How can you deliver a winning product demo with your team?

Learn first, Educate second. A generic demo only appeals to a generic buyer, and I've never met a generic buyer. It's not just about learning the pain points of your main contact on the opportunity, you need to understand the role of EVERY member of the client team who is in your demo audience. Learn why they are coming to your demo and what they hope to solve. Pause your demo flow periodically to ask SPECIFIC members of the audience if what you showed them will resolve their pain. Don't just ask "Any questions," ask "Janet, does that seem like it would help with Problem X?" Be double-checking your expectations throughout the whole demo and you will carry the entire audience with you.

To deliver a winning product demo, our team must prioritize personalization. Rigorous research on the industry and persona is crucial for tailoring the demo effectively. Preparing based on past use cases ensures relevance and resonates with the prospect. Combining a use case demo with the product demo empowers the prospect, making them feel in control. Avoiding generic presentations, we delve into specific problem sets for the persona or industry. In our AI startup, educating prospects on AI benefits relative to their unique challenges fosters understanding and engagement.

Understanding who you are presenting to is the cornerstone of an effective demo. Tailor your presentation to address the specific needs, interests, and pain points of your audience. This might involve highlighting particular features more relevant to them or using industry-specific examples. Personal Experience: In a recent demo, we identified that our audience was particularly concerned about data security. We allocated extra time to demonstrate our product's security features, which significantly increased engagement.

Research comes way before presentation for many businesses, however, a thorough research is essential before you decide to go up and speak. The presentation has to be relevant to the listener and add value. Emphasize the pain points of the listener and how you could address the same. Be prepared for any queries, even those with definite answers. It doesn't have to be correct or perfect but be able to satisfy their curiosity :)

Preparation: Ensure that the sales team approaches the demo with a clear understanding of the likely buyer audience. Identify the goals and objective of the demo from both the buyer’s point of view and in terms of what the sales team wants to present and achieve. Resources: Arrive at the demo with all relevant resources that will help make the experience valuable for the buyer audience. Timing: Think through all of the logistics needed to ensure that the demo proceeds smoothly. This includes scheduling a time to accommodate the entire buyer audience and building in extra time to field additional questions from that audience. Context: Deliver a demo that contains relevant content and is a good fit for the needs of the buyer audience.

Starting a demonstration off with "Please ask questions throughout" allows for an open conversation on the product demonstration and shows that this time is for them not you. This will lead to not only more engagement from the prospect, but the opening up of their daily processes in order for the sales technician to deep dive into the positive effects of the product on their day-to-day challenges.

Agenda regarding the demo should be decided basis the audience, industry and the problem that the product/ solution is trying to solve. Start by introducing the speaker/ panel and their backgrounds. Elaborate of the purpose of the demo, demonstrate the understanding of the problem in hand. A demo might have various aspects of solving a problem, however, not everything might be of interest for the audience. Hence, focus on only those key aspects, which solve the real problem for the audience. Measurement of effectiveness of the demo is also very important. Set clear vision on your internal KPI’s for demo like, number of follow up calls, questions asked, conversions achieved or referral calls generated.

A clear, concise agenda sets the stage for a focused and effective demo. It helps manage expectations and ensures that your audience understands what will be covered. Begin with a brief introduction of your team and product, followed by a detailed walkthrough of the agenda.

Knowing your potential customer's demands is really useful while demonstrating something. The crucial point is to simply clarify what the demands are and how they are met, rather than mentioning the capabilities by rote. If you have a targeted concept for the demands, a simple use case demonstration is far more beneficial than a long and more detailed flow. And don't afraid to end early if its enough. You don't need to consupt all scheduled time. Otherwise, you may lose the attention of audience and create a boring atmosphere.

Crafting a clear and concise agenda is the cornerstone of a successful product demo. It's your roadmap, guiding both you and your audience through the journey ahead. Begin by setting the stage: introduce yourself and your team, and paint a picture of what you aim to achieve. Then, outline the key topics or features you'll delve into, ensuring transparency about the demo's duration. Encourage interaction by inviting questions and feedback throughout, or earmark a dedicated Q&A session. A well-structured agenda not only sets the tone and expectations but also keeps you focused, ensuring a streamlined and engaging presentation.

