Hi. My name is Gabe Sumner.
And today we'll learn about product demos.
What are they? Why do we need them?
And what are five practical tips
we can use to build better demos?
And by the end of this video,
you'll see how these five tips
can be used to outline your next demo.
This is Salesforce on Salesforce, an inside
look at how we run our marketing,
sales, service and I.T. businesses with helpful
how to tips that you can use for your business.
In this series, you'll hear lessons and see examples
about how we do things here
at Salesforce. Let's get started.
So what's a product demo and why do we need them?
A product demo is where we show audiences
what our products make possible.
And why is showing so important?
Well, it's because seeing is believing.
In many cases, audiences
have already been told about our products
either through a presentation or through our content.
But they still have questions like,
Can you give an example?
or How does it work?
These questions are often rooted in doubt
and confusion.
And what we're doing in a product
demo is resolving
that doubt
and confusion by showing audiences
exactly what we're talking about
and hopefully inspiring them
with a credible vision.
But easier said than done, right?
How do we build better product demos?
Every great product demo enables its audience
to experience the journey the product makes possible.
But at the beginning of this process, it's
not always easy to see what that journey is.
So here are five practical tips for tackling your next demo.
And by the time we get to the end,
you'll have an outline in the form of a downloadable template
that you can use
to create your next demo. So here we go.
Tip number one, start with the question.
At the heart of every great demo is a great question.
But what makes a question great?
Well, great questions are evocative,
which means the question alone
invites us to imagine and wonder.
One example. Of course you do.
What if your most common business process
took half as many steps?
Now, this question makes me wonder
what is our most common business process,
and what would that mean
if it took half as many steps?
And from there, I can begin to imagine a story
which is why these questions are so useful.
Early into this process, we can brainstorm
these questions by the dozen and then test them.
And once we've located a great evocative question,
everything else gets a lot easier.
Which is why I always start with the question.
Tip number two, Focus your takeaway.
Great demos, deliver clear takeaways.
But doing this requires focus.
So how do we do that?
Well, first, we need to resist the temptation
to show everything.
What an example.
In this demo, I'm going to show you
how the Salesforce platform enables
you to build, automate and secure using low code.
So what's wrong with this?
Well, this takeaway is really three takeaways.
Build, automate and secure.
Now, remember, inside a demo,
we're addressing doubt and confusion.
And it's going to be very challenging
to do this for three different takeaways.
So let's try being more focused.
In this demo, I'll show you how Salesforce
Flow enables you to use automation
to make your business processes more efficient.
Now notice I'm now focused on just automation,
which makes me much more confident
I can earn this takeaway.
So my advice set yourself and your audience up for success
and focus your takeaway.
Tip number three, Show Don't Tell.
A picture is worth a thousand words
and a great demo provides that picture.
But how do we envision these screens and interactions?
Well, I use the phrase "here you're looking at".
For example, here you're looking at a mortgage application
that one of our customers just submitted.
Notice that I'm immediately acknowledging
what the audience is seeing,
and I'm using that visualization
to set the context and use case.
The demo will explore.
Now, if you're having trouble envisioning this screen,
go back to TIPS one and two.
Start with the question. Focus your takeaway.
Keep making them more and more specific
until you can see the movie in your mind.
Remember, seeing is believing
and this experience is only possible
if we show don't tell.
Tip number four. High highs require low lows.
Great demos show a journey.
But there can be no journey without contrast.
We need to go from somewhere to somewhere.
Which means we need to envision life
without our products
and then show audiences
the contrast our products make possible.
Let's return to our example.
Here, you're looking at a mortgage application
that one of our customers just submitted.
But the challenge is that we're now processing
thousands of these applications every day,
and each involves dozens of manual steps.
And as a result of this inefficiency,
our customer satisfaction scores are plummeting.
Skip to the end.
Until finally we cut the number of steps involved in processing
one of these applications in half.
And as you can see, our satisfaction
scores have never been higher.
Notice the contrast between these two points.
And this is important because our demo finish
will only be as delightful as our beginning was painful.
High high's require low low's.
Tip number five. Show the journey.
Every great demo shows its audience
how the product helps them get from challenge to solution.
But how do we bridge these two points?
Well, there are three magic words
I use to get from problem to solution.
Here they are - because, therefore, and but.
So what makes these words so special?
Well, by starting each sentence with these words,
we're forcing ourselves to acknowledge
what just happened before showing the next step.
For example,
our business process is inefficient,
and because of that, our satisfaction scores are plummeting.
And therefore,
we'll use Salesforce
Flow to create a new workflow.
And because of that, we've eliminated
many of these steps with automation.
But notice and therefore, until finally
you get the general idea here,
the point here is not to literally say
these words in your talk.
Rather, the point is to connect
each of the steps in your demo.
Because it's this connectivity
that enables the audience to experience
a cohesive journey.
That's why we show the journey.
So what's next
and where can we learn more?
Now, I promised you that these five tips
would reveal a template that you could use
to outline your next demo.
And this is that template.
Every demo I build begins here.
And that's because this simple fill
in the blank style
template forces me to confront
each of the five tips I just shared.
Now it starts with the question my demo will explore.
Then it continues with a focused takeaway.
And I keep making these two sentences
more and more specific until I can
show, don't tell.
By describing that first screen
that will establish my demos, context and use case.
From there, it's time to identify the journey
our products make possible.
Keeping in mind that high highs require low lows
And the final step, but the most important step
is to show the journey using the words,
because, therefore, and but to build a cohesive narrative
when creating a new product demo,
start with this template and start with these five tips
and you'll be well on your way to creating a product demo
that shows audiences what your products make possible.
Now, if you enjoyed this episode,
please view our other episodes in this series
and be sure to check out the blog and Trailhead Quick look
found in the description below.
Thanks for watching.
We'll see you next time.