Memorizing or Knowing

I was driving to work the other morning and heard a replay of the Opie and Anthony Show on SiriusXM. In the segment I heard, they were talking to Donald Sutherland, who was promoting the movie “The Hunger Games”. During the talk, Jimmy Norton asked Sutherland an acting question about how he learned his lines.

Donald Sutherland

The response was pure sales gold, and something every salesperson show hear. He said, I don’t memorize my lines, I know them word for word. I know them. If you memorize, your words come out by rote. If you know them, then they sound natural. When you study the words, understand them and the meaning behind them, you can carry on a conversation, not just talk at someone.

Think about your sales presentation. Do you really know it or can you only deliver it well? Maybe not even that. Know and understand what your solution does. Know and understand how your solution does what it does. Know and understand why your solution does what it does. Now reread the previous sentences, but replace the words Know and Understand with the word memorize. You are basically left with a marketing blurb.

Know your stuff

If you want to have more engaging conversations with your prospects and move the process forward faster, learn the meaning of the words you are saying.

New Position Process

Wow, where have I been? Well starting a new position is time consuming. Maybe I should say it SHOULD be time consuming. If you expect to get up to speed in any new position by just putting in the “normal” amount of work hours, you are sadly mistaken. In the software sales industry, you have to expect to put in a lot of hours in a regular work week. When starting a new position in that industry, expect to add at least 25% more than the producers are putting in.

How Much Time?

I don’t know how this sounds to you, too much or too less, but it seems to be what works for me. Too many more hours than that and I start to lose my sharpness. Any fewer and I can’t do the daily load and learn the amount of information I need to to keep ramping up.

Again, I’m a technical sales resource, so I need to know all the nut’s and bolts. So how do I do it? Read, read a lot. It is amazing what you will learn if you read everything your company produces about your product. Marketing slicks, sales brochures, Web pages, technical manuals and release notes. Not just the most recent release notes, read them for at least a year back. This will help you find information that your competition uses against you based on old information, as well as helping existing customers know what they can gain if they upgrade.

You have to know what you need to know

While I’m reading, I’m watching. Watching others work. What do they say? What do they show? What do they make sure to point out? What are they sure to avoid? All of this is invaluable. Next, I talk to others about what I have read and seen. Coworkers, customers, prospects, anyone. Again, this will help refine what I know and how it is received and perceived.

The original "Like"

I have done technical demos for my Wife and Mom before. Why? If I can’t make them understand complex technical software, I need to simplify my presentation. I always start with simple demos when showing a new product. Tell a story, paint a picture where people can see themselves using the solution, get them to want more, and be ready to do that.

Living Large, Lying, or Laughing

As many of you know I have taken a new position recently. Now I’m not going to use my blog here to tell you how amazing Axcient is from the top down, but I have never been so impressed with any group of people. Instead I’m going to share my thoughts and feelings of jumping into the shark tank.

Axcient has a fairly new partner that has just taken off doing a huge number of placements. They want to bring the entire sales and executive team up to speed to really drive these numbers. Guess who gets to present to them? That is right, yours truly.

Now this doesn’t present much of a problem for me for several different reasons.

1. 1.       I love to present, I can’t wait to get started.
2. 2.       I’m a geek, I have learned a lot about the product technically already.
3. 3.       I came from the VAR space, I know the needs for Backup, Business Continuity, and Disaster Recovery.

So to sum it up, if you have knowledge, know how to apply it, and like doing it, you can’t miss. Do you take this approach when you sell? I say sell, because even though I’m talking to a partner, I’m selling them on selling us. Everything is sales. Now I didn’t feel this when I was a wet behind the ears technician trying to get all my errands run between service calls…but I learned…I learned.

As I have said before, sales is about confidence. If you have confidence in whatever you are selling, you have just made your sales process much easier. Hardware, software, or yourself.  If you don’t have confidence, why? Which of the elements are you missing?

