Take a look at their client list, and you'll see what we mean. They also have a samples page of client demos.
The topic of demos has always been a bit of a hot button for us at SoftwareCEO. Way too many software companies take a DIY approach, because, they reason, how hard can it be to take a few screen shots?
Well, it isn't hard -- and that's the problem. In a world where print brochures and videotapes have become pretty much irrelevant, it's more vital than ever that you've got an online demo of not just what your software does, but what tangible benefits it brings to the end user.
Autodemo founder and CEO JC Stites offers a number of helpful tips:
Tip #1: Don't fall prey to information overload.
"The primary mistake people make is they try to include too much information," Stites says. "Entrepreneurs, especially, are too close to their products and don't assess what the key differentiators are. We try to focus on the 'wow' factors or unique propositions."
Tip #2: Keep it under five minutes.
"The best length [for a demo] is three to five minutes," says Stites, "but it depends on your solutions and your markets.
"The shorter it can be -- as long as it conveys information effectively -- the better. You want to get them into the sales cycle and keep them moving.
"That's where we can help. Not everybody is going to take an hour to sit through your demo. The bigger the purchase decision is, the more they're willing to invest their time -- but you will get the most attention if you focus on the most critical things."
Tip #3: If you need more time, break it up.
"We work with many companies to create multi-module demos," Stites says. "We'll provide an intro demo and menus leading to other sub-demos; the prospect can select the info that's most relevant to them."
Tip #4: Remember what a demo is supposed to do.
Your software demo is not a show-and-tell of product features -- or, at least, it should not be. This is a problem for many startups when they put the engineers in charge of creating the demo; they're like proud parents who want to show you 1,000 photos of their babies.
The people who should be in charge of your demo are the sales folks. "At a high level, the purpose of a demo is to get prospects into the sale process," says Stites. "You've got to first get them in -- and you won't be able to do that if you try to go through a laundry list of what your product can do."
Tip #5: Think about unique propositions.
Just as bad as putting engineers in charge, Stites says, is letting the marketing team build a demo without adult supervision.
"Most marketers think everything needs to be included," he says. "You want to get out there and grab them with a unique proposition and key benefits."
OK, so how do you zero in?
"It's a question we ask right up front," says Stites. "We want to know what the objectives of the demo are. We ask them to create a content outline, which could also be considered a benefit outline.
"Give us some bullet points as to what this product means to the market. All the heavy lifting comes right up front. What key benefits are you going to hang your hat on for the next year or 18 months?
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"Think about your product with a fresh perspective. Let's not start with the 30-minute demo; let's talk about how your product interfaces with the market."
Tip #6: Think about where your demo will fit in the sales process.
This gets back to the issue of sales focus: You need to remember that your demo is supposed to bring in sales, not show your mom what a cool piece of software you built.
To that end, you need to figure out where in the sales process your demo will deliver the biggest bang. "You have to figure out where it's going to be leveraged the most in your sales cycle," Stites says. "Every [Autodemo] project has slightly different objectives.
"But if you know there's a ripe target market, get right in there and show how your product solves the problem -- how it addresses those specific needs. Yes, you also need to showcase your product, but maybe that's at a slightly different place in your sales cycle."
Tip #7: Don't use your demo for your client roster.
"Typically, we do not put clients in the demo," says Stites. "We think a product demo should be just that, and the most effective way to engage a prospect is to articulate the value of your solution directly.
"When they see it, there's credibility established and an appreciation as to how this is going to benefit them that goes far beyond PowerPoint slides."
Tip #8: DIY voice-over at your own peril.
Before you build your own demo, do a reality check: Do you really have employees talented enough to compete with the demo professionals that your competitor may be hiring? Remember, just because you've got a microphone doesn't mean you're James Earl Jones.
"If you've got the most charismatic salesperson and they have in-depth product knowledge and they're good at crafting their demo, then a live capture can be effective," Stites says. "It's honest and can have credibility.
"But it's critical that you don't turn people off, and one of the quickest ways to do that is if the audio sounds unprofessional. You need professional talent that has a really nice, clean voice that doesn't hit you in the head. It's kind of like the movie business: You don't think about the soundtrack, but it creates an emotional reaction."
Tip #9: The better your product, the better your demo.
"The better the product is, the better the demo is going to be," says Stites. "If the client has taken time to look at where the light bulbs go off, that's where we want to focus."
Tip #10: Your story is more important than interactivity.
"Some clients make the mistake of building in a lot of interactivity," Stites says. "Yes, you want the user in control, but you also need to tell a story. When you introduce interactivity for its own sake, it works against you.
"You don't need to insert a 'Next' button; if you're telling a compelling story you don't need to ask them to click anything.
