BLOG

It is hard to argue the value and impact of storytelling in business. Great stories capture people's attention, imaginations, and emotions. Compelling stories inspire everyday buyers around the world. If you're like most people we talk to, you'll likely remember an excellent keynote speech or the opening of a C-Level presentation delivered by inspiring speakers with "the gift." Perhaps you even feel great storytellers are born with this gift. Ahhh, but stories can be told by anyone and many different situations and venues and, they can all be told by you! The reality is that almost every day, you have the opportunity to create stronger emotional connections through storytelling. So, here's my question: when you intend to persuade or motivate an audience to take action, do you always inform and educate or, do you use storytelling to shift their thinking?

What do the modern Olympic games and winning sales demos have in common? 2% That is the statistical difference between the average Gold Medal and Silver Medal in the Olympics. The same holds true for the decision a group of stakeholders makes between staying with their current solution, switching to yours or choosing a competitor. The reality is that any judged event will have a similar bias. Why is that?

Personalized demos help prospects and clients visualize themselves using your software solution. Wouldn’t you agree? The challenge is the volume of demos a typical PreSales professional performs in any given week means that demo personalization is often not realistic. Traditionally, demo personalization requires creating a new application image with new records, prospect branding, and data. Enter Navattic. These ingenious PreSales professionals built a no-code demo workflow tool to help you better connect with your prospects.

Congratulations! Your navigation through countless virtual demos and presentations is now 2020 hindsight as you've grown comfortable with whatever online tool your company utilizes (Teams, Zoom, GoToMeeting, Webex, etc.). You've probably set your achievement goals for 2021, but with all of the focus on how to best execute your demo and present in a virtual setting, do remember how to best CONNECT your demo to your audience using Discovery techniques in a virtual world. I've noticed a lack of blog attention to this crucial skill, so I've dedicated this article to describe some of the best tips and techniques for Discovery in today's reality.

Perhaps you can relate to a situation from your past. You are eight years old and attending a large family holiday dinner. It is time to eat, and as the adults and teens find their way to the big table, you see it. The dreaded children’s table. Your older brother or sister gives you that smug look as they sit down with the adults. It isn’t until years later that you finally get a seat at the big table. For today’s technology companies, presales leadership often feels like that eight-year-old child when it comes to having a seat at the product roadmap, sales forecast, resource analysis, and planning tables. What a travesty!  It is time that everybody grew up and realized that presales leadership belongs to each of those tables. 

If you can relate to this sentiment, consider attending a webinar I will be leading on the topic Wednesday, February 17th. In the meantime, let’s examine those tables and why it is in every organization’s best interest to get them there.