Follow the Yellow Brick Road Demo or Help me I’m Melting…

Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road, how many times have we heard that? Well, a lot, and I’m old enough to remember when they played it every Thanksgiving evening here in the States. The symbolism is great, follow the big clear as day marked path to your dreams. Yea, that happens every day. What happens when you are demoing and you try to follow the yellow brick road? You find out they are painted yellow and you find a mean old witch at the end of the path… I’ll explain.

The yellow brick road is a big shinny object that looks like it can’t miss. It is possible to focus on the road and not where it leads. If we had Google Maps of the yellow brick road, we would see the witch’s castle, the Emerald city, and those pesky apple trees. With this map it is easy to see our path and where we have to tread lightly and carefully. Without the map? Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road, that is all we have. Put one foot in front of the other and let’s watch what happens.

It is often tempting to go off script and follow that mile wide golden highway, don’t do it. There are flying monkeys and someone will be yelling that they are melting. Don’t let this happen to you.

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.

Best In Show

Ever watch a dog show and wonder what the judges were thinking? I like the cute dogs, and many breeds are not that cute to me. I understand that one of those ugly dogs has to be the best of the ugly dogs in the best of breeds, but not for best in show. How does that happen? I see this in sales all the time, the best looking solution doesn't win. Well here is why.



The judges in a dog show are like your prospects. Their job is to measure to dog based on the specifications, not the cuteness. Your prospect should be looking at their specifications for their solution, not getting side tracked by sales cuteness. So the Judge pokes and prods measures and feels to find the best dog. Expect you Prospects to do the same. Make sure you are presenting a solution that meets the client's requirements, if not, you better have a good story.



It should always be substance over show. So if the Greyhound wins when you had a Lab in the show, maybe there was an issue with your dog.

Hair Band Sales

It is that time again….Hair Band revival tours. It made me think, are you just another 80s hair band? If you didn't look too close or listen too hard, most of them looked and sounded very much alike. How do you stand out in a crowded market?



Let's be real, whatever industry you are in, there are hundreds of people selling the same solutions that you are. That isn't a bad thing, unless you don't stand out from the crowd, and I mean stand out in a good way. A baby screaming on a plane stands out, but not in a way that makes you want to sit near them. There are generally three ways to stand out. Guitar solos, outfits, light show. I'll explain.



Guitar solos are all about talent. It is possible to stand out from the field based on your skill and talent. Quick, what was the best guitar player you ever saw? Right, you remember. Give the best sales solo of your career and they will remember you. Talent always shows
.

Outfits are about appearance. They look like a rock band, they must be good! Do you dress for success? Sales people in different industries are expected to dress differently, but do you fall into the top end of your expected dress? Why not? Hair cut? Shoes shined? People notice and remember, especially when compared to "the other guy". We are a Hair band, not a grunge band.



Light shows! Who doesn't love a great light show? Lots of flash and bang. It doesn't make the music sound any better, but wow, what a concert! It is possible to awe the crowd with an awesome demo. Play it right and they may not even hear what you are saying.

So it is time to take the stage, put on your best outfit, use your sales solo to lead right into the demo light show and wow that crowd.

DB Cooper Sales Strategy

I'm sure you have heard this too, they have new evidence in the DB Cooper case. If you don't know who that is you can read about him HERE. We'll all just wait for you….OK, now that we are all up to speed, do you sell like DB hijacks? Let me explain, a hijacker has a couple important things to do. He has to have a target to get the ransom from, a plan to get the ransom, and a plan to get away, and then execute all of them.

DB knew who to get the ransom from, had a plan to get the ransom, had a plan to get away, even executed all three, but the execution was weak on the last couple of items. So what did he do right? (Note, I'm not saying what he did was right J)

1. First he had the guts to make the attempt. You need this for every deal too.
   
2. He came up with a plan to get to the money person. You have to do this on every deal too. You can sell all day to the rank and file, but if they can't sign it doesn't matter.
   
3. He had a plan to get away with the money. You need to do this too, this is called a signed contract.
   

So DB messed on the execution, but where?

1. He had no idea how big a package of $200,000.00 was in $20.00 bills. Poor planning on the size of the deal, he had to make some choices in the middle of the deal he didn't expect. Don't let this happen to you. Think through deal size issues.
   
2. He wasn't able to identify that that the parachute was a training chute. He didn't have the knowledge he needed to see issues that would prohibit him from getting away with the money. They threw him a curve ball. Do you know your product and solution well enough to avoid taking the defective chute?
   
3. He jumped too soon. Even if his defective chute opened, he was in the big woods, hard to get out of there with 22 lbs. of money. Stay with the deal until it is to your advantage to bail out. I mean, he had the money, he just had to exit smoothly.
   

So what are our lessons? Don't be a hijacker for one. The others are basic sales. Find your prospect, do your research, present your offer, get the money, and don't end up on one of my blogs.