Your Guide to Preparing a Great Software Demo Presentation

We believe congratulations are in order!

If the rumors are to be believed, word on the street is that you’ve successfully scheduled the demo. 

Your prospects have shown great interest in your SaaS offering and are looking forward with excitement to getting to know it better during the software demo. 

All that’s left for you to do is blow them away with a demo presentation that’s more riveting and engaging than a Martin Scorcese film.

Goodfellas? Pfft. If you thought that was good it’s because you haven’t yet seen this demo.

What is a software demo?

A live software demo is a tool that sales teams use to showcase a SaaS product to their buyers. 

Let’s say you walked into a store to buy a pair of pants. Would you let the salesperson describe the pants to you and then buy them without seeing them? We didn’t think so.

So software customers also need a way to see the product, understand how it works, and check out its features and benefits before they decide to buy it. That’s where the software demo comes in.

The software sales demo acts as a way for the marketing and sales teams to give your buyers a chance to experience your product. While it is most commonly used during the sales demo phase of the buyer journey, an interactive software demo created with a tool like Walnut allows you to send prospects links for them to engage with on their own at any point throughout the sales experience.

Learning to create an interactive product demo is the easy part, especially on a platform like Walnut. The harder part is making the demo amazing.

5 key elements every good software demo presentation must include

Do you want to create a software demo that will leave your customers bored and confused?

The best way to create a boring software demo presentation is by using a slide deck or a video. You should also be as generic as possible and spend your time focusing on how cool your product’s features are. This is bound to leave your prospects with a bad taste in their mouth and inexplicably sleepy.

But if you want to knock the socks right off of your prospects, we recommend making sure your demo includes the following 5 elements:

1. Personalization

The first thing you should ask yourself when creating your software demo presentation is:

Who is the prospect and what do they need? 

Focus on the solutions your product can provide to match their specific needs. Adding small personal touches to the product demo, like the prospect’s name and company logo, can also let them understand that this demo was made with them in mind. 

2. Value

When you create your demo presentation for your prospect, you need to make sure it tells a story. Ask yourself:

Why is the prospect coming to this software demo?

Create an interactive sales experience that will leave the prospects feeling like they understand your product flow, the value it brings, and how it can easily integrate with their current workflow. They aren’t there to be blown away by the functionality of your product. They are there because they want to solve a pain.

3. Interactivity

Your prospects don’t want a show. Ask yourself:

Would you buy anything without trying it out yourself first?

Give your audience the link to their personalized software demo and let them try it by themselves. Keep them engaged by having them click through the product so that they can see how it works and the value it can bring them.

4. Engaging content

Don’t be boring. That’s it. That’s the post.

Ok, that’s not the whole post. When creating content for your demo and working on your demo script, ask yourself:

How can I keep the prospect engaged?

Use GIFs, humor, sales memes, rich text, movie references, sports references, or whatever the prospect is interested in to spice up this demo. Be professional but also be yourself and build a genuine connection with your audience.

5. Strong CTAs

The goal of a good software demo is a closed deal. So ask yourself:

What’s the next step that you’d like the prospect to make?

Include clear CTAs throughout your software demo so your audience knows what’s the next step in the process.

Things to do when preparing for a software demo

When you’re getting ready for your demo, there are two things you should make sure to do.

1. Get to know your audience

The first thing you need to make sure you have down when preparing for your software demo is understanding who you will be speaking to.

Learn their names.

Don’t underestimate how effective it is to engage your audience by calling them by their first names. 

Before you get on that call, make sure you know who you’ll be speaking to. Ask your champion exactly who will be attending the meeting so that you can know in advance and prepare.

Write down each of their names and have it by you when the presentation starts if that’ll help or take a few minutes to read their resume on LinkedIn before the meeting. This way, you can speak more directly to each member of your audience.

Learn their roles.

Next, learn the positions they hold within their company. 

If a feature you are showcasing is relevant to a specific role, you’ll be able to say, “Hey Salvador. You may be interested in this. By clicking here you can solve all of your problems so that you can finally curb that horrible drinking habit.” 

…or something like that.

Learn their needs.

Each team member has specific pains that they want to resolve. Sometimes they may not know that there could be a better way.

It’s your job to make sure that you explain to them how your product can provide value to them as a team and to each of them individually. You can only do this by having an extremely firm understanding of their aims and objectives.

2. Create a memorable experience

Make sure the demo experience is not boring. 

Remember, we are competing with Martin Scorcese over here. 

Create an interactive product demo that prospects can click through on their own or show teammates after the call. 

But you can also make your demo engaging by preparing questions to ask your prospects. Take the beginning of the demo to create a conversation to make sure you don’t spend the next chunk of time in a monologue. After all, nobody wants to be spoken at. 

As much as possible, try to create a human and personal connection. By creating real relationships you’ll make sure your prospects remember you and respect your advice.

And, whatever you do, don’t be boring!

3 common ways software demos can go wrong

When you’re this close to closing a deal, every interaction is crucial. So when it comes to the software demo, you need to make sure you’re not making any of the classic errors.

Here are a few of the sales demo mistakes that many sales reps find themselves making.

1. Feature dumping

A friendly reminder that PROSPECTS DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT ALL YOUR PRODUCT’S FEATURES.

Sorry for yelling. But we feel passionate about this. 

Stop telling them about what the feature can do and start telling them how that feature can help them. 

Talk about value, not about functionality.

2. Talking at people, not to them

You want to make sure your prospects are engaged. Do you know how to make sure they are bored out of their minds? Go on a monologue about your product while flipping through slides. If they stay awake during the whole call it’ll be a miracle.

Instead, use interactive sales demos and engage your audience. Speak to them by name. If you’re demoing over Zoom, stop sharing your screen for key moments so that they can see your face in big. Put questions in the chat so you can gauge their interest in specific features.

3. Sticking to the script

Have you ever seen the Saturday Night Live bit of Jacob, the bar mitzvah boy? The gist of the gag is that Seth Myers asks him questions but all he does is continue with his prepared speech.

Here’s a clip:

We know that you created a demo agenda and a demo script and want to stick to it. But you also need to respond to the questions and concerns that are being asked presently. 

Create software demos your prospects will absolutely love

If you want to take your software demo presentations up a notch and win more deals, you need to make sure you are showcasing your product in the best way possible.

Start creating interactive demos that prospects can engage with themselves and give them the chance to understand your product thoroughly. Better demos will lead to more engagement, which in turn will lead to more sales.

So what are you waiting for? Book a meeting with us now by clicking that “Get Started” button on the top of the screen.