Sales Demo Mastery: Best Practices to Close Deals Effectively

Many fence-sitters struggle with the decision-making process when it comes time to commit to a specific product or service. They may be uncertain about its functionality, whether or not it can solve their problems, or simply be unfamiliar with the brand and its credibility. Sometimes, your sales process needs a boost to drive home a product’s value to potential customers, and that’s the purpose of a sales demo. These demonstrations build brand awareness and help prospects decide whether or not to make a purchase so your sales reps close more deals. 

Live events are a great webinar solution for sales teams trying to boost brand awareness and product sales. They extend your audience reach, summarize useful information to share with your prospects, and target the right leads and decision-makers.

We’ll guide you through actionable sales and product demo best practices you can use to optimize your sales cycle, increase ROI, and achieve higher conversion rates. You often only have one chance to promote your brand to a new prospect, so you need to do it right. 

Sales Demo vs. Product Demo: What’s the Difference?

While these terms are similar in application, they’re not interchangeable. The difference between a sales demo and a product demo is the target audience. You have to know how to promote your offering to a prospect versus a qualified webinar lead to create an effective sales approach for each.

A product demo is geared toward people already aware of your brand and offerings. It shows them how your products work and solve prospects’ pain points. In contrast, a sales demo is aimed at audiences who are new to your brand and products, or leads with the potential to convert. This tactic explains your brand, where you stand in your industry, and why prospective customers should choose your products. The main goal of a sales demo is to make a sale. If you aim to attract a new demographic or are starting your brand from scratch and looking for leads, invest in sales demos.

Sales Demo Steps

Know Your Audience Inside and out

Understand the demographic you’re promoting to so you build a sales demo pitch that draws in your audience. Research their desired outcomes, specific needs, which competitors they shop with, what they invest in, and which social media outlets they frequently use to communicate. Learn what your product has to offer your prospects that your competitors and industry as a whole miss out on. Pay close attention to their stated pain points, then create a sales demo that addresses them in positive ways. 

Craft a Compelling Narrative 

A sales demo has a carefully scripted and compelling narrative, whether it’s a live, automated, or on-demand demonstration. Clearly express who your products serve and how they solve a prospect’s challenges. Hone in on unique product features and other key points so your offering stands out from your competitors’. 

On-demand webinar platforms allow you to edit and refine recorded content until you have a well-crafted demo. With the right tone and message, you can draw in a crowd and evoke emotions (such as excitement) that result in sales. 

Preparation Is Key

Picking the right platform to host your sales demo is important. How is there technical support? Demio’s 24/7 support team, for example, has less than a 2 minute response time so their customers never have to wait long. Also, you want to make sure you have a stable internet connection, a good camera and microphone. 

Then have your salespeople rehearse the sales demo several times before going live. The last thing you want is technical issues disrupting the demo environment and ruining your online event. Confirm the Internet connection works smoothly, check that audio and video aids are clear, and run through the entire script to ensure there’s no dead air and plenty of time left for a Q&A session. If there are any technical issues, resolve them before the event goes live or is recorded. 

Use Real Examples to Clarify Points

There’s a fine line between a quality sales demo and one that sounds like an everyday pitch. Your audience wants to hear authentic use cases of how your products work to understand how they can benefit from your offering. This gives your brand more authenticity and helps foster trust among viewers. 

Incorporate testimonials and case studies of real clients enjoying your products. At the very least, display relatable examples of how your product works so your attendees can see its true value, rather than simply a gimmick. If possible, include relevant data in your sales demo to back up your examples. 

Keep Prospects Hooked With Interactive Elements

You shouldn’t lecture at your audience; you’re supposed to converse with them. Keep your prospects involved in your sales demonstration, even when speaking to them virtually. Invite audiences to take the spotlight, hold a Q&A session, ask attendees questions, and give them polls, handouts, and surveys to encourage participation. The more engaged your audience is with interactive elements, the more likely they’ll be to stick around until the end of your webinar.

Demio’s webinar platform has several interactive features to spice up your sales demos. For example, you can easily upload videos of your product demo to social media and other marketing channels, drop featured handouts to move your audience to the next phase in their buyer’s journey, and include timed incentives like links, promo codes, and more to keep them hooked. 

Handle Questions and Objections Professionally

Not everyone will be on board with your product or understand its full value proposition straight away. Some prospects may outright challenge your entire demo. You and your sales team need to be prepared to handle these situations professionally; remember, you’re the face of your brand. 

Questions and objections about your product are excellent teaching moments. They’re also opportunities for you to see where you can improve your sales demo for a more engaging audience experience. This is your chance to stand up for the brand and help hesitant prospects make more informed buying decisions. 

Let your audience know you understand how they feel and explain how your product resolves their complaints. For example, if a prospect says your product is too expensive, explain how, while it does have a higher price point than competitors, it has XYZ features and a longer life expectancy that justify the cost. You won’t win over every crowd, but that’s not the point. The goal is to inform your audience and let them decide on their own if your brand works for them. If your sales demo is a success, you’ll secure lots of sales. 

Apply Persuasive Techniques 

Although you don’t want to come across as salesy, you do want to persuade your audience to commit to your brand. 

