Demo Environment #3: The Trade Show Floor Demo

There’s really only one tip I need to give for when someone walks up to your booth and asks to see a demo. DON’T DO IT. It’s generally a big waste of time. 1. The people that ask to see demos at conferences are never the decision makers. 2. Your shooting in the dark. You really don’t know what their needs are and could hurt yourself by leading them down the wrong path. 3. The environment is noisy, awkward, and crowded. How effective can you really be?

So avoid doing one on one demos on the trade show floor if possible. But in the rare situations where you decide it’s worth it, on the fly trade show demos should be short and sweet. The goal is the give the attendee just enough to want to see more in a full demo. Here are some ways to help keep it short but effective.

Back Pocket Demos – have a couple demos queued up in your back pocket. 2-3 scenarios max. These should be your best showstoppers. High level – not detailed features. And should apply to a wide audience. They should be visual demos that require little explaining. It can get loud on the floor. You can even have a pre-recorded 2-5 minute video that you narrate.
The Magician’s Force Discovery– If you walk around a trade show floor, you might be lucky enough to see world class magicians like Paul Gertner do their acts up close and personal. Magicians use something called a ‘force’ which is a way to control a spectators selection. The way to use this on the trade show floor is to ask the attendee leading questions that you already know the answer to and have a demo for. “Would you like your processes to be more automated?”, “Do you want to be able to make better decisions with analytics?” “Let me show you a quick example of how we can help you with that.”
Skip to the End – You want to keep this really short and sweet, so just jump straight to the end. If you are promoting your workflow solution, don’t take a document through the process. Just go straight to the end showing the results of the workflow.
Leave some meat on the bone – Remember the goal is to book another meeting not to sign them right then and there. The trade show floor demo is like a movie preview that is trying to get you go come see the full movie. It’s the one time it’s OK to have all sizzle and no substance.