{"id":29063,"date":"2018-02-20T10:11:07","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T10:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/?p=337"},"modified":"2023-01-27T22:43:33","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T22:43:33","slug":"eres-un-experto-por-que-los-expertos-deben-sentirse-incomodos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/are-you-a-demo-expert-why-experts-should-feel-uncomfortable\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfEs usted un experto en demostraciones? - Por qu\u00e9 los expertos deben sentirse inc\u00f3modos"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wsb-canvas-template-page\" class=\"wsb-canvas-page page\">\n<div id=\"wsb-canvas-template-container\">\n<div id=\"wsb-element-a78637a2-a79f-4b0a-9722-0c8554a6dfce\" class=\"wsb-element-text\" data-type=\"element\">\n<div class=\"txt \">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Are You a Demo Expert? \u2013 Why Experts <em>Should<\/em> Feel Uncomfortable<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That\u2019s right. If you are a Demo Expert, you should be\u00a0<em>consciously uncomfortable<\/em>. You should always be alert to find ways to improve your practice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Some seasoned veterans \u2013 those with 5 or more years of experience \u2013 are often the\u00a0<em>least<\/em>\u00a0likely to change their ways. Many perceive themselves at the top of their game; many believe they are experts. They are the skeptics in many training workshops, the ones who arrive thinking, \u201cI\u2019ve been doing this for 10 years \u2013 what could they possibly teach\u00a0<em>me<\/em>?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Given the (shockingly) large number of demos that don\u2019t achieve the desired objectives, is it possible that some seasoned veterans \u2013 the putative experts \u2013 are part of the problem?<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Sobering Numbers\u2026<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Certain data suggest that many demos are not particularly strong, whether or not the delivery is done by someone who is believed to be an expert or claims to be an expert. Interestingly, data from the people who fill out the Demo Assessment on our web site (<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/#\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.secondderivative.com\/assess.html<\/a>) show the following results, overall:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Average Self-Assessment Score (out of 100):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a076%<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Average Percent of Demos that Achieve the Objectives:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a057%<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hmmm\u2026! People may rate their demo skills highly but the results suggest something different. It is rather frightening that fewer than 60% of demos failed to achieve the desired objectives \u2013 43 demos out of 100 apparently don\u2019t get the job done.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Other external data also suggest that not as many people may be Demo Experts as believed:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"featureList\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"featureList\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"tick\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Multiple, repeated demos for the same audiences<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"tick\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">High number of demos required to complete a sale<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"tick\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Failure to achieve sales quotas<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"tick\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Losses to competitors<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"tick\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Losses to\u00a0\u201cno decision\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(You can do your own analysis of your situation. Review the \u201cDemo Skills Assessment \u2013 Do It Now\u201d article available\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.secondderivative.com\/demo-skills-assessment.html\" target=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What does it mean to be an \u201cexpert\u201d, anyway?<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Are You a Demo Expert? How Can You Tell?<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">What does it take to become an \u201cexpert\u201d? Is it the result of 10,000 hours creating, watching and delivering demonstrations? In many disciplines, such as music, becoming an expert requires (roughly) an investment of 10,000 hours in practice and execution. Does this take a year? 2 years? 5 years? Longer?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Frighteningly, with respect to software demos, this may translate to a dozen years or more! For example, if a person spends 2 days per week involved in demo prep, delivery, or closely related activities, it would take around 12.5 years to achieve an expert level using this definition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">For presales people demonstrating enterprise software, one could expect that the time actually involved with demos might range from 8-20 hours a week \u2013 but most likely not more, given the amount of time consumed in meetings, travel, administrative functions, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Here\u2019s a time-based view at achieving demo expertise:<\/span><\/p>\n<table border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"2\" cellpadding=\"2\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th scope=\"col\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Demo-Associated Hours per Week<\/span><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Weeks per Year<\/span><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Hours per Year<\/span><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Years Needed to Achieve \u201cExpert\u201d Level<\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">4<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">50<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">200<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">50<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">8<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">50<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">400<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">25<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">12<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">50<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">600<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">16.7<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">16<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">50<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">800<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">12.5<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">20<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">50<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1000<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">10<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">24<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">50<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">1200<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"color: #000000;\">8.3<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If time is a key factor, the moral here is to make sure to retain your seasoned veterans as happy and productive employees! (And if you are a seasoned veteran, you may want to ask for a raise\u2026)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But \u2013 is length of time\u00a0<em>the<\/em>\u00a0key factor? The ability to learn a process and execute it through a range of conditions\u00a0<em>might<\/em>\u00a0connote expertise. It also might simply mean that a person has learned to repeat a\u00a0<em>poor or mediocre<\/em>\u00a0procedure extremely well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Another view suggests that there are two processes going on: The first is the demo pathway itself; the second is the ability to bring it to life \u2013 showmanship. One person could be an expert at the demo pathway, but poor at showmanship; another might be a terrifically engaging personality, yet still present an otherwise boring or misaligned demo pathway.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Those who have been delivering demos for years may suffer another challenge: Cognitive dissonance impacts our impressions of ourselves, with respect to our abilities. For example, many sales, presales and marketing people believe that\u00a0<em>since<\/em>\u00a0they have been preparing and presenting demos for many years they\u00a0<em>must<\/em>\u00a0be experts!