Who are these guys?! Demo what?!!
First Question! Do you always start prep and ask: “Who’s going to be in the room?” If yes, well done! Take the next 90 seconds off! (If not, what question is better and read on)
It’s all about taking aim and delivering targeted messages. If you don’t know your audience, at best you have a random chance for correctly targeting business value, and have a greater chance of wasting a good selling opportunity. So, who’s in the room? Execs? Managers? Line staff?
Not everyone needs to see everything. Time allotted for the demo and presentation is finite and quite valuable. Delivering irrelevant messages wastes time and is distracting. Wasting large amounts of time is disrespectable, especially if your prospect is extremely busy. Take careful aim with your messaging!
For larger, critical demos, identify an inside coach who can work with you to better understand your audience. An inside coach is someone in your audience’s organization who is interested in helping you succeed. Confirm audience attendance with your inside coach when you start preparing and again near the date of your presentation.
A proper discovery process provides insight to what your audience is looking for. A great demo starts with knowing your audience and tailoring the session to focus on specific audience needs and expectations. When you align the right benefit statements with the right audience, the demo resonates. Your audience relates to you and your credibility goes up. And, the demoed solution gains value!!
Consider these best practices
- It is your responsibility to take the leadership role of knowing who is in the room. Don’t go in blind!
- Presenting a demonstration is selling, not just showing features. Knowing your audience and their needs are paramount to successful selling.
So now that we know established that knowing one’s audience is paramount, what things should you know about your audience?
Let’s connect and continue the discussion. I look forward to the dialog.
Like to read more? Check out more articles about Presales best practices & techniques at https://www.desylvia.com and our book at https://3dpresales.com.
