A sales demo is the most powerful marketing tactic. It gives you the opportunity to not only solve the prospect’s common challenges with your business’s products or services, but also help give them a better perspective on how it would be a valuable addition to their resources.

But ensuring that your demo moves the prospect further in the funnel, is a challenging task. According to Salesforce.com, a whopping 82% of sellers are out-of-sync with their buyers. The main reason behind this number is the inability to script a demo around achieving the predetermined targets of the prospect.

Studies have revealed that only 18% of prospects are actually interested in your products – the reason why they enter your sales pipeline in the first place. This is a decent number that is achievable – provided the demo is executed strategically.

If you want results, then you have to make sure you are prepared.

A sales demo should flow seamlessly – without boring the prospects. It should have laser-focused points of discussion, an interesting pitch filled with anecdotes and an engaging Q&A session, followed up with an after-sales demo strategy.

What To Do Before The Sales Demo

The main objective, that you should set for your sales demo, is to make the most out of your prospect’s time and deliver a value proposition that is hard to decline. Here are a few things that will help you get prepared:

1. Know Your Prospects: Gather as much data as you can about your prospects before the demo. Of course, what they tell you about themselves and their business goals are important, but digging deeper into their industry challenges and the solutions they have been searching for, will help you create an impactful demo.

“Can your product provide all that?”

Structure the context of your demo around the data points you gather. The demo needs to be as customized as possible for every prospect. A good tactic that most successful reps follow is to put themselves in the shoes of the customer or conduct an in-house survey to be able to identify all the possible pain points that need addressing.

2. Do A Pre-Sales Demo Call: Most of your prospects are proactively looking for solutions to counter their business challenges. And they come across at least a hundred businesses that offer a similar solution as yours. The only way to ensure they don’t get poached before the demo is to conduct a pre-sales call.

Call or write an email to the decision makers or people you’re in contact with, thanking them for the wonderful opportunity they have given you. Tell them you are looking forward to meeting them and what they should expect from the demo. Being polite and communicative is the only way to leave a mark in their minds.

What To Do During The Sales Demo

You have done your homework of understanding your prospect and customizing your value proposition to suit his needs. Now is the time to show it. Here are a few things you should keep in mind during the sales demo:

1. Tell A Story: Instead of just listing down the benefits of your product or service, a better approach is to structure the demo around a storyline. Keep them engaged with a string of interesting anecdotes, case studies, videos, etc. – all strategically planned around being able to showcase the use case of your product/service.

Let the prospects interact with the product, rather than just sit and stare at you. Provide them tangible evidence of what you are pitching for. Make them like you first. They will automatically incline towards your product.

2. Listen To Them: A successful sales demo is a two-sided interaction. Therefore, apart from what you’re presenting, let your prospects add their inputs to the demo as well. Doing so will give you the chance to analyse their understanding for what’s presented so far, examine their thoughts and gauge their actual need – basically, everything you would need to turn your demo on the right track.

3. Answer All Their Questions (And Objections): Every demo invites questions regarding the product. It’s natural to have a Q&A session towards the end of the sales demo. Consider all possible questions that your prospects can ask and keep your answers ready – so that you come across as a prepared sales rep.

If you think you don’t have a valid answer for a query, be honest about it and promise to get back to them on it at the earliest – even if that means redirecting or scheduling a call with another team member.

There are four most common objections, collectively called BANT, that prospects primarily raise:

1. Budget

2. Authority

3. Need

4. Time

So, be prepared for them.

For instance, explain how cost-effective your product/service is for their business – given the kind of features it has and why it is best to purchase it from you as soon as possible despite the current market scenario.

What To Do After The Sales Demo

A reps job doesn’t end at the sales demo. To close a deal he needs to have a post-demo strategy in place to be able to accelerate the sales pipeline or keep the prospect engaged till they convert. Here are a few things a post-demo strategy should include:

1. Ask if they need anything else: Once the demo is over and you are about to leave, ask your prospects with confidence, if they need more information or have any doubts. No sales decisions are made in a flash and the prospects might take longer than you expect to take a call. A good idea is to let them know you can be reached anytime for any kind of information, and that you’d be waiting to hear from them. 

