Product demos that deliver results
An in-depth look at planning, preparing and delivering successful product demonstrations
Product demonstrations are a critical part of the customer journey for many technology companies. When they go well, prospective customers come away feeling reassured and confident about making a purchase decision. But when a demo misses the mark and fails to engage the customer, it risks derailing the entire sales process.
We’ve all experienced some great product demos, and probably a fair few that flopped. So how can you be sure that you make the most of every customer demonstration? From nearly thirty years of marketing in the tech sector, here are my thoughts on how you can plan, prepare and deliver successful product demonstrations:
Start with your objectives. What does this demo need to achieve?
Not all product demos have the same purpose, nor the same audience.
Some demos are meant to be short and sweet, to wow new prospects and show-off impressive functionality and user experiences. These need to be structured and timed carefully so that they hold people’s attention and only cover what is essential to make your point.
However, for sales prospects who are close to making a purchase decision, the purpose of your demo is more about substantiating the claims made in your marketing and sales materials. This is the key moment when you prove that you have got all the important details right. You need to take enough time for the customer to decide that an investment in your product is justified.
To deliver a successful product demo, you need to have a pretty good idea of what your prospective customer wants; what are they expecting in return for their time and attention?
Before investing the time to setup and deliver a one-to-one demo, talk to the customer to find out about their pain points. One approach is to explore their situation, the problems they are experiencing and the implications on them personally and the business as a whole.
However, if you are creating a demo that will be delivered as a recording on your website (a ‘canned demo’) then you will need to reflect on what previous customers have said is important to them. If you have conflicting ideas of what a demo needs to achieve then that is a sure sign that you need more than one, possibly a series of differently focused themes.
Understand your customers’ goals and intentions
Be clear about next steps and design them in
When you are planning your demo, consider the next steps that you want the customer to take. That way you can prime them from the outset and build subtle cues into your content.
If the demo is acting as an early stage ‘beauty contest’, then the next steps may be downloading detailed product information or booking a call with a sales person. Depending on how many people watch your videos, you may prefer automated emails to take the legwork out of making personal follow-ups.
Or if this demo is going to happen further down the sales funnel, when the customer is seriously evaluating just one or two alternatives, then you will want to get their commitment beforehand to a follow-up where you can address any concerns and counter competitors’ assertions.
It is important to offer your demos at the right time in the customer’s buying journey.
For example, with an in-depth demo, you need the audience to have thought about their requirements and have reasonable criteria for comparing you with your competitors. If they are given a demo too early in their research stage then they can be easily distracted by superficial issues or small details. For people who are still at the shortlisting stage, marketing offers better and more reliable ways to engage and position your offering.
Don’t be tempted to put a ‘get a demo’ button on every page of your website; although this will certainly look good in your analytics, your sales people won’t thank you for a load of ‘opportunities’ that don’t convert. Good marketing systems can adapt the messaging and calls to action on your website so that visitors are offered a demo or other content depending on their previous interactions.
Get the timing and context right for your demo
Ensure your demo is telling a clear and compelling story
Storytelling remains an important concept in marketing and for good reason. If your demo is structured so that it ‘starts from the start’ and then takes the customer through a scenario that is as close as possible to a typical day in their life, it will be far easier to understand and contextualise.
What’s more, when a demo includes really good storytelling, the human brain can’t help but process the experience as if the system were already theirs.
Make sure your narrative stays anchored in their world, addressing their specific concerns. If you are writing a script for your demo (which I would definitely recommend) then review it objectively to make sure your words are as much about them as they are about the product.
The speed at which you progress through your demo is vitally important for keeping people’s attention and ensuring they get everything they need from it. But how do you adapt to the preferences of different people, getting the right balance of speed and details, while covering the right mix of human factors and systems outcomes?
The key thing is recognising that what may work for you, or even what worked for your last customer, isn’t necessarily right for this audience, here and now. If you are giving a live demo, be attentive to the reactions you are getting and modify the content accordingly. It helps if you pre-prepare and work out what you can safely skip, and plan where you may need to take in-depth questions.
If you are preparing recordings to share on your website, create different demos which meet the needs of different personality types, as well as different business situations. Descriptive titles will help people select the right content, with telltale words like “overview”, “business benefits”, “in-depth”, or “processes”. Equally, when you have a lot of detailed content to cover, it is often better to narrow the scope and deliver your demos in separate, bite-size chunks.
Get the pace of the demo and level of detail right
Final thoughts on successful product demos
Product demonstrations can play a critical part in your customer’s buying journey and work best with input from different roles within your team. Don’t assume that the best person to specify and plan a demo is also the right person to deliver it. People buy from people, so make sure your demos are delivered or voiced by someone who your prospective customers will warm to.
A lot of thought, planning and attention has gone into the development of your products; you owe it to everyone to ensure that this same level of excellence is experienced in all your demos by prospective customers.
Next steps
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