Great Demo!
Articles
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 to aid in diagnosis, and suggest steps to a cure for each.
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.
Auto-Demo Hell
We’ve all experienced some sort of software demo hell, either as a member of the audience, or, more painfully, as the presenter. But the days of live demo hell are slowly beginning to disappear. Presenters are more savvy and strategic in how and what they present, and as a result audiences are being spared the torture. But unfortunately, we are now entering the era of auto-demo hell.
More Auto-Demo Hell – A “Customized” Recorded Demo?
Should or could a recorded or canned demo be “customized”? Interesting and tough challenge…!
Why Don’t They “Get It” – Are They Stupid Or What?
Have you ever delivered a demo to a prospect that doesn’t seem to understand what you are offering them? Have you ever had a prospect say, at the end of a demo, “Um, hmmm, looks interesting; we’ll get back to you later…” (and you never hear from them again)?
Transition Vision – A Competitive Differentiator
Vendors who can successfully create a vision of how customers can transition from their current situation to their desired Solution will enjoy significant advantages over vendors who do not. In competitive situations, if everything else is equal, a strong Transition Vision can make the difference between winning and losing the business.
Attention Retention and Demos
When does your audience pay the most attention in your demos? At the beginning? In the middle? At the end? When do they pay the least attention…? And what do they really remember from your demos?
Stunningly Awful Demo Situations – The Horror of Scripted Demos
What can be done to increase success rates when dealing with scripted demo situations? Here are few ideas that may yield improvements in your close rate…
The Meaningless-Filler Gratuitous-Phrases Vocabulary List
Have you ever been listening to someone else’s demo and found yourself annoyed or distracted by their wasted words and meaningless fillers?
Four Opportunities to Harvest: The Value of Informal Success Stories
What might be the single most important asset for your sales and marketing toolkit?
Stunningly Awful Software POCs and Evaluations – A Strategy of Hope?
If your organization’s POCs and evaluations are not as successful as you wish, consider using this list as an assessment tool. If these items sound too familiar then you may want to contemplate making some changes…
Too Complex – A True Demo Disaster Story
Here’s the true story of how a demo directly resulted in the loss of $245,000 from an order. It’s also a stunning example of why not to show all those neat, cool features…
Stand Away From The Mouse! Letting Your Champion Drive
Here’s a terrific way to prove “ease of use”: have a customer representative do the demo…
Trade-Show Best Practices
Here are a handful of practices to improve interactions (and lead generation) at trade-shows, conferences and expositions…
The Database “Breakeven Point”
How long does it take before a newly installed database becomes useful?
How long will it take before value is realized? Are there mechanisms to speed up the process?
The Great Demo! Top Ten List
You – the selling team (sales and presales) – must know what you want to accomplish before you begin and plan your demo meeting with these objectives in mind – it’s a Team Sport.