We were talking to a potential SE candidate one day – she was big on customized demos. She explained how every demo she did was built for the specific needs for her customers. Another SE, working at our company, assured us that they were all customized already. Geez, they had just done a 6-hour demo for someone!
It reminded me of the “mystery selling” that I saw in some salespeople. They would tell me a deal was coming in one month. I asked how they knew. Well, they had a “special relationship” with the customer – they had worked this kind of deal before – they just knew somehow – no worries!!
In both cases, the idea of process is somehow seen as dangerous to the magic of selling. I asked the SE how she could make sure she said the right things if all the demos were different. Well, she was so good that she could just do it. She just knew the demos – she was an expert. Basically, the same sad story as the salesperson who “knew” the deal was coming in.
I think I finally figured out what made these SEs so insistent that they had customized demos. They did not want to be seen a robots – demo dollies that just ran threw a script. It mattered to them that they used some personal skills that they developed over the years.
One day, we had a long demo to a large prospect. The lead SE ran through the demo well, but he skipped one section. He brought in another resource t0 demo it – he did not “know” that functionality well enough. Geez, when I saw the demo from the other person, it was a breeze. I could have done it pretty much.
As I headed home from the demo, I tried to think all this out. Why were the SEs so focused on these one-of-a-kind customized demos that they needed to really deeply “get” to do the demo.
I thought about what drove the SEs – their personal win. For a lot of them, the demo is the real core of their personal win. The key part of the demo is how they present the software and how well they can explain the software. Giving a canned demo would be a drag to them – they would just be reading a script and not “getting involved” in the demo.
Still, all my sales training tells me that the key to selling is listening, not talking. All that time spent one demos is there really to get the customers talking to us and involved in a solution to their problem. I think the SEs missed it – they thought their explanation was the key.
I think an answer to how to manage these demos can be found in sales’ approach to standardization. Salespeople rightly reject 100% scripting of our sales cycle – we want the freedom to change things up. Still, salespeople so often share ideas and tips – we steal freely from each other. What works for me is to have a rough plan and a number of preset options to sell. I get into deals, use the same tactics over, and simply change the order in which I use them. I don’t try to reinvent my closing technique for every deal.
This approach would work well for SEs. Make sure everything you say in your demo is scripted – the key points should be laid out and all preset. Your “magic” comes in when you choose the right technique to use and the order in which you give them. Still, you do not demo the cool feature a different way every time – you just choose how and when to demo it.
So, your “customized” demos are simply a flexible outline of a whole bunch of preset scripts. You still get your magic, and the customer gets some great information.
