What is Sales Demo Software? | An Essential Guide

How can you convince your prospects that your product is the solution they are looking for?

Maybe a presentation? A case study? A testimonial from a happy customer?

All these may work, but they are not enough to create a product experience that will make your prospect want to invest in your product.

Your target audience needs to know whether or not your product is the best for them. More specifically, they need to see how and if it works for them.

But there's a problem.

They're just not going to spend that much time listening to you talk about a product they're not even sure they want to invest in yet.

This is where a sales demo comes in, and you can take it a step further to create an interactive demo experience for your prospects with sales demo software.

A sales demo software helps you gain trust and convert prospects into customers compared to a generic video or presentation.

This article will walk you through the benefits of using sales demo software and what to look for when choosing the right sales demo software for your company.

Let's dive in. 

What is a Sales Demo Software?

A sales demo software helps your sales team create custom demos that can be used to pitch your product in a way that it resonates with the target audience.

In other words, sales demo software enables you to roll out an interactive walkthrough that allows you to showcase your product and demonstrate its key features to your prospects.

Here is an example of a sales demo from an interactive demo software. 

Why You Need a Sales Demo Tool

Key stakeholders involved in the buying process have little to no time to listen to an hour-long sales pitch with a detailed presentation. Your sales team needs an efficient way to explain how your product will help them solve their problems.

This is where sales demo software comes in.

A sales demo software allows you to create a compelling demo that showcases the features of your product and how it will solve the users’ problems.

Here are some more benefits of using sales demo software. 

1. Improves Your Conversions

This is one of the most important benefits of using sales demo software. In this competitive B2B space, you can't win deals if your prospects can't understand the value that your product drives.

Using sales demo software, you can create an interactive demo that helps your prospects get a feel of the product and how it works for them. After all, if your prospect needs a solution and your product provides it, then your sales demo software will help you close the deal.

2. Provides first-hand experience

You can use sales demo software to create an engaging experience that gives a first-hand experience of your product for prospects who are unsure about signing up for your product.

A sales demo software allows you to create sales demos that can cater to the different needs of various prospects. This will enable you to prove the benefits that your product offers and helps you to convert prospects into customers.

3. Differentiate yourself from the competition

You need to give your prospects a reason why they should buy from you instead of your competitors. You may have your USP (unique selling point) and a superior product, but if you can’t communicate it effectively, your prospects will not be able to see the value of what you have to offer.

With the help of sales demo software, you can create an interactive demo that helps your prospects better understand the value of your product and how it differentiates from others in the market.

4. Reduce your sales cycle timeline 

Though the sales cycle timeline is dependent on multiple factors, the primary factors are trust and closing the gap in understanding what your product does and how it benefits the prospect.

Sales demo software allows you to create a personalized product experience, significantly reducing the sales cycle timeline. By providing your prospects with an interactive experience, you can prove that your product is worth investing in.

5. Saves your time with auto personalization

According to a report by Salesforce, more than 97% of marketers have witnessed an increase in business outcomes as a result of personalization.

But manual personalization costs you time. With a sales demo software, you can auto-personalize all your demo with the basic information of your prospect. 

This feature allows your sales team to easily customize and launch a demo for any prospect without manually doing it all the time.

6. In-depth insights on your pipeline 

When you are using a sales demo to nurture your leads, you can segment them based on their interaction with the product demo. Sales demo tools come with advanced analytics that shows how your prospects are interacting with your product demo. 

This allows you to tailor your next steps and focus on moving them down the funnel. A sales demo tool like Storylane will send instant Slack notifications when a lead has interacted with your demo, which will help you get the right timing to reach out to them. 

Essential Features to Look out for in a Sales Demo Tool

You can find tons of sales demo software in the market, but remember that not all the tools are designed to serve your needs. So it’s essential to evaluate a tool based on the critical features that every sales demo tool should have. 

Here are some essential factors that you should consider before investing in a sales demo tool.

1. Rich no-code editing features 

Not everyone knows how to play with complex code just to adjust a textbox! You want to use a sales demo platform that offers rich editing features that allow you to customize your demo in minutes. 

Storylane offers rich editing features that let you change a part of text or entire text with different colors, bold, italic, heading style and more. When you can do this without any coding skills, it makes the whole process of creating a customized demo so much easier. 

2. Auto personalization features

As we stated earlier in this blog post, personalization makes a difference in your marketing efforts. But at the same time, your sales reps can’t edit your product demo every time they dive before a call. This is why you need demo software that comes with the auto-personalization feature. 