2. Follow-up: There are times when prospects take too long to decide on something – while that is totally normal, leaving them completely unattended might result in losing a business opportunity. Hence, don’t hesitate in following them up via an email or a call and remind them of the sales demo you had presented. Sometimes a reminder is all they need to take the final decision.

Converting prospective clients into happy customers requires a well-calculated approach backed with proper research. A sales demo presents you with the opportunity to do so; make sure you make the most of it!

An effective B2B software demo depends not only on how well you understand your product, but also how cleverly you are able to align it with the prospect’s vision and needs. Confucius once famously said, “Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.”

And the same holds true in the case of B2B software demos. Since the purpose of a demo is industry and client specific, it is important to be completely aware of their business vision and the challenges they are facing.

Without this information, it is nearly impossible for you to engage  prospects in the demo. They will most likely hear you out, but not interact with you and eventually forget about it as soon as something else grabs their attention. As a matter of fact, each deal requires to be dealt with in a different way to cater to the prospects’ requirements better.

B2B software demos and complex sales

A B2B software demo is one of the most important steps in a  complex sales process.

Complex sales are very common in the B2B market wherein reps are required to deal with multiple contacts on a client’s side to get a sale through.

In simpler words, a complex sale involves more than one decision maker (with the number sometimes reaching up to 25). The sales rep is required to convince majority of the decision makers to be able to close a deal.

Why complex sales demos are “complex”?

Since B2B software demos are mostly conducted on-site, it is even more nerve-racking for the rep as he needs to address a large group of prospects – all looking for a specific need for solution but holding different opinions.

Here are a few things you need to keep in mind when dealing with a complex sale:

1. The value involved in a complex sale is huge – which is why it is important that the decision makers connect with the demo. They should be able to get the functional message and map a value proposition for their business’ benefits.
2. More than one meeting with the clients are required to seal the deal. These multiple rounds of demo meetings are either general in nature or extremely focussed – depending upon the issue in hand.
3. The step of arriving at a decision regarding your product can take time – from a few weeks to many months.

Creating a B2B product demo outline

Just because you can or you’re required to give a product demo, one cannot simply just walk in putting together a list of features of the product and how it works. A B2B product demo can be effective only when it has an intent and a goal associated with it.

Try to understand the business goals set by the senior management – they are the ones who are best aware of the organization’s end goals and market positioning. The better they are able to see the product as a solution of one of their challenges, the more likely they are to convert.

Another thing you should keep in mind before giving a demo is “does the prospective company have the financial resources to purchase your product solution?”

Even if the answer is negative, use the demo as an opportunity to show the prospect how your product can solve their problems and why they should invest in it. Displaying a few ROIs and related case studies can help you move the deal forward.

Demo Creation Worksheet

About 82% B2B decision makers think sales reps are unprepared when giving the demo; making them feel they don’t understand their business’s needs and won’t be able to suggest an effective solution for it.

To structure the complete process of creating a demo, always prepare and follow a worksheet that contains its most important aspects:

1. Who are the decision makers?
2. What are their key business goals and issues?
3. How do these issues impact the business? What will happen if they are left unaddressed?
4. Which customer success stories are relevant to them?
5. Who is your competition? Conduct a SWOT analysis on them.

While giving an effective B2B product demo

It’s a given that you have to understand the product and the technology used behind it before giving the demo. This will help you in not only offering a feasible solution that helps clients overcome their challenges but also make them identify ways to  improves their overall results.

But how can you nail your demo and convince your clients to make the big purchase?

1. By answering all their questions

Every demo invites a number of questions regarding what the product is about, why it should matter to them, how is it different from the other market offerings, etc. Consider all the possible questions beforehand and keep the answers ready – you don’t need to wait for them to ask. Doing so will keep their doubts about the product at bay.

2. Showing the important message first

An effective B2B demo doesn’t beat around the bush. It straightaway gets to the main point. So ensure that while giving the demo, you bring up the important messages as quickly as possible to keep the attendees interested. Get down to the point immediately – the main features and the benefits. Don’t get into too many details right in the beginning.

