Demo-lished
Ugh. I had to demo some software to some mildly disinterested people today, and it was sort of a bummer. I work with the software a lot as a consultant, installing, implementing, training and tricking it to do the stuff my clients want it to do, but I don’t demo to strangers very often. I worked a lot of last evening and the wee hours this morning preparing for the demo. It’s accounting software, and I set up a demo company in the prospect’s name and did some cute and creative little things in response to some rather vague requirements from them. Once I started the demo, however, it was like wading through peanut butter. I don’t have great presentation skills, and I rely a lot on at least some level of interaction with my prospects.
See, most software demos are a form of entertainment - Mr. Excitement stands there and flashes through screens showing all the frothy features, as if the entire accounting process can be reduced to a couple of bar graphs, and at the end you’re still wondering whether the stuff belongs in your business. I try to avoid a strict script and, with the participation of my audience and some thinking on my feet, show them how I can provide them a solution. Without that undertow of interest, however, I was left to plod through screens demonstrating hypothetical transcactions and features, and it all seemed a bit blah.
I’ve had my own consulting business for a little over three years, and haven’t had to do a whole lot of this kind of selling. Mostly I’ve just hooked up with people that I either already know, or whom I’ve obtained from a solid referral, and just walked in and started working. I should do a few more presentation-type sales efforts, though, just for the practice. Call me Mr. Excitement.
