<\/p>\n
\u201cDemos should be perceived as structured conversaciones<\/em>...!\"<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You are in the midst of delivering a demo and things appear to be going well when\u2026<\/p>\n Somebody asks a question and you answer it, then start to return to your planned demo but they ask a follow-up question. You answer que<\/em>, providing more detail. Again, you think they are satisfied, but they ask a further follow-up question, which you proceed to answer in depth, showing detailed examples of your software and covering extensive whiteboard space with drawings and text.<\/p>\n After several minutes you realize you are waaaay off track and \u201cin the weeds.\u201d Except for the low-ranking person who asked the questions, everyone else looks bored or confused.<\/p>\n Even worse, you notice that the high-ranking members of the audience somehow left the room while you were in your explanation. To add insult to injury, you are now short on time as well!<\/p>\n Have you ever had this happen to yourself or someone else? The answer in many cases is, \u201cfar too frequently!\u201d<\/p>\n How do we simultaneously encourage questions in demos, yet make sure they don\u2019t take us off track? And why do we desea<\/em> to encourage questions in the first place?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n More Questions, More Successful Demos!<\/strong><\/p>\n “The power to question is the basis of all human progress.”<\/p>\n \u2013 Indira Gandhi<\/p>\n Gong\u2019s estudiar<\/a> of tens of thousands of demos (now millions<\/em> of data points!) found several key indicators of demo success:<\/p>\n That\u2019s right: More questions are better, mucho<\/em> \u00a1Mejor!<\/p>\n In my personal experience, 28% more questions is low: That\u2019s just the starting point!<\/p>\n But how do you stimulate prospect queries?<\/p>\n First, by not pre-answering<\/em> questions (also known as \u201cpremature elaboration!\u201d). How many times have we heard a rep say, \u201cHere\u2019s a question we always hear\u2026\u201d and then immediately provide the answer? If you expect to hear the question, then let your prospect ask it!<\/em> Periodic summaries and pauses provide opportunities for your prospect to engage.<\/p>\n A second method that encourages a productive conversation is by not over-answering! Provide s\u00f3lo<\/em> enough information to address the question. Leave room for follow-up and gently test for it: \u201cIs that answer sufficient or would you like to go deeper?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeeling the Onion\u201d (known as \u201cPeeling Back the Layers\u201d in Great Demo! methodology) is designed to facilitate questions. Your objective is to reveal the answers in as much depth as your individual prospect players have interest.<\/p>\n In Great Demo! training, participants practice this critical skill in coached role-play exercises. We help them learn how to break up their traditional monolithic talk tracks into bite-size components (peeling back layers of the onion). Workshop participants learn exactly how deep to go to satisfy the various members of the prospect team and to \u201cstop selling when the prospect is ready to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n After all, what happens if you peel an onion too far? You cry!<\/p>\n Consider: Most executives only want the 30,000-foot (9114-meter) view; middle managers typically want to go a bit deeper; staffers want the workflow details; and system administrators desire a different set of specifics. If you answer questions at the wrong level or go too deep, you may be driving usted mismo<\/em> into the weeds.<\/p>\n And, as we have all experienced, starting a demo by saying, \u201cPlease stop me if you have any questions \u2013 we want this to be interactive\u2026\u201d will no<\/em> drive questions by itself! Nor does asking, \u201cAny questions so far\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n Qu\u00e9 hace<\/em> drive interactivity?<\/p>\n But wait there\u2019s more: When your prospect asks a question, they have had to piense en<\/em> about it. This small but important act drives retention of the ideas. So, the more questions, the better!<\/p>\n Next, what about Speaker Switches and 76 seconds?<\/p>\n \u201cOne good conversation can shift the direction of the change forever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Linda Lam<\/p>\n Speaker Switches (the change of the speaker from the vendor to the prospect and vice versa) is a terrific metric to analyze your demos in terms of mon\u00f3logo<\/em> vs conversaci\u00f3n<\/em>. Monologue demos suffer periods where the vendor presenter talks for six, eight, ten minutes or m\u00e1s largo<\/em>! Doing so basically removes any chance for a conversation to take place.<\/p>\n Think of 76 seconds as the typical amount of time it takes to heat something like a cup of coffee in a microwave. What happens if you leave it on for six, eight, or ten minutes?