Creating Compelling Demos for Enterprise Solutions

Most sales demos suck. They’re long. They’re bloated. And they leave the buyer more confused than when they showed up. You know what the best reps do differently? They use this. The IMPACT Framework (A 6 step system to run sales demos that actually close) We just rolled this out. Already turning “maybe later” into “where do I sign?” Let’s break it down: I - Identify the Stakes Don’t jump into features. Start by showing you understand what’s really at risk. “You’ve got 10 reps. They’re closing at 15%. Target’s 20%. That 5% gap? It’s costing you $500K/month. That’s $6M/year.” Now you’ve got their attention. Now they know you get it. M - Measure Alignment Ask: “Is that accurate?” If they say yes … you’re locked in. If they say no … even better. You’re getting clarity before you blow the pitch. P - Present the Problem Now spell it out. “The win rate’s low because reps are skipping discovery. They’re not uncovering the buyer’s ‘why.’ They’re guessing at the pitch instead of diagnosing.” No drama. Just truth. A - Align the Solution Now (and only now) show your product. Not all of it. Just the piece that solves the problem. One screen. One feature. One fix. C - Connect Proof Say this: “Another company had the exact same issue. Here’s what they did with us. Here’s what changed.” Show the metric. Show the screenshot. Share the quote. Proof beats hype. Every time. T - Trial Close “Can you see how this solves the issue better than your current process?” Yes = move on. No = dig deeper. You’re not pitching. You’re guiding. Repeat for every big problem Each time: Problem → Solution → Proof → Trial Close Stack win after win. Build momentum they can’t walk away from. Most reps wing their demo. Top reps run a system. IMPACT is that system. It makes the cost of inaction crystal clear. It shows exactly how you solve the pain. And it makes the close feel like the only logical next step. That’s how you win in 2025. Not with flash. With clarity, proof, and precision. P.S. Want me to help you improve your demos? Apply to get coaching here: https://lnkd.in/eMDhhi2U

From 2017 to 2021, Gong grew from $200k ARR to nine figures. During that window of time, I spent dozens of cycles with our VP Sales on crafting demos that sell. Here's 6 elements of insanely persuasive sales demos I learned (trial and error): 1. Flip Your Demo Upside Down Most salespeople save the best thing for last. Wrong move. By that time, buyers have checked out. Some have even left the room. Start your demo with the most impactful thing. Save dessert for the beginning. Not end. 2. Give Them A Taste, Not A Drowning You eat, sleep, breathe your product. So you want to show EVERYTHING. You believe that the MORE you show, the more VALUE you build. Wrong move. Your just diluting your message. Show exactly what solves your buyer's problem. Nothing less. But also, nothing more. 3. Focus Your Demo On The Status Quo’s Pain It’s  tempting to focus on benefits. They’re positive and easy to talk about. But focusing your message on the pain of the status quo is more persuasive than focusing on benefits. If your buyer believes the status quo is no longer an option, they’re a step closer to investing in a new resource. Your new resource. People are more motivated to NOT lose than they are motivated to gain something new. Use this psychological bias to your advantage. 4. Avoid Generic Social Proof We're all trained to use social proof. Whether it works is not so simple. Using endorsements from big customers might win credibility with a few buyers, but it'll work against you if your buyer doesn't "identify" with the customer you're name-dropping. It alienates them. If you cite a bunch of your customers who DO NOT LOOK like your buyer? They’ll think “This product isn’t designed for clients like me.” Only name drop customers they can identify with. 5. Frame the problem at the beginning of the demo. Start with a "What We've Heard" slide. Center your buyer on the problem. And get new people in the room up to speed. Then show a "Desired Outcome" slide. Do those two things, and now your demo is a bridge between the two. Easy for your buyer to "sell themselves" when you do that. 6. Frame the pain each feature solves. This is the "micro" version of the previous tip. For EVERY NEW FEATURE you showcase: You HAVE to frame the problem it solves. Otherwise, it's meaningless. At best, your buyers write it off. At worst, it triggers objections. That's all for now. This is nowhere near the last thing to be said about demos that sell. So what would you add? P.S. After watching 3,000+ discovery call recordings, I picked out the best 39 questions that sell. Here’s the free list: https://go.pclub.io/list

Your demo is the reason you're losing deals And it has nothing to do with your product. After sitting through 200+ sales demos last year, I've identified the pattern that separates winning presentations from forgettable ones. It's not about features. It's not about benefits. It's about sequence. Most demos follow this deadly structure: 1️⃣ Company overview 2️⃣ Product walkthrough 3️⃣ Feature deep-dive 4️⃣ Pricing discussion 5️⃣ Next steps This is exactly backwards. Your prospect doesn't care about your company story. They care about their problem. They don't want to see every feature. They want to see outcomes. Here's the demo structure that actually converts: ↳ Start with their outcome  "Based on our conversation, you mentioned needing to reduce customer churn by 15% this year. Let me show you exactly how this would work for your situation." ↳ Show their scenario Use their data, their use case, their terminology. Make it feel like they're already using your solution. ↳ Focus on 2-3 key capabilities The ones that directly impact their stated priorities. Skip everything else. ↳ Handle objections proactively Address the concerns they mentioned in discovery before they have to ask. ↳ End with clear next steps Not "Do you have any questions?" but "Based on what you've seen, what would need to happen for you to move forward?" The best demos don't feel like demos. They feel like problem-solving sessions where your product happens to be the solution. Subscribe to our Innovative Seller channel where we post bi-weekly videos on sales strategies like this 👇

Most bad demos start with appetizers. Here’s what I mean: → “Let me show you how to create a workspace…” → “This is the dashboard…” → “This feature lets you…” Prospects didn’t book the demo for a tour. They came for a solution. Serve the steak first. Show the feature that solves their top pain — immediately. Then work backwards. Example: I coached an AE selling a project management tool. Before, they’d start every demo by showing how to create a project from scratch. Instead, we flipped it: → Prospect said their team missed deadlines because no one had visibility. → So he started the demo by pulling up the calendar view with live team activity and deadline alerts. “Here’s what your VP of Ops would see every morning — total clarity in 10 seconds.” That one change? 31% improvement in close rate. The intro isn’t where you warm up. It’s where you win trust.

