Choosing the Best System Using a

Software Demonstration Script

In a typical software demonstration the presenter is a trained "technical sales" professional who knows how to expertly navigate within the software during a demonstration to ensure it appears in the very best light. Using a well-planned software demonstration script is the best way to obtain the most accurate and complete software acquisition decision-making data...(more below)

A software demonstration script is the #1 defense against buggy and/or problematic software, because again, only the person presenting the demo (the presenter) is aware of the bugs & problems, and knows where not to go during the software sales demonstration. It is very easy for a presenter to avoid problem areas due to the many issues that a good software demo must address. This is explained in more detail below.

Software Demonstration Failure

In many cases, the Buying Committee members attending the software demonstration will not see functional problems, nor will they obtain the information they need to make an informed acquisition decision. Why? Because the presenter side-stepped the problems and avoided the need to answer a question directly. How can the presenter do that? The technique is simple, explained as follows:

A detailed demonstration could call for a vendor to discuss and illustrate many things, for example:

• User-defined Operating Parameter Setup
• User-interface and Navigation
• Customization Issues
• Security
• Each Business Process
• Reporting/Inquiry Function
• Interface with Web and Third-Party Systems.

In this complex environment there will be many scenarios during which the buying committee members will want to ask questions, and these questions usually come up in a haphazard, unplanned way. In a large system demonstration this can happen quite frequently. These sometimes redundant questions waste significant time and detract attention from the issue at hand, all of which a skilled presenter can take advantage of.

Unscheduled questions give a professional presenter a golden opportunity to side-step a difficult question by answering a newer question, or jumping to another screen to answer the previous question in another way, then conveniently forgetting to discuss the difficult question. Another ruse is to focus attention on time, mumble something half-intelligent, then quickly move to another screen.

A well-planned software demonstration script, also known as a software demo script, helps you stay in control of the demonstration by preventing the presenter from deviating from the pre-planned topics laid out in the script. The script also specifies the type of information the presenter must show, all of which prevents the presenter from hiding or glossing over information detrimental to software system being demonstrated. You can view screen details of what is in a good demo script by visiting demonstration script detail.

In addition to the major problem of being under the control of the presenter, most software demonstrations have other problems described below that can also be solved by using a well-organized script.

Irrelevant or Sketchy Information

Remember, the vendor software demonstration presenter wants to demonstrate "How Easy the Software is to Use", while on the other hand, the Buying Committee has come to the demo with the goal of seeing "How does the software solve problems? i.e., "How does the software work in problem areas?". This apparent contradiction in goals can lead to sketchy or little useful data being gathered by the Buying Committee members at the demonstration.

You need to see how the software functions in problem areas, yet it is in the presenter's best interest to NOT to show those areas. A Demo Script that penalizes vendors for lack of presentation provides a very good incentive to show those areas, that is how.

On a different note, the sheer volume of information that needs to be collected can lead to oversights and omissions during a fast-paced demonstration. This can be reduced substantially by a detailed demonstration script, as shown in view detail reminders.

Inconsistent Evaluation

Different members of the buying committee will have different ways of assessing the same parts of the demonstration, which results in inconsistent scoring that cannot be compared accurately.

Different buying committee members will use their own way of grading the software functions being presented at the software demonstration, resulting in a collection of incompatible scores for each demo that cannot be compared accurately.

A good software demonstration script will automatically provide a consistent grading method that produces easily compared scores for each vendor demo.

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