3. Ensuring follow ups

Once the demo gets over, confidently ask your clients if they need more information or have any doubts. If they need more time to decide about your product, let them how to they can contact you in case the need be. Also ensure that you do follow up the prospect, if they haven’t reached out to you yet.

In the B2B spectrum, follow-ups are necessary. This is because in a typical day, many more products in the market are being pitched to your prospects and as they say, “early bird catches the worm.” You have to make the most of the time you get a prospect’s attention. A small delay can lose you an opportunity.

Takeaway

Creating an effective B2B software demo requires an in-depth research of the market requirements and the prospect. Once you have all the necessary data to customize your demo as per the company’s needs and vision – structure the demo.

Curating a structure will make you swift in your presentation and will also prepare you to tackle prospect doubts easily. Also, don’t forget to take follow-ups till your deal is finalized!

Pitching a product successfully is tough. It is not just about what the product is or what it can do, it is about how it benefits a company, industry or person. Unfortunately, product demos leave most prospects either disinterested or too confused. This is primarily because these demos lack relevant information or consist of hollow pitches that hold no meaning to the customer.

Therefore, instead of probing more about the product/service being offered to them, they end up never getting back to the sales rep that approached them.

To identify and rectify that disconnect, here are some points a salesperson must keep in mind to give a winning product demo:

1. Know the company and industry

First of all, a salesperson must avoid giving a generalized demo at every company he or she visits. The point is to set the pitch in sync with the company’s values, high priority requirements and understanding of their needs to be able to suggest the appropriate solution.

“How can my understanding of the product add value to the prospect?” should base the foundation of your product demo. The sales rep needs to focus on bringing out those aspects or features of the product that will bring the prospect maximum results to reach his goals.

To be able to create a demo that suits the prospect, the rep needs to focus on conducting an in-depth study about the company and background information of the prospect. Knowing the prospect beforehand, helps form better bonds with the prospects, give them better demos and suggest better solutions.

2. Redefine aim of the demo

It is important for the salesperson to give a methodical run-down of all the features of the product he is presenting to the prospect. But is it really that important? No. Prioritizing the demo on the basis of what’s relevant to the prospects is far more important – and advised.

Why? Because prospects agree to move forward in a sales cycle only when he/she can relate to the product – something that is solving one of their biggest problems. A product demo that is carefully presented, prioritizing his needs, will give him a glimpse of the solution and a reason to move forward with you.

3. Time-bind the pitch

If the salesperson has set aside 15 minutes for an online demo, then he or she must make the most of it by preparing well in advance. The demo must be devoid of any technological hassle or miscellaneous distractions to be able to wrap up the call in the given time. It is also better to ensure if the prospect is comfortable with the means of communication or software you’re making use of.

The salesperson should make use of tools such as Join.me (that allows sharing of screens online), Google Hangout or Skype, to instantly bring the prospects on the same page. He or she must always remain in charge of how the demo flows – and not vice versa, with the tool determining how it needs to be.

4. Constantly ask questions

No matter how well-versed the salesperson is with the background of the prospects and the product or how articulate and crisp the demo is, all efforts go waste if he or she is unable to make the prospects feel important.

Sure, they will listen to the salesperson carefully during the demo, but the question is – for how long? To keep them interested and occupied during the demo, it is crucial to establish a two-way interaction and the best way to do so, is by constantly asking questions.

Asking questions will give the salesperson an idea about what the prospects are really looking to achieve from the demo. This will also give the salesperson a chance to constantly reinforce their value proposition. Asking questions, discussing possibilities and analyzing the current as well as future needs should be a must in a product demo.

5. Follow-up

A salesperson’s job doesn’t end with the completion of a product demo. It isn’t over till he gets a response or feedback from the prospect – positive or negative. And it is not compulsory for the prospect to reply in a day. That’s exactly why follow ups are a must.

Therefore, it is in the hands of the salesperson to outline the next steps for them – define the customer journey. Whether it is a follow-up call or another meeting, drafting an agreement or structuring a timeline for moving ahead, the situation post-demo has to be handled by the same salesperson that gave a product demo to the prospect.

