EN 
ES 
Warning! Gruesome content ahead!
Here’s the rough but strangely consistent timeline for far-too-many overview demos:
00:00: Fumbling with Zoom/Teams/Google Meet
00:04: Introductions, but one-sided
00:07: Corporate overview presentation (gag!)
00:18: Product overview presentation (yawn)
00:26: Actual demo, including:
- Slide that says “Demo”
- Opening statement “We planned on 45 minutes for the demo, but we only have 30 minutes left so we’ll go really fast”
- Followed by “But we want this be interactive, so please stop me if you have any questions”
- Followed by a firehose delivery from the presenter speaking non-stop for way too long!
- Interspersed with “Any questions so far?”
- And “Does that make sense?”
- Overview of navigation elements
- Definition of vendor jargon, acronyms and product names
- Comment that everything is configurable
- Comment that everything can drill-down to the underlying data
- Details on how to set up the application
- A run-through of the workflow
- With exploration of as many “if” and “or” options as possible
- Frequent references to “Remember when I…?” (that aren’t remembered)
- Zippy Mouse Syndrome and a tiny mouse cursor
- Zero use of annotation tools
- “Piling on” of a feature description by the salesperson
- Pre-answering questions that the vendor frequently hears (aka Premature Elaboration)
- Driving “into the weeds” by a random question
- Cutting off prospect questions before the prospect finishes
- Not confirming that the prospect’s question was addressed
- A rapid verbal description of reporting and dashboard capabilities
- Including “we have over 600 canned reports/dashboards…”
- Discussion of report and dashboard creation
- Repeated comment that everything can drill-down
- Repeated comment that everything is configurable
- Showing data that is obviously fake
- Comment that “we didn’t have time to show you everything…”
- No interim summaries
- No stories to improve retention of key ideas
- No analogies or metaphors, either
- No final summary
- And, of course, absolutely no communication of value!
00:58 Salesperson asks, “What do you think?”
Prospect replies, “I’m not sure…”
Salesperson immediately offers a “deep dive” demo and a free POC!
Whew. Frightening, gruesome and remarkably common!
How do your team’s overview demos compare?
Solutions?
Grab and consume a copy of Doing Discovery – that’s the best starting point!
https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/
Next, read or listen to Great Demo!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/
Even better, attend a Great Demo! or Doing Discovery Workshop