Demo Environment #2: The Web Demo

Nowadays the remote demo is the bread and butter of most Pre-Sales Consultants. And understandably so. Tools like GotoMeeting, Webex, or Zoom give an SC the ability to connect to prospects with technology like never before. For me, over 90% of my demos are done over the web. Although you don’t get the same non verbal cues you would on an in person demo, you can leverage the features that the sharing technology offers when you remotely demo. Here are some things you can do in a web demo you can’t easily do live.

Record the session: Sometimes I wish I had a DVR for life. I could rewind it and say to my spouse, “See, you never actually told me to take out the trash.” Although being the wise ass my wife is, she’d probably say something like “That’s what I meant when I said you should go out with your buddies tonight.” Well at least with screen sharing apps we can record our sessions for future reference. There is so much utility for this.
- Turning over a sale to the implementation team.
- Self/management evaluation
- Reviewing questions and follow up items
- Training new hires
- Allowing the prospect to share with their colleagues.
Chat: Remember the days before smart phones when we had AOL Instant Messenger and Chat Rooms? I find the chat feature to be very useful in a couple situations. First, when there is a large audience and you don’t want people talking over each other. And Second, if you don’t want to be interrupted in your flow. This is akin to the ‘Please hold your questions to the end of the section.” Attendees can just type their questions in the chat and you can address them at the end in a more efficient manner.
Pause Your Screen: I once had a demo where my PC crashed right before the start time. For this demo I had to show a bunch of different applications, each with their own logins and screens to get to. Since I didn’t have time to pre-load all of the apps and screens, I had to launch them each as needed which took up time and required a lot of clicks. We lost the deal because the customer felt the user interface was too clunky. Using the Pause Sharing could have made things look a lot smoother. You can just pause when on a screen like a report, then go about your frantic scrambling to do whatever it is you need to do. Just remember to hide your amazon shopping cart when you un-pause :).
Use Your Webcam: These days this is the norm, but it cannot be overstated. Ever get that sinking feeling that the person on the other end of the screen share is catching up on their social media outlets? “Barbara, you know I’m one of your twitter followers; how are you gonna post a picture of you with your cats right now? Seriously?” All joking aside, it’s far to easy for people to be disengaged on a web demo. By sharing your webcam, people are more attentive, even if they aren’t reciprocating a video feed of themselves. And if your own mug staring back at you creeps you out like it does for me, just minimize yourself. But there’s something about seeing someone’s eyes on you, even if you know they can’t see you. Just be sure to change out of your PJ’s…well at least the top half.
Post Its!: This last tip has nothing to do with leveraging the technology, but just the nature of being remote. I like to put post it notes around my monitor to remind me of things during the demo. They fall into two categories: 1. Information about the client, and 2. General Reminders. Regarding the client, I will put their biggest pain points, preferably in their own words, gathered during discovery. I will also put the names of the attendees because I’m bad with names. For general reminders I have some favorites: Slow Down; Shut Up; Tell Show Tell; So What? (Those last two come from Bob Riefstahl Demo2Win! courses). Using sticky notes keeps your eyes up instead down on your notes, and is especially useful if you are sharing your webcam.

So there you have it. I’m a work in progress but I use 3-4 of these techniques on every demo. What are some trade secrets you use on your online demos? Leave a comment below!

Next: The Trade Show Floor Demo