Reprise report details the importance of the product demo

For sales professionals, the product demo is where the rubber meets the road: a test drive where the smallest bump can derail hours of work and send the prospective customer running for the hills. Reprise, an AI-powered product demo software platform, surveyed over 350 sales professionals for its new sales demo report. According to the report—you guessed it—product demos could use some work:

• Most sales pros (81%) have lost a deal due to a bad demo.
• Nearly half (46%) stated their company’s features are “too complex or too fragile” to demo live, so they skip them entirely.
• Solutions engineers deliver first sales demos 50% of the time; Reprise recommends account executives take over the task.
• Despite buyers wanting to see the product immediately, only one in four sales teams demo their product on the first call.
• Even though it takes more work, 85% of sales professionals personalize their demos.

“This report confirms the sales demo is where the magic happens,” Reprise CEO and co-founder Sam Clemens told Revenue Brew. “It also reveals a tension: that sellers have become so hesitant about potential demo issues that they avoid showing their solutions’ most powerful features, a complete miss.”

Big picture: The importance a product demo plays in the sales cycle is undeniable. The ability to efficiently personalize a demo in a repeatable framework seems more critical than ever. A key word: confidence. It seems if sellers don’t fear losing the room, or turning away prospects early on, they’ll be more likely to suggest that first test drive.