Most of the demo tools come with manual personalization features. But with Storylane, you will get full customization features that allow you to deliver a personalized experience to your prospects. 

3. Team collaboration 

Your team needs to stay on the same page when it comes to sales and marketing. A report from LinkedIn suggests that collaboration between sales and marketing enables critical business growth for 87% of sales and marketing leaders. 

A sales demo software should allow your team to collaborate under one roof to create a perfect sales demo that aligns the information from both the marketing and sales team. Many demo tools lack this feature, but if you want to get the maximum out of your investment, it’s better to stick with software that offers seamless team collaboration features. 

4. Analytics

To refine your efforts and your demo, you have to know how your demo performs with each prospect. You have to gather crucial data like how your prospects are interacting with your demo and where they are dropping off. 

This helps you to refine it and deliver the best every time. Moreover, you can tailor your marketing efforts based on your prospects' interaction. You can move them to the next stage of the funnel if they have interacted with the last step, for instance. 

Storylane comes with advanced analytics that helps you track your prospect’s interaction in real-time with a Slack notification. 

5. Multiple sharing options 

The possibilities of using a product demo are endless. Only the shareability options will hold you from doing so. You can use product demos for email and social media campaigns, and embed them on your website for lead generation. 

If you have demo software that allows you to share your demo in multiple formats, it’s always an added advantage. 

6. Integration friendly 

Choosing software that integrates with most of the tools in your tool stack is crucial. If not, you have to spend more resources to solve another problem. 

So look for a tool that readily integrates with your existing third-party software to facilitate seamless operation. 

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7. Easy to use 

If you’re a developer and the demo software is too complex for you, then it’s probably not worth using. It should be easy to use and have a simple user interface that allows even non-technical people to create great demos without hassle.

Evaluate the product with a free trial to evaluate the ease of use before committing to it. 

8. Customer support

This is often overlooked by most, but it’s essential to have a sound customer support system in place. You need someone ready to help you if something goes wrong with the tool or if you have any questions about it.

It's always better to choose a tool with excellent customer support to get your queries resolved quickly.

Tips to Choose the Best Sales Demo Tool

Though it’s essential to know the features and capabilities of each tool, it’s equally important to choose one that suits your needs.

Here are some tips to help you make the right choice:

1. Analyze your needs and requirements 

Before you start looking for a demo tool, make a list of the features that are important to you. This will help you narrow down the options and choose one that meets all your requirements.

You should also consider other factors such as price, usability, and support for your business goals.

2. List down perfect tools that meet your requirements

After you’ve made a list of the essential features of your business, research various demo tools to find out which ones offer these features. You can use online reviews, blogs, and websites to get more information about each tool.

3. Compare and narrow down the list

Once you have listed the essential features, compare each tool’s capabilities and determine which ones meet them. You can also check the reviews and comments from other users to see how they feel about each tool. If you find that particular service doesn’t meet your requirements, remove it from your list.

4. Evaluate the rest of your list

Once you have narrowed down the list of tools, continue evaluating them based on price and support options. Find out if there are any additional services offered by each tool that may make them more cost-effective or convenient for your business goals.

If you notice any gaps in the products offered by your favorites, research similar tools that may fill those gaps. Also, read online reviews on the tools you’re considering on popular sites like G2 and Capterra. This will give you a better understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, and overall performance in the marketplace.

5. Find out if each tool has a free trial and test it

Before making any purchases, find out if the service provider offers a free trial period so that you can test their product and see what it offers.

You can use the free trial period to test out the product and see if it works for your business goals. If you don’t like the tool after a certain amount of time, simply cancel it and move on to another tool you have shortlisted. 

Select and stick with the best demo software 

Now you know everything from why to have a demo software to how to get the best one for your team. The next step is to find and stick with the best solution that caters to your needs. Remember to evaluate the demo software based on the reviews, price tag, features offered, and customer support to land with the best software. 

Moreover, you have to get software that offers rich editing features that take off repeated tasks from your sales rep’s plate. One such software is Storylane. Storylane offers myriad features that give you all your need to create a demo that narrates a story about your product. 

With simple editing features and an interface, you can create an engaging flow that educates your prospect about all your product features. Moreover, with an in-depth analysis and auto personalization features, you can ensure that you always deliver the best product demo that drives more conversion. 

To ease your evaluation, Storylane also offers a free demo and a free trial. Want to evaluate how it works with your product? Schedule a demo and check what your product demo looks like.