If you read our previous blogs, we mentioned that SaaS is a highly competitive industry where prospects do not want to hear the same pitch from a sales rep all over again. Today, prospects want a more personalized and hands-on product demonstration of what your software solution can bring to the table, including the value they take along.
It is inevitable to look for ways how you can boost your sales and make sure to deliver a great demo experience to your prospects. However, to bring the demo experiences to life, you need to use the latest sales demo tools and, most importantly, have a solid demo environment.
In this blog post, we are breaking down everything you have to know concerning the demo environment. We will start with its description and importance, followed by the benefits you will gain from building one and some useful tips that can help you build a demo environment. Let’s dive in!
What is Demo Environment and Why Is It Important?
A product demo environment refers to a particular virtual environment that is used to give product demonstrations. You can think of this as a safe and customized space where you and your prospects can interact and connect while presenting your demo. Now, a well-crafted demo environment aims to recreate the precise feeling of your actual software while including all the aspects critical for sales.
The demo environment is important, apart from being a critical aspect of your sales process, because it lets you show off your software product in the most engaging and effective way – without any technical hitches. This also helps you prevent the risks of running into any data breaches, security issues, and other leaks that may happen when demoing your product.
Remember that your product demo and demo environment should be a package deal. You cannot have one without the other. So, make sure to do it right because doing so will give you a great space where you can show off why your product is a game-changer!
Benefits of Creating a Great Demo Environment
If you create a great demo environment that is well-suited for your prospects, you will get the following benefits:
- Standout from the crowd: Know that the SaaS world is jam-packed with many competitors, which may have the same thing to offer. Only a rich demo environment can allow you to really get to the core value your product can bring and how it can brush off the competition right away.
- Give prospects proof of concept: Your prospects will always look for ways to fix their concerns and achieve a desirable outcome. This is where the demo environment plays an important role. The demo environment allows you to show off the best features of your product, especially the ones that solve the prospect’s concerns.
- Real-time: All prospects always want to know what it will be like to utilize your software. So, with a rich and personalized demo environment, your prospects can finally experience a realistic demo. Personalized use cases, branding, and product stories help create far more compelling demo experiences that showcase the true value of your product.
- Accelerate time to close deals: If your sales team does not set up a demo environment, your target prospects might be concerned about whether your product works for them. With a demo environment, concerns will be removed because you will have the opportunity to prove how prospects can accomplish their target goals – making it easier to trust your product. Before you know it, you are closing the deal!
Tips on Building the Right Demo Environment
We put together several tips on how you can build the ideal sales demo environment for your prospective customers.
1. Never call it a demo
If you are presenting a demo to your prospects, never call it a demo. By default, your prospects start to tune out because they believe these demos are dry and not worth the time. The term demo is often suggested as a show, and sometimes people perceive it as unrealistic. So, the most important goal you must achieve is to make your prospects think otherwise.
Instead of calling it a demo, we suggest you use terms such as a personalized “guided tour” or an “interactive experience.” Instantly, this will make them think of a safer virtual demo environment.
2. Market Alignment
Your product demo must be tailored to the needs of your prospects, and it should address their pain points and provide solutions relevant to them. Make use of relevant data, examples, and terms that are familiar to them. And most importantly, ensure that your software is what they need.
3. Market Maturity
If you are presenting to a more mature market, your product demo must focus on your software’s many features and benefits. But if you are targeting a start-up market, you should focus on your software as the real game-changer! Let’s say you are demoing a new CRM platform – you must focus on how your product can successfully assess deal insights and predict pipeline.
4. Use interactive demo software
You can only build the best sales demo environment by using the latest demo tools. The goal is to make the environment and interaction with your prospects more personalized. Only with demo software can you achieve a certain level of personalization and make them feel confident with their decision to purchase your product.
There are several demo tools available in the market today since they are becoming increasingly popular, one of which is Demostory.io. It is a well-designed demo tool with powerful built-in features you can use to perfect your demo and demo environment.
5. Create the right story
Make sure to create the right story for the product you are about to deliver. This is one of the initial steps you have to take when building the perfect demo environment. By crafting a story, you are taking your prospects through a narrative and delivering a more memorable and engaging experience.
Storytelling involves elements like characters, present situations, motivations, and other factors. When creating a story, check all the points and know who your prospects truly are. Doing so helps shape your demo environment that fits your prospect’s expectations.
6. Use a checklist
Checklists can reduce risks and will help you prevent mistakes. So, you better create a checklist of everything you have to do before, during, and after the product demonstration. This way, you can ensure that you prepared and covered everything to present a great demo environment to your prospective customers.
Furthermore, remember to review and refresh your data, which ensures that your product demo environment is relevant and updated.
Incorporate your Demo Environment with Demostory.io
You can get many benefits from building a demo environment, but it can only be possible when you take advantage of the newest demonstration tools in the market.
Demostory.io is a top-tier web-based demonstration software that will help you showcase your product in the best light possible with multiple use cases and features. It is jump packed with everything you need to deliver a great demo experience to your prospective clients.
If you want to get started with your demo environment and are still trying to figure out where to begin? Request a demo for free, and we will immediately show you how.
