The Demo Situation – I was recently on a ride-along to observe a technology demo. The President of the technology company was on the call and the technical demo was to be done by one of the companies Applications Engineers. The prospect was currently using the competitors product but was very dissatisfied with the product and the support they were getting.
Things started out well. The President and AE did a brief slide presentation (Just five slides–no death by PowerPoint!) that left the prospect feeling that they were a viable vendor that could help them solve problems.
The Demo
The AE opened by explaining that he would show a time-compressed demo that would be like what the customer would typically do in the real world, but in highlight form.
The AE did a good job of explaining how the equipment related to the prospects current challenges and the prospect asked lots of informed questions.
Then it happened. About 3 minutes into the demo the AE said are their any questions before we set up the evaluation system in your lab?
The prospect asked a couple of final price-related questions and then we adjourned to the lab, set up the evaluation and left.
Post Demo Recap
Out in the parking lot the President turned to the AE and said, “What happened, you didn’t show any of the new features or even the best ones? The demo was way too short.”
I smiled to myself because I had heard what the prospect said during the call and clearly so had the AE. The only one who missed it, probably because they were at the far end of the conference table, was the President.
What had the prospect said?
About 2 and a half minutes into the demo the prospect said:
“I’ve seen enough, this is great. I want to try it.”
That’s when the AE did exactly the right thing and quickly wrapped up the demo.
Why is this such a big deal?
I have seen many demos where a similar statement is made but the demo continues, often resulting in the prospect seeing something that they don’t like and sometimes even completely derailing the demo.
The lesson: When they say they are ready to “buy” stop the demo and move to the next phase or you may miss the chance forever.
good selling
pat