"Also, forget about animation or music; those elements can take away from the experience and add a salesy veneer that takes away from engaging the prospect and moving them into the sales cycle.
"I think there’s a lot of gratuitous animation and highlighting that takes away from the experience. When there's text flying on the screen, or there's a big red circle, or something pulsing, it takes away from the solution and the way the product ought to be experienced. There should be clarity; you're trying to simulate how it is for users to experience your software."
Tip #11: Plan for the after: What do you want prospects to do next?
"The next step will always be on a case by case basis," says Stites. "We want to understand the objectives. What is the call the action?
"It might be to sign up for a webinar where they get a 45-minute demo. Or sign up for a trial version. Or contact sales today. Or download a white paper. Or attend a trade show, for one-on-one selling.
"But most often, I think it's probably: 'Contact our sales team to answer you specific questions.' I'm not saying that half the people who view your demo will do that, but it's the most common next step.
"Demos are great at qualifying prospects: If they watch a demo and see it's not for them, then they're not bothering your sales team.
"In any case, you almost always want to give them options. For more information you can do any of these things: phone, email, link to a specific product page, case studies, white papers. It's all about moving them along."
Tip #12: Make your demo a part of a larger whole.
"Some clients see this as kind of a specific thing they need to implement," Stites says, "and they haven't thought through how to leverage it in their marketing programs or campaigns. We've changed our solution to make sure we're a bigger part of that.
"You want to make your demo an integrated tool in the marketing effort. This has clearly evolved over time. Smart marketers are really following the stream and thinking about how it gets integrated."
Tip #13: Plan for a lifespan of 12 to 18 months.
"Product changes are a very common concern among our clients," says Stites, "but we have seen it's not typically well-founded.
"Once we deliver the demo, the benefit that they’re getting is worth a lot of mileage for 12 to 18 months, and then they come back for a revision that focuses on the new elements.
"This is another reason we ask them to focus on high-level messaging -- so that if some feature changes, it's not going to have a negative impact on the demo. Your key messages should last for 12 to 18 months.
"If it's a significant element of the interface, we would likely make a change, because we wouldn't want the user to wonder why this toolbar is purple and this one is green. The color is an immediate visual sign. We'd go get a new screen and update the demo for them at no charge.
"But if it's a new feature that's much less important, an update isn't necessary. We're not teaching someone how to use the software.
"Still, if there's a new aspect the client wants to integrate in the demo, we'll say, 'Read through this script and tell us what we should include' -- and maybe we insert a new 30-second piece in the middle of the Autodemo file."
Tip #14: Make sure your demo fits the new media model.
"The internet has changed the way everybody markets things," Stites says. "It's gone from push to pull. It's not what you know, but who you know. It's critical.
"Our solution has evolved to take advantage of that. We make it easy to share with Facebook and Twitter and everything else; we want to make sure [the demo] can go viral very easily.
"We need to enable other people to get the information out there. For example, they need to be able to import the demo in software to share, because there are a lot of people influencing the purchase decision.
"YouTube is the prime example of this. We've incorporated controls so that you can post the video file to YouTube or Facebook. We weren’t doing this a year ago because the quality wasn't acceptable. But now we do it in HD, so it looks good. It just one more way to get it out there."
Autodemo has a number of YouTube demo examples, for Qvidian, Apptix, American Airlines, and Permuta's Defense Ready.
Tip #15: Make sure your demo fits the new hardware model.
"Another example where we've evolved is the iPad," says Stites. "It did not support Flash, which we've leveraged for 11 or 12 years. That was interesting for us. We've always been a content company and will leverage whatever technology is best, and always tired to focus on the quality of the user experience.
"Although the iPad is a very small base, it might be the CEO of the prospect company who's using one. We don't have allegiance to any particular technology; we will detect if an iPad is being used, we export the Autodemo to video -- the same video that a client uploads to YouTube -- and that's what displays on the iPad.
"We don't want to have to force the user to download Kodak or install QuickTime. We want a seamless, very professional experience.
"We can also develop demos for mobiles apps, and we can export to video format so that you can view it on the mobile device. RIM is a great client of ours and we've done a lot of work for them."
Tip #16: Budget at least $5,000 for a professional demo.
"Our price points range from $5,000 to $20,000," Stites says. "I think we can help any company gain traction and product exposure. But it's a decision as to what is the value of that exposure.
"If they're developing a solution that has a finite market and they don't have the means to distribute the solution effectively, then maybe they should engage with us six months down the road, when they can better leverage the demo.
"We have some clients that have very, very high web traffic, and after 18 or 24 months they’ll revise the demo and it's still getting thousands upon thousands of views, and it's had a very positive impact on the way the market place perceives their product."