<\/p>\n \u201cMicrowaving coffee for 10 minutes will ruin it, causing it to boil over, create a terrible burning smell, and potentially crack the mug. The intense heat evaporates water, destroys delicate flavor oils, and creates a severely bitter, acidic, or rubbery taste. The coffee will likely turn into a thick, concentrated sludge.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, monologuing for ten minutes will likely leave your audience with an equally bitter taste!<\/p>\n Note that Speaker Switches aren\u2019t limited to prospect questions. You are listening for any feedback or comments in addition to questions. \u201cOh, I get it,\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s cool,\u201d \u201cUh-huh,\u201d \u201cLooks good,\u201d and other brief prospect responses are just as valuable. These indicate that your prospect is engaged and paying attention.<\/p>\n Study your own Speaker Switch numbers and see how you do!<\/p>\n Now that you are encouraging questions, let\u2019s look at how to control<\/em> the process.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Caos controlado<\/strong><\/p>\n The Swiss are very organized (understatement). In Basel, they celebrate Carnival (called \u201cFasnacht\u201d) in a typically Swiss way: \u201cNow we will have chaos, and this is the way we will organize it\u2026\u201d The chaos is scheduled to start and end at precise times. You can march anywhere you want, as long as it is within the carefully defined limits of the old town. And you can wear any costume you want, as long as it is one of the six specifically prescribed characters.<\/p>\n We can learn a thing or two from the Swiss with regards to demos. Yes, we want to encourage questions and make things as interactive as possible, but we need to manage the process as well.<\/p>\n Hay tres tipos de preguntas que podemos esperar recibir en una demostraci\u00f3n:<\/p>\n Ve\u00e1moslos en orden...<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Grandes preguntas<\/strong><\/p>\n Great Questions make our hearts sing with joy (they do!). They are the questions that lead directly to the next point you want to make; they underscore the value; they are questions you desea<\/em> your prospect to ask.<\/p>\n In Great Demo! Workshops, we teach the idea of having answers to typical questions ready to go but placed (in a virtual sense) behind your back. You desea<\/em> your prospect to ask these questions and when they do so at the right time, they are truly terrific: they are Great Questions.<\/p>\n Prospect: \u201cYou mean you just completed the workflow in three clicks, doing what\u2019s been taking us a week?\u201d<\/p>\n You: \u201cThat\u2019s right!\u201d<\/p>\n Prospect: \u201cIs there a way to get that report sent to me every Monday morning?\u201d<\/p>\n You: \u201cYes; would you like to see how?\u201d<\/p>\n Prospect: \u201cYes, please\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n You\u2019ll know your demo is going perfectamente<\/em> when your prospect asks the question you desea<\/em> them to ask at that moment. And let<\/em> them ask the question; don\u2019t suffer premature elaboration!<\/p>\n Many Great Questions can be answered crisply, often requiring just a sentence or two. That\u2019s it \u2013 or could you be even more succinct?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Simplemente diga \"S\u00ed<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201c…in addition to my many other recovery issues, I’m also a founding member of Overtalkers Anonymous\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Kay Wills Wyma<\/p>\n Your prospect asks, \u201cCan it do X?\u201d<\/p>\n Instead of simply answering \u201cYes,\u201d many vendors dive into their software to show how it is done, along with sharing several options and alternatives. Doing so changes a Great Question into a Good Question and puts you at risk of making your software appear complicated and confusing, as well as risking \u201cRecompra<\/a>!\"<\/p>\n Escuche cuidadosamente<\/em> to how people ask questions. When they ask, \u201cCan it\u2026?\u201d you may only need to respond \u201cYes\u201d or \u201cNo.\u201d You can test to see if your prospect quiere<\/em> further explanation by asking, \u201cIs that sufficient or would you like to see it?\u201d Frequently, they respond, \u201cNope \u2013 I\u2019m good.\u201d<\/p>\n When your audience asks, \u201cC\u00f3mo<\/em> do I\u2026?\u201d it is more likely that they need to see how it is done in your software. \u201cHow do I\u2026?\u201d is an indicator of a Good Question.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Buenas preguntas<\/strong><\/p>\n Many of the questions we receive in a well-prepared demo are Good Questions. They are earnest, honest, and indicate interest from your audience. And they are the very questions that can take your demo into the weeds!<\/p>\n How do we handle Good Questions? Park them.<\/p>\n For example, early in the demo, someone asks, \u201cWhat infrastructure is required to run your software?