A Sure-Fire Sign You’re Killing Your Sales Demo (According to New Data)
But there’s more to the story…
Here are the “missing pieces” I left out in the last post. Superstar sales reps are bombarded with questions during their demos compared to their peers:
For context, this data comes from analyzing a huge pool of B2B sales call recordings with machine learning technology.The machine learning pinpoints and labels the exact topics that were discussed in every call, for how long, and when. It also flags questions that were asked by each person. That is how we were able to tease out the data. That brings us to the next point.
This next piece is counterintuitive…
These super-successful sales reps ask 30% fewer questions to their buyers during product demos than their peers do:

“Peel the Onion” Demo Technique
This technique comes from Peter Cohan, author of Great Demo! “Peel the onion” means give your buyer just enough information (and present it in a way) that actively provokes questions. Make them want to “peel the layers of the onion” to learn more. It also has a bonus of letting you know where your buyer is interested, and which areas you can “skip over.” Here’s how to do this in three steps:- Explain the value of the capability as concisely as possible
- Demonstrate it so the buyer sees the “end result” of the capability
- Stop talking (don’t explain how it works or how you got there – give the buyer “room” for questions to start surfacing)
Put Your Demos Through a “Filter”
A buyer’s perception of your product (and its value) will be completely different depending on three things:- What you show
- What you don’t show
- The order in which you show things
It’s like pouring water into a glass of fine scotch.Keep your sales demos “high concentrate.” Show only what the buyer values, and leave off the rest.
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That’s all the data we had left in this analysis! Stay tuned for future research. And if you enjoyed this article, will you please hit the LinkedIn “share” button below to help spread the word? We’d really appreciate it :-)