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55Burgers55Fries55Tacos

Account Executive

Opinionated
Valued Contributor
Fire Starter
+2

Combining Disco and Demo

I'm starting to notice that some of my smb deals are choosing the competitor due to our sales process being too long. Example of our current process below:

-BDR qualifies inbound lead (5-10 mins) then sets meeting for AE later that same day or another day.

-Discovery call (~30-45 mins)

-Demonstration + closing call on another day (~45 mins- 1 hour)

*we don't provide any free trials so this is a customized, hands-on demonstration.


These are smb deals that should move quickly. We all know time kills deals, any advice on how to structure that second call in order to maximize engagement while minimizing the deal cycle?

👑 Sales Strategy
📣 Demos
☑️ Qualification Calls
11

12 comments

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TennisandSales
Politicker
4
Head Of Sales
how do you know that your sales process is costing you deals? is this a feeling, or have customers said it?

i would also dive into seeing if its the process, or is it the rep executing the process?

also is it 100% necessary for a BDR to qualify an inbound lead?
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
I know at our company, all inbounds are treated the same - sent to BDR team - and then dispersed to either Enterprise or MM. Maybe that's the case here, if they sell to more than SMB. Otherwise, I agree. It's one more step that may not be necessary.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
4
Bravado's Resident Asshole
Why can't you just take 45 minutes and do your disco and demo together? What are you selling? Unless you are selling to NASA or somewhere that needs an intricate and "customized" solution, you don't need two 1 hour long meetings.
Pachacuti
Politicker
3
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
I don't think the problem is in the process. Expectations on both sides are not being set correctly and timelines are not being communicated.

Perhaps you can combine Qualifying the Inbound Lead & the Disco, but if the DC is being done correctly, there are important things being uncovered which could affect the demo -at least in my world there are.

If your solution only does 1 thing, then by all means combine the processes and make it faster.
coletrain
Politicker
3
Account Executive
What are you selling? I can understand combining disco and demo into a single call may be beneficial however it is not right in all circumstances.

Also, why doesn't your company provide a free trial to your understanding? I feel that would be more valuable than an hour long demo. There are products that may require 30 min at most, from the outsider perspective it seems that could be an issue causing pipe leakage.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
2
Sales Rep
I understand adding additional time is bad for deals, but this process is 2 days. Have you been told this is the reason why you have lost deals? Or is it the competitor gets there first causing you to play catch up
punishedlad
Tycoon
2
Business Development Team Lead
Discovery and demo can very easily be done on the same call. That should consolidate your process and (hopefully) solve your problem here.

But as @TennisandSalessaid, are you sure this is what's causing prospects to go with the competition?
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
Is this a constant complaint or is it just one client/prospect that's harassing you about your process?
bdiggidy
Opinionated
1
Account Executive Mid-Market
It’s gonna come down to you’re own repetition and experience but you need to understand - is this a chess or a checkers deal? SMB advantage is working a lot closer to power than upmarket, leverage being customer centric to maximize time and ask blunt questions. If this is a chess deal that requires multiple stake holders and a longer buying process, slow it down. If it the customer is looking to move quickly, seek to understand why as fast as possible and then just show them what they need they’ll appreciate it more that you can be efficient if they want speed.
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
It makes sense to do ittogether for many reasons - lower ARR (why you want to waste so much time), quick decision and not very complex use cases
FoodForSales
Politicker
0
AE
I'm glad I don't sell SaaS so I don't have to worry about this.
Gasty
Notable Contributor
0
War Room Community Manager
@Howsyourmonday: We recently had a discussion on this in the WR. Check out this thread - https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/bad-sales-advice-demo-and-discovery-together-or-apart

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