\u201d<\/p>\n This question came from your prospect\u2019s system administrator and will likely require some detailed discussion to close out. Your audience, however, includes high-ranking executives, middle managers, and end users in addition to the admin. How do you embrace the question but avoid boring or even alienating the balance of the audience?<\/p>\n You respond, \u201cThank you for that question. That deserves more development than I\u2019d like to invest right now\u2026 Let me capture it here, on the whiteboard.\u201d You write it down and then ask, \u201cHave I captured it correctly?\u201d<\/p>\n The admin indicates their agreement.<\/p>\n You say, \u201cThanks, let\u2019s plan to address this later in our session or in the Q&A segment. Is that acceptable to you?\u201d<\/p>\n The admin responds \u201cYes,\u201d releasing you to continue your demo as planned. Very elegant, very professional.<\/p>\n This process works extremely well. Why? Because your prospect sees you capture his\/her question, removing the concern that you are dismissing their question as unimportant, which often happens if you just acknowledge it verbally. Writing it down publicly<\/em> demonstrates your respect for the question and establishes the expectation that it se<\/em> get addressed.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve essentially made an agreement with your audience that you will answer the question \u2013 but note that the timing is now up to you! You could address it later in the demo, during Q&A, or in a separate session.<\/p>\n So, our strategy for Good Questions is to professionally capture and park them for later. And whether you are face-to-face or online you can use whiteboards, Word or Google Docs, or other publicly visible \u201csurface\u201d as your parking lot.<\/p>\n \u00bfY ahora qu\u00e9?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Preguntas est\u00fapidas<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n - Mark Twain<\/p>\n Stupid Questions come from two sources: truly stupid people and hostiles. Hostiles are the people who don\u2019t like you, they don\u2019t like your company, they don\u2019t like your product; they feel it is their obligated duty<\/em> to torture the vendor.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of a Stupid Question I received in a demo meeting: They asked, \u201cHow come your software sucks so bad and costs so much?\u201d Clearly, this was from a hostile!<\/p>\n How do we handle hostiles? Two approaches:<\/p>\n You respond, \u201cThis requires more development than I\u2019d like to invest right now. I\u2019m going to capture it here on the whiteboard, along with all of the other questions. We\u2019ll plan to address it later on or during the Q&A session.\u201d<\/p>\n Note that you do no<\/em> give the hostile the option to respond. You want to close him\/her down.<\/p>\n Interestingly, we often see other members of the audience help you manage the hostile. They may, in fact, ask the hostile to stop tormenting you, when they see you are using a reasonable and rational process to manage the session.<\/p>\n So, your strategy is to treat Stupid Questions similarly to Good Questions: queue them up on the Parking Lot for later.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Aikido verbal<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going through hell, keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n - Winston Churchill<\/p>\n One of the key ideas of Aikido is to deflect your opponent\u2019s energy and momentum or use it against them. The same idea can apply to demos!<\/p>\n Let\u2019s revisit, \u201cHow come your software sucks so bad and costs so much?\u201d<\/p>\n I responded, \u201cThis requires more development than I\u2019d like to invest right now. I\u2019m going to capture it here on the whiteboard, along with all the other questions and we\u2019ll plan to address it later on during our Q&A session.\u201d<\/p>\n This was acceptable to everyone, but I hesitated before adding it to the list.<\/p>\n The classic method of \u201cparking\u201d the topic would be to write it as it was expressed. However, I didn\u2019t want the audience staring at \u201cHow come your software sucks so bad and costs so much?\u201d for the balance of the meeting. And a slightly distilled version like, \u201csoftware sucks, costs so much\u201d wouldn\u2019t improve things.<\/p>\n I recalled a lesson I\u2019d learned in a training session that discussed reducing prospects\u2019 questions to their<\/p>\n \u201cNeutral Pillars,\u201d which is a terrific method of capturing an idea with a positive spin.<\/p>\n I applied the Neutral Pillars approach and identified two relevant Neutral Pillars, translating \u201csoftware sucks so bad\u201d to \u201cQuality\u201d and \u201ccosts so much\u201d to \u201cValue.\u201d<\/p>\n These were the words I \u201cparked\u201d and were what the audience saw for the balance of the meeting. Much better: a bit of verbal aikido!<\/p>\n Next, should you question the questions?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Digging Deeper<\/strong><\/p>\n In many cases, yes!<\/p>\n “Ogres are like onions. