The Designated Driver Demo

Imagine you are shopping for a new car.  You’ve done your homework.  It has the right specs, looks great on the lot, and you’ve read all the reviews.  Time for a test drive.  The salesman pulls the car around and tells you from the drivers seat to hop in, so you jump into the passenger seat.  He cruises around city streets and highways while yapping on about this feature and that.  Before you know it your back at the dealer lot.  But instead of giving you a turn behind the wheel, the salesman asks if your ready for paperwork.  As ridiculous as this may sound, a lot of my demos would go this way.

If demos are meant to be the bridge between your solution and your prospect’s requirements, then why not hand the keys to the car over to the user and let them drive across the span.  I call it the Designated Driver Demo.  By letting them drive a bit, the audience will see how easy your system is to use, because if one of them can do it with no training, then it must be easy to use.  I’ve lost more deals than I care to admit because the prospect said the other system seemed easier to use.  Another benefit to letting a user drive is that they come out looking like a pro to their boss.  And lastly, by inserting another presenter, it disrupts the monotony of me droning on for hours on end and allows the audience to reset their attention spans.

In 1992, educators Flemming and Mills came up with the VARK learning model: Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic.  In most demos, there is obviously visual and auditory aspects.  Reading modes are addressed in our slides.  But Kinesthetic learners, or those that learn by doing, are neglected.  We have a golden opportunity in our demos to really show off the ease of use of our solutions with a little controlled hands on demo driven by the end users. 

First, pre-select a few sections of your demo that are super simple to execute.  For example, doing a search or running a report. This is critical.  It has to be full proof.  I once had a client say how easy the system was to use after I had them simply reply to an email.  (click reply, type ‘approved’, click send).

When you get to that part of the demo, ask for a volunteer to do the ‘driving’.  Pass the keyboard and mouse physically or virtually.  In live demos, I like to have a second mouse.  That way I also have control in case I need to jump in, like activating the kiddie bumpers at a bowling alley.

Follow a ‘Tell-Show-Tell‘ [see demo2win!] format.  I try to tell the audience (and the volunteer) what they will be doing.  We need to mentally prime them for the task since they’ve likely never used your solution.  But don’t just say “And now Jen is going to show us how to search”.  Set the scene up.  “Jen’s boss, Cathy, is meeting with the auditors and they want to see IT purchases over $10,000.”  Walk the user through demoing the task.  Ideally though, you want to pick a function that is so self explanatory, you don’t have to give much instruction and can instead focus on the value and benefit statements.  Remember, this is not training the user.  You are just using them to prove your point on ease of use.  Another bonus in live demos is that while that user is at the wheel, you are untethered from your machine; free to work the room a little.  Recap what your wonderful assistant just showed. Make it a point to highlighting how your volunteer, who has never used this software, made it look so easy!  A little ego stroking never hurts!

Slipping in a couple hands on bits into your demo drives buy in of ease of use, creates a tactile connection between your product and the user, and makes your prospects look good all at the same time.  It’s time to disrupt your demos by turning over the wheel to your audience in small controlled doses.