Selling.2.YES

May 2021

HEY, wanna see my demo? ...I do it goodly.

Demos don’t close business.

There isn’t one buyer on earth who wakes up thinking, “I wish an SDR would contact me today and ask for my time so I could sit through a demo by his seller tomorrow.”

Irrefutable evidence suggests the B2B selling universe has a “demo crisis” on its hands considering most sellers who do da demos are way too detailed and technical, and thus, miss an opportunity for a meaningful engagement with their prospects. The point of doing da demo is NOT the demo....it's learning what the prospect needs and building rapport.

Simply stated, most "demo-ers" are more in love with their technology than they are with their prospect’s needs and wants.

As you’ve come to expect, I have ideas for you demo-ers who care enough to work on your craft. The very first order of business is for you to talk with your manager about the approach I’m about to recommend because my suggested approach is probably way different than how you’ve been trained. Not saying your manager is wrong … just sayin’! You be the judge. Here we go…

1. Do not “get to the end” of your demo. There IS no such thing as an end to a demo. A good meeting with a prospect has nothing to do about explaining how each and every one of your gears, valves, pistons and crankshafts work. (I don’t know what I’ve just described, but I think it’s a car engine.)

2. A good demo focuses entirely on what the clients want and need to know. You say "duh?" but I respond: you may think you're doing that...check the mirror! In this world of hit-n-run volume prospecting and pitching, how are you going to find out what your customer needs when the first meeting is often the demo meeting? And how is that demo meeting going to satisfy your prospects when you're doing all the demo-ing?

3. Apply “incremental demo-ing”…the art of sharing a few features, asking a qualifying question, then, rinse/repeat. This requires you to…wait for it: listen, think and pivot. (New acronym warning: "LTP".) Show one feature, explain how it's used and valued by other clients, then ask, "how does that feature satisfy what you are looking for?" This isn't that complicated, friend...slow down, show one feature, probe, do it again until you find the path to the prospect's needs. (BTW, if you get off the zoom blasting yourself for “missing something”, rest assured the prospect probably doesn't care about it...only you do.)

4. Court the prospect accordingly. Ignore your CRM’s timer on “opps open days” because developing prospect interest and demand takes time. When I'm being "demo'ed" at, I always laugh when the seller goes for the kill in the first meeting: “...so from what you’ve seen, do you think level A, B or C features and pricing model is best for you?” How the heck do I know?? I'm seeing this engine for the first time and you did all the talking about things I don't care about. You, the demo-er, know the ins/outs of the tool, but the prospect is seeing it for the very first time. Focusing on probing, building rapport and understanding prospect needs. (See, told ya you should talk to your manager about this.)

How long will it be until an online video demo replaces you and your SDR?"

Listen, I know you’re excited about doing demos. After all, this is your baby we’re talking about. And your baby is beautiful….perfect, even. And being “on stage” performing is fun, but don’t forget foundational selling approaches and skill applications, like research, probing, qualifying, and listening.

In that light, what do you think of this following approach? “I’m excited to get you under our hood, but I’m going to be calculating about what I show you to make sure it’s exactly what you need to see…if we need another session next week, that’s great, and I’ll be as excited then as I am now to share what we do.”

Whadya think?

And what about this one... “To make our time efficient, I need to ask you a few questions so the demo shapes to your needs…”.

And then, after you’ve learned what you need to start the demo, how about this? “Based on what you told me, I’m going to start us down Path A because it best matches what you’re telling me…please note I’ll be stopping along the way to make sure the journey is relevant and beneficial. How’s that, Mrs./Mr .Prospect?" A good demo-er is adept at announcing intentions and explaining the path before the first step is taken. It also smartly alerts the prospect that s/he has a role in the meeting too.

Don’t get me wrong, I heart demos. But I don’t love vanilla, generic scripted approaches that a robot could do. How long will it be until a YouTube video demo replaces you?? Let’s fight that.

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Selling.2.YES is the monthly newsletter published by Core 6 Management Advisors to enlighten, motivate and stimulate all of us sellers and sales managers on topics that need our attention.

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Selling.2.YES

May 2021

HEY, wanna see my demo? ...I do it goodly.

Selling.2.YES newsletter

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