Stop the Storytelling Madness

What if we stopped advising sales reps to "tell a story" with their demos and instead told them to get organized?

1. Here's what you should stop doing:

Opening demos by telling the story of your company

Having the first part of your product you show being the sign in screen

Talking about a "day in the life" of a user

2. Here's what you should start doing:

Summarize the value you create up front. What problems do you solve, what solutions do you offer, what impacts do you create?

Break the demo up into sections - one section for each major part of your product.

Within each section:

a. Orient the user to what they're looking at. Confusion is bad!

b. Resurface one of the problems you solve that's relevant to the feature. They need to know why they should care!

c. Demo that part of your product... but describe how it solves the problem, not just what it does!

d. Describe the impact of that part of your product on their business. Be clear about the payoff!

The takeaway: Stop telling stories and start getting organized!!

For more on demos, check out this article.

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If you liked this article, have a look at our piece on the Affirm - Ask - Benefit Framework to see how to keep the process moving forward after you've done an excellent demo. You can also check out the P.S.I. Selling Content Page for more insights on sales communication, strategy, and leadership.

Want to build a sales process that proves value and a team that can execute? Get in touch.

For more about the author, check out Mike's bio.