Repeat after me, I have the knowledge about my solution, I know how my prospect will use it to solve their issues, I believe I will do my best for the client and my employer. If you can say that line without either laughing or lying, you’re living large.

If you aren’t running to get in front of the next new group to talk to, maybe you need to think about a career change…

Reviewing Movies

My wife and I were watching a movie the other night. I did as I normally do, pick at the flaws in the movie. More accurately, pick at the flaws in the writing, story, and character development by the writers, actors, and directors. My wife then did as she normally does, she tells me to keep it to myself.  She asked me why I feel the need to critique the movies we watch, it made me think, so I’m writing why in my blog.

Reason 1. Everyone knows that you never split up when walking through a spooky house. Every scary movie does it, we all yell at the screen “DON’T DO IT!”, and someone, or everyone dies. See, we told you. I’m a sales engineer, I’m all about seeing potential issues and avoiding them. If you ever find yourself in a spooky sales call, don’t split up. Your chance of survival has just grown exponentially.

"This isn't right. We should split up." From 'The Cabin in the Woods'

Reason 2. Unless you are watching Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, inconsistent characters are just annoying. Sometimes bold, sometimes wimpy, sometimes intelligent, sometimes dumb, etc. I don’t mean a character having a personality that shows emotion. I mean really bad over acting, trying to wring everything out of every scene and forgetting that each of these scenes will be seen consecutively, you know, like a movie… Your sales process should also be like a movie. A series of scenes some more intense than others, but a cohesive movie. Those crazy eyed sounding calls late in the quarter can really stand out, and may cost you an Oscar.

The Oscar

Reason 3. It is about the story. If a movie has a great story I forgive a lot and forget a lot. I will forgive some poor sets or background actors, because I’m focused on the great story. I also forget a lot like if the movie is a western, animated, black and white or even sub-titled. Do you have a great story to tell in your sales process or demo? If you can’t keep their attention with the story, they will notice the boom microphones shadow.

So why do I critique movies? I love movies, and I want them to be the best they can be. Why do I critique sales demos and processes? Same reason. And flaws in your sales process should be as obvious as those flaws in the movies. Summer blockbuster or B movie, it is your choice.

Do you Sell like Football or Football?

I have been watching the European Football championships.  I like soccer, which is what we in America call what the rest of the world calls Football. Fun game, lots of setting up and them flashes of action when headed to the goal, trying to put the ball in the twine. 

I also like Football, by that I mean American Football which is a cross between rugby and rollerball. Football is a sport of plans and plays to drive the length of the field for a score with the pigskin. So when you sell, do you sell like Football, or Football?

Everyone has a sales style. Created or evolved, you have one. So is it more like Football (Soccer) or Football? Let me see if I can help you understand. Oh, I know these are not all inclusive and I’m taking a lot of license here… 

Soccer is a game that many Americans find boring, they miss the fluid strategy and on the fly decision making (often called being clever by announcers) that setup exciting scoring opportunities. One on one a goalie has little chance in stopping a striker from scoring. There are few times when the other 10 players on the pitch allow a one on one opportunity. In order to score, a player must use his teammates to move the ball into position, sometimes passing it backwards, giving up distance to get a better angle. All of this happens on the fly, no time to stop and make a plan. You have to really know your teammates to make it work.

Trying a Clever move...

Football is a game that gets an Americans blood pumping. Baseball may be America’s Pastime, Football is America’s Lust. In Football, Plans are made to move the ball forward. You know you have 4 attempts to move the ball at least 10 yards to get another set of 4 downs to keep moving the ball forward. It is less important to make decisions on the fly, if the right play was called against the defense. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to get done. Pound the ball up the middle, as Ohio State Football coach Woody Hayes said, 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Football is a team sport, if you don’t do your assigned task, the play fails and you might lose the game.

This is a tackle..

So is your sales process well defined and documented? Do you have a plan when you start? Know how you are going to leverage your team and what roles they need to play? Looking to move the process forward each time you have a prospect touch? Are you able to project sales from your pipeline? If so, your sales process is like American Football.

