Demo-litions: Klue’s Sales Demo Tear-Down (Episode 4)

Here, Shane closes out his product demo of Klue with Caitlin, his prospect at OpenGov. This is where things get exciting, so let’s see how he closes and establishes next steps!

Need to catch up? Check out Episodes 1-3 here:

The Usual Disclosure: Nobody in this video paid to be in it, and we didn’t trade any services either. This is just our honest appraisal of a real sales demo from a real rep!

Closing & Next Steps

Episode 4 is the final countdown. In this episode, Dave and I will evaluate Shane on how well he wraps up the negotiation, closes, and establishes next steps.

    1. Rapport
    2. Agenda Setting
    3. Introduction
    4. Demo
    5. Pricing
    6. Negotiation
    7. Closing
    8. Next Steps

Negotiation: 3/5

Shane shot himself in a foot just a bit when negotiating pricing. When he asked how many seats his prospect would need in an ideal world, he fed her an answer – a low one.

He was also forced to negotiate a little bit when he wasn’t sure what Caitlin’s budget actually was. He ended up assuming that the issue with his middle-tier package was pricing when it was actually a user limitation on Caitlin’s end.

He caught himself, though, and his prospect agreed to a la carte pricing and can come back to this negotiation later.

Closing: 5/5

Although he gets a little excited and rushed to close just a bit, he did a good job going for the trial close with Caitlin. She agreed that if he can get pricing, she’ll be ready to sign.

Next Steps: 3/5

Shane set specific next steps really well. It wasn’t “we’ll meet again in a few days” or “I’ll call you next week.” He and Caitlin picked a specific time and attendees then and there. He also made clear what he needed from his prospect, so he could get Caitlin into Klue and onboarded quickly.

But in his excitement at the end of the call, just when everything’s looking positive, he almost missed something pretty big…

His prospect’s boss (who has veto power) has already seen a demo from his competitor, and likes them!

He responded to Caitlin by arguing the differentiators of Klue, as if she was the one that brought up an objection. He possibly could have responded better by asking for more information about what Caitlin’s boss liked about the competitor.

Key Takeaways

Summary of performance

  • Don’t negotiate with yourself (reducing a price without them asking you to reduce a price).
  • Never assume budget levels – get a confirmation of budget before you begin negotiating.
  • When you hear an objection, don’t go immediately to defense. First, learn about the motive behind the objection.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask your champion for direct help winning their boss or buying committee over.
  • Always set very specific next steps – get the meeting time, agenda, and attendees agreed while you’re on the phone.
  • Create a broader community of champions within your prospect’s company by bringing in friendly parties from places in the businesses you know will benefit.
  • While your champion can be helpful, try not to rely solely on them to win over the buying committee on their end.
Scott Barker is the Head of Partnerships and Revenue at Sales Hacker. He is passionate about building and strengthening authentic relationships with his team and partners. Outside of Sales Hacker, he helps bring Vancouver sales professionals together to share ideas, network with peers, and learn from top sales operators & leaders as GM of Vancouver Enterprise Sales Forum.   Dave Kennett is a seasoned SaaS and Software sales leader with over 25 years of progressive business development and sales leadership experience. His experience has centered around start-up, turn-around, and hyper-growth situations. He founded and leads a successful high-growth On-Demand Inside Sales Coaching company called Replayz.

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