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Competition today is fierce and customer attention spans are dwindling. As a result, capturing the interest of potential clients has become more challenging than ever.
The immediate solution you could think of is using a sales demo tool to boost your sales. And you’re not wrong.
Showcasing the value and capabilities of your offering is vital, as evidenced by the impressive demo closing rates ranging between 20% and 50% for B2B Software as a Service (SaaS).
But how do you go about evaluating a sales demo tool for your software?
Evaluating a sales demo tool becomes imperative to unlock your product's potential and ensure that it:
- engages potential customers effectively
- builds trust and credibility
- increases conversion rates significantly
- reduces sales cycles by streamlining the process
- enhances customer understanding of the product
- makes your product stand out amongst competitors
Let’s take you through the key steps and factors when selecting a sales demo tool.
But first:
What is a Sales Demo Tool?
A sales demo tool is a software application designed to help sales professionals build product demos and showcase their products to potential customers. Here's what it does:
- Provides a platform for delivering interactive and engaging presentations, demonstrations, and training materials, regardless of the customer's familiarity with the product.
- Enables sales representatives to create and deliver professional sales pitches throughout the sales funnel, from initial discovery to the live demonstration phase.
- Allows your sales team to efficiently close complex deals, effectively communicate the value of their offerings, and capture valuable customer feedback and market intelligence.
With its comprehensive suite of features, a sales demo tool enhances customer engagement and interaction, ensuring a seamless experience from start to finish.
When utilized effectively, a sales demo tool has the potential to boost conversion rates and expedite the sales cycle, ultimately resulting in increased sales efficiency.
4 Steps to Follow When Evaluating Sales Demo Tools
When evaluating sales demo tools, you must follow a systematic approach to ensure you make the right choice for your business. Here are some vital steps to follow during the evaluation process:
Step 1: Create a List of Requirements
Identify the specific needs and goals you have for a sales demo tool.
Here's how you can start:
- Determine the primary objectives you want to achieve with the sales demo tool. This could be:
- Improving sales closing rates
- Streamlining the demo creation process or
- Enhancing customer experience
- Identify any pain points or challenges you currently face when creating or delivering demos.
- Research best practices and industry standards for sales demo tools, including:
- A user-friendly interface
- Customizability
- Seamless integration with sales systems
- Interactive and engaging presentation capabilities
- Robust analytics and reporting features
- Strong security measures and
- Easy scalability for future growth
- Determine your budget for the sales demo tool to align with your financial constraints.
- Compile all the identified requirements into a clear and concise document.
Step 2: Test the Sales Demo Tool's Functionality
Explore the tool's features and functionalities in a hands-on manner. Here's how to do it:
- Evaluate how the tool allows you to create, edit, and customize demos according to your requirements.
- Pay attention to the user experience and whether the tool provides a smooth and intuitive workflow.
- Check if it can seamlessly integrate with your existing systems, such as CRM or sales enablement tools, to ensure smooth data transfer and workflow continuity.
- Test if you can easily tailor the content, layout, and design of your demos to match your brand and meet the needs of your target audience.
- Ensure the tool is compatible with the devices and platforms you and your audience commonly use, such as desktops and mobiles.
Step 3: Check if the Sales Demo Tool Has Analytics Capabilities
Determine if your chosen sales demo tool provides detailed insights into the performance of your demos. This will help you track their effectiveness and make data-driven decisions. Here’s how:
- Look for a sales demo tool that offers comprehensive insights into the performance of your demos.
It should provide metrics such as:
- Views
- Engagement rates
- Duration
- Click-through rates and
- Conversion rates
- Ensure the sales demo tool has robust tracking and analytics capabilities. It should enable you to track user behavior during the demo, such as which features were interacted with the most, where users dropped off, and any emerging patterns or trends.
- A valuable sales demo tool goes beyond surface-level metrics and provides conversion analysis. It should track the conversion rates of demo viewers into paying customers, allowing you to gauge the tool's impact on your sales pipeline.
- Look for a sales demo tool that allows you to generate reports and share them with others.
