Sales Training Blog | Demo & Discovery Tips | Great Demo

Great Demo!

Blog

The Menu Approach: Two More Applications!

How else might you use The Menu Approach?   Tradeshows: Dealing with “Show Me A Demo…” If you have ever worked a demo station ...

The Menu Approach: A Few Important Subtleties

Not all votes are *ahem* equal! When counting votes, remember that businesses are not necessarily democracies, and all votes are not necessarily equal! For ...

The Menu Approach – An Example!

More on a Truly Terrific Demo Self-Rescue Technique You’ve been asked to present a demo to a prospect team of dozen people, about which ...

The Menu Approach – A Truly Terrific Demo Self-Rescue Technique

Have you ever been in a situation where: You find yourself in front of an audience about which you know nothing of their needs ...

Pivoting in Demos: Humans vs AI?

The ability to react and pivot in demos is often a key success factor. Can humans pivot more effectively than AI-automated demos? Can AI-automated ...

Do You Suffer from Platypus Demos?

The platypus has often been described as being “designed by a committee.” Many demos suffer similar challenges as they try to embrace the needs ...

Assessing Discovery Skill Levels: Level 5!

This element of discovery results in deal expansion: Level 5 is all about Vision Reengineering. Prospects don’t know what they don’t know…! Frequently, prospects ...

Assessing Discovery Skill Levels: Level 4!

What do most vendors miss when doing discovery? Uncovering value!   And without capturing and communicating tangible value, you really can’t call it discovery. ...

Assessing Discovery Skill Levels: Levels 2 and 3

Let’s go a bit deeper to… Level 2 When doing discovery, if you or your colleagues simply uncover “Pain” and go no further, then ...

Assessing Discovery Skill Levels: How Do You Rate?

Many sales and presales practitioners say they are skilled at doing discovery – but are they? Are you? Here’s a simple method to assess yourself ...

What Is a Discovery Methodology? Why Is It Important?

A handful of questions is not sufficient! Effective discovery requires knowing when and how these questions and associated skills should be applied. Should a ...

English: Lesson Learned?

“Even monkeys fall from trees.” (Saru mo ki kara ochiru) – Japanese Proverb   I was visiting prospects in Japan with representatives from one ...

English, Simply!

This was a personal Dunning Kruger experience for me…   “In literature the ambition of the novice is to acquire the literary language; the ...
Image of Discovery Conversation

When Discovery Is Going Well…

There’s a feeling you get, doing discovery, when everything is clicking. Your prospect is engaged, empathy is aligned, it’s a real conversation.   Your ...
Image of Users Group

Users’ Groups: An Underutilized Competitive Weapon!

Customers sing your praises to prospects (then beat you up about desired functionality)!   One of my first recommendations as a board member was ...
Sales Prevention Team

Another Member of the Sales Prevention Team

Want a horror story? (I love sales and demo horror stories!)   “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things ...

“I Already Saw Your Demo….”

 “And I didn’t see anything interesting.”   That was the prospect’s response to the vendor’s inquiry, “Would you like to learn more?”   First ...

Doing Discovery Pro Tip: “Why” Questions Drive the Conversation Upwards

And help uncover Critical Business Issues. True story: I asked a sales manager, “What’s the biggest challenge you face in your job today?” He ...

Handling Questions in Demos: Verbal Aikido

One of the key ideas of Aikido is to deflect your opponent’s energy and momentum or use it against them. The same idea can ...

True Story: Even an Executive Can Run It!

He did indeed touch type: He just used two fingers.   “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo da Vinci   I once worked ...

“Habit Is Habit”

“Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by anyone, but coaxed downstairs one step at a time.” — Mark ...

The “Butter Test” for Live and Automated Demos

What is the “Butter Test”? It’s another term for the “5-Second” analysis for user interface navigability. Very simply, it is a method to ensure that ...

“The Difficulty Lies, Not in the New Ideas…”

“The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones.” – John Maynard Keynes

Automated Demos: Garbage In, Amplified Garbage Out?

Too many automated demos are uncompelling and ineffective. Why? If you’re just presenting features, your automated demos will fail.   When you create automated ...

How Is Memory Strength Like a Spiderweb?

The more strands and attachment points the better! Have you ever seen a spiderweb in a good breeze and been amazed at its tenacity? ...

SKO Swipes: Revenue Leaders LOVE These!

Revenue Generators: You won’t like this while it is happening, but you’ll thank your leaders afterwards! “Now THIS is different…!” I thought. I was ...

“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly…”

“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t know” — Mark Twain
Scroll to Top