Here, we\u2019re going to break down everything you need to know\u2014what makes a good sales demo, steps in the demo process, best practices<\/strong>, and how top sellers who smash massive numbers deliver their demos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But first, let\u2019s start with the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sales demo, which is an abbreviation of sales demonstration, is the visual presentation of a product <\/strong>made by a seller to a potential buyer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The presentation would be based on the previous conversations the sales rep had with the prospect. It typically covers the product\u2019s features, capabilities, and how it would exactly solve their pain points and be of value to them<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal of giving any sales demo is to successfully close the deal by convincing the prospect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to sales leader Chris Orlob<\/a>, the most important part of any sales demo is its relevance in addressing the prospect\u2019s pain points<\/strong>. \u201cYour demo should exactly solve your customer\u2019s business problem. No less. But, also, no more.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As the name suggests, both sales demo and product demo<\/a> involve presenting the product.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, are these two the same? Or are they worlds apart?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, the context and the audience differ for both. Find out the difference below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you have a better picture of what a sales demo is, let\u2019s delve deeper into the different aspects\u2014the who, why, when, what, and how\u2014of a demo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In most organizations, the sales reps\u2014more specifically, the account executives\u2014present the demos to prospects.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal of any sales demo is to close the deal by convincing the prospect<\/strong> to purchase the solution. The path to this goal is laying out before prospects exactly how your solution would solve their problems and why they should choose you over a competitor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Presenting sales demos is one of the stages of the B2B sales cycle.<\/a> So, essentially, sales cannot continue without demos. A well-presented sales demo tailored to the prospect\u2019s pain points and priorities can be a powerful way of influencing their decision to sign up for your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sales demos typically occur after prospects agree to come to a meeting<\/strong> to check out the solution. Usually, the rep would ask a few questions about the prospect\u2019s problems and aspirations in a process known as sales discovery<\/a>. Following the discovery process, the rep presents the demo.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Demos are commonly presented live through video calls using platforms like Zoom<\/strong>. During the call, the rep shares either the screen with the prospects to show the software in real time or a deck prepared to highlight a particular feature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, the demos could also be a pre-recorded video walkthrough or an interactive automated demo video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The duration of any sales call, let alone a demo call, can differ from one sales rep to another and based on the prospect\u2019s preferences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A sales demo call usually lasts 30 minutes to one hour<\/strong>. Some sales teams prefer to club discovery and demo calls together, while others prefer to have separate calls for discovery and demo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A good sales demo, sales leader Pete Prowitt<\/a> says, should be \u201cengaging, relevant, and include at least a few \u2018aha!\u2019 moments”<\/em> for your prospect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But how do you get there? By following these 9 steps:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The bedrock of all sales calls<\/a> is researching your prospects well. Knowing as much as you can about them helps you to tailor your demo to them specifically and build a strong rapport<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But what kind of information are we talking about here? That\u2019d vary depending on your ICP and your industry, but here are 2 approaches to pre-call research<\/strong> you can use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since a demo call is always planned in advance, communicate with the prospects the date, time, and duration of the call via email<\/strong> to check if the time works with your prospect. Once you get the okay from them, send a calendar invite and schedule the demo accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, check with the prospect on whether they\u2019d be participating alone or with others in the team. In that case, email the invite to all the participants. Also, follow up with a confirmation email a few hours before the demo to confirm their attendance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As with everything else, preparation is key to the success of your sales demo. Here are the 3 steps for a winning pre-call prep: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, you\u2019re trying to sell your product through the demo. But don\u2019t forget you\u2019re selling to a person. Would you prefer a sales rep who’s pushy and obnoxiously salesy? Or someone who builds strong rapport by knowing what exactly you want?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the saying goes, do to others what you would have them do to you<\/strong>. In the initial few minutes of the call, have a casual and light-hearted chat with your prospect before moving to the demo. You can share personal anecdotes or ask what they did over the weekend. But be careful not to overstep any professional boundaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By building a strong rapport this way, you boost the chances of closing the deal. Even if you lose the deal, the prospect might come back to you because of the rapport you’ve built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the initial rapport-building conversation, it\u2019s best to lay out a clear agenda for the demo call<\/strong> to set your prospect\u2019s expectations. State the structure of the call and the topics to be discussed in each section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, an agenda for an hour-long demo call<\/strong> would look something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To have a smooth segue into your sales demo, it\u2019s best to have a small recap of your previous discussions<\/strong>, like the discovery process, and give some context into what they\u2019re going to see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can follow one of these frameworks:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, the time for which you worked so hard has come\u2014presenting the demo to the prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rule of thumb for a strong demo is feature-benefit selling<\/strong>. This means showing your product\u2019s value by connecting its features to the prospect\u2019s pain points and goals. In other words, you need to clearly show what\u2019s in it for them (WIIFT) to buy your solution. