Consensus’ Post

"Our pipeline ghosts post-demo" or "Our biggest drop off happens after demo" This is what I hear from about 75% of the companies I have discovery with. They have a major stopgap at discovery and demo stages. Why? I'm about to dive into what may be causing your prospect to go dark and what you can do during your demo (proposal/recommendation) to keep your buyer intrigued. Rumor has it that 75/100 seats have already been taken for this workshop on Thursday 5/23 at 12PM MST/2PM EST. Comment Demo and I'll drop the l*nk to sign up - one of the last freebies before Gap+ launches (and nope, no recording). Death to sucky demos!

3 Questions I started asking at the end of my demos before we talk about price 💸 1. If you were to rate our solution on a scale from 1-10. What would it be? This will give you a pulse check on how things went. 2. Curious, what made you score it that? Ask this to learn what they value in your solution 3. And what would it take to score higher? (Assuming they didn’t give you a 10/10 😉) You’ll learn what gaps they see and where your risks could be. What questions do you ask at the end of your demo?

😬 Do you suspect your demos might be breeding more questions than confidence? It’s likely your demo environment is causing more confusion than clarity — and it’s time to take action. If your reps try to avoid using the demo environment or spend too much time prepping for demo calls - these are red flags that your demo environment is likely the problem. , these issues could be costing you deals. We've compiled the top 5 signs your demo environment is sabotaging your deals and what you can do to fix it. Check the comments to grab it.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘀 I tried to visualize how the number of features you show during a demo impacts two things: Your close rate and the customer’s decision-making speed. Spoiler: 'It’s better to have than to need' doesn’t work for demos. Showing too many features dilutes your message and overwhelms your customers. And that hurts both your closing rates and their ability to make a decision. Too much choice creates decision paralysis. To avoid that, keep things clear, simple, and on point. That’s where Feature Discipline comes in. It’s all about focusing on the few features that truly solve your customer’s problems. Usually, 15% is more than enough to help them get the job done. Anything beyond that will likely hurt your chances instead of helping. Do you agree with my visual?

I'm a fan of using 'You' instead of 'I' in product demos because it makes the prospect the star ⭐ of the demo 🎥 . But...did you know there's a common filler phrase that can massively undermine your efforts. You know? 🤷♀️ When you unknowingly say 'You know?' all the time, then every time your audience hears 'You', instead of it gaining their attention, they start to tune YOU out. Some quick solves that work for me: -Slow down...all of it, your words, your thoughts, your breathing. 🐢 -Focus on your audience and call them into the conversation. Stop monologuing and converse. 📢 -Record every call, rewatch them and identify your filler words so you can improve every day. 🗓

"Why your demo is failing: 3 mistakes you can fix today." I recently had a client who, after sitting through six other demos, was almost in tears when she told me, “You’re the first person who actually listened to me.” That stuck with me. She didn’t care about the fancy features—she just wanted to feel understood. Here’s what I’ve learned about making demos actually work: *** Solve the problem, don’t showcase features: The best demo doesn’t highlight everything—it zeroes in on solving the client’s unique pain points. *** Tailor the experience: Show you’ve done your homework by making the demo relevant to their challenges and industry. *** Engage, don’t lecture: Turn the demo into a conversation. Ask questions, involve the client, and focus on their feedback. 👉 Takeaway: A successful demo isn’t about impressing with features—it’s about showing how your solution fits them. What’s your biggest demo win recently?

Most AEs get to the end of a part of their product demo and ask... "Any questions?" This is really a no value question. If the prospect has questions, they will ask. The AE actually doesn't want to know if they have questions. They want to know if what they just showed aligns with their needs and will actually provide sufficient value. So what is a better question? "Does this seem to address your main priority?" "Would this be an improvement compared to your current process?" "If implemented correctly, would this solve your problem?" Ask stronger questions and get stronger responses. This is how the Raken team approaches questions during demos.

I analysed 8800+ demo calls (1800+ of my own) in 6+ years I'm giving away my 6+ years of trial and error for FREE It utilises a simple 6-step framework. 👉 Proper introductions without fluff (2min) 👉 How I find the root cause in discovery (10-15 min) 👉 Conducting an inspiring demo (10-15 min) 👉 4 questions to stand out (3-5 min) 👉 Discussing pricing with sounding awkward (3-5 min) 👉 Buyer focused next steps (2 min) And honestly, I should probably have charged for it. It’s 6+ years iterating and distilled down to 14 pages To do a demo worth remembering. To make it easy for you, I also added a few talk tracks. 👉 What to say 👉 Why it is important 👉 What to do next No more boring feature dumping demos! Comment "DEMO" and I'll send it to you (must be connected).

"I don't want to demo until I've done complete discovery." It's a valid concern: premature demos are unlikely to hit the mark. Here's the problem: your buyer doesn't care. If they have a problem to solve, and you refuse to demo, they'll just pop over to one of your competitors. To prevent this from happening to you, I built a framework for running effective discovery and providing a "teaser" demo in an initial 30 minute meeting: 1) Introduce problems you solve, not what you do 2) Identify and validate pain 3) Uncover current state 4) Demo proposed after state 5) Confirm improved after state 6) Identify positive personal outcomes 7) Identify positive business outcomes 8) Wrap-up (proof point) and next steps Want to nail this framework? I break down each of these steps, including what discovery questions to ask, in this video: https://lnkd.in/gPv_mhmf

Tired of demos that just don’t hit the mark? Let us help you out! So, what makes a demo perfect? ✨ Keep it real. Don’t read off your scripts. You can do better than that. ✨ Make it all about what the client needs, showing them what really matters. ✨ Skip the fluff, focus on the good stuff. And, of course,  ✨ make it rock-solid and personalized. Because first impression is the last impression. That’s what Pepsales is here for. 😎 We’re here to help you deliver demos that hit the bullseye 🎯 every single time. With Pepsales, you’re not just presenting a product; you’re winning the deal. Ready to make every pitch a winner?