7 keys to creating the wow effect in a demo

The "wow" effect during a demo.

That moment when time stands still. You feel that things are finally going to speed up and that your sales cycle is coming to an end.

Thanks to your demo, your prospect is convinced of the value of your product or service.

With practice, making a demo may seem simple and intuitive but beware.

Even with sales experience and a good knowledge of your product, making a persuasive demo is a very difficult exercise.

Time is money. Your prospect's attention span is not unlimited.

If you do an unfocused demo, it is a waste of time for all parties. It doesn't convince the prospect to work with you.

That's why we analysed over 40,000 demos anonymously to understand the common characteristics of successful demos. Some of the results are counter-intuitive.

Start your demo at the end

In life, it is often said that you should save the best for last.

Instinctively, sales people think that they have to start by creating anticipation, like before the finale of a firework display.

In the demo, the opposite is true.

Otherwise, you lose your prospect and his attention.

Before the demo, you have made a great discovery call, you know which features best fit his use case.

For example, for software: instead of starting with the features, start with the results your customers get from using your software and then go on to present the one or two key features.

During a demo, we always start with the result. Then you go on to the best features.

Give your prospect a taste.

One day Chalom Malka (Head of Sales at Aircall) told me in a benevolent (but annoyed) tone: "a good demo lasts no more than 5 minutes...".

So we checked and ...

Shalom is right.

Even if you like your product and could talk about it for hours, don't. Give your prospect a taste of it and avoid long demos. Give your prospect a taste and avoid long demos.

You should not give your prospect the impression that they have wasted their time.

Complete the demo in 10-15 minutes max.

Sales people tend to make demos too long, they are too tempted to show all the features. They think they have a better chance.

During a demo, if what you show your prospect is not perfectly aligned with his needs, you risk proving to him that your product is not made for him.
Also, the less time you spend on the demo phase, the more time the prospect has to ask you questions.

Let your prospect express himself, this is what will allow you to know the level of granularity he expects from you.

Depending on their questions, you can give them more or less detail.

Do not dilute your message and stick to the most important features.

Focus your demo on the prospect's challenges.

Most sales people spend too much time selling all the benefits of their solution.

They don't take the time to talk about their prospects' problems.

If you make your prospect aware that his situation is no longer tenable, he will be all the more likely to buy your solution.

This sentence from Larry Ellison the CEO & Founder of Oracle literally revolutionised the way I sell.
"Generally speaking, prospects tend to put more energy into avoiding losses than into gaining benefits."

Be clear about the dangers of the status quo for your prospect. Emphasise that it is not sustainable in the long term.

For example:

"Today you tell me that your best salespeople are outstanding in the way they handle the most recurrent objections, but they don't share them internally.

"To remedy this, some time ago you set up a documentation to share their best practices"

"What is the risk of continuing to work in this way? ”

"Do you think this situation should be remedied? ".

Keep control of the conversation

Stay in control so that you can address certain topics at the right time.

Always prepare your demos in advance.

This is what allows you to answer your prospects' questions, no matter how complex.

Do not be surprised.

Preparation tip: before each of your sales meetings. Think of all the objections your prospect might raise.

Always prepare for the worst.

To deal effectively with an objection, respond with questions.

The best salespeople do this 50% of the time, the average salesperson only 30%.

Only bring up the subject of price once you have shown them the value of your product.

If you let your prospect talk to you about pricing too soon your chances of success plummet.

Use social proof intelligently.

Social proof is the act of quoting the name of one of your clients in order to convince a prospect that your solution works.

All sales people do it.

Here again, the figures do not lie.

Salespeople who use these techniques reduce their close-rate by 22%.

The reason is simple: if your product works great for giants, why would it work for a start-up or SME?

After all, their challenges are not at all the same: your prospect will not recognise himself in the brands.

They may think your product is not for them.

Rather than talking about your most famous customers, choose companies that are similar to your prospect (same industry, same number of employees, similar products, same size, same age, ...).

It is best to choose companies that have solved the same problems your prospect faces with your solution.

For him, this is much more meaningful than a large company that is not like him.

In the demo, don't talk about ROI, try to ...

Using ROI language can be just as damaging to your deal as using social proof.

The prospect will challenge your figures.

Instead, create two images of their business: one of the current situation and one after your solution is in place.

This way you armour yourself.

Tell them about your customers' results. Focus on your customer's problem and how your solution solved it.

The rest will follow.

Discuss the next steps at the beginning and end of the call.

To speed up your sales cycle, spend 50% more time talking about next steps at the beginning and end of your calls.

The best way to do this is to make it clear from the start:

"By the end of this call, I'd like you to tell me if what I'm showing you is relevant, and you want us to go further, or you're not interested and we'll avoid wasting our time."

This has the advantage of being clear and laying the foundations.

Conclusion

The demo is the key moment not to be missed to transform an interested prospect into a satisfied customer.

If you are not careful, you can ruin everything. The longer the conversation, the more you lose the person you are talking to.

Your prospect's attention wanes as the conversation progresses. Keep it short. Get to the point:

If you had to remember only one thing :

Be short and to the point. Let your prospect ask you questions.

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Best,