{"id":29079,"date":"2018-02-20T11:04:39","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T11:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/?p=386"},"modified":"2026-09-15T19:52:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T19:52:43","slug":"awful-on-boarding-demos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/awful-on-boarding-demos\/","title":{"rendered":"Stunningly Awful On-Boarding Demos \u2013 The Trouble Begins"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stunningly Awful On-Boarding Demos \u2013 The Trouble Begins<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cLearn the demo\u2026\u201d the group of newly hired presales folks are told, \u201cand when you think you\u2019re ready, we\u2019ll have you present the demo back to us.\u00a0 If you do well, you\u2019ll be certified and ready to start presenting to customers.\u201d\u00a0 What\u2019s wrong with this picture?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a terrific approach if all customers are exactly the same \u2013 otherwise, it forces the tyranny of a one-size-fits-all demo upon a broad range of customers, ignoring the specifics of their situations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Would one size and style of shoe fit all feet?\u00a0 (\u201cGentlemen, I invite you to contemplate your shoe:\u00a0 a women\u2019s faux suede leopard skin 6 inch heel size 6 pump\u2026\u201d)\u00a01<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Would one dining choice fulfill all appetites?\u00a0 (\u201cFolks, our offering tonight is lightly larded lima beans in a spinach puree\u2026\u201d)\u00a02<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly not!\u00a0 But wait, there\u2019s more\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Nine Months Pass\u2026<\/span><\/h4>\n

And now our team, having delivered dozens of demos, becomes very comfortable with presenting \u2013 so much so, in fact, that they begin to ignore the customer.<\/span><\/p>\n

True story:\u00a0 I didn\u2019t need to be at my laptop for this demo\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It was delivered to me over the web, via WebEx.\u00a0 The presenter talked, pointed and clicked for 1.25 hours without\u00a0ever<\/em>\u00a0checking in with me!\u00a0 I truly didn\u2019t need to be at my laptop \u2013 he was just fine going through his talk-track by himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, during the session his voice cut out \u2013 twice \u2013 and both times after\u00a0several<\/em>\u00a0long minutes\u00a0I finally had to use \u201cChat\u201d to let him know I could no longer hear him\u2026!\u00a0 He never checked in to get my response, he never engaged me in a conversation; he didn\u2019t even ask if I had caught up on my email (I did). <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We are victims of momentum \u2013 we do the same things the same way unless someone gives us a shove in a new direction.\u00a0 [~97.5% of us resists change \u2013 Evert Rogers.]<\/span><\/p>\n

1\u00a0<\/span>Actually exists \u2013 Amazon.com \u201cOllio Women’s Shoe High Heel Platform Faux Suede Multi Color Pump\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

2\u00a0<\/span>Made this one up\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Deconstruct \u2013 And Reconstruct<\/span><\/h4>\n

Is it OK to learn the standard demo?\u00a0 Certainly, but be prepared to use it as a starting point \u2013 one example of what could be many demos\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

So does that mean that you have to learn dozens of demos, one for each customer situation?\u00a0 Possibly, but that\u2019s a rather tough course to take.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an alternative:\u00a0 think in terms of\u00a0deconstructing<\/em>\u00a0your standard, end-to-end, day-in-the-life demo into component pieces \u2013 \u201cchunks\u201d \u2013 and then reassemble these component chunks\u00a0as needed<\/em>\u00a0to fit each specific customer situation you face.<\/span><\/p>\n

[Many software vendors present this same idea as\u00a0configuration<\/em>\u00a0vs.\u00a0customization<\/em>, where configuration is the process of assembling a solution from pre-built components that then\u00a0appear<\/em>\u00a0to be customized for specific customer requirements, rather than coding each specific solution individually (and potentially painfully for all parties involved!).]<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, contemplate a standard CRM system demo, which might consist of the following (which I am NOT advocating as a good sales process or a plan for a demo!):<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. System admin and set-up options<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Enter a new record as a lead<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Include in marketing campaign<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Track responses to campaigns<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. First call with inside sales<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Promote to qualified lead, pass to field sales<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Call with field sales person<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. Schedule demo<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. Send proposal<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. In negotiation<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Close sale<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. Include in upsell\/cross-sell marketing campaigns<\/span><\/li>\n
  13. Roll up quarterly forecast and 6-month pipeline<\/span><\/li>\n
  14. Dashboard and report creation and editing<\/span><\/li>\n
  15. Dashboards and reporting (forecast, pipeline, key opportunities, campaigns)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A traditional demo would walk the customer through each of these steps, generally consuming the full amount of time allocated for the demo.\u00a0 The example above could easily take an hour of more \u2013 and presenters often run out of time before being able to present the reporting capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

