The Demo GPS Road Map

Ever had one of those demos when the customer is confused, perplexed and ultimately completely lost? Do you find yourself saying “what we’re going to show now is..” and “next.. you’ll see”? Do you hear “back up, what did you just do” or “didn’t you change that ten minutes ago”?

These are all signs that your customer is conceptually challenged by what they are seeing. Think of your demo as a journey – and the customer is spending so much time figuring out if you are turning left or right, or do they take this exit or the next one, that they are missing all the attractive scenery along the way!

93% of customers admit that at some point in the vendor demo they were dazed, overwhelmed or totally lost."

There is a solution for this – I call it the DEMO GPS ROADMAP. The end result is that customers can spend more time admiring the attractive scenery (the business and technical benefits) of your solution, and less on understanding where you are and what you are doing. Here is the problem.

The Pain Of The Demo

We usually associate “pain” with the business problem the customer is hoping that you can solve. The other pain linked to a demo is that of actually watching it. Consider these three basic problems of watching a demo/presentation as a customer:

1.     The Curse Of Knowledge. The presenter (that is you!) often has TCOK. You’ve presented this 50 times and you know and understand your solution by heart. This is the first time the customer has seen it. Way too many assumptions are made about what the customer really “knows” and what is so obvious you don’t need to say it.

2.     Attention Span. The customer’s attention wanders momentarily – a new screen pops up – and he is completely lost and too embarrassed to admit it.

3.     The Murder-Mystery. The customer is very comfortable with the familiar, so a murder-mystery demo (“guess what happens next?”) makes them uncomfortable. They have no idea where you are going, and even if it’s relevant to them. Customers want to be part of the agenda!

The Basic Concept Of The GPS Roadmap.

Using the analogy of your demo/presentation as a journey, the customer needs to know, before you even get started:

1.     The Starting Point. Get confirmation that the current state you are demonstrating (based on your discovery of key business issues and that “pain” thing) is really their current state.

2.     The Destination. Where are they going – and why? (Peter Cohan’s Great Demo explains this in fabulous detail for you). This is Future State.

3.     The Route. How long will they be travelling, is it dangerous, what are some of sights/landmarks along the way? Stretching the analogy they’ll also want to know if they can drive themselves, hire other drivers and alternative means of transportation!

So think of the GPS in your car, iPad or other mobile device. Enter a starting and ending point for a journey and it generates a route – and then shows it to you. Use Apple Maps or Google Maps and you get a nice old-fashioned hardcopy print out too. It is a tangible affirmation of your impending journey.

 Once you are underway, you can look at the GPS and know exactly where you are at any given time. If you are a passenger in the back seat, with no access to a map of any kind, you are placing total trust in the driver. You assume that the driver knows where they are going, is taking the most efficient route, and has checked for traffic/accidents. A smart driver might also ask if there is anything special you want to see. Your customers are not that trusting – but you expect them to be if you demo the old way and just take them on a magical mystery tour.

Take Action – Build A Demo Map

This is an abridged version of what we cover in our workshops:

1.  Break your demo down into 3-8 logical component parts. Each should be 10 minutes or less. Possibly 15 minutes maximum for the one key “how we do the magic” section. Number these parts (or “chunks”) and place them in boxes on a document.
2. For each logical component part, summarize the key actions you are going to show and the potential customer benefit. The best analogies I can unfortunately think of are (gasp) bullet points. Maximum of three key points per chunk. If you need more than 3 that’s usually a sign to subdivide the chunk.
3. Remember it is a journey, so link the boxes with arrows to move between the component parts.
4. Use your judgment as to whether the map is one page or two.
5. Give the map to the customer before you start the demo and explain it. If you are running a webex send it to your contact for both confirmation and distribution. (it’s sometimes a great way to sneak in a quick Discovery conversation before the call!)

Fine Tune The Map

1. For each chunk, estimate (or analyze from a practice session) the number of Minutes, Screens and Clicks (M-S-C) within each chunk. Use your judgement about the ratios – if you have 16 screens in a 5-minute chunk, or more than 2-3 clicks per minute – it’s a busy demo! We spend a lot of time simplifying demos in our workshops.
2. For virtual webcasts – email the map beforehand to the customer contact and ask him/her to print it out for everyone.
3. For more ad-hoc face to face demos, draw the map on a whiteboard or poster board.
4. Do not confuse an agenda slide with the roadmap. The roadmap is more detailed.
5. When fortunate enough to have two projectors/screens demo on one and display the roadmap on the other – refer back to it repeatedly.

Summary

At any point in your demo you can refer to the map to give context to where you are and what you are doing (and what comes next). It also keeps your customers (and your salesrep) on track. What’s in it for you?

You will defeat The Curse Of Knowledge.

Your demo message will stick.

Your demo conversion rates will increase.

Five customers reported an average 19% increase in customer satisfaction with their demos, a 75% reduction in additional “show me that again” re-demos and a 24% increase in conversion rate (using raw $ and €) for revenue generation.

"A road map always tells you everything except how to refold it”