Step 4: Conduct a Cost-benefit Analysis
Conducting a cost-benefit analysis for a demo tool can help you determine its value and assess whether it aligns with your business goals. For example, some tools may offer tiered pricing plans based on the number of users or features included, while others may have a flat fee or pay-as-you-go model.
Choose a pricing structure that suits your needs and provides value for the features. Consider the following aspects of a sales demo tool to conduct a cost-benefit analysis:
Additional Costs
Consider not only the upfront cost of the sales demo tool but also the additional expenses such as training, implementation, support, and any potential future upgrades. A tool with a higher upfront cost may prove more cost-effective in the long run if it offers robust features and excellent support.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Assess the potential return on investment the sales demo tool can provide. Look for features that can help increase sales, accelerate the sales cycle, or improve customer satisfaction. Calculate the potential ROI based on these factors to determine if the cost of the tool justifies the expected benefits.
Scalability
Consider whether the pricing model allows for scalability as your business grows. A tool that offers flexibility to accommodate increased usage or additional users without significant cost increases can be advantageous in the long term.
Free Trials
Take advantage of the free trials offered by the tool. This allows you to test the tool's features, user experience, and suitability for your needs before committing to a purchase.
With these steps, you'll be on your way to getting the best interactive product demo tool — a structured, thorough evaluation leading to a perfect match. Then, find the tool that meets your needs, boosts your demo powers, and sets your business up for success!
What Factors to Consider When Evaluating Sales Demo Tools
Delivering a perfect demo to your prospects is really important as it contributes to your company's overall success.
Hence, you must invest in the best sales demo tool for your offerings. Here we've elaborated on the six most vital factors you should consider while evaluating custom demo tools:
1. Customizability and Updation Capability
Being able to easily update and adapt your demos to reflect new releases and product updates can make a significant difference in showcasing the value of your offerings to potential customers. Here are some key points to keep in mind regarding customizability and flexibility:0
Customization Capability
Look for a tool that allows you to tailor the demo experience to align with your unique product features and customer preferences. Your sales demo tool’s customization options should include branding customization, personalized messaging, interactive elements, and the ability to showcase specific functionalities relevant to each prospect's needs.
A well-tailored and engaging demo will resonate with your potential customers, increasing the chances of conversion and delivering a memorable experience.
Seamless Updating
A good sales demo tool should allow you to update your demos effortlessly whenever new releases occur. This means you won't have to start from scratch every time there's a product update, saving you valuable time and effort.
If a new product release is essential for a prospect's evaluation, the sales demo tool should enable you to swiftly incorporate those updates into the existing demo. This ensures your potential customer can see the latest features and improvements, providing an up-to-date experience.
2. User Experience and Easy Learning Curve
Opting for a demo automation software that offers a seamless and intuitive user experience can significantly enhance your productivity and effectiveness. Here are some key points to keep in mind:
Easy Navigation
A user-friendly interface with intuitive navigation is crucial for a positive user experience. The tool should have clear menus, organized layouts, and easy-to-understand icons or labels, making finding the desired features and functionalities effortless.
Simple Terminology
Choose a demo software that uses simple and familiar terminology. Complicated jargon can create confusion and slow down the learning process. Instead, the tool should employ easily understandable language, reducing the learning curve and ensuring efficient usage.
Responsive Support
Look for a sales demo tool that provides responsive customer support. If you encounter any challenges or have questions about the tool's functionalities, prompt and helpful support can significantly aid in overcoming obstacles and maximizing your overall experience.
3. Sharing Capabilities
Opting for a sales demo tool that offers unlimited sharing capabilities can significantly enhance your outreach and increase the reach of your demos. Here are some key points to keep in mind:
Easy and Unlimited Sharing
Look for a sales demo tool that provides straightforward, unlimited sharing options. It should allow you to share your demos effortlessly with your prospects and decision-makers within their companies. As a result, all relevant stakeholders and decision-makers can access and evaluate the demo without any restrictions.
Access Control
Choosing a sales demo tool that allows you to maintain control over who can access your demos is essential. Look for features that enable you to specify viewing permissions, ensuring that your demos are shared only with the intended audience.
