Welcome to Season 1, Episode 2 of our new Sales Hacker series: Demo-litions, where real reps giving real sales demos are reviewed by two sales experts.
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Full Disclosure: We don’t have anything to disclose. Nobody in this video paid to be in it, and we didn’t trade any services either. This is just our honest appraisal of a real sales demo from a real rep!
Let’s get right into it!
Setting the Stage
In the first episode, we saw Shane Todhunter from Klue begin his demo with a company called OpenGov. In Episode 1, we broke down how Shane was able to navigate building rapport, setting an agenda, and introducing his platform.
In Episode 2, we look at the second quarter of Shane’s demo. In this episode, Dave and I will evaluate Shane on his ability to: Demonstrate the value of his platform.
- Rapport
- Agenda Setting
- Introduction
- Demo
- Pricing
- Negotiation
- Closing
- Next Steps
Demo: 4/5
The seller clearly knows his product backward and forwards (kudos on the deep product knowledge, Shane). But sometimes, this can be a double-edged sword!
You never want the prospect to get the feeling that you’ve done this a million times and you’re just going through the motions.
The main reason we docked a point is that we both felt Shane was doing FAR too much talking. Research from our friends over at Gong shows that top sellers speak 30% of the time and listen 70%. This demo had that percentage reversed.
We’d like to see more check-ins and questions throughout next time to get the prospect more involved!
Key Takeaways
- Know your prospect’s industry and competitive landscape.
- Heavier discovery upfront can lead to a more concise demo.
- Always tailor the examples you use to their specific use-case.
- Remember to listen more than you talk.
- Pro tips: If your product malfunctions, don’t draw unneeded attention to it. And always keep your mouse still!
- Use smart check-ins to get the prospect involved and thinking about their specific. use-case. This also keeps people on their toes so they’re not checking their phones!
- Look for ways to reframe it from “how it will help their org” to “how it will make them, the individual, look like a rockstar.”
- Get them to imagine a “post-(your product/service) world.”
- Show them the path of least resistance to get their challenges solved.
Quote of the Episode
“When you are doing a demo, try to envision that you’re in the same room as them.”