Time is valuable, which is why the salesperson must try to keep the demo short, crisp and highly relevant. Even if he is only tapping into the smallest fraction of your product for a prospect, it is perfect as long as it is targeted at them and adds value to their business goals.

One of the biggest fears of sales reps – what happens when demo fails – could be rather simplified or even eliminated altogether. It is all about your own perception of the demo. For majority of sales reps it could be very stressful if demo suddenly fails and the situation could not be fixed. In this article we provide real life examples of demo failures, some of them were from major companies. And at the end we include a video with some suggestions on what to avoid and turn your demo failure into a success.

1. Microsoft: Windows 98 Demo by Bill Gates

Even if you are a big corporation, you still cannot control how ‘live’ demos span out. And sometimes unexpected things happen. Just like it happened to Microsoft during the Windows 98 demo. It certainly eases the pressure with a tag-team running the demo (i.e. you, the sales rep and your sales engineer). Because when things go south there is at least someone to joke around and continue talking with a prospect while you or your technical guru tries to solve the problem.

Demo Failure Lesson #1

Single man in the field is not a warrior: Two is better than one, at least during demo failures. So include your sales engineer if you are running that crucial demo with ‘golden’ prospect.

2. Satya Nadella’s triple failure on Microsoft Cortana demo

When Satya Nadella asked Microsoft’s speech recognition tool, Cortana – the demo was doomed. It took him 3 tries to see if it works and all the pages were closed when he got back to Salesforce instance. It is always the best idea to have some backup ready which would result in less stressful demos and more fluent presentation.

Demo Failure Lesson #2

Most common failures in SaaS product demos are result of connectivity issues. Be prepared when your software acts up. Have static tabs open or screen mock-ups to simulate the live demo. You may not have ‘back-stage’ help come to rescue all the time.

More importantly, don’t forget your humor. It’s scary when your computer comes off as more humorous than you! In that case, there ain’t any milk from the prospects

3. Trying hard to make demo work? Taekwondo style!

This Taekwondo demo is rather hilarious (besides being hopeless right after third fail). To make it worse,  the instructor keeps trying to fix it no matter what. Sometimes it is better to accept the defeat than continue trying to solve the issue in front of your prospect.

Demo Failure Lesson #3

Our favorite demo failure exist strategy: Try a couple of attempts. Be vulnerable. Accept things didn’t work out as they should. Pause. Confirm that it is OK and natural to fail with your prospect. Stop. And Reschedule.

4. Classic demo-script failure in Microsoft Surface demo

Whenever your device hangs up at least have a courage to admit it. There is no reason to talk about features and functionality that seem to be opposite from reality. If you accept that things didn’t go well on this one you will end up with a more credible image rather than trying to make it appear as if nothing happened. At least he had a backup to continue a demo. Good preparation is worth mentioning on this one!

Demo Failure Lesson #4

Is your demo scripted to the extent that you ignore what you are showing? We know some sales managers are big fans of sticking to the process and following the demo script. However, break your script into modules and allow for in-script exits, especially where your demo fails. Additionally, keep room for creativity and improvisation in such scenarios.

5. Steve jobs losing temper when demo goes wrong

Steve Job is known for losing his calm in his demos when they fail. And why not? There is tons of passion, emotions and preparation behind each of his product releases. In this video, he almost shifted the audience focus from the ‘cool’ product to his ‘upset behaviour’ by referencing it many a times.

Demo Failure Lesson #5

You can’t be a brat in customer facing demo unless you are the famous Steve Jobs (Perhaps not even then). If something happens to be not working it is better to keep emotions away from the demo. Your customer doesn’t care if you are having a bad day or you are disappointed in something. It is better to keep it professional and solve it like the most experts would.

So you’ve got 5 quick lessons from failures. Of course preparation is the key to getting things in control and your product demos (almost) perfect. However, things can be expected to go wrong. And I bet they will.

Extra! General “Demo Gone Wrong” tips

Here is a cool example, though a little long winded, on how Steli Efti from close.io turned around weakness or failure into strength. Sometimes failure could even be more beneficial than actual demo. All depends on how you accept the failure and deal with the situation.

Nicely done, Steli!