The sales pitch. The product demo. This is what we live for as salespeople. It's our time to shine, to show what we know and dazzle the customer with our immense command of the problem and the product.

We dream about delivering one of those impeccable Don Draper pitches that causes the customer to weep with emotion (The Carousel is one of my favorites). We spend time mastering the product and learning the value prop of our product or service. We focus intently on ourselves, our product, our reputation, our support, and everything else about our business and why we are the best.

But this isn’t some TV show. This is real life. The customer doesn’t care about us. They don’t care about how great our product is, or the fact that we have hundreds of 5-star reviews on G2, or that we are exceptional at explaining the features and benefits of our product.

No, the customer doesn’t care about us at all. The only thing they care about is what we can do for their business.

This is why your demos don’t convert to customers.

‍Your team is too focused on your product. They don’t establish the problem well enough in the customers’ minds. The make too many assumptions about the customer’s readiness to purchase a product.

It’s a sobering thought, but it’s important to remember that the job of a salesperson is to communicate value to the customer. The product demo, ironically, should be less about the product and more about what the customer will accomplish by using the product.

Many of you are running product demos all day long with your prospective customers, and I’m here to tell you that your product demos need some work.

You’ve seen it before, an SDR books a demo for their Account Executive…

It’s scheduled for an hour and there are two representatives on the call from the prospective customer.

The sales reps shows up to the meeting unprepared. Didn’t read the notes if there were any to begin with. They go through the motions, using the sales presentation deck as a crutch to get through the demo.

The customer barely asks questions because the presentation is not very engaging.

The salesperson finishes this “presentation” with a weak effort at securing the next step in the sale. Something like, “What did you think about this presentation?” or “Do you think this would work for your business?”

Does this sound familiar? I like to call this “show up and throw up”. It’s a terrible excuse for a proper sales presentation.

In an effort to rid the world of terrible sales presentations, this essay walks you through the ideal structure of a great product demonstration. But before we get into demo structure, we need to talk about how customers make purchasing decisions.

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The 5 Stages of Awareness

“He recognizes the need immediately. But he doesn’t yet realize the connection between the fulfillment of that need and your product.” - Eugene M. Schwartz, Breakthrough Advertising (1966)

If you want to sell more products, first understand how your customers buy products. Eugene Schwartz introduced the concept of the “Prospect’s State of Awareness” in his 1966 book Breakthrough Advertising. It’s a dry book but it’s loaded with great instruction on how to write copy that drives customers to action.

In this book, Schwartz proposes that there are 5 stages of awareness for any product or service. These stages are as follows:

1. Most Aware - “the customer knows of your product - knows what it does - knows he wants it”

2. Product Aware - “The prospect isn’t completely aware of all your product does, or isn’t convinced of how well it does it, or hasn’t yet been told how much better it does it now”

3. Solution Aware - “The prospect either knows, or recognizes immediately, that he wants what the product does; but he doesn’t yet know that there is a product - your product - that will do it for him.”

4. Problem Aware - “The prospect has - not a desire - but a need. He recognizes the need immediately. But he doesn’t yet realize the connection between the fulfillment of that need and your product.”

5. Unaware - “The prospect is either not aware of his desire or his need - or he won’t honestly admit it to himself without being lead into it by your ad - or the need is so general and amorphous that it resists being summed up in a single headline - or it’s a secret that just can’t be verbalized.”

These 5 stages are part of every customer’s buying journey. Schwartz argues that “each of these stages is separated from the others by a psychological wall. On one side of that wall is indifference; on the other, intense interest”.

Indifference or intense interest. That’s what’s at stake in every customer meeting and product demonstration. Ever wonder why deals stall in the pipeline? That’s the customer’s indifference showing its ugly head. It tells you that you haven’t built enough value in the sale to move the customer to the next stage of the awareness spectrum.

The best sales process aligns perfectly with the stages of awareness. Sell to your prospect in the way that the customer wants to buy the product. This means you want your message to be highly relevant and valuable at every stage of the buying process.

You know this intuitively. Why would a salesperson talk about the technical features of a product before they know if the customer is interested? The sad reality is that this is common practice for inexperienced salespeople all over the world.

When you are presenting your product, the audience is made of people that are in varying stages of awareness. In most instances, there are individuals in that meeting that are unaware that their company even has a problem that needs solving! Isn’t that amazing?

Use this to your advantage. Companies usually buy products or services in groups of 2+ people. Whenever there’s a new person in the buying group, assume that person is in the “Unaware” category by default and structure your message to help them move to “Problem Aware”.

The worst case scenario is that you are repeating information for the other members of the buying group. This isn’t so bad, really.

The best case scenario is that you bring everyone along the buyer’s journey at the same pace. This is called a “collective learning experience” and it is the most powerful force in driving groups toward a purchase decision.

