EcoOnline was already winning business.

But as their VP of Presales said before the first session of their Great Demo! workshop:

“We are winning business. But sometimes we are winning despite our demos, not because of them.”

That level of honesty set the tone for everything that followed.

EcoOnline’s global presales team, spanning the UK, Nordics, and North America, came together in one virtual room for a six-session in-company Great Demo! workshop delivered over three weeks.

For many on the team, this was their first formal presales training experience. Their skills had been developed the way many presales professionals develop them: on the job, through peers, through experience, and through self-teaching.

Before the workshop began, the team had already started building momentum by running a book club around the Great Demo! methodology. By the time the sessions started, they were not simply hearing a new approach. They were ready to apply one they had already begun to believe in.

Across six sessions, the team worked through the core disciplines of delivering demos that help buyers move forward with confidence:

1. Reflecting the buyer’s situation back with precision before opening the product.
2. Opening with the outcome the buyer came to see before explaining anything else.
3. Showing only what the buyer asked for and nothing beyond it.
4. Taking the shortest path to the outcome so the buyer stays focused on value.
5. Going deeper only when the buyer asks, including in RFP demos and workflow walkthroughs.
6. Speaking in the buyer’s language so every sentence connects to their world.
7. Giving the buyer control of what gets shown so the demo becomes a conversation.
8. Handling unexpected questions confidently without losing the thread.
9. Running a compelling demo even when discovery is incomplete.

The sessions included live demo practice, direct feedback, and application to the team’s real deals and real buyers.

What stood out immediately was the team’s level of engagement. Questions came from every region. Participants challenged ideas honestly, tested new approaches, and worked through how to adapt the methodology to EcoOnline’s specific selling environment.

You can feel when a presales team genuinely wants to grow.

This team did.

And the shift started before the workshop was even finished.

Between sessions, one of EcoOnline’s Solutions Consultants entered a customer demo with no discovery notes available. Instead of defaulting to a broad product tour, he paused and asked the customer what they were struggling with.

The customer identified three areas.

He showed only those three areas.

Nothing more.

The customer was completely satisfied, and the demo ended with ten minutes still on the clock. In the next session, he shared that he had to stop himself from filling the remaining time with more features.

“I had ten minutes left, and it really freaked me out because I still had time.”

That is the shift.

The demo became shorter, more focused, more conversational, and more valuable to the buyer.

As Andreas Ekholm, Senior Solutions Consultant at EcoOnline, shared after the workshop:

“It is now clear how to structure demos more consistently to get improved engagement in customer meetings. Our teams are now more than ready to tell a compelling story that the customer sees themselves in.”

EcoOnline’s presales team did more than learn a demo methodology.

They began changing how they engage buyers, how they structure conversations, and how they connect product capabilities to the outcomes customers care about most.

They were already winning business.

Now they are better equipped to win because of the demo.

If your team is ready to move beyond feature walkthroughs and deliver demos that are more focused, more relevant, and more compelling, Great Demo! can help.

Contact Great Demo! to learn how an in-company workshop can help your sales and presales teams create demos that buyers remember, value, and act on.

How to make interactive, automated demos easy to follow.

In the digital age, where every answer is at your fingertips, companies are challenged with crafting demos that inform and convert automatically. The Great Demo! method, created by Peter Cohan, is a fantastic way to show off a product. You only have to make a few tweaks to enable viewers to explore on their own. Here’s how to fuse Cohan’s insights with the autonomy of modern web exploration.

Your Starting Screen: ‘Illustration’ first

In live demos, Situation Slides typically set the context by addressing the audience’s Critical Business Issues (CBIs) and the specific problems the product solves. In automated demos, viewers see the Illustration (the end result) right from the start. You integrate your ‘Situation Slide’ through interactive pop-ups when they navigate through the demo, embedding crucial context onto the first screen they see. Viewers start the demo and immediately see a clear, simple message that tells them which problems your product can solve for them. This ensures they know from the get-go why your product is valuable and keeps them interested.

Example pop-up box:

“Discover how you can empower your sales team to meet and exceed their targets by asking the right questions at every stage. Experience first-hand how you can guide your team through each critical sales interaction.”

Smooth Navigation: Pop-ups

Make it easy to navigate, and use ‘next’ to move through the information. Think of this like having a friendly guide who pops up with helpful hints along the way. Each time viewers click ‘next’, they get some information that takes them closer to understanding how your product can help them.

These little pieces of information help viewers see how each part of the product is useful. They link what the product does to how it can improve things for the user.

Example pop-up box for a Sales Enablement tool:

“This is one of the questions to ask in your first meeting. Your sales team will be prompted to ask the right questions, ensuring meaningful customer engagement and advancing deals.”

Feature Exploration: Direct and Applied

When explaining the software screen at hand, the demo should transition smoothly into interactive explorations or “pop-ups” that describe various segments on the screen. Viewers can click and learn more about different parts without feeling lost or overwhelmed.