4. Integration with Other Software Tools
A seamless integration can significantly enhance your workflow and allow for efficient data management. Here are some key points to keep in mind:
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Integration
Look for a sales demo tool that seamlessly integrates with your existing CRM system. This integration ensures that all relevant data, analytics reports, and prospect interactions are automatically exported to your CRM without manual intervention. This streamlines your data management process and enables a comprehensive view of prospect engagement.
Marketing Automation Integration
Consider a sales demo tool that can integrate with your marketing automation tools. This integration allows you to sync your demo data with your marketing campaigns, enabling personalized follow-ups and targeted messaging based on prospect interactions with the demo.
Slack Triggers
Having triggers on your Slack workspace that notify you when a prospect opens and engages with your demo can be immensely valuable. This integration enables timely follow-ups and lets you engage with prospects when their interest is piqued.
Look for an automated sales demo tool that offers such integration features, enhancing your communication and collaboration with the team.
5. Data Analytics and Reporting Capabilities
Having access to insightful data about how prospects engage with your demos can provide valuable insights for optimizing your sales and follow-up strategies. Here are some key points to keep in mind:
Lead Form Completion Tracking
The ability to track whether a prospect has completed a lead form after viewing the demo is invaluable. This information can help you gauge the prospect's level of interest and intent, allowing you to prioritize follow-up actions and tailor your communication to their needs.
Prospect Engagement Tracking
A good sales demo tool should provide comprehensive data on prospect engagement. This includes information such as who viewed the demo, how long they watched it, and which specific screens they spent the most time on.
Understanding prospect behavior within the demo can help you identify areas of interest and tailor your follow-up communication accordingly.
Comprehensive Reporting
Ensure that the sales demo tool offers robust reporting capabilities. Generating detailed reports summarizing prospect engagement metrics, lead form completions, and other relevant data enables you to assess your demo strategies' effectiveness and make data-driven optimization decisions.
6. Security and Privacy Features
When evaluating sales demo tools, it's essential to consider the security and privacy features they offer. Protecting sensitive information and controlling access to your demos are vital for maintaining the confidentiality of your business. Here are some key points to keep in mind:
Expiry Date
Look for a sales demo tool that allows you to set an expiry date for the demo URLs you share. This feature ensures the demo link becomes inaccessible after the specified date and time. It provides an added layer of security and prevents unauthorized access to your demos once they are no longer relevant.
Passcode Protection
Choose a sales demo tool that enables you to set up a passcode for your demos. This way, when you share the demo link with someone, they will be prompted to enter the passcode before accessing the content.
Passcode protection ensures that only intended recipients can view your demos, safeguarding your valuable information.
Storylane, for example, offers advanced security and privacy features. You can secure your demos with an expiry date and a passcode, granting you complete control over who can access your demos and for how long.
As a result, you can confidently share your demos while ensuring the privacy and security of your sensitive business information.
Top 5 Sales Demo Tools in 2023
#1 Storylane
Storylane is the ultimate interactive demo software for creating custom demos quickly and easily. It offers a rich no-code editor, allowing you to build a personalized demo in just 10 minutes to meet your sales and marketing needs.
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#2 Trumpet
Trumpet comes with numerous integrations for your existing sales process seamlessly. You can create buyer journeys that drive more revenue with auto-personalized & interactive microsites. It helps capture and share screens with its Video Widget to create product demos.
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#3 Storydoc
With Storydoc, you can create stunning, interactive presentations in minutes. Its use cases in Sales, Marketing, Prospecting, and ABM help you stand out and win more customers.
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#4 Loom
Loom is a video messaging tool that helps you convey a message using shareable videos. With Loom, you can record your camera, microphone, and desktop at the same time.
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#5 Mockaroo
Mockaroo is a data generator and API mocking tool that helps create custom CSV, JSON, SQL, and Excel datasets to test and demo software. You can easily create dummy test data by simply specifying the different fields.
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Calling You to the Action!
Having an interactive product demo tool for sales is vital to brag about your product's awesomeness! Consider factors like customization, user-friendliness, integration, analytics, security, reviews, and cost to choose the best one.
And don't forget to follow a systematic approach:
- List your requirements
- Test out the tool's functionality
- Gather feedback from your sales team
- Do a cost-benefit analysis
Sucker for saving time? Book a demo now!
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