Difference Between Demo for Inbound Lead vs. Outbound

Interested to hear from others what the key differences are when they do a first time discovery / demo for an inbound lead vs. someone they prospected and got to book a call with them.


Sometimes for an inbound lead it's easy to jump to "so what are you interested in seeing" and then getting to the discovery from that direction, but that isn't always the best practice either.

👑 Sales Strategy
☁️ Software Tech
📣 Demos
3
PhlipOut
Politicker
2
Account Executive
I think in both cases there should be discovery: even an inbound may not know what they actually need.
Starting with "what made you contact us" etc can open up the conversation.
only thing to be mindful is that inbounds may have limited patience for a long cycle before seeing anything as they may already be educated or comparing similar tools.
In that case using a demo to show while asking deeper questions around certain features to broaden the conversation is helpful.
we call it disco-demo: a less custom demo to kick start the conversation with more discovery
justsignit
Contributor
1
Account Executive
Inbound requires much heavier discovery: 

You have to not only match their expectations and understand who's ultimately signing the check.... but you also have to build enough pain to get them looped in. 

Outbound: You know who can use your service, who the DM is, and then you have to pitch based on the research you've already done. Much easier to hit them with a new idea that they can create budget for.... rather than trying to match what they put together. 

Am I way off? 
BigWave
Fire Starter
1
Head of Sales
Great perspective! I definitely can relate to that insight. 
Savagedoge
Tycoon
2
Account Executive
I do both today. The discovery needs to happen for both. As for inbound, it’s a little easier to get the prospects talking about challenges specifically. I start with “what led you in our direction here” followed by “how did you hear about us?” (Marketing needs to know ugh)
1nbatopshotfan
Politicker
2
Sales
Agreed. Discovery first with both calls. 
CarolinaUnderground
0
Territory sales manager
On an inbound lead the prospect has already done a lot of the work and you are in contention to provide the solve. For any demo to be effective there needs to be a clear understanding of what is important to them to see and then defining a clear outcome if those things can be delivered. Solve the problem (the real problem, you find after some digging) they have and don't do a speeds and feeds show and tell.

overheard_sales
Politicker
0
CEO - Overheard_Sales
Inbound: Focus on what they want to see
Outbound: Focus on a high level demo and constantly ask what value they would get from this or that until they have that a-ha moment
Gasty
Notable Contributor
0
War Room Community Manager
Inbound: You're at the front foot
Outbound: You're at the back foot
Rest is exactly the same
4

How do you compensate your SDRs who do both inbound and outbound prospecting?

Question
6
Where have you seen most success?
41% Having Inbound and Outbound as two separate teams with different comp plan.
36% Have the SDR do both but pay more for the SQL generated from outbound.
23% None of the above.
39 people voted
4

Inbound vs Outbound Leads

Discussion
8
11

Outbound Prospecting in Inbound Sales Org

Advice
19