As they explore, they’ll see not just what the feature does but also why it’s helpful. In this way, they can easily connect the dots between what the product does and how it can improve their work or life.

This corresponds to how you would bring your ‘Illustrations’ alive by pointing and telling your audience what they see on the screen.

Example pop-up box:

“By clicking on different sales stages, salespeople see the right questions to uncover customer needs and align solutions effectively. If needed, they can get more feedback on how each question strategically drives the sales process forward.”

Value Articulation: Clear Outcomes

After exploring the various elements on the screen, a new pop-up sums up how your product addresses the initial problems and outlines the overall benefits. This helps your viewers see the big picture.

This recap is crucial, reinforcing the value and impact of the solution and solidifying the viewers’ understanding and interest.

Example pop-up box:

“This enables your team to engage prospects precisely and effectively address their needs at each sales stage. This alignment significantly boosts your chances of meeting and exceeding revenue targets, ensuring your sales team’s performance aligns with organizational goals.”

Encouraging More Exploration: Want to see more?

At the end of each section, offer viewers the option to explore features in more detail, view case studies, or book a call.

This open-ended approach respects viewer’s curiosity, giving them a chance to navigate their own adventure. It offers several pathways to more detailed information and ensures high engagement.

Example pop-up box:

“Intrigued by what you’ve seen so far?

Extend your journey to discover more ways to revolutionize your revenue generation.”

When they want to see more: Do It!

When viewers opt to explore deeper, the demo includes a brief ‘Do It Pathway’ – an easy way to use the information or a brief process to collect it. Keep in mind that this should be done in the fewest number of clicks and a few screens. Viewers get lost very quickly. Focus on the application’s daily use and don’t mention how to set up screens, lists, or reports.

You start with a logical starting point for the viewer. Use the same concepts as above; first, provide context, explain the screen, and share the value.

Before transitioning to each new screen, an explanatory pop-up should set the stage for what’s next, maintaining clarity and context.

Example pop-up box:

“Click next to see a set of follow-on questions to ask”.

This deeper exploration allows users to understand not just the ‘what’ but the ‘how’ of the solution, facilitating a more thorough and engaging experience.

Again, keep it simple. The goal is to prove that your software is easy to use.

At the end of the process, a pop-up highlights ease of use and articulates the value.

Next, you give the viewer the option again to explore certain features in more detail, see case studies, or book a call

Example pop-up box:

“Intrigued by what you’ve seen so far?

Extend your journey to discover all ways you can revolutionize your revenue generation.”

Deeper explorations

‘Peeling Back the Layers’ starts by offering a ‘Menu’ of possibilities to dive deeper into. This menu can be a FAQ listing the most common questions viewers have.

Each subsequent step is a stand-alone demo following the structure described above.

Finish with a value summary and let them choose their preferred next step.

More complex solutions?

Break up your demos into smaller segments: one segment per stakeholder and one segment per pain point. Ultimately, by breaking down complex solutions into focused segments, you guide each viewer on a personalized journey, address their specific needs, and showcase the comprehensive value you offer across various roles (CRO, Sales Manager, Sales Rep, Sales Enablement) and challenges within an organization.

Give your viewers the possibility to choose their own adventure and solve one problem at a time.

Break up your demos into smaller, more digestible segments, each tailored to address specific stakeholder concerns or distinct pain points. This targeted approach allows your viewers, especially in roles like Chief Revenue Officer, to focus on the most relevant for them to their unique challenges and objectives.

By offering segmented demos, you empower viewers to choose their own path, delving into the details that matter most to them. For instance, a segment dedicated to sales managers can focus on how your product enhances team oversight and coaching. In contrast, another segment for sales representatives might showcase tools that aid in customer engagement and deal closure.

By carefully integrating these adaptations into the automated, self-guided demo framework, companies can leverage the strengths of the Great Demo! methodology in a new, digital format. This approach ensures that demos remain engaging, informative, and persuasive even without a live presenter, effectively guiding potential customers to buy your software.

For those unexposed to the Great Demo!, here is a description of the various elements:

Situation Slide: Presents the specific business context and challenges the audience faces, framing the relevance of the upcoming demo.

Illustration: This is a key software screen demonstrating the solution to a problem. You describe the solution’s key benefits and outcomes first, clearly showing the value and impact for the audience.

Do It Pathway: The easiest possible sequential steps, illustrating how to achieve desired outcomes with the product.

Peeling back the Layers: A dialogue where the audience asks their questions, allowing them to understand the product’s depth gradually.

Menu: Think of a Menu in a restaurant. Offers a structured choice of topics or features to explore within the demo, enabling viewers to direct their focus to areas of interest.

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To learn the methods introduced above, reach out to us. For more demo and discovery tips, best practices, tools and techniques, explore our blog and articles on the Resources pages of our website at The DemoScene and join the Great Demo! & Doing Discovery LinkedIn Group to share your experiences and learn from others.