Leveraging the strengths of each team member can make your demo more dynamic and engaging. Assign roles based on expertise – for example, one person could handle the technical aspects, another could focus on business benefits, and someone else could manage questions and engagement. Personal Experience: Our team divided the demo into technical details, user benefits, and implementation steps. This approach allowed each team member to shine in their area of expertise, making the presentation more compelling.

If specific pain was identified in discovery, odds are with an experienced group you can find someone with a story and a solution to the problem. Currently, we rely on professional service team members to step in to show the more technical aspects while relating to another project and how we achieved great value to the customer. It’s more conceivable “straight from the horses mouth”

Instead of merely listing features, show how your product solves problems or improves situations for your audience. Use real-life scenarios or case studies to illustrate the practical value of your product in action. We used a case study of a previous client who faced a challenge similar to that of our audience. Demonstrating how our product provided a solution significantly increased the perceived value.

Tailoring demos to client needs is key for showcasing value in Predictive AI projects. Leveraging client data (or simulated data resembling it) to identify patterns and make predictions not only aids in envisioning project outcomes but also fosters engagement. While general demos have their place, it's the personalized touch that truly makes a difference.

Keep your audience involved and interested by encouraging questions, using interactive elements (like live polls), and providing real-time demonstrations. This not only makes your demo more memorable but also helps address any concerns or objections on the spot.

Product demos shouldn't feel like a monologue, right? Let's make it a dialogue. Get your audience involved—ask for their thoughts, share some laughs, share a story or two. Spice it up with visuals or sound effects. It's not just about selling a product; it's about making connections that stick.

The best presentation include a little bit of mistery and a gap that is answer at the end. Remember when you were reading a book and the only thing you wanted was to arrived to the end and finally discover what was all about? The same is applied to presentation.

Simple tip: think of 100 ways to ask “any questions on this?” And give yourself a very short time frame between pauses. You will tend to stretch between check-ins, so a short 1 min limit isn’t a ridiculous amount of time. Before you know it your pitch will be more of a genuine two way conversation

"How does this compare to what you are doing today?" is always a good way to hear an honest review. Always schedule a follow-up call to allow for them to take the information away and have a discussion internally, following up with an email with a recording, case studies and any other information they have asked for.

A successful customer demo requires an in-depth knowledge of your product AND any peripheral around it. For example, if you are going to make an Access Point demonstration, you should also be competent at switches, cabling, IP network, DHCP in addition to your product's installation and management to overcome any setbacks. The wider area of expertise than your product also creates a trust relationship between you and your customer. As you know, even if your product is the best in the market, the customers would not like to work with people they don't trust. Another part of a successful demo is handing the wheel to the customer right after finishing the demo. Letting them experience the UI and the features would help you in many ways.

Preparation: Conduct rehearsals to ensure smooth transitions and familiarity with the demo flow. Feedback Loop: Incorporate feedback from previous demos to continuously improve. Customization: Be ready to veer off script if the audience's interest shifts towards specific areas. Technical Readiness: Double-check all technical setups to avoid glitches during the presentation. By combining these strategies with the insights and experiences shared by the LinkedIn community, your team will be well-prepared to deliver a product demo that not only showcases the strengths of your product but also resonates with your audience, driving interest and fostering connections.

One of the most common but difficult question in a sales pitch has been 'why only you?' There has never been a definite answer to this but tailor the answer based on your customer's pain points and interests. This way they can relate better and take positive decisions with you.

THE BEST product demos……. Are based around Customer Needs Yet most product demos fail to address this properly They often major on the product itself and the features Occasionally transitioning to what they think are benefits (that are often really advantages, but more in that in another post) And they miss the most important thing of finding out and discussing the individual needs of the customer before they even start the demo! Most demos then become a ‘showing off’ of the product, ‘hoping’ that they hit on something the customer likes, and enough of them that they will buy! Knowing the customer’s real needs at the beginning, and tailoring the demo to suit, are far better and more effective ways to have demos that win the business!

Have a open mind , in business you are always learning new things from people who have dedicated their life to learn one form of art believe in them take risk on them .