If your process didn’t match the one above, is it less defined? Is your process ad hoc? Does everyone do everything? Do your sales linger a long time? Do you shy away from “hard” questions? Do you have a hard time generating sales projections? If these match, you sell more like Soccer.

Now I’m not saying one is better than another, they are two different sports and two different sales processes. If you sell like Football, you will maximize your time with the prospects and allow you to handle more sales. If you sell like Soccer, you will win deals that the Football salesperson would have given up on or lost due to their style. 

The most important thing is to know your style and to make the most of it so you don’t end up in a Nil to Nil game.

Business Travel Demo

Let’s say you are packing for a business trip and you can only take a carry-on. I can see the guys nodding yes and the girls wondering what they are going to do about shoes. Right away we can see a difference in how people pack. What you think is essential, I see as optional at best, and frivolous at worse. So what are the essentials? Well, it depends…

 What kind of meeting is it? Formal? Casual? Business casual? Where is it? In the South? North? West Coast? Winter? Summer? Every one of these items may effect what you pack. It is the same with your demos.

For every demo, there is a perfect combination of things we should show and things we shouldn’t. In 25 years of demoing, I’ve had that happen maybe a dozen times. These were the times the demo was packed just right. Most of the time I forget to pack something, or drag out that old sweater I never seem to need but can’t leave at home. Just because the demo isn’t perfect doesn’t mean it wasn’t good, or even great.

What makes the difference between a demo that is perfect, great and good? Thinking about the demo and packing correctly. As I said before, packing perfectly is hard, but there is a trick you can use. When I pack for a business trip I always do two things. One, I travel in business attire, I have had airlines lose carry-on luggage before. When you land at midnight and have a seven o’clock presentation, I can tell you there are no stores open, and wearing a Black Sabbath tee shirt, shorts and flip flops will give you less credibility than you would think… Two, I pack an emergency kit. It is a little bag that has a little bit of everything in it. Safety pins, duct tape, eye glass screwdriver, couple of wire ties… lots of stuff… It has saved my trip, let it save your demo too.

Now maybe a wire tie will fix your demo, but what I have in my demo emergency kit are workflows. Smooth, slick, logical workflows. These workflows are generic enough to cover a lot of bases if your “custom” demo script missed the mark for some reason. You may have packed for San Fran and ended up going to San Antonio.

Plan your trip, check the weather, pack your bag and plan on something to go wrong and your trip will always be successful. 

Siri, File a Lawsuit

Have you heard a New Jersey man is filing a class action lawsuit against Apple based on his claim of false advertising? You can read the story here. He contends that Siri does not preform as advertised, and without Siri, the iPhone 4S is just a more expensive iPhone 4. So what is going on here?

First, I think he is wrong. There were many enhancements in the iPhone 4S, dual core processer, additional storage, redesigned antenna, as well as a dual transmit ability on AT&T that made the 3G phone nearly 4G fast. What did he focus on? What was sold to him. The advertisements were done something like this. Siri, remind me to get milk, and a reminder was set, not look at our cool new antenna.

So when you are doing a demo, do you show the antenna, or do you let Siri talk? My point is, do you make the cool stuff look cooler than it is? Sometimes cool is cool enough, and you don’t need to make it Buck Rogers. We have all heard under promises and over deliver, but does this work on a demo?

Well what I do know that works is real life workflows shown smoothly. You don’t have to stack the decks, you don’t have to bottom deal. You have to show what’s real, really good. You never want a new customer not to be able to use the product as shown, it will bite you and might even end up in court.

The Best Known Have Died

That may seem like an odd title, but tell me quick, NO GOOGLING, who is the top scientist in the field of bacteria today? Me either, no idea, yet we all know Louis Pasteur. Who owns the art nouveau movement now? Right, same thing.

So do the best known, most memorable have to have died? Can your sales demo be the most memorable, even if you don’t die during it? I would hope so.

Like the old question, are you famous, or infamous? Do you care? I hope you do, because when doing a demo, you want to be famous and avoid infamy.


