Anyone who has attended a great product demonstration knows how powerful they can be in creating demand. When you see a product at its best (or more importantly, see yourself using the product at its best) you can’t wait to get your hands on it. Apple knows that, Adobe knows that, Microsoft used to know that.
Now I know at this point, I expect some of you are shaking their heads and saying “well of course that’s true for a sexy product like the iPad, but no-one is going to get excited seeing my accounting system or my firewall or my storage device”.
And here’s where I disagree. Because the iPad isn’t sexy – Apple make it sexy. If you don’t believe me, have a look at other tablets that can’t get anywhere near the same level of excitement. Because demonstrating a product is not about showing all the features to prove that the advertising is correct. A product demo is about creating desire and showing the customer how their life will be better with your product. It’s about creating an emotional connection to the point that they want it, not just need it.
And if I’m an IT Manager who has my boss breathing down my neck that staff are complaining about not getting access to information they need, or performance is slow, or they want to use their own devices, then absolutely, if you can demonstrate a solution that solves my problem, I want to see it.
I’ve seen some dud presentations, and I have seen some killer ones, and this article from Geoffrey James beautifully summarises the attributes of the latter.