<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A Simple Analysis<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Here\u2019s one simple starting point \u2013 working from three brief definitions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"featureList\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"featureList\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul class=\"featureList\">\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"tick\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Novice \u2013 Just learning<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"tick\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Practitioner \u2013 Able to perform consistently with confidence<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"tick\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Expert \u2013 Causatively makes changes to and improves practice<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Novices \u2013 newly minted presales people, for example \u2013 are just learning the products, the services, the customers, the markets \u2013 the entire suite of information that needs to be assimilated to be perceived as credible to customers (and to their sales counterparts).\u00a0Through practice and repetition (\u201cmental muscle memory\u201d) Novices improve, generally passing through four stages on the way to becoming Practitioners.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Four Stages from\u00a0Novice to Practitioner:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"gdp-leave-space\">\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Unconsciously Incompetent: Doesn\u2019t realize that there are problems with his\/her demos and delivery.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Consciously Incompetent: Realizes that there are problems, but doesn\u2019t know how to solve them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Consciously Competent: Understands how to address the problems, but needs to consciously think about them in order to implement during customer-facing demos.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Unconsciously Competent: No longer needs to think about how to address demo challenges and acts automatically.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The process from Novice to Practitioner often takes as long as 1-2 years for many presales people, largely depending on the nature of the offering and the target markets.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Practitioners are those who can consistently prepare and present demos \u2013 and manage a range of real-life challenges comfortably.\u00a0They develop methods to handle hostile audience members, are experienced with Remote Demos delivered over the web, and can walk through nearly every feature in their offerings with confidence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As a few more years go by, they solidify their practices and view themselves as tenured, seasoned veterans. Terrific \u2013 we\u2019ve got a team of seasoned veterans who do a great job, right?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Perhaps not! We may, instead, have a team that executes the same things over and over with boring certainty. Their demos don\u2019t excite their customers; the demos are mechanical, predicable and banal. (Their demos don\u2019t excite themselves, how could they possibly excite customers?!). No wonder only 57% of demos achieve their objectives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">With the exception of adding demos of new functionality or new products, there is no evolution or development of the demo practice itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Most of these seasoned veterans would consider themselves Demo Experts \u2013 largely based on their depth experience. Are they?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Nope. They are simply Practitioners\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Why Experts Are Uncomfortable<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A true expert constantly seeks to improve his or her\u00a0<em>practice<\/em>; a true expert wants to evolve. A true expert embraces incremental changes and is open to exploring broad new concepts and ideas. A Demo Expert constantly evaluates his or her performance, looking for opportunities to improve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Have you ever found yourself thinking, during a demo, that there are portions that just don\u2019t \u201cfeel quite right\u201d? Something in the current demo or delivery just seems like it could be better? That\u2019s the first step to becoming an expert!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Three Stages from\u00a0Practitioner to Expert:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"gdp-leave-space\">\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Unconsciously Uncomfortable: Realizes that some portion of the practice could be done better, but can\u2019t articulate exactly what.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Consciously Uncomfortable: Knows that the presentation of a specific feature or section of the demo could be improved, but doesn\u2019t yet know how.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Consciously Adaptive: Develops and\u00a0<em>tries out<\/em>\u00a0new ideas in dry-runs and customer-facing situations. Tunes, iterates and seeks to continuously improve.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you are\u00a0<em>not<\/em>\u00a0uncomfortable, perhaps you should be!<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Coach Yourself<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">[Warning: self-help section alert!] If you are an individual contributor, you can coach yourself to continuously improve \u2013 and truly be a Demo Expert:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"gdp-leave-space\">\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Debrief yourself: what did I do well; what could I do better? Were there areas that felt\u00a0<em>uncomfortable<\/em>, that could or should be changed? Note these as action items for yourself (write \u2018em down!). <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">a. \u00a0\u200bChanges to my verbiage<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> b. \u00a0Changes to slides<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> c. \u00a0Improvement in the mechanics<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> d. \u00a0Tools\/infrastructure<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> e. \u00a0Props<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> f. \u00a0Stories<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> \u200bg. \u00a0Analogies<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Block out time to address these items \u2013 and work on them. Make changes to your materials, your mental \u201cscript\u201d, your demo infrastructure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Try these out on your next opportunity \u2013 test them. Debrief again and iterate.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Your demos will evolve wonderfully as a result. You should be able to look back on demos you did a year ago and see marked differences and improvements!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Coach Your Team<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you manage a team, you can apply the same process as above for the group. In addition, you can also facilitate change and improvement\u00a0<em>across<\/em>\u00a0the entire team:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"gdp-leave-space\">\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Weekly team calls: encourage team members to share success stories, demo practices and tips that have worked for them.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cDemo Days\u201d: Schedule opportunities for team members to present demos that they are particularly happy about \u2013 that were successful for them. While this is terrific to do in face-to-face meetings (at quarterly events, kickoffs, etc.) it can also be done remotely using tools like WebEx and GoToMeeting.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Team members otherwise rarely have the opportunity to see how\u00a0<em>other<\/em>\u00a0people are doing demos \u2013 this is a wonderful way to share ideas and best practices.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Consciously Uncomfortable<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The next time you note you are uncomfortable with a portion of a demo, take delight in that thought! Use it to consciously improve your practice. You\u2019ll make many important incremental improvements \u2013 and you might just have an epiphany that enables a sweeping change to your entire demo process<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Si eres un Experto en Demostraci\u00f3n, debes sentirte conscientemente inc\u00f3modo. Debe estar siempre alerta para encontrar formas de mejorar su pr\u00e1ctica.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,8,9,13],"tags":[6,7],"class_list":["post-29063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advanced_topics","category-great-demo-blog","category-growth_development","category-mostly_for_managers","tag-articles","tag-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}