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Why does this battle-seasoned approach work? Because it\u2019s based on the eternal sales truth: People buy with emotions and justify with logic. Features appeal to just the logic of your prospects, but the benefits appeal to their emotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, when 95%<\/strong> of the purchasing decisions are subconsciously made<\/a>, rattling out a bunch of features during the demo instead of showing to how your product would help them achieve their goals can\u2019t be a good strategy to convince your prospective customer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To further strengthen your appeal to the prospect\u2019s emotions during the demo, harness the power of storytelling<\/a> to make your selling come alive. Narrate the journey of how your solution can take your prospect from where they are to where they want to be with the help of the solution\u2019s benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This way, you\u2019ll establish an emotional connection with the prospect, thereby increasing the likelihood of them signing up for your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reserve the final few minutes of your demo call to answer any questions that the prospect might have after watching your demo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They might have questions about certain existing features or might raise objections about pricing or competitors. Answer them tactfully in the same call, or schedule a sales demo follow-up if you feel your explanation might exceed the scheduled call duration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If the prospect remains too silent during and after the demo, ask tie-down questions<\/a> like \u201cJust curious, how are you executing {process} right now?\u201d or \u201cDo you mind if I ask what you think about {a piece of information you shared}?\u201d that encourages them to reveal more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your demo call might have ended, but the deal is yet to be closed. Whether it\u2019s a follow-up call to discuss pricing or a follow-up email<\/a> to share a sales deck, articulate the next steps to the prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you might know, 80% of sales happen<\/a> after 5 follow-ups<\/strong>. So, don\u2019t take following up after the demo for granted, and stay in constant contact with your prospect till they sign the contract and the deal becomes a closed-won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Curious about how to give a good sales demo and some best practices followed by successful reps? Look no further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We asked 5 quota-smashing closers<\/strong> to break down their selling process and curated their responses in the Closers X Factor series. Here are 5 approaches for sales demos<\/strong> that they use to convince their prospects and close deals successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qayam Noorani<\/strong>, whose quota attainment was a whopping 187% in Q4 2022<\/strong>, says he always leads with values in his demos and never with features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When showing the relevant parts of his solution, he doesn\u2019t describe the feature but explains the value the prospects will get from it<\/a>. For each feature, he talks about: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisdom nugget:<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>“Come into the call, spend some time validating the prospect\u2019s challenges, goals, timelines, and then show them exactly what they need to see. No more, no less. And you’ll have a successful meeting.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A closer who hit 100% quota for 2 years<\/strong> in a row, Kevin Deldjoui<\/a> is a practitioner of exactitude in his demos. He shows only the features that will help prospects achieve their goals and are related to the initiatives they\u2019re currently working on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reps might feel the temptation to oversell, especially if the prospect reacts positively to the demo. But this can be detrimental to your sales goals, he says, as prospects might feel flooded if they\u2019re shown features they don\u2019t need immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisdom nugget: <\/strong>\u201cSometimes, you need to just stop selling. It’s sold, and everything else is just a nice-to-have. You solved what they needed to do. So, just briefly mention the other stuff and say, \u2018We can go into it if you want to.\u2019\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Named as one of the top 25 AEs to follow on LinkedIn <\/strong>as per a survey, Jan Benedikt Mundorf<\/strong> follows a simple but effective 3-step formula to make his demos<\/a> a success:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisdom nugget: <\/strong>\u201cThat’s the difference between an average sales rep, and then the top AEs, because they come across as trusted advisors, who help solve the customer\u2019s project.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Varshni Gurumoorthy<\/strong>, who hit 107% quota in January 2023<\/strong>, begins her demos with her product\u2019s feature that meets the prospect\u2019s high-priority use case, completing which she goes to the rest of the features in the sales demo process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Varshni discusses pricing at the end of her demos, she does not negotiate immediately<\/a> in the same call. As the prospects have just seen how the product looks and how much it costs, she asserts that its value must seep well for them to decide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisdom nugget: <\/strong>\u201cI like to give the buyers that time to digest.