The way that companies provide product demos and potential clients participate is changing. Keeping sales high in the new year means keeping up with customer expectations. Want to know what prospective clients are looking for? Read about the current trends below.
David Rowland
David Rowland, Head of Digital Marketing at EcoOnline.
Explore the Product in Sandbox Mode
Restrictions on physical interactions due to the pandemic paved the way to innovative approaches to product demonstrations. What works for most is a “real-use” demo where a potential customer gets to play around and explore the product in sandbox mode. People want to see and not simply hear or read, so allowing them to use the actual product and review its features to decide on whether it will work best for them is a highly effective demo trend to get your potential clients to decide quicker.
Providing Personalized Demos
It’s common knowledge that product demos are a great way to convert potential customers into new, paid customers. The number one emerging trend in product demos is personalizing the demo experience for every interested person or organization. There cannot be a ‘one size fits all situation when it comes to demos. Individuals and businesses need to precisely understand how they can benefit from the product to start a business relationship.
Another growing trend is making the product demos as accessible and easy-to-use as possible. This can be achieved by automizing the demo request process, as well as reducing the time-to-demo.
Mia Naumoska
Mia Naumoska is a Chief Marketing Officer at Chanty.
Savaş Ateş
Savaş Ateş, CEO of Good Carpet Guide Company.
Using 3D Modeling and Virtual Reality
Due to the increased lockdowns and social distancing, the modern-day product demos have changed vigorously. Companies and marketing entities are using 3D modeling or virtual reality to show the complete picture of their products. Some of the smart companies, which had to display their exhibitions in halls, also moved towards a virtual reality where the users can move freely while being in the virtual world and can communicate with the other members of the exhibition. Companies are widely using social media marketing, email marketing digital marketing, etc.
Four Trends in Product Demos
1. Customers are more educated, so there is an expectation for sellers to become product and industry experts.
In a world full of competition, it is easier than ever for prospects to educate themselves and arrive at sales conversations with a relatively good understanding of what is important when purchasing software. Therefore, organizations should ensure that they take advantage of the opportunity in live demos by taking their prospects through the product story and value proposition, to gain the upper hand over competitors.
2. Demos are becoming a key interaction that drives buyers’ decisions.
It’s no surprise that 50% of Gartner’s survey respondents marked demos as the most valuable materials during the buying cycle. In the b2b enterprise market, blind brand loyalty is no longer a given. Instead, businesses need to show and prove the value of their products by making use of compelling demonstrations.
3. Prospects expect to see demos earlier in the sales cycle.
With the rise of SaaS and cloud computing, organizations no longer have an excuse for not creating a demo environment that’s easy for your sellers to present it in. There are many tools on the market that help create demo environments or demo mockups. I also see companies offering more and more self-driven demos to drive top-of-the-funnel engagement.
4. Remote sales are here to stay. New companies are emerging to solve the remote sales training problem.
As a result of Covid-19, sellers are working remotely. The new normal can make it difficult for organizations to train sellers. However, there has been an emergence of a new wave of sales execution tools that solve this problem. For example, a real-time sales assistant that can guide sellers during sales interactions can significantly reduce training and coaching time while leveling up the performance across sales teams.
In what way can you incorporate demo automation into the sales process?
With technology, sellers can be guided in real-time across the entire demo meeting from discovery and presentations to a live demo. This innovation allows sellers to automate playbooks, industry-specific strategies, and presentations so that they can focus on the important relational aspects of closing the sale.
Itay Sinuani
Itay Sinuani, the CEO and Co-Founder at Demoleap.
This is a crowdsourced article. Contributors are not necessarily affiliated with this website and their statements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of this website, other people, businesses, or other contributors.
