Guide to Crafting Successful Product Demos

In the competitive arena of sales engineering, mastering the product demo is comparable to mastering the art of storytelling. It's where we, as Sales Engineers (SEs), have the unique opportunity to not only showcase our products but to transform our prospects into the heroes of their own success stories. Here, we're set to explore the intricate craft of product demos, focusing not just on presenting features, but on engaging and inspiring our clients, enabling them to be the protagonists in a narrative of triumph and innovation.

Effective product demos are much more than a walk-through of what a product can do; they are a strategic alignment of a product's capabilities with the specific needs and challenges of the client. Here lies the art of turning a prospect into a hero: demonstrating how our solutions can elevate their performance, overcome their unique challenges, and drive their success. It's about creating a vision where the client sees themselves achieving new heights, enabled and empowered by the technology we present.

As we venture further into the nuances of successful demos, we will explore how to craft these transformative experiences using the different tools in your toolkit. It's not just about what we present, but how we present it. For Sales Engineers (SEs), having a deep understanding of both the product and the client's needs is crucial for success. By the end of this journey, the goal is to arm Sales Engineers (SEs) with the skills to not only demonstrate a product's potential but to leave clients feeling like they are the champions of their own story, ready to tackle the challenges ahead with newfound confidence and capability.

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Product Demos or Sales Demos are an important asset for any B2B SaaS company. Personalized Sales Demos help Sales Teams in multiple ways: 

• Address customer pain points and diagnose their business problems.
• Showcase your B2B SaaS product value to your customers.
• Increase your sales conversion and reduce the sales cycle.
• Generate sales-ready qualified prospects from your website. 
• Help you differentiate from your competition.  

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Buyer Research and Customer Discovery: the foundation of successful Product Demos

The cornerstone of any effective product demo is a thorough understanding of the customer, achieved through diligent research and discovery. Sales Engineers (SEs) must arm themselves with various tools and techniques to gain insights into their prospects.

A primary resource in this endeavor is the wealth of information stored in CRM tools. These repositories contain invaluable notes from prior conversations and interactions, offering a chronological narrative of the customer's journey and mindset. This historical context is crucial in tailoring the demo to address the specific needs and concerns raised over time.

Moreover, researching the customer's website provides a wealth of knowledge about their business model, values, and current initiatives. This level of understanding enables the Sales Engineer to align the product's features with the customer's strategic goals and pain points.

Understanding who will be attending the demo is equally important. Knowing the roles and responsibilities of each participant helps in customizing the demo to address diverse perspectives, from technical to strategic. This awareness aids in constructing a narrative that resonates with each buyer persona, ensuring that the product is showcased as a solution to various challenges faced by different stakeholders.

In addition to these resources, an in-depth understanding of the industry vertical in which the business operates is vital. This knowledge not only informs the Sales Engineer about the specific challenges and dynamics of the industry but also enables the use of industry-specific lingo, which can significantly enhance the credibility and relevance of the demo. Being fluent in the language and nuances of the customer's industry helps establish a connection and demonstrates a deep understanding of their world.

Furthermore, industry insight allows Sales Engineers (SEs) to bring relevant customer success stories to the table. Sharing how similar businesses in the same industry have benefitted from the product adds a layer of trust and relatability to the demo. It transforms abstract features into concrete, relatable benefits, showcasing real-world applications and successes. This approach not only illustrates the product's effectiveness but also helps the customer envision how they too can achieve similar results.

By combining a thorough understanding of the customer's business, industry, and specific needs with the strategic use of CRM data, website insights, and customer success stories, Sales Engineers (SEs) can craft a product demo that is not just informative but deeply resonant and persuasive.

Toolkit for Buyer Research:

• CRM:some text
  • Utilize your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool to gather all notes, historical data, and interactions with the prospect.
• Target Account’s Website:some text
  • Explore the prospect's organization website for insights into its products or solutions offerings, industries, and use cases.
• Social Media - LinkedIn and Twitter:some text
  • Dive into social media platforms to understand the prospect's view on business problems by sifting through their posts, comments, and likes. 
• Review Annual Reports and SEC Filings:some text
  • Analyze annual reports and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings for financial insights and strategic goals of the prospect's organization. Usually, Executive Summary of annual reports should provide you with enough context. 
• Google News:some text
  • Search Google News on prospect's organization to understand recent product launches, press releases, and industry perspectives. 
• Customer Reviews:some text
  • Explore customer reviews of target account on G2, Capterra and other channels to understand satisfaction levels and potential pain points of their customers.
• Sales Intelligence Tools:some text
  • Leverage sales intelligence tools like Zoominfo for a more comprehensive understanding of various stakeholders in the prospect's organization. 
• Internal Connections and Mutual Connects:some text
  • Tap into internal company connections and your mutual connections for additional insights into the prospect's organization.

A personalized product demos automation software like Pepsales automatically generates buyer intelligence to help you create successful product demos at scale.  

Building the Hero's Profile: The Outcome of Buyer Research and Customer Discovery

At the heart of every successful product demo is a well-crafted hero's profile, the result of meticulous buyer research and customer discovery. This process is more than just gathering data; it's about understanding the customer's narrative, challenges, goals, and aspirations. It's what allows Sales Engineers (SEs) to tailor their approach and make the product demo resonate on a deeper, more personal level.

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The importance of good discovery cannot be overstated. It's the foundation upon which the entire demo is built. Through effective discovery, SEs gain invaluable insights into what the customer values most, what problems they need to solve, and what success looks like. This understanding is critical in shaping a demo that not only addresses the technical aspects of a product but also aligns with the customer's business objectives and personal motivations.

