales, it’s all about moving to the next stage. Whether that’s a proof-of-concept, a deeper technical evaluation, or ideally, a purchase decision(!), don’t lose sight of what you’re working towards. The demo is a means to an end, not an end itself.
How many of these rules does your company following in demos? Are there any others that you use that should be added to this list?
Saeed
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Saeed Khan is a founder and Managing Editor of On Product Management, and has worked for the last 20 years in high-technology companies building and managing market leading products. He also speaks regularly at events on the topic of product management and product leadership. You can contact him via Twitter @saeedwkhan or via the Contact Us page on this blog.