a Sales Consultants guide to presenting and demos

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king 11111111 | Img source: http://francis-moran.com/author/anil/
A Sales Consultants guide
to PRESENTING and
DEMOS
By Justin King @justin_king

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king 2
Complexity is your
enemy. Any fool can
make something
complicated.
It is hard to
make something
simple.

As a Sales Engineer, your
expertise is whatever technology
or industry you are focused on.
However, your craft is
communication.

This SlideDoc is focused on
how we do our craft.
Visit duarte.com for
more info on SlideDocs

This is a compilation of my
reading of blogs, books and
my own experience. I will
give credit everywhere I can
for other peoples work.

A good Sales Consultant does 3 things really well:
1
2
3
presentation
demo
field questions

1
2
3
presentation
demo
field questions

The following couple of points come from
Don McMillan at technicallyfunny.com and
his Life after Death by Powerpoint video.
Watch it – it is funny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbSP
PFYxx3o

outline ≠ slides

Instead of this…

Our software is the bestest because of:
1.Best Customer Experience
2.Business tools
3.Flexible and scalable

Do this…

Our software is the
bestest…
2. Business Tools 3. Flexible and
Scalable
1. Best Customer
Experience

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king

• The next mistake is taking everything
you are going to say about the slide
and writing it on the slide. Although
this eliminates the need to memorize
your talk, ultimately this makes your
slides crowded, wordy and boring.
You will lose your audience’s
attention before you even reach the
bottom of your...

• Continued… first slide

( you or the slide )

Eliminate as much
text as you
possibly can

Don’t do this

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king 25252525252525 | Img source: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nickmalik/archive/2010/04/29/drawing-effective-technical-diagrams.aspx?Redirected=true

Don’t do the EYE CHART thing either
If you have say
“this is a bit of an
eye chart”,
you are already
wasting everyone's
time
http://lifeoflewwho.wordpress.com/20
12/08/15/the-biggest-little-things/

Instead of putting multiple images on a page
WITH lots of text too like…

Or stretching and pixelating the image like this…

How about this instead.

Figure out a way to tell a story.
Stories are entertaining.
Stories are memorable.
And being memorable is a successful
presentation.

Buy and read these books TODAY

1
2
3
presentation
demo
field questions

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king 37373737373737373737373737 | Img source: http://www.bubblews.com/news/730378-movie-review-the-incredible-burt-wonderstone
Your demo should be a magic show

1. Well scripted and practiced
2. A memorable story line or humor
3. The story line and humor help draw attention
away from or to whatever the magician wants.
4. Builds tension and surprises the audience
5. Includes the audience at each step
6. Starts and finishes with an impressive trick or
feat

Take the time up front for
Discovery and Planning
ask questions and script out your demo
39

Like any great show we want to
grab their attention, build tension,
create twists, and end with
excitement and a payoff.

To do that:
Show them the sizzle first
Then deconstruct how you got there
Show them the sizzle again

To do that:
Show them the sizzle first
Then deconstruct how you got there
Show them the sizzle again
Build tension, like “we don’t believe that is
real software” or “that is very different from
how we have done things”

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king 434343434343434343434343 | Img source: http://www.goziplineusa.com///
Tension and twists help
keep your audiences
attention focused on
you the entire time. If
they don’t know what is
coming next, they will
pay attention. It is an
advanced presentation
skill, but amazingly
effective when you pull it
off.

Here are some things
to do or not to do.

“Look how simple it is to do this”
Say this often

An excerpt from:
http://greatdemo.blogspot.com/2012/01/practice-your-mouse-
movements-all-time.html
For some people presenting demonstrations, moving the mouse
smoothly and deliberately occurs naturally. For others, it can be a
real challenge! Here’s a quick tip: practice moving your mouse as
if you are delivering a demo all of the time. The “muscle
memory” associated with constant practice will reward you when
you are in the heat of a tough demo – and can’t invest time to
think about how best to move your mouse.
When we are mousing for ourselves, our mouse movements tend
to follow the motion of our eyes. So, if we are hunting for a
specific command or tool, as our eyes flit back and forth across
the screen so does our mouse! Instead, think (first) about where
we want the mouse to go, then move it smoooooothly and
deliberately to that specific location. And don’t move it again until
you’ve identified the next specific destination…!