The first thing to keep you from being infamous is the truth. By telling the truth, or at lease what you think is true. See my blog on Distorting Reality for more on this. The truth will set you free, and keep you free of a bad name.

Second is be a person first, and a sales second. I know you are a salesperson, but think of yourself as a person-of-sales. Please never forget to be a person.

Third would be to ask for more than a reason to tell. My wife tells me I’m guilty of this one, I think she may be right. Leading questions. I’m sure you don’t need to report...”You do!?!” (said with shock and surprise), well let me tell you about our all new report 6000 module... Sometimes you should ask to actually hear their answer, not be answering their answer before they are done speaking.

And truth be told, we may argue over who the greatest LIVING baseball player is, but we know all of their names. Why do we know? Because they performed and produced. That is what it takes to be known before you die.

Distort Reality

Isn’t that what we do in a really good demo? Take reality and compress it, turn it, make it fit our solution in a logical way. I just read a news story (Here) about the FBI file on Steve Jobs. One of the things that was said about him is the following:

“Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs’s honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals,” according to the FBI file.

I always felt there was a difference between out right lying and distorting or twisting the facts, especially in a demo where the “facts” are often weak at best. And aren’t we also trying to achieve our mutual goal with the prospect?

If you want to see how slippery truth is, just ask 3 different people the same question about something they all just watched. Truth is so easily warped in our own mind, it might get closer or further away from the “facts” we were just shown.

For me, using my ethics to stay true to the needs of the prospect, override the strict interpretation of the “truth”. This is because my job is to present a new more functional reality to the prospect by distorting their current less functional reality by showing how twisting my solution around their requirements works.

If I wanted to be in the fact business I would have been a librarian. I’m in the solution business.

Super Bowl Sales

Ah, the Super Bowl. Good food. Good friends. Good teams? You always think the best teams will be in the championship game, but that isn't always the case. The same is true with sales, the best solutions don’t always get to the final. Here’s why.

In sales, like in sports, sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes the other team doesn’t show up. Sometimes you just really get up for the game. Sometimes you out hustle your competition. The bottom line is you have to win every engagement.

We could review the past football season and point out all of the could’ves and should’ves that would have had different teams in the Super Bowl. The fact is these teams did what they had to do when they had to do it.

So have a game plan, practice hard, and execute in every meeting and you may just have a shot at the prize. Even if you aren’t the favorite.

The Story…Part III

Or part 4, or 5… or part whatever, when does it get better? Does it ever make part 1 better, or more complete? So in movies as in life. Rarely is part 2 better than the original.

So when planning on a demo for your prospect, how many remakes or sequels are you going to make them sit through to get to the good part? Does adding more make it better? Don’t bet on it.

When planning your demo:

Plan on the story you need to tell to get the business. If you don’t have a good story to tell, don’t expect to make any money at the box office.

Get the best actors you can. Use the best people, some of your salespeople are just better presenters, use them and figure out the comp.

Never forget there is only one director, and there has to be at least one. Someone needs to be in charge, and ready to yell cut when an actor is getting out of character.

You have one take. That is all you can plan on. If you do get a sequel, add to the story you told in part one, don’t start introducing laser firing vampire aliens just because you think it is cool.  

In short, take your best storyline, match it with your best actors, use a great director, and nail it in one take.

Demo Energy

I face this problem, if not everyday, every week. Low energy when doing a demo, just another demo, and another, and another, never changing, always the same. This is my problem, not the prospect, the demo is new to them. I need to make sure it is feeling new to me as well.

So we know the causes. Too many demos, too much the same. So what are the options? Less demos? Not likely. Less demos equals less opportunities equals less deals equals less money. Scratch that option. Less the same? Ah, now we are talking.

Most of us don’t do the demo the same way because we are lazy, we do it because it works, it is logical. Let’s face it, most of our prospects are the same, at least in their needs. So we have worked out a demo work flow that is effective. Then we do it over and over and over.

