How to Improve Sales Demo Results

From 2017 to 2021, Gong grew from $200k ARR to nine figures. During that window of time, I spent dozens of cycles with our VP Sales on crafting demos that sell. Here's 6 elements of insanely persuasive sales demos I learned (trial and error): 1. Flip Your Demo Upside Down Most salespeople save the best thing for last. Wrong move. By that time, buyers have checked out. Some have even left the room. Start your demo with the most impactful thing. Save dessert for the beginning. Not end. 2. Give Them A Taste, Not A Drowning You eat, sleep, breathe your product. So you want to show EVERYTHING. You believe that the MORE you show, the more VALUE you build. Wrong move. Your just diluting your message. Show exactly what solves your buyer's problem. Nothing less. But also, nothing more. 3. Focus Your Demo On The Status Quo’s Pain It’s  tempting to focus on benefits. They’re positive and easy to talk about. But focusing your message on the pain of the status quo is more persuasive than focusing on benefits. If your buyer believes the status quo is no longer an option, they’re a step closer to investing in a new resource. Your new resource. People are more motivated to NOT lose than they are motivated to gain something new. Use this psychological bias to your advantage. 4. Avoid Generic Social Proof We're all trained to use social proof. Whether it works is not so simple. Using endorsements from big customers might win credibility with a few buyers, but it'll work against you if your buyer doesn't "identify" with the customer you're name-dropping. It alienates them. If you cite a bunch of your customers who DO NOT LOOK like your buyer? They’ll think “This product isn’t designed for clients like me.” Only name drop customers they can identify with. 5. Frame the problem at the beginning of the demo. Start with a "What We've Heard" slide. Center your buyer on the problem. And get new people in the room up to speed. Then show a "Desired Outcome" slide. Do those two things, and now your demo is a bridge between the two. Easy for your buyer to "sell themselves" when you do that. 6. Frame the pain each feature solves. This is the "micro" version of the previous tip. For EVERY NEW FEATURE you showcase: You HAVE to frame the problem it solves. Otherwise, it's meaningless. At best, your buyers write it off. At worst, it triggers objections. That's all for now. This is nowhere near the last thing to be said about demos that sell. So what would you add? P.S. After watching 3,000+ discovery call recordings, I picked out the best 39 questions that sell. Here’s the free list: https://go.pclub.io/list

Your demo is the reason you're losing deals And it has nothing to do with your product. After sitting through 200+ sales demos last year, I've identified the pattern that separates winning presentations from forgettable ones. It's not about features. It's not about benefits. It's about sequence. Most demos follow this deadly structure: 1️⃣ Company overview 2️⃣ Product walkthrough 3️⃣ Feature deep-dive 4️⃣ Pricing discussion 5️⃣ Next steps This is exactly backwards. Your prospect doesn't care about your company story. They care about their problem. They don't want to see every feature. They want to see outcomes. Here's the demo structure that actually converts: ↳ Start with their outcome  "Based on our conversation, you mentioned needing to reduce customer churn by 15% this year. Let me show you exactly how this would work for your situation." ↳ Show their scenario Use their data, their use case, their terminology. Make it feel like they're already using your solution. ↳ Focus on 2-3 key capabilities The ones that directly impact their stated priorities. Skip everything else. ↳ Handle objections proactively Address the concerns they mentioned in discovery before they have to ask. ↳ End with clear next steps Not "Do you have any questions?" but "Based on what you've seen, what would need to happen for you to move forward?" The best demos don't feel like demos. They feel like problem-solving sessions where your product happens to be the solution. Subscribe to our Innovative Seller channel where we post bi-weekly videos on sales strategies like this 👇

