You may have a great product, no doubt about that! But as long as your buyer doesn't understand how it addresses their specific needs, they simply won’t buy. So how could you offer every prospect the personalised experience where they can  SEE, TOUCH and EXPERIENCE your product in action before making the final purchase decision? That’s where product demos come in! 

How to Give Product Demos that Sell: Product demos give buyers a real-life glimpse into how a product works and help them visualise it in action. As per reports, 65.3% of salespeople state that product demos were the most valuable content in the buying process. 

However, product demos can play an important role in educating the buyers even before they enter your sales pipeline. Buyers are relying on online research to make informed purchasing decisions. Product demos can be a very powerful tool to influence prospect’s perceptions at the stage when they are still open-minded and are shaping their view on the potential solutions. 

That’s why designing your demo strategy and building demos that convert is a crucial element of your sales process. In this blog post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about delivering product demos that maximise your chances of closing the deal. From steps to tips, we've got you covered! Let’s begin.

6 Steps to Deliver a Great Product Demo

A staggering 94% of potential buyers have expressed that demos tailored to their specific needs and use cases helped in their decision-making process. From prepping your demo materials to practicing your pitch, follow these six steps to deliver a great product demo.

Step 1: Identify the Purpose of Your Product Demo

The purpose of your product demo is the foundation upon which the entire presentation is built. Why are you doing this demo? Are you selling the vision or proving the value to your prospect? Has the audience defined their pain points? Or maybe they are already comparing different solutions? 

You must know what you want to accomplish before you begin building your demo. 

Step 2: Structure Your Product Demo Delivery

Preparation is key to a successful product demo. Before you even begin, it's essential to have a clear plan in place. 

Unbelievable as it may seem, your software might not captivate your customer as intensely as it does you. Their primary concern lies in resolving their business challenges. If you lack a deep understanding of your customer's business issues, it might be premature to proceed with a demo.

Here is a checklist of items you have to know before you build and deliver a demo: 

1. Position and Industry Title: When focusing on an individual, consider completing the below list for each key player.
2. Critical Business Issue The principal overarching problem faced by this individual-often best framed as a project-oriented aspiration or objective that is currently under threat.
3. Problems/ reasons: Why is that a problem? What blocks them from achieving the objective they are striving for? 
4. Specific Requirements: Determine the exact capabilities sought by the customer to overcome their challenges.
5. GapWhat’s the cost of doing nothing? 
6. Timeline Specify a date by which the customer needs a solution  (along with the reasons). 

Step 3: Start with the Last Thing First! 

Understand the customer's needs. Every buyer has a unique challenge they're trying to overcome. By identifying this challenge, you can position your product as the solution they've been searching for. This understanding not only helps the buyer see the value in your product but also allows salespeople to further personalise the demo, making it even more impactful.

Blow their mind with a few key screens of your software directly describing what you will do for them—introduce the solution without much build-up. Spark their curiosity, prompting them to inquire about how you do it. Gradually reveal the software's capabilities according to their interest, allowing them to guide the exploration. 

Step 4: Only show specific capabilities of your product addressing your buyer's needs

Less is more when it comes to software demos. Too much information might confuse the buyer and make them think they would be spending money on things they don’t need. Leave all the ‘bells & whistles’ to the product training stage. Be crisp! Be concise and continually talk about how your product applies to the buyer’s specific situation. 

Step 5. Minimise the number of clicks 

The buyer is not yet a product user. They don’t need to see every step of the process. All they need to know is that the tool will help them do their job effectively. More options, more clicks will only confuse and overwhelm the buyers. 

Step 6. Personalise Your Product Demo 

Personalisation is the difference between a generic presentation and one that speaks directly to the buyer's needs. By tailoring the demo to the buyer's specific pain points, you not only show that you've done your homework but also help them visualise how your product can be a solution to their problems. 

Step 7: Communicate “What’s Next”

After delivering a compelling demo, it's crucial to guide the buyer on the next steps. Whether it's a follow-up meeting, a trial period, or a proposal, make sure the buyer knows what to expect. 

This not only eases the follow-up process but also sets the stage for a smooth transition to the next phase of the buying journey. For more insights on this, check out our article on leave-behind demos.

