Great Demo!
How To Create And Execute Stunning Software Demonstrations
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
What Is Great Demo?
The Answer
This is really simple and very powerful. Here’s the answer: Do The Last Thing First.
That’s right. Simply bring the end of your demo to the very front and you’ll have a highly compelling, awesome, knock-their-socks-off demo.
Certainly there’s more to this, but if you take nothing else away from this book, take this: Do The Last Thing First.
Remember the “7 Habits” book, by Steven Covey? Recall his “begin with the end in mind” concept? It is very similar to what I am proposing to you now. Most important, it works. It works great. It works so well that it may boggle your mind with how simple, how direct, and how obvious this was – once you’ve tried it and seen it work.
A Little More of the Answer
Certainly there’s more to this, and now that I have your attention, I’ll run through the concept rapidly, without much explanation, to give you the gist. Once we’ve completed this rapid overview, we can begin to explore the concept in as much detail as you like.
- Begin your demo by showing the best, most compelling screen or handful of screens. You have to complete this in less than two minutes – no longer. These screens must show your solution in the strongest possible form. You want your audience to be thinking “How did you do that?” Now you’ve got their attention!
- Once your audience has grasped that a solution is possible, walk through how you get to those few screens. Do it smoothly, rapidly, confidently, but without any detailed explanation. Use only enough verbal comments to fill in while your software is operating. You need to finish this portion in less than four minutes – make it look fast and easy.
- Now, if you are on target, your audience will ask you to show how you got to your concluding screens in more detail. They’ll guide you to present and show the key capabilities they need and want. You can take as long as you need for this section, but typically you won’t need more than 20 or 30 minutes.
Now wasn’t that easy?
The Rest Of The Answer
The balance of this book is designed to present the methods and explanations to provide you with the skills you need to research, create, and execute Great Demos.
- You’ll start by developing why these skills are important – the impact on your organization and your own success.
- You will learn how to prepare by gathering the critical information you need (never demo without it!).
- You will crystallize what makes your software offerings unique and how best to present and represent the capabilities you offer.
- You’ll learn how to organize and orchestrate demos.
- You will equip yourself with the tools to improve your interactions with your sales organization and others within your company.
- You’ll see how to manage the different types of customers in any audience.
- You’ll become a skilled, confident, practiced, sought-after Demo Master!
For more information on demonstration methods, guidelines and tips, explore the author's website at www.SecondDerivative.com or contact the author directly at PCohan@SecondDerivative.com.
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About the Book
Great Demo! provides presales and sales people with a method to dramatically increase success in closing business through substantially improved software demonstrations. It draws upon the experiences of thousands of demonstrations, both delivered to customers and received from vendors. The distinctive "Do the Last Thing First" concept generates a "Wow!" response from customers.
The Great Demo! method is presented simply and clearly, and is elaborated more fully in each successive chapter, providing a rich toolkit for software presales and sales teams. Real-life anecdotes, examples, and axioms offer humorous and effective punctuation.
Recently validated by extensive studies, Great Demo! provides the guidelines, tips and techniques to make your demos surprisingly compelling!
About the Author
Peter Cohan is the founder and principal of The Second Derivative and the author of the Great Demo! methodology, focused on helping software organizations improve their sales and marketing results - primarily through improving organizations' demonstrations.
The bulk of his experience is with complex, enterprise software and strategic systems sold to varied audiences in a range of vertical markets. He has enjoyed roles in technical and product marketing, marketing management, sales and sales management, senior management and the C-Suite - as well as serving on Boards of Directors.
In 2003, he authored Great Demo!, a book that provides methods to create and execute compelling demonstrations. The 2nd edition of Great Demo! was published March 2005.
In July 2004, he enabled and began moderating DemoGurus®, a community web exchange dedicated to helping sales and marketing teams improve their software demonstrations, which was subsequently transitioned to the Great Demo! LinkedIn Group in 2010-2011.
Before The Second Derivative, Peter founded the Discovery Tools® business unit at Symyx Technologies, Inc., where he grew the business from an empty spreadsheet into a $30 million per year operation. Prior to Symyx, Peter served in marketing, sales, and management positions at MDL Information Systems, a leading provider of scientific information management software. Peter currently serves on the Board of Directors for Collaborative Drug Discovery, Inc., is an advisor to IN2SV, Inc. and a mentor to StartX, the Stanford University start-up accelerator. He holds a degree in chemistry.
Peter has experience as an individual contributor, manager and senior management in marketing, sales, business development, and as a member of the C-suite. He has also been, and continues to be, a customer.