Don’t fall into the trap of trying to show everything your system does
One thing I see constantly in both new sales people as well as experienced vets – and especially founders in early stages when they’re selling – is that people over explain everything.
I say to my software sales clients all the time: Demos. Are. Not. Training.
I get it, it’s natural to think that you need to explain a feature to your prospect for them to understand how simple the process is: “Oh yeah, all you need to do is click this button, then scroll down here, slide this thingy, then press this-” what?? They’re lost.
Soon you will have prospects bored with eyes glazed over. And once that happens it’s nearly impossible to get them back. Crash – deal killed.
Your job as a salesperson is not to train the prospect. That’s what training programs and training people are for. Your job, as Alec Baldwin so strongly said in Glengarry Glen Ross, is to get them to sign on the line that is dotted. Period.
By the way if you’re in sales and you haven’t seen Glengarry Glen Ross. Go watch it. Now. (NSFW if you go watch it, by the way)
For everyone else, don’t fall into the trap of training prospects. Instead, focus on the benefit and making sure they grasp where they will be after they have your system. Get them to see the end result, not necessarily how they got there.
I always tell my clients: Show them what it can do, not how to do it.
Follow this and you’ll see quicker, more efficient demos, and more engaged prospects.
