Your software sales demo is a key part of the sales process. It is not the only part, and I would even dare say not even the most important part – but a bad demo can certainly kill your deal quickly.
I have sat in on some bad demos in the past, either as an observer or a buyer – and I’ve also been told some horror stories from close clients about awful demos they have had to endure.
On the flip side, I’ve sat in on and delivered some amazing demos with great feedback over the past 10+ years in software sales – so here are some tips for delivering the best software demo:
Before the Demo
Your engagement and relationship with the client before the demo is just as important as the demo itself. If you haven’t yet, check out my blog on the simple 4 steps sales process: “Defining Sales: Educate, Ask, Inform, Nurture“.
In the Educate phase, you are putting your product out into the world. You are educating the public (or your specific accounts, if applicable) on your solution and you are meeting new clients and building relationships with them. These relationships are so important – it’s when they will make their decision on how much they trust and want to work with you. A strong relationship can even help a demo that flops and give you a chance to make it right.
In the Ask phase, it’s time to get curious. You are digging into your prospective client’s current challenges and pain points, and writing down verbatim what they have told you so that you can use that language during your demo.
Before the demo, you are meeting with your team internally (if you aren’t delivering the demo alone), to prepare them. I always have a pre-call with the team to fill them in on the client, their needs and strategize on demo format – and then I summarize that preparation in an email. Your internal team is probably delivering many demos so sending an email summary is helpful which includes not only the client details and pain points, but a list of demo attendees and their titles so they know who they are delivering to and can tailor their messaging to the audience. If it is a large opportunity, I also recommend dry-running your demos with the team.
The day before the demo it’s helpful to re-send all this information and potentially even schedule another call to refresh in their mind what they’re about to deliver. Confirm your demo strategy, any assumptions and all the “housekeeping” items such timing, breaks, questions etc.
The Demo
Your demo is an experience – so if you leave this blog with one takeaway please let it be that a software demo is not about you, it’s about the customer. Those bad demos I mentioned usually start with the sales rep talking about how great their company is and then a solution engineer talking about how great the product is, and after 2 hours the client finally gets to ask a few questions. So… please don’t do that.
Purchasing software is entering into a long-term relationship – so think of your software demo as a first date. How enthralled would you be with your potential partner if they talked about themselves the whole time and told you to “leave any questions to the end!”
Instead, here are some tips for an engaging software demo:
- For a virtual demo, before the demo even starts, cameras are on. Wearing bright colors also helps – it makes your demo more engaging. Your client may or may not want to join on camera, which is fine, but remember they are using this demo as a deciding factor on whether they want to work with you, and a faceless demo where they only see product does not build relationships or trust. Your internal team should therefore always be on camera.
- For an in-person demo, make sure you show up early. Discussions and networking before the demo are just as important as the demo itself.
- Always start with introductions (both your side and the client side). It gives everyone on the client side a chance to speak – conversations where you speak are much more engaging than conversations where you only listen.
If the client has brought 30 people to the demo, you still need introductions. That’s them telling you that those 30 people are important in this decision and therefore each one of them matters and deserves to be heard, at least for an introduction. - If you are the sales rep and you have a solution engineer doing the demo for you – make sure you still play a strong part in your demo. While people are joining, start a conversation with those who have joined already. Lead the intros, and ideally the demo intro/summary as well. This is your demo, and your client, so make sure it’s clear you are leading it.
- Start with a summary of why you are there. What are the challenges they have, their current state, an overview of your solution(s) and then specifically what you’ll be focusing on today. It gives them an overview of what you can offer more broadly, specific to them as an organization – while still focusing on the specific challenge you are there to solve today.
- Once you dive into the actual demo, sell on experiences. Use story telling rather than listing product features and functionality. Again, tie the benefits of the solution to their specific needs and requirements so that they understand the relevance (and things that are relevant are more engaging!)
- Allow questions throughout the entire presentation. Make sure you coordinate and are aligned with your client and decide beforehand how you would like to handle questions from the group – if there are 30 of them, for example, perhaps questions are typed in the chat and you address key ones during the demo and get back to them after on the others. The key here is to ensure everyone feels heard. As the sales rep, this is your role. Ask your solution engineer to pause throughout the presentation so that you can ask questions to the audience about what they just heard – this increases engagement.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone is presenting in a demo and says “maybe you do this, or maybe you do that”. Why maybe? The client is on the call with you, so if you don’t know, just ask them! Relevance and engagement are key. - Always end your demos 5-10 minutes early. Whether you are in person or remote, people need time to transition before their next meeting. It also helps them digest all the information they just heard. If they jump from your demo right at the top of the hour, or worse, late – they are walking right into a new meeting with new information and more likely to forget everything they just heard. Make sure you always schedule lots of extra time for your demos so that this doesn’t happen and you leave room for unplanned questions or content they want to see.
- It’s important to take temperature checks throughout the demo to make sure your content and presentation is landing. There are many presenters who drone on and on, completely unaware they have lost the audience a long time ago. The client is checked out, maybe doing their dishes in the kitchen and barely paying attention. As the sales rep it’s your role to ensure that each section of the demo is hitting home and of interest to your client.
- Be careful to monitor the negativity or positivity of your words. For example, talking negatively about the competition, or the client’s current solution/provider only shows that you are negative. Instead focus on the positives of making a change. Similarly, don’t apologize for the length of the demo or the number of your slides – if you have prepared the demo you’ve chosen the number of slides and the length of the demo for a reason, you are providing value. If you aren’t, then delete those slides! If they truly are all necessary and valuable though, be confident and positive in what you are presenting.
- Lastly, as the sales rep it’s your job to close the demo. Summarize why you’re there, what they’ve seen, and the overall benefits of choosing your solution and company. Ask targeted follow-up questions to ensure nothing was missed, and outline the next steps.
After the Demo
It’s important to reflect back on your presentation afterwards. How do you think you made them feel? Sync internally with your team to discuss what went well, what could be improved – so that you are going into a follow-up call with the customer with a perspective on how you landed (which you’ll then seek to confirm).
Send over an email summary of the demo to your client, which includes a link to your demo recording in case they want to watch later or share internally. In that email make sure you look to schedule time with them one-on-one, to gather feedback on the demo and review any outstanding questions from their side.
If you’ve done a great job on the demo, the sales process will naturally progress to the next step. If you didn’t, you’re doomed to perpetual follow-ups until eventually the lead is lost or you lose to a new vendor or “no decision”.
I hope this has been helpful and given you some things to consider for your next demo.
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