6 Demo Skills Training Tips for Delivering a Winning Demo

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Putting together a demonstration can be a dynamic and intricate process. Similar to creating a work of art or the methodology of a scientific experiment. Even with this methodical approach, the best planned and organized demo will fail unless the seller is well-trained to deliver it.

In an article explaining “Why Training Matters for SaaS Sales Teams” by Salescode, they reiterate the important point that “…companies need to get their teams thoroughly trained and out into the field quickly so that they can identify targets and sell effectively before the landscape changes. Speed is of the essence, but there can’t be any compromise on quality. A disappointing employee onboarding experience doubles the chances that a sales rep will leave, taking their product knowledge and your training investment with them. Stepping up your onboarding, on the other hand, increases three-year retention by 69% and increases revenue 60% year-over-year.”

When it comes to putting together a technical product demo, it can be a challenge if your sellers are not equipped with the best training possible. 

How to implement SaaS product knowledge training:

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These focuses are important for the longevity of your business when training new team members because they will need multiple forms of product knowledge training to be able to sell at the highest capacity.  Product knowledge training is a critical demo skill that improves sales, better supports your customers, increases customer product retention, and boosts customer confidence. Improve your seller's product knowledge by knowing your target market, brand, and customer needs, and become an expert on your product features and navigation. 

When guiding your new sellers, help them retain more information by paying attention to the Forgetting Curve when implementing SaaS product knowledge training.  In our previous article, the 5 Forces Driving Down your Demo Quality, the forgetting curve is a well-researched memory model, and it shows how learned information slips out of our memories over time.  In the Sales training context, the forgetting curve identifies that sellers will forget an average of 65% of what they have learned within the first seven days following training. 

According to Harvard Business Review, an expert from Where Companies Go Wrong in Learning and Development, “the forgetting curve emphasizes that learning goes in one ear and out without immediate and ongoing reinforcement.”  This piece emphasizes the point that  “ROÍ of Sales Training is disappointing. Studies indicate that participants in traditional curriculum-based training forget more than 75% percent of the info they were taught within six days.” HBR advises that to “…increase retention and effectiveness, we must provide sellers with supplemental material that reinforces what they’ve already been taught and allow sellers opportunities to practice their demo skills in time-frames connected to actual buying processes.”

Successful knowledge retention training practices and technologies that support hands-on recurring real-time enforcement are key for learning and development. 

Demoleap is the reinforcement engine turning enablement sessions into seller actions at scale. Demoleap allows sellers to access your knowledge and follow demo best practices in the moment while running sales discovery and live demos. 

Follow these 6 Training Tips that will help you and your sales team deliver a great demo:

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1. Hands-on Experience — Direct experience on the platform, using the features, and training together with senior sellers is vital during SaaS training for new onboards. This can look like shadowing a veteran seller as you prepare or receiving help from a superior to create dynamic learning playbooks for future customized training and live person-to-person demonstrations — slightly modifying each playbook to meet customer needs. HBR reiterates that direct experience and “…lean learning supports the adaptability that gives organizations a competitive advantage in today’s market. It’s about learning the core of what you need to learn, applying it to real-world situations immediately, receiving immediate feedback and refining your understanding, and then repeating the cycle.” 

2. Continuous Learning — An ongoing process in SaaS sales, with consistent new developments in a fast-paced environment,  continuous learning practices in the workplace are integral to keeping up with industry standards.   Stay up-to-date and always practice your demo until you can do it with your eyes closed. Do not make last-minute changes. Stick to the methodology.  According to TechTarget, “Continuous learning practices in the workplace have shown the potential to increase employee engagement, job satisfaction, and knowledge retention. To stay competitive, organizations must continually adapt to ever-changing social and economic environments…” and to do so; they must continually educate their sellers. 

3. Education of Customer Benefits of Product — Knowing how this product will help your potential prospect and what kind of ROÍ they can expect for their business is an important part of training for a seller.  Adding data that covers benefits for the prospect is key.  Winning SaaS Sales demonstrations demand a deep understanding of the issues faced by your prospects and how your product will solve their problem. Understanding the needs of your customer should be emphasized demo skills training.   What do they reference they are missing or struggling with? Customer stories are great to show your prospect how other businesses like theirs have seen incredible results from using your product to solve problems just like theirs. This creates credibility. 

4. Story-based Structure — Train Sellers on presenting personalized persona stories curated to their audience. These relatable storytelling demos are easier to remember and relate to (as opposed to a technical demo approach).  Keep it clear and keep it concise. Structured demos are memorable demos. If you just throw together feature after feature, the prospect won’t remember what you showed them.  Try to keep the story concise — A time-compressed story based on your prospect's daily, functional needs. Weave in the personal storytelling structure to emphasize key points and create an unforgettable demo.  According to Saleshacker, “A story about somebody who has used the product to become more successful in their role would be much more memorable. In fact, some psychologists say that stories make something 22 times easier to remember.”

5. Personal touch/Let your personality shine through — Add a personal touch. The seller should have their own personal style. Preparing your sellers with detailed playbooks and giving the option to edit the Main Training Playbook for the seller to make their own — allowing the seller to add a personal touch. Having detailed playbooks you can mix and match, makes it easier to learn and train future sellers.   LinkedIn Sales Solutions teaches us that, “In a vast sea of different solutions and salespeople, it can be challenging to rise above and get noticed. One of the best ways to do so is by letting your real personality shine through in your digital persona.”

6. Real Demo and Dry Run Data — Update the training according to the insights you are getting from real demo data and dry runs.  There are a ton of demo training metrics that can be monitored.  This includes but is not limited to — time spent on each product feature, the use of slides, or even specific talking points. When you have a clearer understanding of the direct impact of real demos, and their functionality — then your demo training will be updated accordingly.
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The strongest SaaS Sales team is an informed and well-trained team that truly knows their own product and the audience to which they are selling to.  Not only does this increase conversion sale, but it simply decreases employee turnover because of higher and more consistent sales by each team member.  New sales team members need to get comfortable with continuous learning. Contextually relevant training only makes sense if your team is driven and understands the learning process as a journey and not a final destination.  

For onboarding, consider delivering product knowledge training via hands-on experience by putting a new sales team member with a seasoned member of your team.  This method of training is referred to as shadowing. Shadowing can be helpful for onboarding new sales team members because the new seller receives the chance to witness first-hand how the demo call should be structured, run and what important points to remember.  

New technologies, such as Demoleap, enable sellers to have a shadowing experience within their own comfort zone, using a tool they can be trained on accompanied by a mentor. 

Create online training experiences that cover all items from ROI of features to benefits for customers and any industry standards that they should know. It is important to provide real metrics to the customer and use real experiences to train your sellers to understand how people use your SaaS product. Make sure to educate your sales team with follow-up training sessions to stay on top of new developments and updates on the product. 

Demoleap was designed to assist sellers in the moment, from training stages to real-time coaching in live demos. 

Check out more of Demoleap's features and book your demo now. 

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