The key is having different entry points. Think of your demo as a story and those of us that remember English class remember stories have three parts. A beginning, a middle, and an end. You can start your demo in any of these parts.

Often it is good to show the end first. Ta da! Look what we can do, now let me show you how you got here. Or the middle, here we are doing X, let me show you how we got here, or where we can go. And the tried and true beginning to end. Three options, less boring, for us and them.

Steve Jobs Sales Engineer

This is not just a cheap attempt to take advantage of Steve’s death. There are many things I have learned from Steve Jobs. Watch this, Steve’s commencement address at Stanford University. If you learn nothing else in life, learn those lessons, and pass them on. One of the things that Steve Jobs has helped me learn, is how to be a sales engineer. No really.

What did Steve do during the Apple events? Three main things. He had style, he had a story, he didn’t get too deep in the details. Do these things and your demo won’t suck.

Style
Have some style. Be memorable. Stay classy. Never need the sale more than your soul. We have all been sold to by both types of people, those with class, and those without. Who do you want to be lumped in with? Me too.

Story
Help me help you. That is what a demo story does. Helps me help you understand how you will use the solution. Features don’t sell solutions, using features to solve problems do. So explain how the solution is going to be used, in an easy to understand, non-technical way. Talk to people, they wont bite.

Details
How many details are too many? 20% less than you think. I just made that up, but I bet it is right. We think it is cool. Hell, I KNOW it is cool. Cool only sells if it is something that solves a problem and can be put in the story. Have enough details to answer their questions, not so much that you start answering questions they didn’t have, until now.

So thank you Steve Jobs for teaching me lessons neither of us knew we were learning.

Sick Sales

Ever had to sell when you are sick? Just want to pull the covers over your head and sleep kind of sick? Yea, me too. You know what I hate the most about it? I tend to close deals when I’m sick. Why is that? It makes me mad.

I started thinking about it and it hit me. I am more successful selling when I’m sick, because I have to focus on the important stuff. If I’m losing my voice, what can I say BEFORE I lose it? The sinus pressure is forcing everything but these 2 or 3 things out of my mind. I want to finish the demo and get to bed... It goes on and on, but points to the fact that short and simple sells.

When it is all said and done, we have generally said and done too much. Generally I would rather have them looking at their calendar to schedule another appointment, than looking at their watches wondering when this will end.

So think like you are sick on a demo. Keep the focus on 2-3 items. Cover them in an easy to understand story. Keep it short. Do this and drink lots of fluids, and you will be over your sales sickness soon.

Technical Resources aren’t Sales Engineers

If you sell anything technical, you may need sales help and support. Often you have a technician or a product support person who you can get answers from. This is a great help, but don’t confuse this person with a Sales Engineer.

Sales Engineers have a unique blend of sales, personal, and technical skills. They need the ability to have a comfortable conversation with the C level people at your prospects site and with the end users. Can your “technical” person do that? If yes, you are closer. Now can they describe cold fusion so that you can understand it, you have a winner.

The sales engineer needs to be able to do the following. Understanding the prospects needs, knowing how to solve them with your solution, being able to describe and demo the solution, making the difficult to understand easy to understand.

If your “technical” person can do that, make them happy, keep them excited, and turn them into gold.

Fallen Leader

Another leader of a country is being hunted down like a rabbit. How does this happen? Large and in charge one minute, hiding in a hole the next. This can happen in your sales deals too. One minute you are in control, the next the process is shot and you are there are people running down the streets.

How can you stop this? Truth be told, you can’t always. A sale is a slippery thing that can slide away, and the harder you hold, the more likely it is to slip. Preparation, anticipation, and perspiration are the best preventative measures.

Preparation, know all the W items. (Who, What, When, Where, and Why) The more you know, the less surprised you should ever be.

Anticipation. If you have prepared, you will be able to know where the process is headed and keep it on track if it starts to stray.

Perspiration. The harder you work, the better you are able to know what is going on.

Work hard to stay ahead of where you know you are going.