Tried-and-true persuasive techniques include having a limited quantity that audience members can only buy during or immediately following your webinar. This creates a sense of urgency and can help prospects make a decision about your brand. Another technique is offering a promo code or link that has an expiration date, or “invite only” discounts or sneak peeks into other products you have. 

Also, consider inviting the most interested audience members to a private chat or separate webinar for a more detailed sales demo to take them to the next stage of buying. To know who’s engaged in your sales demo and who isn’t, leverage your webinar platform’s analytics tools to track your attendees’ actions. Demio has a detailed and user-friendly analytics tool that can keep you informed about the performance of your sales demos among your audiences. 

Seal the Deal With Post-webinar Follow-Up

If you neglect your qualified leads after a successful sales demo, you miss out on additional sales. You need to engage your audience after the webinar has ended, when they’re still hyped about the information they absorbed. 

Although a prospect may not convert into a sale during your webinar, they might still be thinking about committing to your brand. A personal follow-up email thanking them for coming to your webinar, along with a CTA incentive to make a purchase, can be the gentle push your attendees need to say yes to your brand. 

Always follow up with something of value to your audience. This can be a survey for them to fill out (which can give you vital information about what they liked about your events and how you can improve them), a link to another webinar or product demo, a promo code or discount, or a free product or trial. 

Real-World Examples of Successful Sales Demos

Compelling Narrative

Leadpages is an excellent example of a compelling narrative at work in a sales demo. During the demo, the speaker starts their presentation by talking about who the webinar is intended for. This approach is a great idea because it avoids confusion and ensures only qualified leads are present, saving everyone time and keeping the webinar on track for success.

Then, instead of simply presenting the platform, the speaker offers an overview of the problem the leads may be experiencing, which establishes a connection.

This transparent, clear, and compelling method of speaking to an audience is a surefire way to keep their attention while also helping to land qualified leads and sales. 

Calls to Action

Two companies, Stripe and Zendesk, develop excellent CTAs that move audiences along their customer journeys without being pushy. They encourage a largely autonomous path forward for the viewer while influencing their purchasing decisions. 

While checking out Stripe’s demo webinar page, you’ll see two calls to action: Watch on Demand and Get in Touch.

When you click Get in Touch, you’re taken to a contact sales form page, where people can explore the platform themselves or talk to someone from Stripe’s team directly and skip the demo webinar.

Zendesk takes a similar approach, starting with a clean and friendly demo webinar page. Additionally, the registration form is short and simple; all registrants have to do is provide their first name, last name, and work email address, and then they can immediately watch the demo.

But there’s a catch: If someone wants to register for a second time, they need to complete a longer registration form. This way, the Zendesk team can better qualify leads and move them through their pipeline. It’s a fantastic strategy you can employ in your own registration pages to coax your prospects along their buyer’s journeys. 

Viewing the Recording

Miro uses a recording strategy to maximize the impact of their sales demo pitches. Once a sales demo ends, the online attendees receive the recording. That’s very important, because some people might not be able to stay for the entire webinar and would prefer to review what they missed later.

Furthermore, once they receive the recorded webinar, audiences can take their time with their buying decision while keeping Miro in their minds. They can share the webinar with their family and friends as well, which expands Miro’s reach and builds trust with the brand organically. This proves how a recording can be a great product demo solution for stronger sales.

Boost Sales With Product Demo Best Practices 

Once you’ve solidified your plan for creating strong sales demos for your brand, you can begin recording content and push it to your audiences. Rehearse your webinar until you have your sales demo just right, then establish a time and date that works best for your prospects. 

The right webinar platform makes hosting webinars of all kinds easy and headache-free. With Demio, you gain a user-friendly platform that makes viewing content a breeze for your audiences, with no downloads necessary to access content). Customize your webinars, make your brand stand out, and craft webinars that are engaging and full of interactive elements your prospects will appreciate. 

Ready to begin? Get started for free with Demio. Or, if you want more time to decide, book a demo and learn more today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sales Demo Best Practices

How long should a sales demo be? 

It varies but, in general, any webinar should be under an hour. Specifically, a sales demo can last up to an hour, provided it’s informative, engaging, and not repetitive or overly pushy. Shorter and to-the-point webinars may be more likely to hold a viewer’s attention than longer events. Additionally, you can break up a sales demo into several mini-sessions for a wider reach, if desired. 

What should I do if a prospect asks a question I don't know the answer to during a demo?

Be honest. Thank them for the question and let them know you don’t know the answer, but you’d like to figure it out with them together. If you can research the answer or consult with another partner in your brand, great. If not, let the audience member know you’ll reach out to them after the webinar with a solution. Make sure to follow through. 

Is it necessary to have a live demonstration in every sales pitch?

Not always, but they certainly help make a product more relatable and useful to a prospect. Try to run a live demo with every sales pitch, but if you can easily explain the product or upload a demo that can be viewed while you’re doing your pitch, that’s a great solution as well. 

How do you structure a sales demo?

A sales demo starts with a brief intro of the company and product history. Then, the bulk of the event focuses on the demonstration itself. A few minutes are reserved at the end for a Q&A session, followed by a recap. Finally, once the sales demo is over, it’s recommended to follow up with an email. 

What is critical to a successful sales demo?

Two crucial components of a successful sales demo are interaction and authenticity. So long as you interact with your audience and genuinely connect with them, prospects will find value in your brand and the products you promote.