Regarding the role of sales in demos, here’s what NOT to do:

Nothing.
Way too much.

Far too many salespeople contribute far too little – or far too much – in demos with their team members. They handle introductions (often too limited), inflict corporate overview presentations on their prospects, then apparently disappear during the actual demo, only to magically reappear for the final few minutes of “next steps” discussions. Others feel an urge to “pile on,” adding unnecessary comments in an effort to reinforce the presenter’s statements.

Too little, too much!

Salespeople have a specific and carefully choreographed role in demos when following the Great Demo! methodology. Here are some of the key ideas:

Before the demo: Ensure that sufficient discovery information has been uncovered and communicated to the balance of the team and especially to the person presenting the demo, along with the other pre-demo information on players, timing, location, etc.

This includes agreeing on what should be shown and what should not be shown in the demo!

Introductions: Sales should ask or confirm the Three Questions (What is your name? What is your job title? What would you like to accomplish in our demo today?).
Situation Slides: Sales should present the Situation Slide(s).
Illustrations: Not required, but highly recommended! The best salespeople can competently and confidently present Illustrations. This also enables them to deliver Vision Generation demos, as well (without the need for another vendor resource to be present).
Questions: Sales should field and park questions, as appropriate. Salespeople should also be tracking what was asked and answered, so that they can be properly prepared for the Final Summary. Sales may also need to gently step in and ask clarification questions, before other vendor team members head off into the weeds…!
Intermediate Summaries: Sales should be ready to deliver summaries after each major “chunk,” if the demo presenter does not. Doing so also gives the presenter a breather!
Business Value: Far too often, demo presenters discuss “what” their software does and elaborate on “how” it works but neglect to communicate “why” it is important – they miss communicating the Business Value. Sales needs to include this key idea in both interim and final summaries.
Rescues: Sales should be prepared to “rescue” the demo presenter, when needed (e.g., bugs, crashes, getting lost in the weeds, parking questions, etc.).
Final Summary: The salesperson should deliver the final summary, including a review of the questions asked, answers provided, action items to be pursued (for both the vendor and the customer), and discussion of the Mutual Action Plan.
Follow Up: The salesperson needs to track on the action items and Mutual Action Plan steps, communicating with the prospect as well as the vendor team.

Delivering demos should be perceived as a “team sport” when two or more people are involved on the vendor’s side. These players will typically include a salesperson (in ultimate control and with the ultimate responsibility for preparation and success of the demo) and one or more technical players, generally the person most likely to “drive” the software (presales, customer success, marketing).

Discover, communicate, plan, prep, deliver, and follow up!

For comparison and amusement, here is a list of what NOT to do:

Before the demo: Communicate little or no discovery information to the balance of the team. Just say, “Show them the standard demo…”
Do detailed introductions of the vendor’s team, but nothing about the prospect.
Present a corporate overview presentation that is longer than one slide or one minute.
Check out while the demo is underway.
Tell the presenter to show “that really cool thing…”
Pile on (adding an additional answer to every question already answered by someone else). For a really amusing experience, get two salespeople who naturally pile on in a demo and watch them try to out-do the other. Great fun, if you have no desire to win the business…

So, regarding the role of sales in demos, do just enough and do it well – it’s a team sport!

Resources:

– Situation Slides: A Swiss Army Knife for Sales and Presales
https://greatdemo.com/situation-slides-sales-and-presales-swiss-army-knife/

– Doing Discovery
https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Discovery-Important-Enablement-Processes/dp/B0B8RJK4C2/

– Illustrations
https://greatdemo.com/illustrations-doing-the-last-thing-first/

– Vision Generation Demos
Great Demo! Third Edition Chapter 11
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/

– Managing Questions
https://greatdemo.com/the-elegant-art-of-managing-questions-and-time/

– Business Value
https://greatdemo.com/lets-talk-about-value-uncovering-the-delta/

– Storytelling
https://tinyurl.com/yc7rsrmy

– All of the Above
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9SNKC2Y/