White Knight

Are you a crusader salesperson on a mission to save someone from their dragons? Time to lose the fantasy, you sell stuff. Hopefully stuff people need, but that doesn't make you a Good Samaritan.

I don’t know what motivates you as a salesperson, but I hope it is money, because that is how you are judged. One of the surest ways to lose a deal is to try and save a client. Don’t get me wrong, selling them a solution that helps them is great, but you have to sell it for the money, not that warm feeling you get when you drop money in the Red Kettle.

In my presales technical role I get to help people understand. You get to help them buy. Look for prospects that want to buy, not those who need to be saved.

Sales Riot

I like you have seen the devastation left by the rioters in England. I find it upsetting for several reasons, one of which is that it was preventable. Hindsight is always 20-20, and allows us to see what we could have done to prevent issues like that. So seeing that made me think, who are the potential rioters sitting in your demos?



I ask, because they don't wear a sign, or have membership cards, but they due share some traits. If you can spot them, you can stop them. They don't feel they have any power in the process, they aren't happy with their situation, they don't want things to get "better". They will do what they have to, until they see the first crack in the process, they will try to burn your demo down. Using hindsight, I'm sure you can point some of these people out to me now. Let me give you some tips to stop this from happening again.



Acknowledge everyone, don't just focus on your "key" contacts. You never know who might have more power than you think, and by including, you are empowering.

Look for people who only pay attention when negative questions are raised. After you address the question, look back at them and ask them if they have any additional questions. Putting them on the spot will limit any mumbled questions under their breath, just loud enough for everyone to hear.



If you falter in your demo or have a hiccup, look around the table and make eye contact with everyone there, don't blink, show fear, or back down. This is the surest way to stop one of these looters in their tracks, don't let them gain any momentum.

Don't let a small setback turn into a riot, because you didn't stand strong and face down the crowd.

What is your Demo Bond Rating?

Unless you have been dead for the past week, you know that the S & P has downgraded to United States Government from a AAA bond rating to a AA+ rating. Who knows what the end result will be, but the beginning of it stinks. This got me thinking, how does your rating agency rate your demos? Well I know we don't have a national demo rating agency, but your agency is the people who hold you in trust. The salespeople and managers who put their trust in you to deliver a quality demo. Are you AAA or junk bond status?



AAA. The gold standard, maximum trust. Do they trust you with their deal without question? If that is the case, great! You now need to know do they trust you to win the deal, or trust you not to lose the deal? Do they trust you so much, they stop giving you good preparation before the demo, "because you always nail it"? If you fail to "nail it", will they still give you a AAA rating when you lose a deal, or will they downgrade you? That is the downside of that trust.



If you want to have and keep a AAA rating, you have to push back and require a proper process. A proper process from and with the other team members will make sure there is an agreed upon approach. If a deal goes south with this process in place, you should be able to maintain a sterling AAA Rating.

Mixed Drinks

Demos are like a mixed drink. Everyone has their favorite style. Everyone gets in a rut. A good drink makes you feel good, a bad one leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. Too many make you dizzy and a little nauseous. So, what is your favorite demo cocktail? Are you a fan of an Old Fashioned, or a Mojito, beer, or wine?


Basically I'm asking if you are a fan of the classic tried and true traditional demo, or do you like to stay on the cutting edge of demo technology. Are you a blue collar demo person, or do you stick with the brie and Chardonnay crowd? None of these are wrong, but it is helpful to know where you and your company, and more importantly your customers fall. Try to sell an appletini in a biker bar, not a lot of takers there.


I do a standard group demo of our product once a week. I find if I do not modify the demo every couple of weeks, I get bored. It can be nice to feel you have the "perfect" demo, with the perfect flow, but if your mind id drifting while you give it, you are not doing the best job for the prospect or your company. Practice your demo with different insertion points. Learn to tell the story with different beginnings and endings.


You have all the materials needed for your Demo Cocktail, you need to be the best Mixologist you can be to make it all work.