You've been there. You get on a demo call. You're excited to show your product. You want to impress the prospect with ALL the cool features... ...and halfway through, you can see their eyes glaze over. Meeting ends. No follow up. Deal dead. I wasted YEARS making this mistake. The problem? I was "selling steaks to vegans". Showing features my prospects didn't care about and never would. Reminds me of the time I walked into an Infinity dealership looking for a comfortable car with good storage for road trips for my growing family. For 20 minutes, the salesperson showed me luxury wood trim, UI features, and rubber floor mats. I walked out, drove to Lexus, and bought from a rep who focused ONLY on what I cared about. Your demo shouldn't be a buffet where prospects sample everything. It should be a custom crafted meal addressing exactly what they're hungry for. Before any demo, ask: "If I could only present 3 things that would move the needle for this prospect, what would they be?" After implementing this approach, my close rate jumped from 22% to 54%. The formula is simple but rarely used: 1. Only show what solves THEIR problems 2. Link every feature to direct business impact 3. Use THEIR language and terminology 4. Make it interactive with questions throughout 5. Keep it simple (fancy fails, simple scales) 6. Prove everything with relevant examples 7. Make it smooth and polished 8. Handle objections before they arise 9. Practice until it's muscle memory Remember: Most prospects will pay MORE for CERTAINTY. — Want to CRUSH your quota and 2x your sales? We should talk: https://lnkd.in/gr9u5Vgd

How are you approaching demos? 🗣 I still remember my early years of showing a demo. I was so excited about the cool features that I would spend the whole hour showing them off to the prospect. I talked a lot, and everyone else was quiet. My young self, thought…, “They’re taking it all in!” SCORE…Days turned into months and crickets….no callbacks or replies from the prospect…Through these hard lessons, I have learned some best practices to make them more effective. Here are some: ✅ Take an outside in perspective. The demo is about your prospect, NOT your product. ✅Start the demo discussion summarizing the challenges your buyers shared with you; the impact if these challenges are not addressed; validate if anything has changed since the last conversation ✅ Summarize the solution they’re looking for, based on your collaborative discussion; validate that nothing has changed ✅ Show the demo and overall align it to their pains and business outcomes. In other word customize it. Sometimes it may not be possible to customize the product itself—customize the talk track! ✅ Focus on 3-4 areas and speak their language as they’re showing them; refer to the previous conversations you’ve had with them ✅ As you’re showing the demo, share a relevant customer story of how they used your solution and the impact ✅ Have questions ready to engage your audience ✅ Make it interactive; be flexible and adjust based on the questions you’re getting asked ✅ Read the non-verbal cues and adjust accordingly. If they look like they’re going to fall asleep, your message is not resonating. Course-correct! ✅ Make your demos short and have your prospect guide you on how much detail they want you to get into ✅ Make time for next steps ✅ Don’t forget to test your demo prior to meeting. Very awkward when it doesn’t work! #sales ; #quota; #deals

I recently changed our demo process. Here's what we're doing differently: 𝟭. 𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 "𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱" 𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲 Hey Jill - Appreciate you taking the time today. I’d like to start by sharing what I heard from our last conversation. [show “what we heard” slide]. Curious, has anything changed since we last spoke? 𝟮. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Hey Jill, If you remember one thing from our demo and conversation today, let it be how to [best feature]. And here’s why... [tie back to their #1 priority]. 𝟯. 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Hey Jill - Earlier you shared you were struggling with [challenge]. Would you mind putting me in your shoes and walking me step-by-step through your process for X? 𝟰. 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Hey Jill - What about [process] stood out to you the most? or Curious, what was going through your mind when I was showing [process]? or Would anyone else on your team benefit from being able to [benefit]? 𝟱. 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 Hey Jill - Curious, have you asked anyone about [differentiator]? That’s an important question because... 𝟲. 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 Hey Jill - Appreciate your time today. I’m curious. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate this demo for helping with [#1 priority]? If they rate high: That’s great! I have to ask... What made you rate us so high? If they rate low: Appreciate the candor. Curious, what would it take for you to rate us an 8 or higher? Would love to get your perspective here. 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: - Use a "what we heard" slide - Start with your best feature - Good questions before showing a feature - Good questions after showing a feature - Differentiate your product - Get your demo rated What'd I miss? 🤓 💻 ✅, Mike G