Archive for the ‘Timing’ Category

DEMOfall 2010 is a one shot deal

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

If you are presenting on the stage at DEMO, you have probably realized that it’s a one shot deal. Once Matt Marshall introduces you and the music and applause subsides, the clock starts at 6 minutes and the cameras are filming. There is no stopping or retakes. It is literally a one shot deal.

In order to make sure that you are prepared for anything and everything on stage, it is reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally important that you have a back up plan, in case something doesn’t go according to plan. If you don’t have a back up plan, it can be a very stressful and disappointing 6 minutes for you, your company and the audience. I have seen people back stage in tears because the demo went the wrong way and failed. And, it’s usually because they didn’t have a back up plan.

There are many things you can do to prepare for the unexpected. One way, if you have a laptop involved in the demo, is to take screen captures of all of the screens you’ll need to show using something like SnagIt. It not only allows you to capture the entire scrolling screen, it actually will capture some of the functions too, such as basic HTML. This way, your back up screens will have some basic functionality to show such as drop down lists and Alt Text. You can put all of the files on a USB drive and have instant access to them, if something goes wrong with your product.

Finally, having a back up plan is not enough. You need to practice the back up plan too! If you make time to practice the back up plan, you’ll be more likely to succeed on stage, if you need to resort to it. One of the best things to do is during each practice session, run the back up once. The more comfortable you are with it, the easier it will be to handle a mishap on stage. And, if you are paranoid like me, you’ll have 2-3 back up plans, depending on what you are doing.

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Timing your demo for DEMO

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

For most of you, the experience on stage at DEMOfall 2010 will be new. One of the most important things to know is that when you are on stage, there will be two large timers positioned on top of the monitors located just in front of the stage. Not only will you be able to see what is on the big screens without looking over your shoulder, you’ll see the countdown timers too. The count usually begins after the music dies down and it starts at 6:00 and counts down from there to 0:00.

While you are rehearsing your demo for DEMOfall 2010, you might find it easy to use an on-line countdown timer. You can use a free one here: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch/

I always recommend that your practice sessions have about 30 seconds remaining on the clock. The reason for this is if anything goes wrong or anything takes a little extra time on stage under the bright lights, you’ll need those 30 seconds to recover. You do not want to run over on your time if you want to be considered for an award. And, there have been times in the past when the mic is shut off and the music is turned up because the demo has run way over. Please don’t let this happen to you.

I look forward to seeing you at DEMO in a few weeks.

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For the presenter on stage at DEMO…

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

If you are the one doing the speaking on stage at DEMOfall 2010, you know you need the practice. In fact, if you are really serious about doing well on stage, you’ll be practicing the script dozens of times this week and next. It’s like preparing for a marathon. You need to run many marathons before the actual marathon. DEMO is like a marathon. The only problem is sometimes it is hard to get the person who will be running the demo to be there while you practice. They might be the ones actually programming the product for DEMO and have little time to devote to practicing.

So, here’s my best tip of the day for the presenters: Get someone in your organization to record the screens that will be used at DEMO using a product like Camtasia. It’s very simple to use it and it’s even free for 30 days! You can learn how to use it in 5 minutes. You can quickly record all of the demo screens and edit out the pauses and screens that won’t be used. Finally, Camtasia lets you instantly produce a movie or video of the screens that you can use to practice with. All you need to do is press Play and rehearse the script. You will get a much better sense for timing this way and you’ll know where the clock should be at every turn of your script.

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Demo in the beginning of the sales call

Wednesday, August 18th, 2004

I think you would agree that a demo is generally a crucial part of every sale. In fact, many people agree that the product demo is the lynchpin in a sales cycle. But, most people hold the demo off so long that people get irritated that they have not been given the chance to see your product in action.

Think about it for a moment.

When you want to buy a product, you want to see it first. Right? What about when you watched your last product demo. Didn’t you decide whether or not to do business with that company based largely on the demo?

The product is the reason that you have been invited to present your company and its products! Can you imagine walking into a car dealership to buy a car and not be given a chance to sit in the driver’s seat or take a test drive? Of course not!

Do you honestly think that people really care who you are and how many investors you have before they have decided to do business with you or move to the next steps? I don’t think so.

Did you know that most executives have said that the product demo is the one place in the sales cycle that most sales are ended? It’s true.

So, why not demo right up front? Get to the heart of the matter and the reason that you will get money from the person on the other side of the table. Once the demo is over and the audience says, “Wow! That’s amazing. Who are some of your customers?” or “OK. Is your company well funded?” the chance to share that information will be given to you. Most presentations or sales pitches begin by force-feeding the audience with who, what, when, where, how, and why before the demo starts. It’s time for that approach to stop.

I recommend and coach people to reverse this cycle and do the demo up front. Then, let the questions guide the remainder of your sales call.

Keep this in mind…People begin to fall in love with you and your company primarily during and after the product demo. If you do the demo in the beginning, you get to qualify the prospect earlier on in the sales call. If qualified, you now have more time to explore the “real” issues of the customer-to-be or you get to leave early and not waste each other’s time. It’s a win-win all around.

This approach will also set you apart from the competition because they will probably not demo in the beginning of their sales call.

How do you want to be remembered?

Remember, demo in the beginning and demo with passion…Nathan

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The 2-Minute Demo

Friday, August 13th, 2004

Frequently in your career, you will need to be able to give a 2-minute demo of your product. This is the especially true at trade shows where you generally have about that amount of time before you lose the attention of your viewer.