Read: How to Close Deals Faster By Mastering Live Product Demos?

9 Tips to Keep in Mind While Delivering a Great Product Demo

By keeping the below tips in mind, you'll be well-equipped to deliver a product demo that resonates with your audience and drives results.

1. Don’t Skip the Discovery Call

Before delivering a product demo, conduct a discovery call with the potential client to understand their unique challenges, needs, and expectations. By doing so, you can tailor your demo and highlight the solutions your product offers to address their pain points.

2. Talk Less, Listen More

While highlighting the value of your product is important, active listening is equally crucial. Pay attention to the buyer’s feedback, questions, and concerns, so you can adjust your demo in real-time. By doing so, you can effectively address their specific needs, and establish a deeper connection.

3. Focus on Relationship Building

During a product demo, it’s not just about showcasing your product. Your ability to build relationships with potential clients is essential. Show genuine interest, empathy, and strive to earn trust throughout the demo. Your audience should feel comfortable sharing their unique challenges with you.

4. Manage Time by Segmenting

Breaking your demo into clear segments such as introduction, main features, use cases, and Q&A. This structure ensures you cover all essential points without rushing and gives the buyer a clear roadmap of the presentation.

5. Demo the Solutions, Not the Features

Buyers are more interested in how your product can solve their problems than in its features. Highlight the solutions your product provides, specifically in response to the challenges they’ve shared with you. Demonstrate how your product can help them achieve their goals and ease their pain points.

6. Incorporate Storytelling in Demos

Stories have the ability to connect with people on an emotional level. Rather than simply listing features, weave them into a narrative that illustrates exactly how your product can transform the buyer’s current situation. Build a story that showcases the potential possibilities with your product.

7. Manage your Demo Environment

You can now use sales demo platforms, like Demoboost, to make sure you have a reliable demo environment that will eliminate the risk of bugs and blue screens of death. With those tools you can also get support through speaker notes and collect live demo analytics to improve your demos over time. 

8. Test to Prevent Last-Minute Bugs

Technical glitches can derail even the best demos. Always test your product and presentation tools beforehand to ensure everything runs smoothly during the actual demo. Checking for bugs and malfunctions ensures that your demo runs without any hiccups and makes you appear more professional.

9. Rehearse Well, Multiple Times

Familiarity breeds confidence. Rehearsing your demo several times will help you handle unexpected questions, navigate the product with ease, and deliver a polished presentation. By rehearsing multiple times, you have more opportunities to find ways to connect with your potential clients and make a lasting impression.

Read: How Can Product Demo Software Help You Close More Deals?

How to Create Personalised Product Demos at Scale?

Creating personalized product demos at scale involves leveraging technology and processes to tailor your demonstrations to individual customers while efficiently reaching a larger audience. Even if you know all the steps and tips, you still need a demo automation software that will help you deliver demos at scale. Demoboost not only allows businesses to create and share demos swiftly but also ensures a hyper-personalised buyer experience. This interactive demo are also supporting live demo scenarios, helping the the presenters with speakers notes and recording data for continuous learning and improvement.

By automatically tracking engagement and providing real-time insights, Demoboost empowers sales teams to understand their clients better and speed up the sales cycle. 

Whether you're aiming to nail every live demo or looking to automate demo workflows, Demoboost is the tool that can make it happen.

Here's how Demoboost facilitates the creation of personalised product demos at scale:

• No-Code & Automation: Demoboost harnesses the power of no-code platforms and automation to elevate your storytelling capabilities.
• Interactive Product Demos: It ensures buyers remain engaged, even when demonstrating complex features.
• Clone & Personalise: Presales teams can create a 100% clone of your product using demo templates. Revenue teams can then personalise these demos and share them with clients promptly.
• Hyper-Personalisation: Buyers receive on-demand demo access, allowing them to choose the aspects most relevant to them.
• Real-Time Insights: The platform automatically tracks engagement and constructs stakeholder maps within your client’s organisation.
• Perfect Live Demos: Demoboost equips your Account Executives and channel partner sales teams with session recordings and monitoring tools to ensure flawless pitches every time.

Read: How to Close a Sales Product Demo

Book a demo to experience the power of demo automation and witness a boost in your conversion rates.

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