A product demonstration is a crucial opportunity to showcase your solution and persuade your prospects to choose you over your competitors. But how can you make your demo more engaging, memorable, and convincing? Here are some tips to help you stand out from the crowd and deliver a winning product demonstration.
Before you start your demo, you need to understand who you are talking to, what their pain points are, and how your product can solve them. Research your prospects, their industry, and their goals, and tailor your demo accordingly. Use their language, address their specific challenges, and show how your product can help them achieve their desired outcomes. Don't just present features and functions, but focus on benefits and value.
Ways to get the best out of your product demonstration: - Deep Research on the prospect and his company - Empathetic listening - Identify the pain points or problems of the prospect - Do not focus on your product features but show the relativity of your product to their problems and portray how you can help them - Keep your prospect engaged by asking relevant questions - Weave a story around the problem statement and solution through the demo - Always focus on value addition - Show relativity and make them assured that you are there throughout the whole journey to make them succeed. - Handle objections with a valid and satisfactory response - Proactively Follow up
When I first started as a Sales Engineer, I thought my job was to do a "good demo". ?? To be fair, I didn't have any success metrics beyond that. I learned that success as an SE is all about your ability to convey complex technical information to your audience in a simple way to convince them of the benefits of your solution. Guess what? This is easier to do when you know your audience. It's like getting the answers to the test before you take it! Spending time in discovery is how you learn who will be in the audience, their interests, what they've tried, what's not worked, etc. Knowing these details will allow you to craft a compelling, relevant story.
A demonstra??o de uma solu??o permite que de fato, o cliente em quest?o possa ver a usabilidade/possibilidades de uso. Porém sem ter um estudo prévio desse cliente e além disso no momento da apresenta??o, n?o conseguir dimensionar pra ele o ganho real, sua atua??o pode ser digna de um Oscar, Grammy porém dificilmente será convertida em negócio fechado.
To effectively understand your audience, build trust first, as people are hesitant to share with strangers. Start by breaking the ice, then delve into understanding their operating reality, including their current state, team goals, and challenges. Prior to your demo, prepare a tailored solution to address their specific problems.
A product demonstration is not a lecture, but a conversation. You want to capture your audience's attention, interest, and emotions, and the best way to do that is to tell a story. Use a narrative structure to guide your demo, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Start with a compelling hook that sets the context and the problem. Then, show how your product can provide a solution, using real-life scenarios, examples, and testimonials. Finally, end with a strong call to action that summarizes the benefits and asks for feedback or commitment.
Storytelling is thrown around constantly in the technical world as the "silver bullet" for demos. But what does it really mean? Here are a couple of points I focus on when presenting a demo. 1 - Use simple language. The best storytellers capture your attention with just a few carefully chosen words. They are not using the biggest words to prove how smart they are. The goal is to convey your message clearly. 2 - Use stories of how other companies solved this problem. Highlight the challenges your customers faced, the solutions provided, and the impact on their operations. This not only adds authenticity to your narrative but also provides evidence of the practical benefits your platform delivers.
New sales engineers often err by treating demos like product training sessions. To make demos effective, focus first on the outcomes your product will achieve for the prospect, then use stories to demonstrate your company's success and make the features relevant.
A product demonstration should not be a boring slide show or a static screen share. You want to make your demo as visually appealing and interactive as possible, to keep your audience engaged and interested. Use high-quality images, videos, animations, and graphics to illustrate your points and showcase your product. Invite your audience to participate, ask questions, give feedback, and try your product themselves. Use polls, quizzes, surveys, or gamification to make your demo fun and interactive.
Nas minhas apresenta??es/demonstra??es foco na interatividade junto ao cliente, busco exemplos da sua realidade e como eles seriam solucionados se ele nos contratasse. Pode n?o parecer, mas n?o adianta querer mostrar todos os recursos, se você n?o focar de fato em como aquilo pode resolver a dor dele.
A slide show should be the last option to share a product view on and in general paints a confusing picture until the actual product is seen in action. Slides and static images should be used more towards explaining technical concepts within the product such as process, backend architecture or otherwise. When it comes to talking to the actual product features - there is nothing better than showing it in live action. For this, you should prepare demo environments and have rehearsed walk throughs on what to show for each specific customer scenario instead of the same flow every time. Remember, linking feature to value is everything and only show the impactful flow in terms of how it applies to the customer - Feature dumps are a big NO.
A PowerPoint's length is crucial in a demo: too long loses the audience's attention, while too short lacks context for the product's importance. Ensure the live demo is interactive, with frequent questions to gauge the prospect's understanding. As a sales engineer, avoid assuming your audience's product knowledge, as this can make the solution seem overly complex. Use references and similes to relate your product to familiar concepts, highlighting the benefits for their business.
A product demonstration is also a chance to address any objections or questions that your prospects may have about your product, your company, or your offer. You want to be prepared for any potential concerns or doubts that may arise, and have clear and confident answers ready. Anticipate the most common or likely objections and questions, and address them proactively during your demo. Use facts, data, testimonials, or case studies to support your claims and overcome objections. Don't avoid or ignore questions, but welcome them as an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and value.
Taking questions during the demo builds more credibility than pushing them all off until the end of the meeting. When you do this, you need a plan. Some questions make sense to answer in the moment and you should do so. Confirm you've answered the question and get back to your plan. If the question is going to take you too far off course, politely ask to "park" the question until later. If they agree, write it down somewhere and either get to it later or follow up afterward. Come up with other phrases besides, "That's a great question!" After your audience hears you say this a few times, it gets old. "Thanks for the question", "That's an interesting one", or "Let me see if I understand the question (and repeat it)" are great alternatives.
In demos, deep product knowledge is essential; if you struggle with the system, so will your prospect. Prepare for common objections and questions, which become predictable after a few demos. Invest time between demos to develop well-informed responses. For highly technical prospects, consider having a team member on call for additional support. Above all, prioritize accuracy over immediacy in your answers; it's better to confirm with your team and provide a correct response than to give a potentially incorrect one on the spot.
A product demonstration is not the end of the sales process, but a step towards closing the deal. You want to follow up with your prospects after your demo, and get their feedback, opinions, and next steps. Send a thank-you email or message, recap the main points and benefits of your demo, and ask for feedback or ratings. Use their feedback to improve your demo, address any remaining issues, and move them further along the sales funnel. Keep in touch with your prospects until they are ready to make a decision or take action.
Maintaining engagement post-demo is vital. Ensure you discuss next steps before concluding the demo to establish clear expectations for future communication. A follow-up with a concise summary of key points and the potential impact of the features will help you stand out from competitors and leave a lasting impression on your prospects.
O feedback é extremamente importante, porém ao invés de pedir ao final da apresenta??o, o que provavelmente irá gerar o famoso "sua solu??o é muito boa" fa?a isso durante a demonstra??o com perguntas por ex: - Isso resolve seu problema atual? Se sim, como? - Você se vê usando isso no seu dia a dia? Como? Enfim, trazer questionamentos durante a apresenta??o, pode ajudar a elucidar eventuais dúvidas e aumentar o engajamento.
It is important to follow up post the demo - not just from the AE's perspective but also as a SE and provide a summary of what you showed - what pain points were to be addressed based on it and the associated value and then address any follow up requests or action items. For S.Es it is important to be referenced in the follow up email if the AE is sending it or send one yourself from a technical information perspective to build a rapport with the customer.
Never make your demonstrations monologue. Interact more with the audience and keep them also as a part of your demonstration as well. For eg: When you are demonstrating some capability of your product where you need to put an input to be placed, then you could take that input from your audience.