Years ago, I worked with a sales rep who said he was reluctant to do software demos.
I asked him why. After all, a good sales-oriented demo can persuade prospects to engage in a full evaluation process by showing them how the product can help them.
His answer got to a key problem in executing an effective demo: He felt like they always went down a rabbit hole.
The prospect would ask about this button and that button and then tell him to click here and click there. The result was confusion, not progress.
This is common: When sales reps aren't trained on how to do demos, what you get is a big fuzzy mess.
Think of this as the rookie demo. It's essentially a series of clicks on a bunch of buttons:
The core problem is that there's no structure. The prospect might remember a few key features but they won't come away with any major messages about the product.
This does little to advance deals.
Some reps realize that they need to do better. They either loop in the implementation team to do demos for them or ask the implementation team to train them on how to demo.
This is an improvement, but it makes a key mistake: It views the challenge of doing a good demo as being about deploying product knowledge.
When product experts do a demo, they're likely to show you how to use the product. And as experts, they know A LOT about how to use the product.
"How to" demos look something like this:
We've made some progress: The prospect will probably take some useful information away from the demo.
But we've also made our demo hard to follow by including information that isn't that important for sales purposes, like the details of platform configuration and the sign in process. In addition, we've included information that's probably premature for a sales demo, like details on all of our integration options.
More deeply, we've shown the prospect how to use the product. We haven't shown them why they should buy it.
Let's do better.
Great demos are a chance to prove how the product generates value and to propose next steps that move the sales process forward.
Great demos state the main ideas at the beginning and break the demo up into sections that support those main ideas. They also maximize impact of each section of the demo by tying the content to the problems the prospect wants to solve and the impacts they want to generate.
In other words, great demos have structure and impact. This article will show you how to build a great demo for your product.
Three Principles for Structure
Strong demo structure looks like this:
There are three key structural components: starting the demo with Summary Slides, building sections based on Solutions, and closing out by identifying next steps. Let's look at each of them:
1. Start with Summary Slides that state the main points
Stating the main points of the demo at the outset makes the purpose of the conversation clear to everyone. If you wait to let the main points emerge over the course of the demo, they're likely to get lost.
Leading with the main points also ensures that they shape the whole conversation. The sales rep can relate each part of the demo back to the main points.
The best way to state the main points is with Summary Slides. They outline the Problems you solve, the Solutions you offer, and the Impacts you generate (P - S - I, hence P.S.I. Selling). Together, these topics capture the value you provide.
Each topic leads to the next: Problems make the case for action and lead to the Solutions, Solutions resolve the Problems and set up the Impacts, Impacts naturally flow out of the Solutions and make it clear why the product merits a purchase.
Ideally, you have three Problems, three Solutions, and three Impacts. In P.S.I. Selling, we refer to these as Themes:
Check out this video for more on Summary Slides.
Presenting the Summary Slides also helps the sales rep customize the conversation. They can ask the prospect whether each point applies to them. If so, how? They can then take that information and incorporate it into the relevant portion of the demo.
It also gives the sales rep a chance to pivot the demo. Perhaps one of your main messages isn't relevant to this prospect. It's good to find that out at the beginning so you can talk about something else!
The rest of the demo becomes an exercise in proving the points in your Summary Slides using the medium of the demo. If the demo ever starts to get off track, come back to these points and get back on the flow.
2. Break the demo up into sections with one focused on each element of your Solution
Demos often seem like a blur to prospects. They see one feature after another after another.
To fix this, break the demo up into three to five sections, each one focused on one key element of your Solution. Think of an element of the Solution as the set of features that combine to solve one of the prospect's Problems:
If you sell project management software, you're not demoing a bunch of buttons. You've identified that prospects have the Problem of tasks falling through the cracks. You have a Solution that stops tasks from falling through the cracks with task monitoring and assignment.
You'll be showing features - like a progress dashboard, reminder emails, and a task allocation module - but you'll present all of these as components of one element of your Solution. Ideally, the Problems you're addressing are ones that you uncovered through effective discovery.
This makes the demo easier to digest. The prospect just has to remember a small number of big points about your product. Each of those big points relates to a Problem they care about.
It also makes the demo easier to learn: Instead of trying to remember 50 features, the rep can focus on three to five sections of the demo.
Even better, it makes demos easier to adapt to a specific prospect. If section two isn't relevant to that prospect, the rep can drop it or alter it. Meanwhile, the first and second sections remain undisturbed.
