Does anyone else really love it when you have a strong push to find a solution, then you do your research and find something that might, possibly, work. You're in a crunch to confirm, and then 🏃🧱💥 you hit a wall with a demo request form? And then you go to this call a week later only to find it's a discovery call, so you have to wait for a follow-up from that a week later or so to see the actual product? Maybe you're also juggling who needs to be involved and when? With every touchpoint a rep asks for more from me, I keep thinking, “Stop trying to control what happens here, just show me the product.”
Meanwhile, you have this big problem to solve, which is growing bigger and uglier by the minute. Chances are, if there's another accessible solution, they're losing your business.
Genuinely curious to hear different perspectives on this one.
I totally get the benefits for sales folks and R&D to get on the phone with prospects. You don't have to convince me it's best to tailor a solution, apply learnings to messaging frameworks, and even inform the product roadmap. I'm on every demo call I can make, and if not, I watch recordings or read summaries.
At FrontRace, we love the opportunity to demo the product. It's exciting to see those 'ah-ha' moments and gather super valuable feedback, especially since we’re in the early stage and every detail matters. Right now, it's critical for us to hold hands with our prospects and customers so that we build the best product possible for them, not just what we think they want or need.
But all that usually doesn't matter to someone running 1,000 mph looking for a solution amidst all their other to-do's. Ultimately, the product is for customers, and this process should be about them and what they need to make their lives easier/better/more productive. It's a massive disservice to gate the experience of our product for the sake of what is ideal for US. We have not yet opened a self-serve motion, but we will.
How can they see more, touch and feel the product, and then decide to get on a call to ask questions?
Until someone can get into the product on their own, I had to find a solution as an alternative to getting folks into the actual product without booking a demo. I'd had demo videos created, and they worked great. I could monitor engagement and measure conversions from videos watched to demos booked or self-serve activations. But those videos cost thousands and take a lot of time to produce (and I have no video production chops 🎥 🙅)
There's been a lot of buzz this year about interactive demo software, and many solutions are on the market. My shopping requirements were: