How to Deliver Demos That Don't Suck

JBay here. For a second time, I convinced Nick and Armand to let me hijack the newsletter (was even easier this time).

I was coaching a rep last week who was losing deals late in the sales cycle. She’d do 2-3 months of discovery, demos, and presentations with half a dozen stakeholders—and then…ghosted. Or told, “We need to revisit this in 2024.”

The problem: She treated demos like a “show & tell.” And completely missed opportunities to connect to existing priorities and sell the cost of inaction.

Here are three strategies I shared with her that you can use to instantly level up your demos (so you stop losing deals late in the sales cycle).

Step 1: Plan your demo

Most reps prep for demos by rehearsing through their slides and setting up the test environment in their demo account.

That’s important—but even more is working through the missing pieces required to move the deal forward. And maintaining momentum with your stakeholders.

Before your next demo, use this prep template (copy/paste this into the notes field in your CRM):

- Stakeholders (list out every stakeholder)

• What’s their current state/situation (their status quo)
• What are the consequences of not changing?
• What happens if they change?

- What relevant customer story can I share?

- What additional discovery needs to be done?

- What 2-3 features should I demo that align best with their goals/problems?

- What’s the ideal next step?

Step 2: Additional Disco + Seeding Next Steps

Ever have a demo end abruptly without a next step? Then spend weeks or months chasing everyone down?

This usually happens when proper expectations aren’t set at the beginning of the demo.  

Here’s the key: Don’t demo to “show & tell.” Demo to advance the deal.

Add these two steps to the intro of your demo call:

1. ‍Additional Discovery: “When I was preparing, I summarized your objectives as {their goals}. Does that seem right? Great. I also realized we haven’t discussed {area for deeper discovery}. Let’s start off with that so we can tailor the demonstration to the parts most relevant for you…”  ‍
2. Seed next steps: “I’m about to show you how similar organizations have solved similar challenges to yours. You’ll see how {parts of your product} will help you {fix problems with the current state OR achieve desired future state}. My hope is that you ask questions and keep this conversational. If you like what see today, can we agree on {ideal next steps…pricing, scoping, looping in power, etc.} as a next step?”
   

Step 3: The Resonance Loop

Now it’s time to demo. Don’t bore your buyers to death with 15-20 minutes of feature dumping.

Pick 2-3 features and then work through them one at a time using this 3-part framework called the Resonance Loop:

‍The Why: Start with the buyer’s objectives and frame what you’re about to show.

1. Feature level challenge: “You mentioned that {challenge}.”
2. Solution + business impact: “If you fix this, it could lead to {impact or outcome}.”‍

Connect: Share your screen, orient your viewer, and connect your solution to the buyer’s objective.

1. Focus and orient: “Let me show you how {specific part of solution or feature} can help. You’re looking at {provide context to what they’re seeing}. Here you’ll find {walk through specific parts of the feature and how it works}.”
2. Connect back to the buyer’s objectives: “This will help you {fix problem or achieve outcome}.”

‍Confirm: Stop sharing your screen (this is key), then validate that the buyer sees the connection between your solution and their objectives.

1. “How would you/your team use this?”
2. “How would this help you {fix problem or achieve outcome}?”