You've successfully scheduled a meeting with the prospect and are prepared to present your product or service to the best of your abilities. There are numerous elements to consider when demonstrating the products that can make or break your sales. You want to present all of your top features to make a strong impression about your offering. However, the prospect is likely to become distracted or lose attention as a result of your information overload. Striking the appropriate mix between graphically showcasing your features and engaging prospects is critical to closing a deal.

From Hype to Happy Customer: Why Effective Demos Bridge the Gap Between Features and Results

A product demo is typically the first verbal interaction a company has with a potential customer. The first impression is usually the final impression, as the saying goes. There are two ways to schedule a demo:

• Either directly from the booking page on the Company's website, also called an inbound lead

• OR your sales staff manually schedules a meeting following cold marketing or through interactions at events and seminars, also called outbound lead

You must appropriately design your booking page for incoming traffic so that visitors have a clear understanding of the agenda, the topics to be covered in the meeting, and the order in which they will be covered.

The same is true for outbound, with a suitable meeting invitation that includes a defined agenda and chronology. So, what does this do?

First, it demonstrates your company's maturity and brand worth. Second, it clarifies the expected points that will be discussed. Thirdly, it demonstrates that you value your time and your prospects by clearly specifying how many minutes every section will require for discussion.

The Customer-Centric Approach: It's About Their Problems, Not Your Product

This is the part where everything gets a little bit tricky. I see a lot of salespeople missing the whole point of the demo. It's not about how good your product is; it's about how well the product solves the prospect's problem. So the product must focus on addressing the problem at hand rather than salesmen blatantly uttering the best features of the product. Consider these two points to make a tour demo a customer-centric delight:

Prospect Profiling

Prospect profiling is key to your successful demo. You need to know the company inside and out before pitching something of their value. Research the company well, what its industry looks like, what customers it targets, how many customers it already has, who is the closest competitor in the industry, who are the core decision-makers, how they are voicing their ideas, thoughts, and opinions on social media pages, and what core values they stand by.

Prospect Pain Point Analysis

Your comprehensive research should help you compile a list of all the industry's pain problems, as well as those specific to the company. You can also look at review sites like Capterra, Goodfirms, Trustpilot, GetApp, and others to see what customers are saying adversely about the product and what issues they are having.

You can next prepare your demo presentation by addressing any problems, grievances, or challenges raised by the customer on those review sites. The goal is that you will incorporate those issues into your demo pitch and explain how your product solves the specific problem.

A Framework for Powerful and Engaging Demos

Let's look at the framework that you can implement to make a demo about your prospect and not about you:

Introductions & Setting the Stage

Simple yet effective, introduce yourself and your team. Allow the potential customer to figure out themselves and discuss their company and industry. This sets the tone for what follows and gives everyone involved a sense of ease and respect. After completing the introductions from both ends, go over the meeting agenda again to ensure that everyone understands it.

The Art of the Icebreaker: Finding Common Ground

Remember our thorough prospect profiling earlier? One of the goals was to discover a common ground that might act as an icebreaker. For example, any recent awards received by the prospect company, as well as any promotions or news stories featuring the individual you are meeting with, any significant financial achievement throughout their quarter, as well as any other recognized and reported company achievement. We'll use that to establish common ground by congratulating them. That would be a good start, and the psychology of compliments would keep us in their good books from there.

The Power of Storytelling: Keeping Prospects Engaged and Informed

This is where everything may go wrong. Your salesperson may want to demonstrate every advanced function available in the product. Never do this.

The idea here is to keep the demo short but comprehensive. Here, you must have good storytelling skills so that the buyer can visualize and connect with it as you progress through your demonstration.

Remember the research we did before, You can use the jobs-to-be-done Framework based on your analysis and their requirements. Recognize your target audience's particular demands and concerns, then tailor your demo to address them. Using the JTBD framework, identify the task that your solution performs for the client, and then highlight those features and advantages in your demonstration.

Abundant Clarity in 10 Minutes

It is strongly encouraged that you complete the demo in under ten minutes. Why? You want them to understand, not be overwhelmed by information. It is a good idea to open the floor for questions after 10 minutes. If prospects inquire, highlight additional possible features. If not, proceed with the Q&A session and answer their questions. This will be more interactive, and you will be able to identify the customer's emphasis.

Round it off: Close the meeting with a clear next step

It's time to wrap up once everything has been put up and completed. Here, it's crucial to let the prospect know exactly what you'll be doing next to support them as they proceed through the buying process.

If they have any suggestions for a course of action, get their input. The prospect will find it easier to go through the buying cycle if you are more explicit about the next step. After the demo, some potential courses of action include:

• Sending a company profile, product details, pricing list, and client list.

• Sending case studies specific to their industry.

• Follow-up meeting with the key decision-makers after they tested your demo product.

Keep the Momentum: Follow-up and Nurture

The post-demonstration phase is equally important, if not more so. Your demo was pretty effective, therefore, it's time to consider nurturing the lead you received. A good product demo will not land you a customer. It's just the beginning. B2B sales cycles typically last two to six months, depending on the value of the purchase. To stay on top of your prospects' minds, retarget them with integrated marketing strategies like email marketing and paid advertising. Constant communication is critical for sales conversion.

Conclusion

The main goal of your demo should be to demonstrate to your prospect the value that your solution can bring to their business. Tailor your demo to the specific needs of your clients; every customer is different and has a particular problem that they wish to solve. Your product can potentially solve a variety of client issues; perhaps you can identify the most beneficial use case for them. All it takes is some time, some conversation, and an assessment of their level of product understanding to customize your demo. One demo won't get you a B2B customer, but if you are professional and well-presented, one successful demo will keep you in the prospect's good graces and possibly even inspire them to recommend you to others.