Field guide

You are demoing at a trade show

What is happening

You are not in a sales meeting. People are walking past, not sitting down, and the show is direct about the consequence: if your demo runs more than five minutes it is automatically wrong. Most trade show demos should be two minutes or less, and the ideal is about 45 seconds.

What to do now

Run the demo backwards. The most exciting part, the one you would normally save for the end, goes first, because it is the hook. Then educate only enough to arouse curiosity, and let the detail happen in a booked follow-up or a webinar.

What not to do

Do not educate thoroughly. That is the trade show mistake the episode names: running a booth like a sales call where you teach the prospect everything.

Source: Trade Show Demos. How to Do It Right!, episode 40 of the Oil & Gas Sales & Marketing Podcast.

Other situations

The next step

Bring this to your own pipeline

If the way energy buyers actually buy is costing you deals, talk it through with ModalPoint, the go-to-market firm Matthew Bertram runs. A 30-minute discovery call: no scope, no commitment, and a mutual NDA before anything substantive. You get a reply within one business day, and the first call is with someone who works in the sector.