Master your Demo - how many of us can do an awesome demo to close the deal?

We all can give a SaaS demo.  Yet, how many of us can do an awesome demo to close the deal?  Here are a few suggestions – and reminders – on how to drive a demo like no one else.

Preparation:

Onboard the software as a customer and understand their journey.  Sit down with a customer success manager to discuss the customer/prospect situations.  Have an informal conversation with some of your customers and understand what they like and don’t like about the product.  Research the actual prospect ahead of time, e.g., what topics did they look at the most on your and other sites.  It is always better to know your prospect before you meet with them.  Combined, these steps provide the best context for your demo.

You also need to know your product. Without knowing your product, you cannot wow your potential customer. Make sure that you have your demo account setup with all the correct data. You don’t want to be apologizing that you don’t have the right data. Oftentimes this is the case as demo accounts accumulate junk data as you show it to prospects.

Then practice and practice more.  Give the demo to some of your team members and have them ask questions.  Listen to some demos that were done well by your team members.

Do you use Zoom? Make sure that you only share the window that you give a demo with. Less of your real estate and clutter seen by them.  Turn your video on: the prospect will like to see you live so that they can establish that personal connection. Even if they have their video turned off, you should have your video on.

Demo execution:

Let the prospect talk first. Validate anything you have as far as their information goes, e.g., the segment they are in and the role they play in the organization.  Learn what challenges they are going through, why they are looking at your product, and what other solutions they are evaluating. Ask them what their NorthStar goal is. Learn from what they say – they will give you key pointers for your demo. This is where and how you are going to connect with them.

Then summarize what you are going to show them. Start the demo. Show business value quickly. Relate to how it’ll help them solve their problems and connect key demo points to what you learned in the above research and prospect talks first steps.  Don’t have your demo for more than 20 minutes. People tune out more than that. Focus on only their top 2-3 problems/ opportunities and show how you do it better than anybody else.

Establish context how your particular feature will help get them to their NorthStar faster and better.  Your audience’s body language and interaction will signal you the right time - about 50% to 75% through the demo - to ask a critical open ended question such as “What do you think so far” or “How do you feel about this demo so far”.  Adjust the rest of the demo accordingly, e.g., concentrate more on how easy it is to get to their vision, and be a hero.

Demo close:

Set clear expectations for a follow up call -  theirs and yours. Include the kind of collateral you expect from them and how you will follow up, and what you need to do by the next call you are having.  Ask what their decision-making process is and how you can help, e.g., overcome objections, share ROI, case studies, and meet with other stakeholders etc.

Ask them if they want to try out the product themselves. Almost everybody wants to do this and that’s where you can use a demo platform.  Your sales engineers can build a full-blown demo and or you can take advantage of new easy to use tools to create your own interactive demo.

And lastly, know that your curiosity about the challenges they face and your genuine desire to solve it for them is the best way to win their business. 

Happy demo-ing and selling. And yes, it's rewarding!