Demos in Sales-Led GTM - A Match Made in Heaven

Have you ever been on a sales call with a prospective customer but failed to convey how great your product is?

You give your best pitch but fail to connect with your audience. You feel your slide deck does not do justice to your SaaS offering, and there is a disconnect between what you are communicating and what prospects imagine. You wish you could just give them a chance to try the product for a week, and the deal would be sealed. However, your boss says the setup is too complex for free trials. It’s happening again, and you will lose this opportunity, too!

What you need is a good sales demonstration or a sales demo in more friendly terms.

A sales demonstration is an essential element in sales processes for B2B SaaS. It involves showcasing the service's functionalities, features, and benefits. The main goal of a sales demo is to demonstrate how your service can solve the prospective buyer's pain points and improve their business, encouraging them to make a purchase.

Sales demos are a powerful tool for multiple reasons. But before diving into them, a word of housekeeping. We focus here on sales demos done in person or over a video meeting. We don’t discuss product demos (the same thing but for existing customers), webinars, hands-on or interactive demos, or pre-recorded video walkthroughs. Most definitely, we are not speaking of slideware (a demo running on top of a PowerPoint deck).

Sales-led go-to-market is ideal for selling B2B technology products that are not easy to onboard independently or buy as self-service and where sales representatives can add value by interacting with prospects. For these reasons, a sales demo is perfect for sales-led companies!

Sales demo is a perfect tool for sales-led companies to utilise!

Below, we list five reasons why sales-led GTM and sales demos go hand-in-hand.

Sales Have Control of the Narrative

In a sales demo, sales representatives can steer the narrative, focusing on how the product addresses the customer's expressed pain points. Unlike a free trial, where the customer independently examines the product, a demo allows the sales team to lead the customer through a personalised journey and ensure they understand how their needs are met. You could say that the sales team is a navigator with a boat, the customer is a passenger, the marketed product is an open sea, and the harbour they aim for is the customer's pain solved.

A demo allows the sales team to lead the customer through a personalised journey and make sure they understand how their needs are met.

In sales-led GTM, the sales team must add value to the dialogue. They can't just read out loud sales presentations or list product features in a demo call. A sales demo, especially one personalised and customised to the audience, is one of the prime opportunities for sales teams to show their value and significantly impact the prospect's decision-making process.

Sales Can Have a Dialogue During the Demo

A sales demo offers an opportunity for real-time engagement that is absent when a customer trials a product independently. This shared session allows you to showcase your product, interact directly with your prospects, and even extend the discovery phase. Although engaging prospects is not always easy, you can measure the customer's reactions and dive deeper into their specific challenges and needs throughout the demo.

Throughout the demo, dive deeper into their specific challenges and needs, to provide a tailored experience.

Moreover, leaving time for questions and objections is important. It ensures that any uncertainties are addressed promptly, which can help move the sales process forward. The more prospects ask questions, the better you understand their needs, allowing you to refine your pitch or demonstrate additional features. Sometimes, their questions even help you qualify them out, allowing you to focus on those who better match your service.

Sales Can Confirm the Prospect Has Understood the Value

Ensuring the prospect understands the value of your service is essential. Without their understanding, winning a deal is unlikely. Instead of pausing for a generic "Does this make sense?", facilitate a dialogue throughout your sales demo. This ongoing interaction helps keep the prospect engaged and provides insights into how they perceive the value of your service. If there's any sign of confusion or misalignment, it nudges you to recap and clarify.

Sales Showing Effort Improves Relationship with Prospects

A well-prepared demo reflects your dedication and can significantly enhance your relationship with potential clients. It’s crucial to demonstrate the effort you’ve put into understanding their needs and tailoring the presentation accordingly. This shows that you are genuinely interested in their business and are committed to providing solutions that resonate with their challenges.

People buy from people!

Preparation reassures prospects that they are valued and that you are a reliable partner. After all, people buy from people! Establishing a rapport based on effort and understanding paves the way for mutually beneficial business relationships. Demonstrating a high level of commitment can make a tangible distinction in how your service is perceived, making it more likely that buyers will choose to buy from you instead of the competition.

Seeing Is Believing

Sales demos work because they demonstrate how your solution fits into the prospect's workflows and organisation, clarify how it solves specific pain points, and present the value of your solution in a clear and easily digestible way. Demos explain and clear any misunderstandings and provide concrete evidence of the solution's effectiveness, making it easier for the prospect to buy. Seeing the product or service in action is a powerful tool that yields results.

Seeing the product or service in action is a powerful tool that yields results.

Utilising sales demos is an offer that sales-driven SaaS companies can hardly say no to. It removes friction and obstacles from customers' buying processes and deepens the relationship between seller and buyer. Conducting well-planned and superbly executed sales demos allows sales representatives to add value to the sales process.