You must be able to demo your product in less than 2-minutes time,

although it may seem impossible at this moment. With enough practice using the following method, you will begin to see the advantage of a 2-minute demo for all of the people involved, including you and your voice.

Here’s the 2-minute demo approach:

At a trade show venue, you simply tell the person who is watching that your demo will take 2-minutes, or less, and then it is up to them if they want to see more. This way, you briefly qualify the person in less than 2-minutes so that you can be sure to have time for the next person who may be the key executive you have been waiting for. Plus, you have just told the person exactly how much time this demo will take. Remember that time is this the most precious commodity that people have. Once they know exactly how much time you have to invest in your demo, you will usually see a more attentive and interested listener.

If you waste your time and the audience’s time demoing feature after feature after feature, no one wins and both parties leave unhappy. But, if you asked the person who wants to see a demo a question such as, “What’s most important to you about (…)?” and fill in the blank, they may tell you exactly what they are looking for or what their biggest pain is. Then, you can take the 2-minutes and demo your product to their unique needs because you just asked them what was most important to them. By the way, it’s a great idea to follow the above question with, “And, why is that important?”

Taking this approach to demos in a trade show booth can keep the traffic moving. When you get a hot prospect that needs more time, it is best to have a separate area that you can escort them to for a full blown demo by yourself or possibly another person.

Audiences are generally more receptive to people who demo who are NOT in a sales role. Product marketing managers can be a very good source of demos since they spend a great deal of time with the products and, hopefully, the customers. Non-salespeople are always perceived to be more credible and honest anyway. It’s a fact of life. Accept it.

Common sense also dictates a 2-minute approach. The person you are talking with may not have more than 2-minutes to watch or they may simply be in the wrong booth, if at a conference or trade show. The person behind them could be your next big customer. Anyone is usually willing to give you 2-minutes. It’s those long 15-20 minute demos that will cause the people who are waiting, to leave. And, the people watching your demo may be giving you signs that they need to leave too, and NOW!

Everyone has their own qualifying questions they like to ask. Here are a few of the best, non-intrusive questions that continually produce consistent results for me:

1. What keeps you and your executives up at night?
2. What do you spend most of your time thinking about?
3. What is the biggest unsolved challenge in your business?

When you ask the first or second question, be prepared for a variety of answers. If you want, you can occasionally changed the first question to: With regards to your business, what keeps you up at night?, but I like to get people thinking and the original question let’s them go to business or personal thoughts. Sometimes the answers are business related and sometimes people get a strange look on their faces. In either case, you have their attention in the first 10 seconds! Now, it’s time to cement that rapport.

Until next time…Demo with Passion.

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Why don’t product demos start on time?

Monday, August 9th, 2004

Play ASOT.

This is one of my pet peeves and has been for many years. It started back in elementary school. If the teacher did not start on time, I started to get ants in my pants. This translated into a life long quest to always be on time in everything I do. I know. Some of my friends tell me I am over the top on this subject.

Well then, let me focus then on one area of starting on time. Giving a product demo…

Are you one of those people that start to get a little upset when the demo meeting doesn’t start on time? Or, do you know someone who typically starts their demo meetings late when you are on time?

Most people attending demo meetings do their best to get there on time. I know. So, if we assume that the larger percentage of the people are on time, why do you give them reason to get upset with you BEFORE the demo even starts? This is a bad way to start any demo. Think about it…You penalize the people who are on time to make way for those people who show up late. What’s wrong with this picture?

Also, if the demo is scheduled to start at 10 and the meeting in that room doesn’t end until 10, how can your demo start at 10? It’s impossible. Remember, you probably need a few minutes to set-up and check to be sure everything is working properly. Do you want people to watch you set-up? I don’t think so. More on this topic in another post.

Back to the topic at hand…Start late? Not in my demos or meetings. Not ever! I always start on time, no matter what the circumstances. I want the people in the room to be on my side from the beginning, so I do everything possible to recognize their effort of being on time. If there is one person in the room, I start at the exact moment the meeting was called for.

Here’s one of my secrets.

To respect those people who showed up on time, I get up in front of the room at the precise moment the demo is SUPPOSED to start and ask for everyone’s attention. Then, I deliver the same speech every time and it goes something like this:

“Folks, my watch says 8:30 and that’s the time we are supposed to start the demo. My mother taught me to always try to be on time or call if I was going to be late. So, I will leave it up to you. Should we start now or give those people who are not here yet a few more minutes?”

In 25 years of asking this question, I have met only 3 audiences that said they did not want to wait. Out of respect to them, what do you think I did? I started, of course.

And, when they agree that it is okay to take a few more minutes, you must tell the audience how much longer you will be. Then, you must start after that time elapses or ask for more time. I do not recommend asking for more time unless they are unusual circumstances and the audience is in general agreement. Just be sure and let them make the choice.

Taking this approach with your audience shows that you respect their time. It’s a great way to gain a special rapport with the people who show up on time too. You may even find that there’s a good joke that you can make some time during the meeting about being on time. Who knows. I usually use the time to verify all of the demo equipment and software or strike up a conversation with the audience.

Finally, if you want to keep the audience engaged after they say they’ll wait, you can try my favorite question to ask people before a demo. It is, “What do you hope to get out of this demo today?” Or, put another way, “I’m curious. Would you tell me why you are here today?”

Remember, Always Start On Time. End Play ASOT.

Until next time, demo with passion…NRG

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