Is maintaining a 77% closure possible after a demo?

Is it not always better to see before you buy?

Whenever you're out to buy software or a SaaS solution for your organization, I am sure a thought came up in your mind which would suggest you see/ experience the software before taking the next steps! Now, that's where product demos come into the picture.

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Here's what's covered in this article➖

• What's a sales demo?
• What's a product demo and how is it different from a Sales Demo?
• Who provides a demo?
• Why is demo a crucial step in a B2B SaaS model?
• When do you provide a demo?
• The medium of a demo call?
• Do's on a demo
• Don'ts on a demo
• Your personal checklist
• Closing that demo!

What's a Sales demo?

A presentation wherein the value/ impact that your product/ service holds is showcased to a prospective client is generally defined as a sales demo. The main inclusions in a sales demo is a presentation of capabilities & core features where closing a deal is the main call to action.

What's a product demo and how is it different from a Sales Demo?

If you ask me, both are the same where other names for a Sales demo is a product demonstration, SaaS demo, or just ‘demo’.

Though I did read an article written by Hubspot and they have clearly differentiated between a Sales demo and a Product demo. Here's a snippet by Hubspot - "A sales demo is the process of providing a prospect with a demonstration of your product or service. A product demo is the same process but it involves a current customer.”

We'll call it a demo going forward.

Who provides a demo?

Generally, a Sales Account Executive or a Sales Account Manager provides a demo.

Why is demo a crucial step in a B2B SaaS model?

While assessing how crucial is a demo, we should take in the driving factors of a product that's being sold and the sales cycle. The factors being, Price (p) and Complexity (c) leading to the most important driving factor, being, ACV or Annual Contract Value of the deal for which a product demo is being provided.

Here's a diagram for your reference, please do not mind my handwriting.➖

When do you provide a demo?

In a general inside sales funnel, a visitor views your site, once he/she signs up or fills up that form, the same visitor will now be termed as a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) after which we add up a metric wherein there's a set of rules preset on the basis of usage for each MQL. Once an MQL, uses your product, we will start calling these leads, Product Qualified Leads (PQLs).

There's generally a discovery call made to all the MQLs in order to qualify these leads into a PQL. After an MQL becomes a PQL, a demo is a next step that further converts this PQL into a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) and then this SQL is either Closed Won or Closed Lost.

Medium of a demo call?

I'm a Zoom fan! Though there are a number of mediums that can be used to provide a demo. The most common one right now is over Zoom/ Google Meet/ Go-to meeting, seeing the current pandemic situation. Though other channels are as under-

• Zoom// Web Conference
• Phone Call
• Pre-recorded video
• Webinar
• In-person.

Do's and don'ts on a demo call

While you're on that call, do make sure, to get these answers right. Only then can a demo be fruitful.

Do's

• Why is the prospect interested in your solution?
• Which objectives do they hope your product will help them achieve?
• Which problems do they hope your product will help them solve?
• How are they currently trying to achieve this?
• What do they like most about their current approach?
• What do they want to be improved?
• Have they used a similar product in the past ( or are they currently?)
• What other products are they evaluating?
• Who all are the stakeholders involved in the deal?
• How do they feel about your product? What are their individual objectives, objections, wants, and needs?
• How are they evaluating your solution, which KPI (Key performance indicator) do they want your product to push?

Dont's

• Always prospect well before a demo. If you are providing a demo to a prospect who does not fit the definition of an ICP (Ideal Client Profile) of your product then you are wasting your time.
• Don't assume the prospect to show up on the demo if you have not sold the demo properly. You need to sell the value of the demo you're giving and then expect your prospect to show up.
• Training is given on Training Calls and not on Demo calls. When you give Demos, it's more of how much value is generated for the prospect if he uses your product. It's Sales, pure 24 Karat Sales! Treat it as a Sales Call!
• Don't keep your demos for too long. Your demo should last for 15 minutes, you need to have a conversation with the prospect, where you qualify further and build rapport for the remaining 15 minutes, so the sweet spot is 30 minutes!
• Don't demo features instead of Value or the impact, your product can create. Talk about your prospect more than your product.
• Don't keep on speaking. Always keep your ears open and become a good listener. Remember, you are on a remote call with your prospect, you do not know what the prospect is doing, so ask as many questions as possible to keep your prospect engaged.
• Don't ever end a demo without a call to action or a roadmap. You can go through your pricing page once you are planning to end the demo or just give your prospect a deal but do not end with "It was great talking to you.. Let's connect over email". Never do this!!

Your personal demo checklist!

Prospect like a pro!

• Use LinkedIn, their website & other social media platforms
• What's their job title?
• What's their main responsibility?
• A list of key stakeholders.
• What insights do they hope to gain from attending your demo?

Confirm the demo.

• Do reach out a day in advance just to confirm the meeting.
• This reduces no-shows by 89%

Customize your demo.

• Always customize your demo to your prospect's desired results to make the most out of your Sales Opportunities.
• If a client is looking for feature A, focus more on feature A and not feature B. Feature B can be used as a good to have feature for a later part of the demo but do not start your demo with feature B.

Be who you are on the demo! (A Human Being)

Either your prospect will sleep or your team member, who might be on that demo call would if you're being robotic. You need to keep your demo lively, ask about the weather, ask if your prospects have any questions or not, or just crack a good joke. But do keep your demos lively.

Keep a notepad open

Do jot the conversations that your prospect has had with you or any of your team members, keep a notepad open with all this information to have a background, if needed on the call.

A notepad also helps in jotting down feedback or challenges that your prospect might have and did share with you on the demo.

Do not dodge a prospect's question

Never ever dodge a prospect's question, no matter how basic it may sound to you. Always remember, a prospect does not know your solution the way you do. Also, if you dodge a question, it shall portray you as a rude person.

There may be instances, wherein you do not know the answer to a challenging question. In this scenario, always promise the prospect that you will address this question over email after the call ends and always ask if that's fine.

Set expectations for next steps

Setting expectations for the next steps doing forward always makes sense in creating a roadmap for the prospect going forward.

It may be a simple transfer from Sales to Success or telling your prospect that you will call them next week, same time. Anything works but do set expectations for next steps.

Closing that demo!

Do not end the demo with no call to action (CTA), a recommendation is to go through the pricing page once you are planning to end the demo or just give your prospect a deal!

But, do not end with "It was great talking to you.. Let's connect over email". Just don't do this!! Remember, you're in Sales and the demo you're providing is a Sales call and not a training call! Do not let your hard work go in vain.

BONUS

• Start with the killer feature of your product, don't save it for the end.
• Dress well and be excited for that demo, treat that demo like it's a celebration, experience the magic then!

Until then, as always,

Happy Selling! 🙌