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The Perfect Demo Structure

Great product demos are really sales presentations in disguise. They should resemble Schwartz’s 5 Stages of Awareness and pull the customer from “unaware” to “most aware. It may seem counterintuitive but you shouldn’t spend more than 20% of a “demo” in the product showing the features and benefits. 80% of the time you will be talking with the prospects and establishing the problem for their business.

Here’s my simple structure for running the perfect demo

1. Establish context (5 min)

Kick off the call by acknowledging why you are here. The customer is evaluating your company’s product or services to address a problem in the business. Get the customer to verbally acknowledge why they think they are here. Call out each stakeholder on the call and get a them to offer what they see as the opportunity in partnership.

2. Describe the Current Challenges (15-20 min)

Once you have welcomed the group to the meeting and set the context, it’s time to establish the pain for the customer. This requires getting the group to acknowledge the challenges with their current status quo and move into “problem aware”.

Ask questions about their operations and offer stories about other customer who have experienced those same challenges. This is a great way to establish authority with the customer.

Spend as much time as you can establishing the pain with the customer. Deals are won and lost in this stage of the sale and especially in this part of the sales presentation. Storytelling and social proof are helpful in this part of the presentation. People want to feel like they aren’t the only one struggling with these issues.

3. Illustrate the Desired Outcome (10 min)

Now that you have a clear understanding of the customer’s challenges, you can articulate a version of the future where those challenges have been addressed. This moves the customer into “solution aware”.

You can use anecdotes from successful customer relationships to help the customer visualize what success looks like. Paint a picture of the “city on the hill” where all of the customer’s worries are gone and they have overcome their operational issues. This is the version of the future they want to inhabit.

4. Your Unique Value Prop (10-12 min)

This is your chance to illustrate all the ways that your company will address the customer’s challenges and deliver the desired outcomes. When done successfully, the customer will move into “product aware” and will be ready to start resolving concerns about the partnership before making a decision.

‍THIS IS WHERE YOU GIVE YOUR PRODUCT DEMONSTRATION

Remember that your customer only cares about what you can do for their business. The customer doesn’t need product training. They only need to see the parts of the product that are relevant to their business. Specifically, they want to see the parts of the product that will make an impact and deliver the desired outcome.

Pick 2-3 things that are most relevant in the product. Show the customer these aspects of the product, then get out of the product.‍

5. Pricing (5 min)

Be prepared to discuss pricing for your product. This is a commercial relationship, after all, and the customer is going to be wondering how much it will cost. Even if you don’t have enough information to quote the customer, you can talk generally about price or use that part of the conversation to make a plan for delivering a more accurate quote.

Quick tip: Never deliver a quote by email without talking to the customer first. You want to control how they receive the message, and email does a terrible job at communicating tone

6. Ask for the Money (5 min)‍

And finally, no sales presentation would be complete without asking for the business. Don’t assume that your customer is going to jump up and shout “TAKE MY MONEY”. You have to ask for it. It’s OK if they say “no”, you can make a plan to overcome their objections. Close every meeting by asking for the business.

Before you move on from your meeting, always book a next meeting on the customer’s calendar to keep the conversation moving forward. Every meeting must close with a next meeting set.

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‍Helpful Tips for Running Great Sales Presentations

Whether you are dialing in through Zoom or presenting in person, it’s on you to make the meeting valuable for the customer. Here are some simple rules I have learned over the years that helped improve our demo conversion rate.

• Make sure you have a strong sales deck or “demo deck” that supports your demo conversation
• Wear a collared shirt. Comb your hair. Be presentable. First impressions matter
• Meet with your SDR (if they booked the demo) to understand the dynamic you are walking into. Is the customer defensive? Are they willing to share a bunch of information about the business? These are important details that usually aren’t noted in your CRM.
• Do your research on each stakeholder before you get on the demo. Figure out where they went to college or which professional sports team they support.
• People do business with people they like, so be likable
• A little enthusiasm goes a long way
• If you are on zoom, try to share your screen as little as possible. The moment your screen share goes on, the customer is going to get distracted. Keep the camera on your face so they get to know you.
• Have 2-3 customer stories in your pocket that you can go to with every customer. These stories should be relatable for the customer. Commit them to memory and practice telling them often so you can land the punch line every time.
• The product demo is not a training. Show the features that are valuable to the customer, then stop sharing your screen. Get the customer talking about what they see and how they would use the product.
• Pick ONE BIG THING that you want the customer to take away from the meeting. Repeat that one thing at least 5 times throughout the conversation
• Ask for the money on every presentation: “Would you like to purchase our product today?”
• End every meeting with a clear next step on your calendar and on the customers’ calendar
• Follow up by email with an Executive Summary of the partnership. Your champion will use this to sell the deal internally

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Download my Executive Summary Template.