Don’t describe
the labor, just
show us
the baby

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king 484848484848484848 | Img source: http://blog.munchery.com/2012/04/meet-chef-michelle-harrison/
saying we are going to move REALLY FAST
through this next section

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king 49494949494949494949 | Img source: http://audiohotsauce.com/art-installations-and-interactive-spaces-at-lightning-in-a-bottle/
While starting the meeting off saying it is going
to be interactive and all about THEM

Telling everyone about your
slow internet connection is
a waste of time
50505050505050505050 | Img source: http://pchelpplanet.com/internet-slow-today/how-to-deal-with-slow-internet-connections//

Excerpts from SecondDerivative.com
1.“The Harbor Cruise” Be unclear on the Customer’s
Needs. Offer and deliver a demo in the hope that your
customer will see something of interest, eventually.
2. Present a Linear Demo from beginning to end: “Where
is this going…?”. You can ensure the same awful fate
for your customers by delivering long, linear demos that
start at the beginning of a workflow and take forty or
sixty minutes (or longer!) to finally reach the big pay-off
screen.
3.“Death by Corporate Overview”. Make Number 2,
above, even worse by starting the meeting with twenty
minutes of your corporate overview. Regale your
audience with your mission statement (yawn), your
company’s formation and history (yawn), your revenues,
office locations, markets, products, and that smorgasbord
of customer logos (yawn, yawn, yawn, snooze…).
4. Don’t reconfirm the Time Constraints for the meeting:
“Sorry, we’re out of time…”
5.Show as many Features as possible. Want to make
your software appear as confusing and complex as
possible? Want to find more ways to bore and torture
your audience? It’s easy: show as many features and
capabilities that you possibly can!
6. Show the same demo all the time. Ignore the fact
that the VP in the room only wants a top-level
overview of your offering and that the managers in
the room are interested only in their portion of the
process.
7.“But what about…?”. Letting questions divert your
demo is an excellent way to ensure that you lose the
customer’s key players early in the meeting and run
out of time before you’ve gotten to your key points.
8.Let Bugs and Crashes consume you: “Gee, it’s
never done that before…”. As a bonus, make sure
that the balance of your team is sitting in the rear of
the room doing email on their phones and not helping
manage the audience.
9.“Ta-da… Any questions?” You’ve been demoing
along for twenty or forty minutes and you finally get
to your big pay-off screen – the key message. You
present it for 500 milliseconds and then move swiftly
to a PowerPoint slide that says, “Thank you”.
10.Avoid Summarizing: “And the next thing is…”. Roll
along from section to section, through segment after
segment, in a continuous verbal assault. Leave no
pauses, offer no introductions and, by all means, don’t
summarize after you complete an important segment.

1
2
3
presentation
demo
field questions

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king 53535353535353 | Img source: http://www.ebay.com/sch/Altered-Art-Collage-/75570/i.html
Don’t build a
watch when
they ask what
time it is.

Yes or No is a
perfectly good
answer

ECOMMERCEandB2B.COM | @justin_king 5555555555555555 | Img source: http://www.ebay.com/sch/Altered-Art-Collage-/75570/i.html

Objection creates opportunities

See and Hear Comprehend SatisfyEmpathyYes
Clarify
No
No
Verify Yes

Does anyone
have any
questions
for my answers?
-Henry Kissinger
58585858585858 | Img source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/11/kerry-syria_n_3903888.html

Pivot and Bridge Statements

1
2
3
presentation
demo
field questions

1
2
3
presentation
demo
field questions
Sales is what we do, but a Consultant
is who we are.

@justin_king | justin@ecommerceandb2b.com
thank you!

a Sales Consultants guide to presenting and demos

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (7)

Similar to a Sales Consultants guide to presenting and demos

Similar to a Sales Consultants guide to presenting and demos (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

a Sales Consultants guide to presenting and demos