3. Propose specific and valuable next steps at the end of the demo
The point of the demo is to secure next steps that advance the sales process.
Good reps propose specific next steps. They might say: “As a next step, let’s reconvene for a scoping call.”
Great reps also say why those next steps are valuable to the prospect. They might say: “As a next step, let’s reconvene for a scoping call. That will enable me to share a proposal that addresses your specific needs so you can make an informed decision.”
Teams can help reps do this well. One way is to create a deal guide that outlines the progression of conversations that lead to a deal and says how each conversation helps the prospect. Another way is to train the team on good methods for articulating how the next step in the sales process adds value for the prospect.
Three Principles for Impact
Once you have the structure down, focus on getting the most impact out of each Solution section.
The easiest way to do this is to be sure you begin each section by orienting the prospect and linking the section a Problem. Then demo the part of the product that's featured in that section. Finally, end the section by drawing out the Impact of the material you've demoed.
Here's what it looks like when you unpack one of the Solution sections:
To make the concepts concrete, I’ll share key phrases to implement these methods. If reps use these key phrases to begin a sentence, they’ll naturally find themselves talking about the right material.
1. Get the prospect oriented before you begin each section
Prospects need to know what they're looking at; otherwise they’ll be using their mental energy trying to make sense of what they’re seeing rather than thinking about your main points.
The key phrase is: “What you’re about to see is [quick overview of the section].”
2. Tie each section to the Problem it addresses before you dive into the content
Prospects need to know why they should pay attention to what they’re about to see; otherwise they’ll lose focus.
The best way to do that is usually to share what Problem that part of the product helps to solve and then show them how it solves it in the body of the section.
The key phrase is: “This relates to [problem the prospect is facing].”
3. Draw out the Impact of each section after demoing it
Prospects need to know how what they just saw should play into their decision; otherwise they’ll decide that the product is cool but not see a reason to move forward.
This means drawing out the value of that part of the product and saying how it’s different from competitors and the status quo.
Here are the key phrases:
- “The benefit of this is [the Impact of that section on their business].”
- “This is different from what you’re doing now because [contrast that section with the status quo].”
- “This is different from the other solutions you’re looking at because [contrast that section with competitors].”
Rolling this Out
How do you make this happen for your team?
There are two ways: the quick way and the best way.
The Quick Way
The quick way starts with your current demo flow. First, look for a natural way to break it up into sections. For example, your demo may show off three major modules of your product; those can be your three sections. If you have more than five sections, look for ways to drop some or combine them.
Second, determine what customer problems each section of your demo addresses. It's OK if a section addresses more than one problem. But if a section doesn't directly address a customer problem, ask yourself if it should be part of your sales demo. Perhaps you can save it for a post-sale product walkthrough as part of the implementation process.
Third, create a simple set of Summary Slides and a basic demo guide. The Summary Slides can focus just on Problems and Solutions. Be sure that the Solution slide identifies the sections of your demo. The Problem slide can talk about the Problems you solve in general; don't worry about trying to match Problem 1 to Solution 1.
Fourth, establish minimum standards with the team: Demos must begin with Summary Slides. Reps conducting a demo need to call out when they move from one section of the demo to the next. They should also identify the Problem(s) each part of the product addresses rather than just showing how it works.
You can make all of that happen within a few weeks.
The Best Way
The best way is to start with a blank piece of paper. Don't even think about the demo, think about your product's value. Focus on creating a thoughtful set of Problem, Solution, and Impact Themes.
This will take time and a few rounds of iteration with your team.
Then build the demo around the Themes.
Create the key demo resources: a demo guide covering the principles for structure, call recordings, and a product FAQ, and a set of Summary Slides.
Coach the team on using the key phrases outlined in the principles for impact.
Then watch a lot of demos and provide feedback. Use this article as a common point of reference: If you see that a rep missed out on having clear sections, ask them to focus on principle for structure #2.
Finally, sit back and watch great demos lead to great revenue!
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If you liked this article, have a look at our piece on the Affirm - Ask - Benefit Framework to see how to keep the process moving forward after you've done an excellent demo. You can also check out the P.S.I. Selling Content Page for more insights on sales communication, strategy, and leadership.
Want to build a sales process that proves value and a team that can execute? Have a look at our services and get in touch.
For more about the author, check out Mike's bio.
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