How to Give A Killer Product Demo

If you’re in product at a small startup, it’s highly likely that you’ll be owning product while also selling it at the same time. Sales is a skill you need to master because it can literally determine the fate of your startup.  In most scenarios, I’ve learned that if you build a product, they will not always come.This is where you need strong selling skills.

I was lucky to join Box in the beginning of 2011 in a selling capacity. I sold SaaS for two years primarily over the phone, with the occasional visits to large clients. I estimated that I gave around 350 demos during that span and during my peak months during our hyper growth stage, I was closing 30 to 35 deals with businesses. The secret to my success was delivering an awesome web demo, which is the crux of most SaaS startup sales.

The Web Demo

First impressions in SaaS are extremely important. If you think about it closely, the web demo is like taking a test drive of a car when you’re at the dealership.  You may have done your preliminary research online or through word of mouth, but getting hands on with the car could be the make or break.   For example, when I bought my last car, I was dead set on a Mini after weeks of research and seeing it around the roads in SF, but the moment I stepped into the car, I knew it wasn’t for me.  Similarly, it’s crucial to deliver a solid web demonstration to prospects to make sure the sales cycle gets off on the right foot. 

Preparation
Make sure you block out 30 mins to an hour before your demo to prep for your demo.  If the client looks more promising, block out the full hour to be safe.  Do a quick skim of their corporate website, financials, LinkedIn profiles, and a basic Google search of the prospect your pitching to in case there are things you should know about them (like an award they won, an article they were mentioned in, etc.).  Once you understand who you’re selling to, then create a basic outline of how you envision the demo going.  I started with the one main thing I wanted to accomplish in the meeting, then built an outline from there.  For example, if I wanted my client to launch into a 30 day trial after my demo, I would tailor my demo flow around convincing him that a trial is the way to go.  

Demo flow
Most my demos lasted an hour and flow like this: 15 mins qualifying the customer, 30 mins demo, and 15 mins discussing feedback and next steps.  In terms of importance, the qualifying portion is the most important part of the demo, with the follow up being second and the demo the third.  During the qualification period, it’s important to have 3 or 4 key open-ended questions ready for the client.  I typically lead with questions like “why are you interested in a solution like Box and what business need are you trying to solve”?  From there, I let my prospect’s answers guide me to how I should tailor the demo.  For example, if the client says they need a way to enable their sales people with the latest marketing materials while on the road, I would tailor my demo as if I were a sales person in the field who needs to find data sheets for my customer while using my iPad.  In the feedback and next steps phase, it’s crucial to close on the client for some type of commitment.  A “close” rarely means to get them to buy the solution on the spot, but rather, to get commitment to move along the sales cycle.   A great example of a commitment from a prospect looking at Box is for the client to get their technical team on a follow up call to do a deep dive into security and administration aspects of the product.  If they agree to it, try to nail down th exact day and time you’d like to meet and send them an invite immediately after the demo.

Follow up
Follow up separates the good sales people from the best.  The top sales person last year was always master of follow up.  She’d take all the top discussion points from a demo and list them along with the proposed next steps in a clearly written email to all attendees.  I usually started my follow up emails with the business driver of why they may need a solution like ours, then bullet out the follow up items.  Then, when you want to get an update from the client of where they’re at in the sales cycle, you can always refer or reply back to this email.

Bonus points
I also picked up a few pointers from other colleagues that have made my demos run even smoother.  First, try to stand up as much as possible.  This helps your voice project and pacing will always help calm the nerves when speaking with new clients.  Second, if you’re on a group demo, try to turn on your webcam at least the beginning, if not all of the demo.  This helps put a face to the name and is a great substitute for not being there in person.  Last, try to have dual monitors set up during your web demo.  Use your non-screen sharing screen to do behind the scenes research, take notes, or prepare a piece of the demo before presenting it to the clients viewable screen.
These tips will not guarantee sales or turn you into a demo king, but I’m a strong believer that sales is most successful if you put science behind the art. If you have a successful formula that you continue to iterate on, you’ll do better statistically over time then other sales reps who don’t approach their sales cycle systematically.