SalesSpectre

Questions to get engagament in Demo

I always feel like the questions I ask during a demo just sound manufactured. They just feel forced but I know its important to keep your audience engaged and keep the demo conversational.

Some demos are fine because the buyers are engaged without prompts and questions. Others its like pulling teeth to get them to talk especially in a larger group.

Question: for the saas reps out there..what are some solid go-to questions you ask during a demo?

☁️ Software Tech

📣 Demos

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overheard_sales

Politicker

CEO - Overheard_Sales

SE here. I demo all day every day:
- Ask why a feature would or would not improve current processes
- If the prospect isn't engaged, call them out by name and ask for their opinion on what they've seen. Works especially well for large groups
- If they still aren't responsive, don't be afraid to straight up ask if they don't think it's a fit, if they won't engage now, they likely won't engage later
- Have fun with it

RedLightning

Politicker

Mid-Market AE

That's awesome @overheard_sales! I've never worked with any SE's. It's interesting to hear that perspective

overheard_sales

Politicker

CEO - Overheard_Sales

hell yeah friend

softwarebro

Politicker

Sales Director

what industry? engage throughout the demo with questions and statements that are directly tied to their problems. I always direct the statement or question to the person or people that it pertains to.

"Quick pause.. Judy, James, I understand that your current system doesn't allow you to create new payment terms or automate agreements. What we are about to show you (or just showed you) will make your life easier. Did you have any questions or comments?"

SalesSpectre

Opinionated

Martech industry so i sell to marketing teams. If its smaller orgs i might be selling to a single marketer and CEO and sales leadership

ApolloCreed

Good Citizen

Account Executive

(for software sales)If they don't seem engaged, I always like to try and reference how other people in that role react to what we walked through.

Ex: "Hey prospect, usually when i show marketers this, they get fired up, a ton of ideas start coming in their head to how they'd use this. Is there something I missed? How would you use this?

SalesSpectre

Opinionated

ooo I like that..thanks for sharing

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

Sales

I sell a product that’s generally very simple to understand but can be “pointed” at a lot of problems so generally it’s to get answers that affirm a bigger need for the organization. This may sound generic, but more details on product and industry would help us drive more details for you.

ARRisLife

Politicker

Account Executive

I feel your pain on this- I've struggled with this as well. Our solution is bit more complex so a solutions engineer is typically running point on a demo. That being said they can sometimes go deep or talk for longer periods of time so I can help interject for engagement. I try to keep a list of questions or requirements relevant to specific people to call on them and see if this helps simply process or xyz thing.

SalesSpectre

Opinionated

Yea i need to be better about bringing requirments and other challenges into the demo

T3Tony

Valued Contributor

Regional Sales MAnager

I always try to stay away from the manufactured questions like “ Can you see this fitting into you organization?” An focus more on the reason why they took the meeting. My go to is usually... I appreciate you expressing in our product an to make the most of our time today can you tell me what in specific was of interest to you? I know that even sounds scripted but works a lot of the time.

SalesSpectre

Opinionated

Thank you. The demo is my least favorite part of a sales process. Hate the feeling of manufactured performance.

MajorB

WR Lieutenant

I’d even then the “can you” into “how do you.”

ApolloCreed

Good Citizen

Account Executive

I try and avoid yes or no questions. If they come back with just yes or just no, it ends there. The goal is to get them to talk almost as much as you do, or even better, start selling this to their colleagues they have on the meeting.

"How would you use something like this?"
"How does this compare to what you're doing today?"
"What would having this extra widget unlock for you?"
"How does this transform your day to day?"

MajorB

WR Lieutenant

My company works from a frame the problem, describe the solution through the product, ask about impact.

I also run discovery throughout the demo. How do you do this today? How would this change things? Blah de blah.

We do our first call as disco / demo, though.

SalesSpectre

Opinionated

good insight. Depending on how big I think the deal might be I sometimes run a quick demo on the fly during discovery so this is helpful.

LordTyrion

Good Citizen

VP of Sales / Co-Founder

Our teams go to: Name Drop Competitor: Drop in there challenge your product solved, make it specific: Ask if they experience any challenges around X (broader area that your product services).

RoiPurdy

Opinionated

Business Development Manager

I work for a company that creates articles/content for attorneys to use for their blogs, or social media for example. i always ask questions like "Do you like being able to have access to all of that content?" , "Do you have any idea how you would take advantage of this?" - this way the prospect is verbally saying that this can help them. Jedi Mind Tricks!

SalesSpectre

Opinionated

Good examples thank you!

Savagedoge

Tycoon

Account Executive

Here's a thread that might also be useful: https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/prospects-aren-t-paying-attention-talking-amongst-themselves

Selichimorpha

Celebrated Contributor

Growth Executive

"What questions do you have?" rather than "Do you have any questions?"

SlanginCyberSec

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

"How do you do this today?"

I ask this when I show a feature that can save them time/resources or make it easier to complete a task.

After they answer, you can ask more detailed questions to enrich the context; "How long does it take?", "How many people work on this?" etc.

Lastly, I bring everything together, summarize what they shared and highlight how we can make it easier/more accurate/faster/save $$.

Soiboi

Politicker

Account Executive, EIAS/Compliance

Really any question you should be asking should help guide the customer to their future state.

tell me about why you want to change the current process
what’s so bad about it
what’s the most painful part
what exactly are you looking forward to most about this change
Etc

gives you ammo for drivers but also reinforces their thoughts about needing to change

CJE

Politicker

Account Executive

How does this compare to how your world works today?

SaSSySales

Executive

Account Executive- Mid Market

I sometimes just call it out and say "i'm hearing crickets and want to make sure that you feel comfortable and confident to make and educated decision moving forward... then depending where i'm at or the point of the meeting i'll follow up with...

- is this making sense
-what are your initial thoughts about that...?
-what's your initial response to this
-is this something that could help or is it just a nice to have

Beasthouse

Opinionated

Corporate trainer

what would you like to see that would help you engage more than you ever have?

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SalesSpectre

Questions to get engagament in Demo

26 comments

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