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We have seen 2 scenarios in which B2B SaaS companies conduct discovery:

• Scenario 1 - AE Led Discovery: In some companies, this task is primarily performed by Account Executives (AEs), who then share their findings with the SE team. 
• Scenario 2 - SE and AE Tandem Discovery: In others, SEs and AEs lead discovery, engaging directly with prospects to gather detailed insights. 

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This division of labor can depend on various factors, including the complexity of the product, the nature of the market, and the structure of the sales team. Regardless of who leads the discovery, collaboration between AEs and SEs is crucial. When both roles effectively share information and insights, it ensures a more comprehensive understanding of the customer and a more impactful demo.

Moreover, it's essential for SEs to conduct their own discovery, even if preliminary research has been done by other team members. Each SE brings a distinct perspective and a unique set of skills, and their direct engagement in discovery can reveal subtleties and insights that might otherwise go unnoticed. For instance, an SE asking, “Can you share some of the challenges you currently face?” might elicit responses different from those given to an AE. Such firsthand information is invaluable for tailoring the demo, transforming it from a standard product presentation into a solution that directly addresses the customer's needs.

A robust discovery process allows SEs to construct a detailed hero's profile for each prospect. This involves going beyond basic business facts, and delving into how the product can create a significant impact in their operations. When an SE successfully quantifies the pain points an organization faces, it helps articulate the ROI of the product more convincingly. Armed with this information, the focus shifts to highlighting the outcomes and benefits most pertinent to the customer. This approach enables SEs to showcase not just the functionalities of the product, but its potential to transform the customer's daily operations, enhance performance, and drive success.

All of the buyer research and discovery goes to waste, if Sales Engineers (SEs) are not meticulous about preparing a personalized product demo. Successful product or sales demos can’t be done on the fly. A rigorous checklist to prepare a successful product demo can help Sales Teams be on track to position their product as a loyal champion for their hero. 

In conclusion, the result of comprehensive buyer research and customer discovery is the creation of a well-defined hero's profile, which steers the SE in formulating a demo that is both compelling and customized to the buyer's needs. The demo thus evolves from merely presenting a product to inspiring the customer, enabling them to visualize a future where they are the hero, fully equipped with the right tools to overcome their challenges.

Positioning Your Product: The Loyal Champion

A critical aspect of an impactful product demo is not just in showcasing the product but in casting the buyer as the hero of their own story. This is where the role of an internal champion within the prospect's organization becomes invaluable. In this section, we focus on how to identify and cultivate such champions, making them pivotal characters in the narrative where the buyer emerges as the hero.

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An internal champion resonates with the value your solution offers and advocates for it within their organization. They are essential in not only providing insights into the company's dynamics and pain points but also in reinforcing the narrative where the buyer is the protagonist. By working closely with this champion, Sales Engineers (SEs) can tailor their demos in a way that not only highlights the product's features but also illustrates how these features enable the buyer to overcome challenges and achieve success.

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Engaging every participant in the demo, particularly key decision-makers, is a critical aspect of a successful demonstration. Each attendee, including the internal champion, has a role in the story where the buyer is the hero. A vital strategy for Sales Engineers (SEs) is to address each participant by name, ensuring their full engagement and preventing distractions like checking emails. By actively involving everyone in the room, the demo becomes a platform to illustrate how the product addresses individual challenges and roles. This approach doesn't just empower a single hero; it creates a team of heroes, each understanding how the product enhances their specific function within the organization.

The demo should be more than a presentation; it should be a captivating narrative with the buyer as the central character in their success story. A compelling demo transcends a rundown of features and functions; it's an interactive experience focused on the prospect's challenges. Features irrelevant to the prospect's needs should be sidelined in favor of those directly addressing their issues. Integrating storytelling and real customer success stories paints a vivid picture of the buyer's current situation and the potential transformation with your product. It's about illustrating a journey that transitions the buyer from their current situation to a future enriched and improved by your solution.

Best B2B Sales Teams go an extra step in not only delivering personalized product demos but also measuring their success. Metrics to measure a product demo may differ for a company depending on their broader objectives related to revenue, customer experience, cost of sales etc. However, it is important that a Metrics Scorecard is followed to measure and improve the effectiveness of product demos.  

In essence, the art of positioning your product demo goes beyond mere selling; it involves crafting a narrative in which the buyer, or buyers, are the heroes, and your product is the essential tool in their journey. Leveraging an internal champion, engaging all key participants, and transforming the demo into an interactive story lays the foundation for a potent and convincing demonstration. This approach not only showcases the product but also leaves a lasting impression, positioning the buyer as the hero ready to embark on a new chapter of success with your product as their ally.

Key Takeaways on Crafting Successful Product Demos

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In summary, the ability of a Sales Engineer to transform prospects into heroes during product demos is a game-changer. The effectiveness of these presentations hinges on thorough research and customer discovery, allowing the SE to tailor each demo to the prospect’s specific needs and challenges. When the SE isn’t directly involved in the discovery, strong communication with the Account Executive (AE) becomes essential to ensure readiness. 

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Furthermore, the role of internal champions and the active engagement of all participants, particularly key decision-makers, are fundamental in creating a personalized and engaging experience. This approach does more than just showcase the product; it inspires prospects, helping them envision a brighter future with your solution. Ultimately, this strategy turns standard product demos into empowering narratives, setting prospects on a path to a new chapter of success, equipped with the right tools.

Speak with Pepsales to see how we help B2B SaaS companies create personalized product demos at scale and improve your win-rate.  

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