I’m on the receiving end of a lot of demos, and they range (as you might expect) from “can’t tear myself away” to “let me put you on mute while I clip my toenails”. Over the past months, I’ve been compiling a list of things not to do when you’re giving me a demo.
- Don’t come into the demo without knowing (in general) what I write about, particularly what I write about vendors. Snorting derisively about the fact that I write a blog is not going to score points for you, either.
- Don’t patronize me, for example by using the phrase “and now I’m going to tell you a bit about something called simulation“. Assume that I know at least as much about BPM as you do. Probably more.
- Don’t spend 40 minutes showing me PowerPoint slides before you get to the demo. I’m here for the demo, and if you ignore that fact, then I just switch screens and read blogs while you’re talking.
- Don’t (try to) bullshit me. If you don’t have X in your product and I say “hey, it looks like you don’t have X”, admit it and discuss what you’re doing to address that (if anything) rather than trying to distract me with something shiny.
- Don’t make me pay for the phone call. If you don’t want to spring for a toll-free dial-in number, then offer to call me directly: after all, you’re probably going to get some free publicity out of this in the end.
Having been on the vendor side as well (although not in Sales), I know that’s not always a picnic either; I’d love to hear the flip-side of this list.