    This means that the most important people (e.g., the Head of Sales), won\u2019t see what is most important to him\/her until the very end of the demo (if he\/she is still present in the room!).<\/span><\/p>\n

    Very Scary \u2013 And Liberating<\/span><\/h4>\n

    Now consider the following job titles and select the chunks relevant to each:<\/span><\/p>\n

    System Administrator:<\/span>
    \n Inside Sales Person:<\/span>
    \n \u200bField Sales Person:<\/span>
    \n Marketing Manager:<\/span>
    \n Head of Sales: <\/span><\/div>\n

    Here\u2019s one set of slice-n-dice reconstructions of the chunks that map to the specific interests for each job title (how did yours compare?):<\/span><\/p>\n

    System Administrator:\u00a0 1-15<\/span>
    \n Inside Sales Person:\u00a0 2, 4-6<\/span>
    \n \u200bField Sales Person:\u00a0 6-11<\/span>
    \n Marketing Manager:\u00a0 3, 4, 12, 14, 15<\/span>
    \n \u200bHead of Sales:\u00a0 15 and maybe 14 <\/span><\/div>\n

    There is likely only one person who is really interested in all 15 steps \u2013 which one?\u00a0 The System Administrator, who also likely has the\u00a0least<\/em>\u00a0impact in the decision-making process.<\/span><\/p>\n

    If you are presenting to the Head of Sales, your demo (chunk 15 and perhaps 14) might only take a few minutes.\u00a0 Does he\/she want or need to see the other chunks?\u00a0 Nope, not necessarily.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [You can always\u00a0ask<\/em>, of course, but be prepared for the Head of Sales to say something delightful such as, \u201cNo, I\u2019m good \u2013 I\u2019ve seen what I wanted to see and this looks like what we need.\u00a0 I have another meeting to go to; the rest of you can stay and torture the vendor as long as you wish\u2026!\u201d]<\/span><\/p>\n

    Why is this both very scary and liberating?\u00a0 Because it requires us to\u00a0think<\/em>!\u00a0 It\u2019s liberating because it frees us from the tyranny (and boredom) of presenting the same one-size-fits-all demo over and over and over.\u00a0 It\u2019s scary because, yes, it requires us to\u00a0think<\/em>\u00a0and reconstruct our demos in accord with the specific interests of our audiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The Standard Demo Revisited<\/span><\/h4>\n

    One simple (and rapid) way to put this deconstruct\/reconstruct principle into practice is to teach new-hires to apply it to the standard demo for their certification sessions.<\/span><\/p>\n

    When preparing for the certification, have your new folks break the standard demo into chunks and organize those chunks in accord with the job titles the certification team is modeling.\u00a0 They get bonus points, of course, for \u201cDoing the Last Thing First\u201d for each chunk.\u00a0 Each chunk should likely be about 3-4 minutes in length, for most software.<\/span><\/p>\n

    A colleague pointed out to me that habits are established very early in an on-boarding process, so the earlier we teach new team members to deconstruct\/reconstruct the standard demo, the sooner they will apply these new habits with customers!<\/span><\/p>\n

    New Directions \u2013 Boldly Exploring<\/span><\/h4>\n

    Overall, one objective of on-boarding demo training should include collecting and learning to deploy a set of demo chunks \u2013 stand-alone portions of demos that represent high-probability use-cases, workflows, and deliverables.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Here are a few ideas to help broaden perspective and begin to collect these chunks\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

    [A colleague of mine phrased this as, \u201cYour five-year mission:\u00a0 to explore strange new demos, to seek out new demo chunks and deliverables, to boldly demo where no man has demoed before!\u201d].<\/span><\/p>\n

    Go sit with a few of your\u00a0current<\/em>\u00a0(happy) customers and see how they use your offerings today.\u00a0 You might consider a structured approach to meeting with these customers and use a format such as:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • \u00a0Job Title\/Industry:\u00a0 For each individual you interview\u2026<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Critical Business Issue:\u00a0 What top level goal or objective was at risk?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Problems\/Reasons:\u00a0 What did they have in place before; what were the “pain” points, what was taking too long, too many people, was too hard, etc.?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Specific Capabilities:\u00a0 What capabilities, in particular, was this person looking for as a solution? \u00a0What workflows, what reports, what deliverables?\u00a0 These represent likely demo chunks for this job title.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Delta:\u00a0 What was the value of making the change (best expressed as a tangible number)?<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Critical Date:\u00a0 Was there a date or event that drove a need to have a solution place?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Collect these for a series of individual job titles \u2013 and very rapidly you’ll have a set of chunks you can draw from \u2013 chunks that will likely resonate with prospects that have similar job titles and situations.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Let Your Customer Do the Demo<\/span><\/h4>\n

