TopLine Tip: Hitting the Nail on the Head with Your Demos and Presentations
Six tips to optimize your demo’s and presentations
As Bill Gates demonstrated Microsoft's newest version of the Windows operating environment to the press, it crashed. What you demonstrate and how you demonstrate it can make or break a sale to your key customers. Here are some things to think about:
#1 I have worked with teams conducting demonstrations of applications and information systems where the lead presenter/demonstrator turns the presentation over to an S.E. - who starts by sitting down at a notebook computer to conduct the demonstration.
Instead: It’s best not to demonstrate a product sitting down. You give up all control of the presentation and your audience. Ensure that the presenter/demonstrator leads the demonstration – perhaps working at a white board or flip chart. Take two people to the demonstration, one to run the demo and one to act as lead presenter.
#2 Often, presenters quickly launch a demonstration losing the audience about 2 slides into the mandatory corporate backgrounder (that no one cares about but us). Even if you have something they need, if you have 36 slides and the key slide is number 17 – there’s little chance they will remain conscious far enough into the presentation to see it and recognize it.
Instead: Help your audience understand the context of the demonstration and how it relates to them. Every presentation should be as customized as possible. I strongly suggest not taking a laptop on the first call. If you get invited in to present, I also suggest you find out who is going to be there and try to speak to each of them one-on-one prior to the presentation – to make your presentation as useful for them as possible. When you do get to the point of a demo or presentation, it should be tailored to address the pain, fear and gain of the people you are presenting to. Start with a recap and confirmation of the business problems you are addressing. Revisit and ‘reheat’ the pain. Get them emotionally involved.
#3 On the day of the demo, new players frequently show up. Many times the real decision-maker surfaces for the first time. The most frequent reaction is ‘let me show you what we have cooked up for you!’ However, they almost always have a different perspective than the people you’ve met with so far, and they won’t like what’s you’re serving.
Instead: If there are new people in the room, make sure to get their buy-in. “George, are we off-base with what we are doing here? Would you agree with the assessment so far, or have we overstated the significance of this issue? Is there anything you would add?” Then, present your solution to address the problems, showing only the features, benefits and capabilities that relate to those issues.
#4 As the demo progresses, someone asks, “Can your software do X?” The presenter wants to show that the software can do X, and quickly passes through 14 menu selections to do just what was asked. The person who asked the question, and everyone else in the room, experiences ‘software vertigo’ – the sick feeling in your stomach that happens when the screens moved too quickly.
Instead: Reward and reverse – understand the question and it’s importance. Avoid screen flipping. Sometimes it’s better to answer verbally, or by drawing on the white board. You might also say, “Yes, and we will be showing you that capability as part of this demo.” If you decide to navigate to the answer, the lead presenter may say, “While Jim is moving to that portion of the demo -
#5 One of the things we dread most is that someone in the audience will be an advocate for the competition, and try to undercut us during the presentation. We silently hope to get on and off stage without argument or controversy.
Instead: Don’t try to avoid the hidden enemy. Flush them out. “Does anyone here have any significant concerns about what we are discussing? How about minor concerns, then?” Your hidden enemies will do most of their selling when you aren’t there. If you give them a chance to surface issues at the demo, their colleagues will ask them why they didn’t bring up the issue – if they try to bring it up later.
#6 If hidden enemies do surface during the presentation, the two most frequent responses are:
1) You try to brush over it as quickly as possible.
2) As they fire salvos at you, you try to defend and justify the solution you are presenting.
Instead: Follow Sun Tzu’s advice and get to know your enemies as well as you know yourself. Embrace the question or concern. Reward and reverse – explore it deeper. Strip line – put the pressure back on them. Ask the rest of the audience how they see the issue. Don’t fight alone – let them fight. They have to get to consensus before they can decide on any course of action.
Article courtesy of Steve Kraner, Sandler Sales Institute, www.hightechguru.com , skraner@sandler.com