A demo can be a crucial moment in the sales process. A potential customer shows interest and wants to learn how to use your product. If they are convinced afterwards, there is little to stand in the way of a sale.
There are a thousand different ways to create a demo, but whichever you choose, an effective demo always relies on these five elements:
With storytelling, ideas and products can be sold more effectively, and at the same time, an emotional relationship can be built between the target audience and the product.
This is due to how our brains are particularly receptive to storytelling:
Stories create "narrative transport". This means that you become completely immersed in the narrative (regardless of its medium) and are completely absorbed emotionally and cognitively. If narrative transport is successful, messages can be more easily conveyed.
Audiences are emotionally addressed through storytelling and can so develop empathy with your brand.
Experiments have shown that both the storyteller and the listener experience the same neuronal patterns - a phenomenon known as "neuronal coupling".
Stories also stimulate more brain regions than mere facts.
Understanding stories requires attention, so the brain is prevented from falling into energy-saving daydreaming mode.
Storytelling also significantly increases the value of a product. Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn proved this theory with their "significant object" experiment. They asked creative authors to invent emotional stories about 100 cheap objects that they had purchased for an average of $1.29. Using their stories as descriptions of the items, they sold them to the public. With their stories as item descriptions, the pair sold their junk on eBay.
One shot glass worth a dollar sold for $76, an increase of 7600 per cent. In total, items bought for $129 sold for more than $3,500. This experiment has been repeated many times since then.
The protagonist drives a story. An authentic protagonist raises the level of self-identification with a story. That's why you should also choose the main protagonist for your demo wisely.
Choose the protagonist of your demo as follows:
Someone who has a significant problem that your product can solve?
What industry and position does your protagonist work in?
How does your protagonist think about their problem, and how do they picture the solution?
This brings us back to the problem that your protagonist is facing. Buying decisions are actions that solve a problem. Watch yourself: Why do you buy any product? Food to satisfy hunger, an electric lawnmower because it makes its rounds automatically and saves you time, new software because it improves your processes?
The easiest way to draw your customer into your story is to provide the answer to an urgent challenge they are facing. Again, the science behind this is clear: our brains love to solve problems.
In every good story, the protagonist struggles with a problem. To successfully tell your product's story, you need to identify exactly what your customer's problem is and show in your demo how your product can solve it.
In any good story, the main character knows what their world will look like at the end of their hero's journey and what they stand to lose if they give up before reaching their goal. In storytelling, this discrepancy between the happy ending and the worst possible ending is called the downfall. In your demo, you can also depict the height of the fall.
We offer you a simple formula to define the positive outcome of your story:
- If you use...
- then...
- to...
For example. If you use our skills mapping software, then you will know exactly what skills are in your organisation to prepare your business for the next wave of workplace transformation.
You can also apply this customised formula to the negative consequences:
- If you do not use....
- then...
- which will result in
e.g. If you don't use our skills mapping software, then you won't have an overview of the skills in your organisation, which means that the next wave of transformation in the world of work will hit you completely unaware.
You have solved your protagonist's problem in your demo. You have demonstrated how your product can improve the lives of your customers and what happens when they don't use it. And now? Now all your customer has to do is act. But that will only happen if you tell him exactly what to do. In short: they need a call to action, also called a CTA - Call to Action.
Make sure your CTA is clearly visible and persuasively written. For example, a CTA could be "make an appointment" as opposed to "want to know more?".
Think of the "Call to Action" at the end of your demo as if it was the cash register. When you walk into a shop, it should be really obvious where you can find the cash register. People make snap decisions these days, so a clear, well-positioned CTA can determine whether or not the demo leads to a customer relationship.
We have years of experience with demos and are happy to advise you.
Book a 15-minute conversation with one of our experts now. Storytelling is our passion, so together, we want to tell your story in a demo that delivers measurable results.