Demos! What About Them?

Let's talk product demos

As a Customer Success professional, you may be required to demo your SaaS product or mobile application to customers for a new feature presentation, upsell, or cross-sell.

A demo (or what I like to call demonstration) is an event that showcases the capabilities of your SaaS product to a target audience.

Personally, I perform an average of 5 product demos weekly - both physical and virtual.

Here are some tips to get better at product demos:

1. First, Scope and Capture the Customer's Requirements

Your product does a lot of things, has a couple screens, and tabs that seem exciting but the best way to win a customer over is to first of all scope them.

Think of this as a discovery call where you unravel the customer’s painpoints and how your product fits in. When you have this information, record it, and focus the demo on the talking points.

2. Have a Demo Account and Get Familiar

To show how a product works and convert your audience, you have to be a power user. This is what a demo account is for.

Ask your team or management to profile you on one.

Also, as updates are made, get familiar with the new tabs or buttons that are added so you can demonstrate their purpose and benefits on your next demo. Collaborate with Product or Engineering teams so they keep you in the loop.

3. Jump to the Action Shot

I got this tip from TK Kader. You don't need to spend 5 minutes showing the landing page, homepage, or KYC pop-up. A walkthrough can be done with the customer during set-up. At this moment, show your customer the core product loop and how it enhances the his/her day-to-day.

4. Keep it Interactive

The best way to know if you're indeed wooing the customer is when there is constant communication during the demo. Encourage your audience to ask questions. Importantly, when questions are asked, use the product to provide a response.

5. Close Properly

At the end of your demo, ask the customer for next steps and know the action points following the session. This enables you to gain traction on the conversation.

The Sum Up

Demos only feel like a chore when you're not familiar with the product. To flow like a boss, play around your product and always follow up with Product or Engineering teams to keep you updated on new releases.

To become a demo maestro, you need to be excellent at presentation, communication, active listening, sales, and product knowledge. And, overall, demos are necessary to train users on how to use a product, introduce new features, or upsell other benefits or modules.

As you know, I am always rooting for you, but tell me in the comments. When was the last time you had to take a demo and how did it go?

Cheers to many more successful demos.