Stop Boring Prospects with Feature Demos Want prospects tuning out during demos? Keep focusing on features vs. value. Here's how to excite them instead: 1. Ask about their pain points. Don't assume you know their goals. 2. Show how you solve those pains. Explain how step-by-step you address their issues. 3. Use real examples. "Company X increased sales by 15% in 6 months with our platform." 4. Demo only relevant parts. Don't distract with nice-to-haves. 5. Quantify the impact. "You'll reduce customer churn by 10% with this feature." Example: "Your sales team spends 5 hours/week manually entering data. Our integration with your CRM cuts that to 30 min - giving them more selling time and increasing productivity 20%." Want prospects to close? Make your demos about them, not you. What's your best tip for value-focused demos? Share below!

95% of demos are awful. Here's a 5-step checklist to avoid being a part of the statistic: 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗔𝗔? Every ‘real’ deal has one. It’s an acronym for what the buyer is trying to Fix, Accomplish, or Avoid? → Why is it a priority → Why now? This will become the foundation for your storyline. (𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳) ----- 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘀 What are the 1-3 “win themes”? Are they unique to your solution or company? Weave these into your message to help answer “why us?” ----- 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 Most demos are trainings disguised as demos. → They lack structure → Jump aimlessly from feature to feature The best demos: → Flow logically → Are told as stories using the buyer’s language → Help the buyer visualize how they’d use your product Write your story as an outline or word-for-word script. ----- 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 I hate when sellers say “Sorry, ignore the demo data” This is almost always in your control. ALWAYS prep your demo with their terminology, workflow, etc. Plan out the exact: → Pages → Clicks → Fields Control the controllable and avoid having to say: “Sorry, my internet has been spotty all day” “This is a demo environment so sometimes it’s a bit wonky” “I think someone messed with my demo data” Don’t be lazy. ----- 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟱: 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝘆 𝗥𝘂𝗻 Never do a demo without a dry run. It will allow you to make changes to the story and flow. How often has your SC said something during a demo and you thought… “What the hell are they saying right now?” If you didn’t do a dry run - it’s your fault…not theirs. Own the prep. Own the outcome.

At $10M ARR, we stopped giving product tours. Our close rate went up. Most demos lose the deal before they even start. They throw every feature at the prospect. They rush through setup. They talk too much and listen too little. A great demo isn’t about showing the product. It’s about making the prospect want to explore it themselves. 1/ Set the stage before screen sharing. Start with a quick recap of discovery. This reminds them why they’re here, catches up new stakeholders, and gives them a chance to correct anything we got wrong. 2/ Show, don’t tell, but let them lead. Only demo what matters. Out of a 1-hour call, product demo is just 10 minutes. We keep other features visible but untouched. Prospects lean in and ask about them. 3/ Separate product questions from pricing questions. If they ask about pricing mid-demo, don’t answer yet. Push for final product questions first, then handle pricing objections. Keeps the conversation structured. A great demo doesn’t sell. It removes friction. Save this for your next demo. It’ll change how you run sales calls.

Great prospect. Great fit. Great demo. And then.... they hesitate. Why? Because most AEs stop short: We show a feature. We might even mention the problem it solves. But we forget to take it one step further: Explaining how it actually plays out in their day-to-day. Connecting the dots for them. Instead of saying: “This feature will help your reps stay more organized.” Say: “Right now, every time a prospect replies, your reps copy notes, update their CRM, and then set a manual reminder to follow up. With this tool, replies automatically log in the CRM, notes sync in real time, and reminders trigger instantly. Same process, half the admin work. That’s how your reps free up hours each week to focus on selling instead of updating fields.” See the difference? Prospects don’t just need to know a feature solves their problem. They need to feel how it fits into their workflow. When you don’t paint the full picture, they don’t believe it will work. And they’ll rarely say that out loud. Instead, they’ll point to:  - Budget  - Timing - Priorities This happens ALL the time. And it's much easier said than done. Takes practice to implement. (I'm still working on it myself) That’s why discovery is so important. It’s how you uncover their real workflow. So when you demo, you can connect the dots for them. And if you show them exactly how your product solves their day-to-day pain? They’ll find the budget. They’ll make the time. They’ll prioritize it.

Every demo ends with "this is exactly what we need!" Their conversion rate is 2%. They finally figured out what they're doing wrong: The demo trap looks like this: - "Perfect solution!" - "Exactly what we need!" - "When can we start?" - *crickets* Your prospects aren't lying. In that moment, they genuinely believe they'll buy. But you're selling to the wrong part of their brain. The excited brain during demos: - Imagines perfect implementation - Sees immediate value - Pictures easy adoption - Dreams of outcomes The real brain after demos: - Remembers past software failures - Counts implementation hours - Fears team resistance - Doubts everything Most demos sell the dream. But dreams don't survive first meetings with reality. What actually works: Don't sell features. Sell the first 30 days: - Exact implementation steps - Real time commitments - Specific team impact - Clear first wins Plot the path to Monday morning, not the future. Your product isn't competing with the fear of "one more failed tool." Not other products. Instead of selling dreams, sell Mondays. Because right now: 98% of your prospects actually need your product, but can't see past implementation fear The best demo is about day one, not about your features.