      Here\u2019s a wonderful approach:\u00a0 ask your existing customers to demo to you!\u00a0 Ask them how they are using your software today:<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      • What workflows?<\/span><\/li>\n
      • What outputs and deliverables?<\/span><\/li>\n
      • What do they really find terrific?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        You\u2019ll typically learn two sets of scenarios when you apply the approach:<\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        • Set 1:\u00a0 Your customer shows you workflows and deliverables that you\u00a0expected<\/em>\u00a0them to use.\u00a0 That\u2019s good \u2013 and each piece that you see represents a chunk that you can add to your collection.<\/span><\/li>\n
        • Set 2:\u00a0 Your customer shows you workflows and deliverables that you\u00a0had no idea<\/em>\u00a0customers might use.\u00a0 That\u2019s truly terrific!\u00a0 Now you have some new, never-before-seen chunks to reuse.\u00a0 You can harvest these success stories and share them with your team and, as appropriate, with other customers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Along similar lines, attend and\/or watch recordings of customers\u2019 User Group Meeting presentations and demos \u2013 fabulous!<\/span><\/p>\n

          Learn From (Some of) the Best<\/span><\/h4>\n

          There are likely a number of seasoned, well-respected \u2013 and most important \u2013 high-in-demand presales folks in your organization.\u00a0 They may offer a rich resource for demo chunks proven to be successful.\u00a0 Contemplate doing \u201cride-alongs\u201d with these people, either in person and\/or over the web.<\/span><\/p>\n

          Other Vendors’ Demos<\/span><\/h4>\n

          Watching demos from other vendors is a terrific way to regain a customer\u2019s perspective.\u00a0 I suggest that you watch demos from vendors where you actually have an interest in their products \u2013 this helps to make the interaction as real as possible \u2013\u00a0be<\/em>\u00a0a customer.<\/span><\/p>\n

          Sign up for a demo from the vendor\u2019s website and see how you are treated as a customer:\u00a0 Did they just schedule a demo without asking any questions or doing Discovery?\u00a0 Was \u201cDiscovery\u201d simply a set of 3-4 quick questions \u2013 and the presenter couldn\u2019t\u00a0wait<\/em>\u00a0to dive into the demo?<\/span><\/p>\n

          How about the demo itself:<\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          • Was it engaging?<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Did it address your interests?\u00a0 Did they present just the chunks you were interested in or an entire, standard, end-to-end, day-in-the-life, kill-me-now demo?<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Was it interactive \u2013 or was it a furious fire-hose delivery of flying features and functions flung frantically?\u00a0 Frankly frightening,<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Did you find your attention wandering \u2013 did you \u201ccheck out\u201d?\u00a0 (And if so, how long did it take?\u00a0 Were you able to catch up on your email during the demo?)<\/span><\/li>\n
          • What could have made the experience for valuable for you, as the customer?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            You may wish to apply what you learned to your own demos and processes!<\/span><\/p>\n

            [I\u2019m occasionally surprised to find presales and sales staff who have\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0seen another vendor\u2019s demo \u2013 not even demos from a competitor\u2026\u00a0 So, if you haven\u2019t seen demos from other vendors, it is time to do so!]<\/span><\/p>\n

            Configure and Customize<\/span><\/h4>\n

            Habits are often established during the on-boarding process \u2013 and can become the norm for years following after.\u00a0 The earlier that new hires are taught to deconstruct standard demos into component pieces \u2013 chunks \u2013 and to learn how to reconstruct and reassemble those chunks to meet specific customer situations, the better.<\/span><\/p>\n

            There is nothing inherently wrong with the standard demo or certification process.\u00a0 But use it as a starting point \u2013 collect and create a library of demo chunks that you can draw from and assemble demos for specific job titles and situations.\u00a0 Having a library of demo chunks enables you to configure your demos from pre-built pieces, while giving your customers the impression that you have painstakingly customized the demo just for them!<\/span><\/p>\n

            1<\/sup>Actually exists \u2013 Amazon.com \u201cOllio Women’s Shoe High Heel Platform Faux Suede Multi Color Pump\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

            2<\/sup>Made this one up\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            \u201cLearn the demo\u2026\u201d the group of newly hired presales folks are told, \u201cand when you think you\u2019re ready, we\u2019ll have you present the demo back to us. If you do well, you\u2019ll be certified and ready to start presenting to customers.\u201d What\u2019s wrong with this picture?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,14,8,9,16,17,10,13],"tags":[6,7],"class_list":["post-29079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aweful_demos","category-advanced_topics","category-great-demo-blog","category-growth_development","category-humor","category-justifying_training","category-methodology_basics","category-mostly_for_managers","tag-articles","tag-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47480,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29079\/revisions\/47480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatdemo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}