Select your preferred player below to subscribe now:
Subscribe Now:
About This Episode
“Would you be available to jump on a call next week for a quick demo?”
How many times have you heard those words? Or better yet, how many times have you been the one saying those words?
When you’re a prospect hearing those words, what is your first thought? Odds are, it’s not one of excitement or anticipation.
You’re thinking about sales pitches and demos that have fallen flat in the past. Ones where the rep wasn’t prepared, or the technology didn’t work, or they clearly hadn’t researched your company or done any homework.
But as the SDR or the AE, what if you could turn the tables?
On the latest episode of the Sales Engagement Podcast, we sat down with Dave Kennett, CEO & Founder of Replayz. Dave and his team at Replayz specialize in looking at a customer’s demo, and offering helpful, timely, applicable feedback on how they could improve.
We talked about the 3 biggest mistakes he’s seen in demos, some great things he’s seen, and how to structure your demo to make the biggest impact.
What’s Not Working?
Treating the demo like a demo.
Even though it may be a demo, you’ve still got to treat it appropriately. It’s not a “trial run.” It’s not a “sneak peek.”
You’re demonstrating to the prospect how you can solve their problem. Do your discovery homework BEFORE you go in.
If you’re the AE, don’t assume that the SDR has already asked all the questions. Spend 10-20 minutes of your demo asking questions and getting to know the pain points.
Tailor your pitch.
You can’t pitch to a CMO in the same way you’d pitch to a first time sales manager. They’re a completely different audience.
Cater your demo style to the seniority of the audience you’re in front of.
Don’t overthink it.
Remember that it’s a conversation.
Don’t get TOO hung up on the process and the details. Instead, have three things that you’re going to keep talking about. That you’re going to keep coming back to. That you HAVE to get across.
That way, when the prospect goes back and talks to their teams, they’re talking about what YOU want them to talk about.
Make Yourself the Expert
Want to make sure that you’re not falling into any of these traps?
Establish yourself as the expert, and do it in a way that shows that YOU have the solution to the problem.
You have the ability to tell a challenging prospect, “You know, I talk to 30 people a month that are in your role, and the pain point that you’re talking about? It’s completely solvable with our solution, and the way it’s solvable is ________.”
Suddenly, you’re not just there with a product to pitch.
You’re an expert who has acquired a wealth of knowledge on the issue.
How to Structure Your Demo
So how do you structure a demo? What makes it successful?
- Build rapport. Don’t walk into the room and start pitching. There are a lot of different people out there, with a lot of different styles. Get to know your prospect.
- State your agenda. Time is our most valuable commodity, so make sure that you’re treating YOUR time and other’s time appropriately. Make sure they know the call is about THEM and not YOU.
- Level set the org. Most prospects come in cold. So take thirty to sixty seconds to get a high-level understanding of the organization.
- Do your discovery. Build on what you’ve learned from the SDR. What are the pain points? What is the COST of that pain?
- No more than 5 slides. Then get to the demo.
- Leave time for pricing. So many people take so much time on the demo that they dont’ leave time for pricing and next steps. You want to understand their objections, understand the buying process, and most importantly, get that next call on the books.
The demo process is one that is easy to underdeliver on, but if it’s done right, can generate an incredible amount of results. Take a listen to the full episode to hear more tips and tricks.
This post is based on a podcast interview with Dave Kennett from Replayz. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to The Sales Engagement Podcast.
If you don’t use iTunes, you can listen to every episode here.
About The Podcast
The Sales Engagement podcast is the #1 podcast focused on engaging your customers and prospects in the modern sales era. This show features real-life stories and best practices from revenue leaders doing the job day in and day out, in a casual, radio-like talk show.
Each episode features modern tactics, strategies, hacks, and tips to get the most out of your sales engagement strategy and help you navigate the next generation of sales. You’ll find energetic talks that will provide you with real actionable value around building meaningful connections and creating a better selling experience through authentic conversations that you can measure.
The Sales Engagement podcast is here to help B2B sales leaders, customer success leaders, and marketing leaders innovate and usher in the next era of modern sales by building pipeline, up-selling customers, and ultimately generating more revenue with more efficiency.
Hosted by Joe Vignolo, Senior Content Managing Editor at Outreach, and Mark Kosoglow, Vice President of Sales at Outreach.
