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Let’s Talk About Value – Uncovering the Delta
To paraphrase Mark Twain’s comment about the weather, everyone talks about value, but very few people actually do something about it. Clearly value is important: Insufficient perception of value is one of the three main…
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Stunningly Awful Sales Kickoff Demos Selling to Your Sales Force…
Cries of “Who cares?”, “So what?” and “What’s this good for?” issue from the more vocal members of the audience – and everyone else appears to be apathetic. Bad news!
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Stunningly Awful Demo Outcomes – Why Objections Shouldn’t Need To…
“Help me understand how to handle customer objections…” “My team needs to learn how to handle objections…” What’s wrong with these requests?
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Stunningly Awful vs. Truly Terrific Competitive Differentiation – What, When,…
Competitive Differentiation: vendors want to differentiate, vendors try to differentiate, but most vendors fail to meaningfully and successfully differentiate, in the opinion of their customers. When done poorly, differentiation can be stunningly awful; when done…
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Surprisingly Delectable Demos – Delightful Dining Analogies
What could we possibly learn from the realm of restaurants and food that we can apply to the wonderful world of demos? Much more than that one might guess!
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Stunningly Awful Demos – Two Words to Avoid
Name two words that strike fear and terror into the hearts of customers watching a software demonstration – two words that lengthen demos and turn short, crisp pathways into journeys worthy of Norse sagas. These…
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Competitive Demo Situations – Biasing Towards Your Strengths
What can you do to differentiate from your competition and increase your chances for success?
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The Menu Approach – A Truly Terrific Demo Self-Rescue Technique
Have you ever been in a situation where: a. You find yourself in front of an audience about which you know nothing of their needs or interests – and they’ve been promised a demo… b.…
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Why Structure a Demo Like a News Article?
Remember newspapers – the analog version of web-delivered news? News organizations have been presenting information for several hundreds of years, in print and more lately via the web, and they have learned some highly effective…
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Stunningly Awful Demos – Insufficient Discovery
Imagine walking into a doctor’s office and, before you can open your mouth, the doctor immediately writes prescriptions for a broad range of drugs… The doctor then says, “Let me know if any of these…
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Stunningly Awful SaaS Demos – Lost in the Clouds
What are the challenges of presenting SaaS offerings vs. “traditional” or “on-premise” software products? SaaS demos present specific opportunities for disaster – several of which are outlined in this installment of Stunningly Awful Demos…
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Storytelling and Demos
“Wrap a Story Around Your Demo…” Is there a “Grand Unified Story Theory…?” Many managers ask their teams to “wrap a story” around their demos – and teams struggle to find and use stories that…
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Remote Demos – the Role of the “Active Conduit”
The (very) best practice for Remote Demos is to split your forces...
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Are You a Demo Expert? – Why Experts Should Feel…
If you are a Demo Expert, you should be consciously uncomfortable. You should always be alert to find ways to improve your practice.
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Demo Skills Assessment – (Why) Do It Now
How do you know you are doing a good/adequate/terrific job if you don’t measure your results?
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Stunningly Awful Sales Prevention Demos
Does your organization have a “Sales Prevention Team” – people or processes that lengthen sales cycles and lose deals? Here are a few true examples of Stunningly Awful Sales Prevention Demos for your shock, horror,…
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We Are Programmed To Forget – And Its Impact on…
Indeed we are – and consider the impact this has on traditional software demos!
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Remote Demonstrations – What Can We Do Better?
The name of the game in remote demonstrations is interactivity! This article provides ideas on how to take your stimulating personality, squeeze it through that internet connection, reach out and bring your audience back to…
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Stunningly Awful Demo Evolution – Have You Ever Seen Demos…
The result? Audiences are bored, frustrated and often leave mid-way through, causing sales teams to exclaim, “Wait – don’t leave! We haven’t gotten to the really good stuff yet!” Why has this happened and what…
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Stunningly Awful Demo Team Practices – Where 1 + 1…
Here’s a collection of torturous team tactics, awful errors and faulty communications you can follow to increase the likelihood that your team’s demos will fail. We recommend that you avoid doing these things!
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Why Should a Demo Be Like a News Article?
News organizations have been presenting information for several hundreds of years, in print and now via the web, and they have learned some highly effective practices that we can employ in demonstrating software.
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Being Remarkable – What Makes a Truly Great Demo?
What makes customers say, “Remember the time that vendor did that really amazing demo?” What is the difference between a good demo and a Truly Great Demo!?
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DEMOS TO MIXED LOCAL AND REMOTE AUDIENCES
What is the strategy for handling situations where you are face-to-face with one group of customers and other participants are connecting remotely?
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Stunningly Awful Demos – Debilitating Demo Diseases
Here is a compendium of debilitating demo diseases that commonly afflict sales, presales and marketing teams when preparing for and presenting demos. We identify the major symptoms for each disorder, provide one or more examples…
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Debilitating Demo Diseases – Additional Afflictions
We continue the compendium of debilitating demo diseases that commonly afflict sales, presales and marketing teams when preparing for and presenting demos.
