The Reverse Demo:  Before I demo to you – why don’t you demo to me?

This is a terrific Discovery method…

If you are looking to displace an existing system (competitor or customer-built), a wonderful approach is to ask for a “Reverse Demo”.  Your objectives are to:

1. See what the prospect likes in the incumbent product.  This enables you to avoid disparaging the capabilities that the prospect appreciates…!
2. See what the prospect doesn’t like – and explore the depth of pain, impact, and value etc. associated with making a change.
3. If you are familiar with the competitive offering, you may also realize that there are capabilities your prospect may be unaware of – this should help your cause as well.

There are a number of Great Demo! practitioners who report they have incorporated this step in their standard Discovery process with great success:  “Before I demo to you – why don’t you demo to me?”