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n A rep boasting 109% quota attainment for Q1 2023<\/strong>, Akshaya Sampath<\/strong> credits her sales success to her ability to outline the next steps post-demo clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once the demo\u2019s over, Akshaya directly asks the prospects what the next steps after the call<\/a> should look like. If the prospect replies that they must think about it, she\u2019ll tell them, \u201cTypically, this is what we do,\u201d and explain her usual next steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If they do have an idea of the next steps, like discussing with their team or leadership, she ensures to get a date and time on the calendar from them to schedule a call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Either way, she gets a specific date and time from the prospect by the end of the call to schedule another call. This helps her to prevent getting ghosted after the demo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wisdom nugget: <\/strong>“There is no, \u2018You know what? I’ll get back to you.\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018Okay, you can get back to me, but I’m gonna put a time hold on my calendar right now.\u2019 I lay out clear next steps.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most sales demos happen through video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re looking to improve the quality of your sales demos, looking back at your previous demos can be a good place to start. This way, you’ll understand where your strengths lie and where you could improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You need a summary of the call and insights<\/strong> like questions asked by the prospect, pain points and goals discussed, any competitor mentions, what features were discussed, and the next action items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sales reps and managers can choose to listen to entire recordings to get these insights. But spending hours listening to dozens of calls every day on top of your existing tasks is just plain impossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Call IQ<\/strong> is a conversation intelligence platform<\/a> built to solve this problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With Call IQ, you will have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start your free trial for Klenty\u2019s Call IQ<\/a> today and present terrific demos that effortlessly take deals to closed-won!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A good sales demo should be engaging, relevant, and include at least a few wow factors<\/strong><\/strong> for your prospect. To do this, you need to show your product\u2019s value to the prospects by connecting its features to their pain points and their goals. In other words, you need to clearly show what\u2019s in it for them (WIIFT) to buy your solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A sales demonstration call is an interactive session between the rep and the prospect<\/strong>, where the rep demonstrates their product and shows its features, capabilities and how it would exactly solve their pain points and be of value to the prospect. The goal of giving any sales demo is to successfully close the deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Here\u2019s an example of the structure for an 60-minute demo call:<\/p>\n \u25cf 30 minutes for discovery and rapport building A sales demo determines whether you close or lose the deal. From ensuring a healthy pipeline of opportunities to giving that final push to prospects to put pen to paper, a good sales demo is where it\u2019s at. But what does it take to deliver a good demo? How can your demos convince prospects that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"rank_math_title":"9 Steps To Deliver a Sales Demo That Closes Deals","rank_math_description":"Sales demos can make or break the deal. In this blog we break down everything from steps to tips for you to present a great sales demo. ","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conversation-intelligence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8295"}],"version-history":[{"count":51,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20525,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8295\/revisions\/20525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Is a Sales Demo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Is the Difference Between a Product Demo and a Sales Demo?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"difference](\"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/sales-demo-vs-product-demo-1024x790.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nGetting To Know Sales Demos Better<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Who\u2019s the One Giving the Sales Demo?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why Offer a Sales Demo?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When Do You Carry Out a Sales Demo?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How Do You Deliver a Sales Demo?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the Duration of a Sales Demo?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9 Steps To Deliver a Sales Demo That Converts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"9](\"https:\/\/www.klenty.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/9-steps-to-deliver-a-sales-demo-630x1024.webp\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n1. Research Your Prospect <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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2. Schedule the Sales Demo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Prepare Your Sales Demo Ahead of the Meeting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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4. Make Your Sales Demo Personable<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Outline Sales Demo Agenda<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
6. Recap Previous Discussions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/li>\n\n\n\n7. Show the Benefits of Your Product<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
8. Resolve Queries That Prospect Might Raise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. Keep in Touch With Your Prospect After the Demo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sales Demo<\/strong> Best Practices<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Lead With Value, Not With Features<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
2. Don\u2019t Flood Prospects With Information <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Show, Articulate, Ask <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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4. Don\u2019t Negotiate Right After Demo <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Clearly Outline the Next Steps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How Call IQ Can Help You Deliver Winning Demos?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Resources You’ll Love<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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FAQs:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
How do you give a good sales demo?<\/h3>\n
What is a demo call in sales?<\/h3>\n
How do you structure a demo?<\/h3>\n
\u25cf 15 minutes for the demo
\u25cf 15 minutes for a Q&A session and discussing next steps.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"