Score Your Demos
Good discovery is the first step to understanding if you can solve their problem (fit) and determining if that deal is a real opportunity or just going to take up space in your pipeline.
The next step is a demo. Sadly demo’s are where most of us fall down. Too many people think a demo is a demo is a demo. ”Just show them all the cool features” says your CTO, ”This product sells itself!” says your CEO.
That’s all bullshit. There are 100 options out there and there is no such thing as no competition.
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Doing an effective demo is critical to move the deal forward and to check in on the reality of this opportunity actually closing.
Most companies train their people on product knowledge and then tell them to go demo it. Most orgs do a crap job at actually coaching on what good demo’s look like.
Here’s the problem with evaluating most demos:
Most reps and managers judge demos on how they think they went and how they feel.
“I feel like that went well. They really liked me.“
”Wow we really hit it off on that call”
Being liked won’t close the deal. Your feeling on how it went can’t be cashed at the bank.
Feelings don’t close deals. Execution does.
Data is your friend. Score your demos. Measure what actually happened, not what it felt like happened.
Throughout the demo, please don’t ask “ANY QUESTIONS?”
Instead try these questions to drive engagement and get feedback:
- How does this compare to your current process?
- You said X was an issue, can you see how this could help?
- How would this impact your current workflow?
- Does this process align with how your team currently operates, or would adjustments be needed?
- How valuable would this be to your team?
- From what we’ve discussed so far, what stands out to you the most?
- Are there any team members who would benefit from this the most?
- How important is this capability to your overall objectives?
- What excited you most about what we covered today?
- WHY did that resonate?
- To what extent do you envision this being useful in your situation?
- How do you envision your team using this?
- To what extent do you see this solving ______?
- It seems like this didn’t resonate as much as I thought it would. Where’d I miss the mark?
SCORE YOUR DEMO
Don’t forget though there is NO WAY you can a good score on your demo if you have not done discovery properly. If you have, use this demo scorecard to help you understand if your demo was more than “they liked me”
Big shout out to Kevin Dorsey for helping me improve this. I had a decent demo scorecard but KD had some great ideas to make it even better.
Steal my new and improved version here: DEMO SCORECARD-weitzmanGTM
Look inside and you will also find a GEM build for the demo scorecard.
Life as an Independent Operator
How to manage your clients exceptionally well without burnout.
You usually don’t realize it until it is too late. It starts with one extra call, one deck tweak, one “quick thought” in Slack. Then all of a sudden your client touch points have tripled.
Going above and beyond is great but only if it’s not three times as much time you can’t afford
Here is how to stay helpful and sane
Cleary set expectations and scope on day one – Meetings, response times, channels, etc., all verbally and ALSO in writing. Literally have a meeting where you look them in the eye and agree on these things. Don’t skimp here and if they don’t want to have the discussion. HUGE red flag.
Yes-No-Yes script – “Yes I can help, no it’s outside scope, yes here’s a mini-project to tackle it.”
Rehearse the NO line – Practice with a friend until it rolls off the tongue. You have to be able to say NO (and refer back to scope/expectation discussion and document).
Offer new paths – When needs expand, call it out and propose a fresh expectation setting discussion and agreement if necessary. This is an opportunity to right-size the engagement if needed. No free stretch.
Your job isn’t to say yes to everything. It’s to deliver what was agreed upon exceptionally.
P.S Get sh!t done.
Why GTM or GTFO Exists: The GTM is bar is low - big talkers, best practices and bullshit. Being elite is your moat. Do the work that matters and get sh!t done.
If this was valuable, please share it , post it, comment on it, or DM me. GTM or GTFO comes out every Sunday. See you next week.