Discovery or Demo on the first call?

Question

Hey Savages,

Just started a new enterprise AE role and my new company seems to be obsessed with demoing on the first call. (which is why I think we're struggling in enterprise)

I come from a previous org as a mid-market AE and we NEVER demoed on the first call because it never went well (customer almost always ghosted us) and is a "cart before the horse" approach in my opinion. How can you build value, understand why they're interested, what challenges they're experiencing, etc. if you're just showing them all the bells and whistles of your solution.

And I know you're thinking that you can do discovery and demoing at the same time but in my experience it's best to do discovery first to understand what they're trying to accomplish and if that's something you can actually help them with. Then you can prepare for a more tailored demo that actually hits home vs a cookie cutter demo.

Also, doing discovery while demoing always feel rushed and ends up being a shortened version of a separate discovery and demo.

If you've read "Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play" they specifically instruct B2B complex sellers to "move off the solution" and fully understand what they're looking for before diving into the solution at all.

Would love to know your thoughts on how you approach this in your experience. Keep in mind, this is a complex sales cycle of 6-12 months (mid market and enterprise) so it's not transactional at all.

Accepted Answer

The one benefit of a demo before a discovery call is that you won’t have any other calls. It ends there because you come across as selling a product and not understanding the clients needs.

Answer

Can you schedule 30 minutes with the person who submitted the request on your own to do discovery? I ran into this at an idiotic/short sighted company that didn't understand enterprise; so we went rogue asking for 15/30 minutes before the demo outside of the SQL/MQL flow.

Answer

You're the CEO of your franchise. You do you.

Answer

At the enterprise level you have no shot at selling if you don't start with deep, deep, layered discovery. You need to fully understand the situation from many perspectives to get a full sense of the rational and emotional impact your product can deliver before selling.

Answer

ALWAYS start with discovery. But it's clear you know this.

Answer

discovery.

Answer

Agree with you. Discovery first. Although it's a bit of a bait and switch for prospects if all your demo forms say "book a demo".

Answer

your company has no idea what its doing then.....hate to say it.

Answer

How can you demo when you don't know their pains?  You need to have a conversation with the prospect to know what they are needing, who needs to be involved, etc... (the million discovery questions).

Answer

always do discovery first. The only time I would demo on the first call is if its a one-call-close type of product. My first SaaS job ever was like that. One call for discovery, then transition into demo, then about 50% of the time they would close after the demo. We were also a super cheap product. Sub $500/month offering

Answer

Depends on the product and solution you are offering. Does it require a lot of discovery to Taylor  a demo to them, or is the product somewhat simple??  There is no “one size fits all”, as each product or solution will dictate how you should execute your sales process

RevGen86

Discovery or Demo on the first call?

16 comments

RevGen86

Discovery or Demo on the first call?

16 comments

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