15 Tips for Killer Product Demos

I’ve been extremely fortunate to lead hundreds of product demonstrations over the last couple of years, which have resulted in over millions of dollars in revenue.

Below, I wanted to provide 15 suggestions for those of you who perform demos on a daily basis in order to make it much more powerful. 

1. Test everything beforehand. During one of the first demos I conducted at Oracle, we accidentally put the logo of a customer’s competitor rather than the customer we were talking to (mixed up Ghilotti Bros. vs. Ghilotti construction). On other occasions, we didn’t have the right cables to help connect the computer to the projector. In short, do all you can to over prepare!
2. Summarize past conversations and objectives of the call. To make sure every single person is on the same page, outline what has been discussed previously as a good way to explain the objective of the call as well as further understand what every person is trying to get out of the meeting. And before moving on, confirm that you have this information right, and use it as a springboard to jump into the meat of the demo. 
3. Build the relationship. Do your homework on the audience before the meeting. This way, you can build rapport at the beginning of the call, but continue to find ways to inject it into other parts throughout the demo as well. For example, at HackerRank, we demo to a ton of University Recruiters as our solution provides a good way of assessing high volume applications much more efficiently, so I always do my best to inject the alma mater of the audience to the demo. It continuously makes it a more fun way to build rapport with the customer usually around upcoming sporting games.
4. Let them hear your smile. Because a ton of interactions nowadays are done over the phone, you lose on the benefits of having visual contact with the customer. There are a lot of cues in body language and facial indicators that are lost over the phone, and it is necessary to compensate for this lack of connection with a smile. The positivity of the smile will have a positive impact on the tone in which you speak. I always sound happier to help customers on the phone when I am smiling and it sure will put you in a better mood. A good way of making sure this is consistently happening will be to put a mirror in front of your desk so you can consistently look at yourself.
5. Ask value-adding questions. The most common question most reps typically ask is a request for information. True value-adding questions are those to which we do not already know the answers. They require thought, encourage reflection, advance the conversation into new territory, and the answers add value to the dialogue. 
6. Incorporate stories into your product demo. A product demonstration should never be a tour of a product's features and functions. Instead, it should tell the customer's story, with the product playing a key role. 
7. Make sure they are engaged throughout the demo. It’s crazy how often I am in a demo and the individual conducting the session continues to talk and talk without pausing to see if the audience has any questions or sees value in what you have demonstrated.
8. Get rid of those filler words. These include um, maybe, possibly, you know, like. These words distract the customer and make you seem less confident. Do all you can to identify your filler words and work hard to replace them with words that convey confidence and are much more direct. The best way to do this is to either self-identify them by recording your own demos or having a partner sit in on your demos and getting their assistance in pointing them out to you.

    

   
9. Diversify your words. One trend I’ve noted recently is the expression, “Does that make sense?” often used by the speaker during a presentation — to check whether the audience has understood or appreciated what the speaker has just said or shown. This undermines whether or not you, yourself, believe it makes sense. Instead ask questions that will assure your solution can create value to the customer. For example, if your customer states they are in need of hiring top software engineers. Instead of just doing a demo on how your product or services can help solve their problems and asking “Does that make sense?” Replace it with “Does this explain how we can help you find software engineers faster?” or “Would this add value for you and the organization?”
10. Don’t BS the customer. Don’t answer a customer’s question unless you fully understand what they are asking and know the 100% accurate answer. If you are unsure about the answer “I don’t know but I will get back to you with a response!” is acceptable and much better than any alternatives. 
11. Demonstrate only the things that provide value to the customers. Time after time, I see how consultants or sales reps get excited about their product features and start demonstrating every little item when it doesn’t create any sort of value for the customer. If you don’t know your customer’s priorities, take the first 5-10 minutes of the demo and ask the customer about their priorities, needs and what they are hoping to get out of the call.
12. Focus on benefits rather than features. In the words of Gregory Ciotti: “how do you think Apple decided to frame the magic of the iPod? Around its technical prowess, or what customers could do with it?
    
13. Don’t make the audience watch you type. Typing takes time and it’s extremely boring. Find ways to avoid typing by having the information pre-populated or skip the step. If you have to type things out, just copy and paste it from another document.
14. Don't ever end the conversation without establishing next steps. If the customer sees value in your product, do all you can to establish next steps and learn about their timelines and what it will take to earn their business? Find out who else will need to get involved as part of this decision process. And establish a mutual agreed upon next step on the calendar before ending the call. 
15. Always Follow Up. As soon as the conversation is over, send an e-mail that includes a recap of the conversation, next steps, and action items for both parties.

There has to be other ways to improve demos, so what suggestions would you add?