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. You get it? We both have layers.”<\/p>\n \u2013 Shrek<\/p>\n Newly minted vendor representatives are happy when they are able to answer prospect questions and are delighted when they can do so with confidence.<\/p>\n More experienced reps will explore the prospect\u2019s question and dig deeper, when appropriate. They\u2019ll ask:<\/p>\n The prospect\u2019s responses often yield important insights!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Algunas sutilezas<\/strong><\/p>\n First, todos<\/em> questions from high-ranking people are Great Questions (even if they are Stupid).<\/p>\n You can mistakenly turn a Great Question into a Good Question by going too deep with your answer. You are allowed (encouraged, even) to park yourself in these cases (I\u2019ve had to park myself many a time)!<\/p>\n Teaser answers: You can mitigate the potentially awkward feeling of parking a Good Question by offering a brief, \u201cteaser\u201d answer. Provide just a sentence or two before you complete parking the question.<\/p>\n For example, when that system admin asked, \u201cWhat infrastructure is required to run your software?\u201d you could answer, \u201cWell, our system connects to your ERP, CRM, and similar software via APIs, so we\u2019ll need to discuss what you have today. Let me capture this on our Parking Lot so we can dig into this a bit later\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Body language: there are hundreds of books on how to answer questions, many of which focus a good portion of their guidance on body language. Here are a few suggestions harvested from these tomes:<\/p>\n Next, are you on your own?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n M\u00e1s control del caos<\/strong><\/p>\n Who else can help you manage the chaos? Your other team members, when present, have a number of specific roles to play.<\/p>\n If you are the presales player delivering the demo and your salesperson is present, they should be prepared to \u201crescue\u201d you by stepping in to help parse and park questions. Salespeople should:<\/p>\n Another strategy is for your colleague to repeat and\/or rephrase questions. Why? To make sure you heard the question correctly and to give you a few extra seconds to prepare an answer!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI Don\u2019t Know\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n For many vendor representatives, saying \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d feels uncomfortable. After all, you are the \u201cexpert!\u201d However, nadie<\/em> knows everything, so relax.<\/p>\n When you don\u2019t know the answer, or are not sure, say so. It\u2019s OK! Add the question to your Parking Lot. Pursue learning the answer after the meeting and make sure to communicate it to your prospect.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gestionar las preguntas y el tiempo<\/strong><\/p>\n Hay tres tipos de preguntas que podemos gestionar en una demostraci\u00f3n:<\/p>\n Managing questions in your demos with this process will help make your demonstrations crisp, compelling and sorprendentemente<\/em> effective.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (Note: for the full story on managing questions, see Chapter 8 \u201cManaging Time and Questions\u201d in GREAT DEMO!<\/a>)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2016-2026 The Second Derivative \u2013 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n Para aprender los m\u00e9todos presentados anteriormente, \u00a1considere la posibilidad de inscribirse en una Gran Demostraci\u00f3n! Realizaci\u00f3n de habilidades de descubrimiento o demostraci\u00f3n Taller<\/a>. Para obtener m\u00e1s consejos sobre demostraciones y descubrimientos, mejores pr\u00e1cticas, herramientas y t\u00e9cnicas, explore nuestro libros<\/a>blog y art\u00edculos en las p\u00e1ginas de Recursos de nuestro sitio web en https:\/\/GreatDemo.com<\/a> y \u00fanete al Gran demostraci\u00f3n y grupo de LinkedIn \"Doing Discovery<\/a> para aprender de los dem\u00e1s y compartir sus experiencias.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Never Stop Learning! Article \u201cDemos should be perceived as structured conversations\u2026!\u201d You are in the midst of delivering a demo and<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44606,"comment_status":"closed","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":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","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":[10],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-44605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-methodology_basics","tag-articles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44605","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=44605"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44618,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44605\/revisions\/44618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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