To Demo or Not To Demo?

It almost seems like a silly question – should I demo our solution or not?  But there are certain scenarios when you should consider tapping the brakes when a prospect asks you to demo your product.  Here’s an example of when that’s the case.

My rep has a very good customer who buys a significant amount of product from us.  And, our vendor manager there is fantastic.  She is constantly introducing our capabilities to colleagues within her company and brokering introductions for us.  Just recently, a business unit approached her with a problem and she immediately recommended our solution (this is an information-centric product offering).  She reached out to my rep and asked if he could schedule a WebEx demo of our solution.   This was a very nice development for us.

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Here’s a very recent example of how and email from my book worked yet again.  I was conducting a pipeline call with a rep.  He was frustrated that a prospect had gone dark.  After a few great meetings his contact was not returning calls or emails.  I suggested that the rep send an “Are You?” email right then, during our call.  He did and guess what happened?  The prospect emailed him back while we were still on the phone.  This, after weeks of ignoring repeated calls and emails.  That’s why I wrote the book.  The emails work – all the time!  If you have prospects that have “gone dark” – and who hasn’t – the book is for you.  There is also an email for following up on leads, and another for planning killer sales calls.  What are you waiting for?  Those deals won’t wake up on their own!

The book, Click “Send” and Sell!  Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Success  is available at just about every electronic outlet, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Kobo. It’s also available for your iPad at the iTunes store.

No eReader? No problem! Click HEREto download and print the book in any format you want.
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However, I told the rep to hold off on the demo and ask instead for a brief meeting with the business users who had approached our champion with their problem.  Why in the world would I recommend something like that?  Simple, really.  We don’t know anything about the problem that they are trying to solve, and our champion – while she is really great – may not have recommended our best solution to her colleagues.  So instead of agreeing to perform a demo, I directed the rep to request a 30-minute call with the customer in order to learn more about their specific situation and whether or not a demo would be appropriate.  That suggestion was extremely well received by the customer and they are grateful that he was willing to take the time to understand their needs before performing a demo. 

We live in a world of instant gratification and as sellers we are constantly being pushed to close deals today.  Delaying a demo for a few days is a bad idea when you are farther along in a sales process.  But if you are conducting your first meeting, why in the world would you do a product demo (again, think more of a complex sale here) before you understand your prospects pains and opportunities?

Take the time to listen to your prospect before you ever make a recommendation or demonstrate a potential solution.  Chances are you may lengthen the sales process a little bit, but it will very likely increase your odds of winning their business and their trust.