I was out for a big customer demo day yesterday. It has been a long time (3 years+) since I have gone to such an extensive and scripted demonstration of our products. A few observations:
- We have some smart M*****F******’s working for us. I thought I had a good handle on what we do and specifically the lingo, but there were times yesterday that they might as well been speaking in a foreign language. The customers were speaking the same language, so I’m sure we where connecting
- Our products can handle an incredible amount of complexity. Walking through the whole process yesterday really opened my eyes to how wonderfully rich the products we develop have become. I cant’ believe the depth of process and intricacy of product that we can handle now.
- Industry specific is the only way to sell software anymore. Even though our products are extremely capable at the horizontal level, they really aren’t all that different at first glance from our competitors’ products. When we go to the industry level though, we can really distance ourselves.
- A bonus observation: people spend way too much time in meetings staring at their laptops. Multi-tasking has really gotten out of control. The biggest sign of respect in a meeting has become closing your laptop lid.
For anyone out there that has a chance to go along on a sales call and see your products put in the best light, take it. It will give you a great view into what makes your company special.
Leave a Reply