As a sales engineer, you know that product demonstrations are the cornerstone of any successful sales pitch. To truly showcase the value of your product or service, you must create a tailored experience that resonates with your target audience. This article will guide you through the process of customising your product demos to suit various industries and audiences, setting you on the path to becoming a powerhouse sales engineer.
Understand Your Audience
Before diving into the specifics of your demo, take the time to understand your audience. Research their industry, pain points, and unique needs to gain insights that will inform your approach.
Identify Decision Makers
In any sales scenario, it’s crucial to know who the decision makers are. They could be technical experts, C-suite executives, or even end-users. Identifying them early in the process will help you tailor your demo accordingly.
This is where the collaboration with your sales exec is key. They need to be able to tell you who will be there and what each person is expecting from the demo. If none of the key decision makers are technical, know that you’ll need to tailor your demo to avoid talking about technology and instead focus purely on business value.
Assess Industry Requirements
Each industry has its own unique set of requirements and challenges. Study the trends, regulations, and best practices that shape the landscape of your target industry. This information will allow you to demonstrate how your product meets their specific needs.
This might require you to research a particular industry to understand their unique pains and challenges. Don’t be afraid of doing this—it will be time well invested for both the current opportunity and for future opportunities in the same market.
Create a Story That Resonates
A compelling narrative can make your product demo memorable and relatable. Create a story that demonstrates the real-world impact of your product on your target audience’s business or life.
Develop Personas
Developing personas can help you visualise your target audience and empathise with their needs. Personas can represent different roles or segments within your target industry, allowing you to highlight how your product addresses their unique challenges.
Showcase Success Stories
Nothing speaks louder than success. Sharing stories of how other clients in the same industry have benefited from your product will strengthen your credibility and illustrate the value of your offering.
Customise Your Demo Content
With a strong understanding of your audience and a compelling narrative in place, you can now customise your product demo to make it more engaging and relevant.
Highlight Key Features
Identify the key features that are most relevant to your audience and focus on them during your demo. Showcase how these features solve your audience’s pain points and add value to their business.
Be careful to only highlight features that are relevant to your audience and their industry!
Use Industry-Specific Examples
Incorporate real-life scenarios and examples that are specific to your target industry. This will help your audience see the practical application of your product in their daily operations.
It’s incredibly easy today to generate meaningful sample data, whether you use an online service or code something yourself using a library such as Python’s Faker. Create data that uses the language that the customer will be familiar with, such as ‘lifestyle’ data for health insurance, or ‘financial’ data for a banking customer. The less work the audience has to do to relate what they’re seeing to their own business, the more they can focus on the value you are demonstrating.
Adjust Your Presentation Style
Adapting your presentation style to match the preferences and expectations of your audience can greatly enhance the effectiveness of your product demo.
Speak Their Language
Use industry jargon and terminology that your audience will understand and relate to. This will show that you’ve done your homework and can speak authoritatively about their industry.
Choose the Right Level of Technicality
Consider the technical expertise of your audience when deciding how in-depth your demo should be. A highly technical audience may appreciate a deeper dive into the inner workings of your product, while a less technical audience may prefer a more high-level overview.
I used to be a Sales Engineer for a highly technical integration product. Our UI made the integrations easy, but our ‘standard’ demo still made it look somewhat technical to a business user. I had an opportunity to demo the product to the CTO of a company who told me that she was not technical, and if she perceived the product to be too technical, the call would be over! Instead of trying to somehow dumb it down, I chose to hand control of my screen over to the prospect and had her build an integration (with my guidance) in just 5 minutes. We closed that deal within a few days of that call! 😎
Be Mindful of Time Constraints
Respect your audience’s time by keeping your demo concise and focused. Tailor the length and depth of your presentation to align with their schedule and expectations.
I like to have videos prepared that show standard functionality. If I feel there isn’t enough time to run a demo that does the product justice whilst respecting the customer’s time, I will always suggest sending them a demo. Often, they will say that they have more time and would rather see it live, but it shows respect to them. If they need to see something specific, my offer will instead be that I will make a video and send it to them. Again, they will often prefer to extend the call, but the courtesy is always appreciated.
Foster Interaction and Engagement
Creating an interactive and engaging demo can help you establish a stronger connection with your audience, ultimately increasing the likelihood of a successful sale. It helps you as the Sales Engineer to build rapport with the audience, which can only help with the sales process.
Encourage Questions and Feedback
Invite your audience to ask questions or provide feedback during your demo. This not only fosters interaction but also allows you to address any concerns or objections they may have. It’s important to do this right at the outset so that you don’t end up with people having concerns that fester throughout the demo, ultimately distracting them from what you’re showing.
Utilise Visual Aids
Visual aids, such as slides, charts, and diagrams, can help illustrate complex concepts and make your demo more engaging. Ensure your visual aids are clear, relevant, and tailored to your target industry.
Prior to Covid making most of our demos remote, I was always a huge advocate of whiteboarding things with customers—not just presenting at a whiteboard, but getting them to join me and work through any key points together. This is harder to do over a video call, but having a tool such as Excalidraw bookmarked gives you the freedom to effectively whiteboard online in a very dynamic manner.
Practice and Refine
The key to delivering a successful, tailored product demo is practice and refinement. Continuously hone your presentation skills and update your demo content based on the feedback and evolving needs of your target audience.
I’ve played piano since I was very young and I remember being told by a German music professor many years ago: “Übung macht den Meister”, which translates to “Practice makes the Master”. This is just as true with your demos as it was to me as a pianist.
Rehearse Your Demo
Regularly rehearsing your demo will help you become more comfortable and confident in your delivery. Practice adjusting your presentation style and content based on different audience types and industries.
When rehearsing, try recording yourself so that you can watch it back. Look for things like unnecessary mouse movements or things that don’t flow well. If part of your demo involves using PowerPoint, look at how you deliver the slides. If you see yourself wildly circling things with your mouse to make a point, consider how annoying that might be perceived and consider either learning to use presentation tools to give you a virtual laser pointer, or add builds to your slides to highlight key aspects.
Gather Feedback and Iterate
After each demo, gather feedback from your audience and colleagues. Use this feedback to identify areas for improvement and refine your presentation accordingly.
I make it a point to have a debrief with the entire team after a customer call. This is not just to discuss what the action items are, but also to share feedback. I once heard from an account exec I was working with that I sometimes appeared distracted during meetings, as I was looking to my right. I was actually typing notes in Evernote that was on my right-hand monitor, but his feedback helped me to understand how this was perceived. In this case, it was a simple fix—I added an additional monitor above my main screen and behind my camera, so when I was typing notes, it looked like I was looking straight down the camera!
Tailoring your product demos for different audiences and industries is essential for showcasing the true value of your offering. By understanding your audience, crafting a compelling story, customising your content, adjusting your presentation style, fostering interaction, and refining your approach, you can elevate your sales engineering skills and drive more successful sales. In addition to the business success that tailored demos can bring, I also find that it makes the job more rewarding.
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