Imagine you have a client that’s not really invested in the Salesforce project. They might have been told they need to use Salesforce, or they are reluctant to change. Either way, they don’t really want it.
My colleague is going through this exact experience right now. He asked me for advice on how to make his demos more engaging. After asking him a few questions, here are some ideas I shared with him,
Make sure you have their attention
When your client is not really interested in the demo, they may start to multitask. You can observe their eyes constantly darting around. They may even be off camera entirely so you cannot notice this behavior.
To mitigate this, at the start of the demo, ask for their active participation. Explain to them how valuable their feedback is during these sessions and how the project will either not be successful, or take significantly longer without it.
Be sure to use non-confrontation language. Focus on the behavior and engagement you want. Don’t call out the bad behaviors they are doing.
Create better fake data
If your demo data uses contact names like “Mickey Mouse” and “Donald Duck”, but you’re not talking to Disney, you may want to create better data.
The more representative the data is to your client, the more they will be able to absorb and understand what they are looking at.
So glean as much relevant data from your client as possible, and then use that data during your demos.
Keep asking questions
Instead of rushing through the demo like a presentation, see it more like a working session. Yes, you’re presenting the work done, but you also need their feedback. So ask for it.
Sample questions:
- What do you think?
- Does this work as you expected it to?
- Is there something I’ve shown that would not work for you?
The takeaway
Getting a commitment for their attention, using relevant data, and constantly pausing and asking questions are three great ways to keep your demos engaging and valuable.