Demos are useless, if...

I can clearly recall that day. I was all excited during my drive to office, ready to give the demo of a new module to our potential customers. On the way, I phoned my DEV team to ensure all was in place. They too were confident and excited. However, the demo proved to be a disaster. Here's where we faltered:

• Our primary goal was to impress the customer, not to gain insights from their feedback. We failed to listen.
• We lacked the probing questions necessary to validate our assumptions about the module and its features.
• Blinded by our confidence, we were convinced that the customer would be as amused about the features as we were.

Throughout my career, I've been involved in numerous demos, witnessing these same mistakes time and again. A demo is an important tool for learning and validating one's ideas. It presents a golden opportunity to gather invaluable feedback from potential end-users before a product hits the market. It allows for course correction and refinement before commercial launch — an opportunity that few other means can provide. While trade shows and market research have their place, nothing quite matches the direct feedback received from customers regarding a product and its features.

To complete the title, demos (meaning system demos conducted to obtain customer feedback in an agile way of working) are useless if...

1. You are unwilling to listen and learn.
2. You are not presenting to the 'right' customer.
3. You fail to act on the feedback received.
4. You conduct the demo without having assumptions to validate.
5. You only hear what you want to hear from the customer.
6. You miss crucial signals amidst the noise.
7. You assume that you know better than the customer.

Demos hold potential, but only when approached with an open mind to learn and act. They are not just showcases for products; they are invaluable opportunities for improvement.

#CustomerDemos #ProductFeedback