| |
| |
|
softwarecatch.com
|
|
|
|
Five Tips For A Great Software Demo
Whether you need to close a sale, gather end-user feedback, show progress to your customer, or simply explain how your product works, sooner or later, you will need to demo your software product. Over the years, I've had the opportunity to perform hundreds of demos to audiences of various sizes. I've also had the chance to attend demos hosted by others. The following represent the top 5 tips I've learned over the last decade regarding demos. Manage Your Audience's Expectations Have you ever gone to see a movie everyone raved about and walk out totally disappointed? More often than not, moviegoers feel let down not because the picture was bad, but rather because it was worse than they anticipated. It didn't meet their expectations. Similarly, if people show up to a demo thinking they're about to see a finished product, they expect it to be virtually defect-free, aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly. They wouldn't be impressed for example with a Web-based application that contains typos or JavaScript errors if they're under the impression it's going live in a week. However, if they know beforehand that you're presenting a throwaway prototype, this same audience will be much more lenient. And they will gladly provide much-needed feedback to help you with your work in progress. Managing your audience's expectation is critical to a successful demo. If you want them to walk away from your presentation pleased, make sure you set the right expectations beforehand. Be honest with them. Don't try to oversell your demo. Just sell it, and try to over deliver. One Bad Apple Spoils The Whole Bunch All it takes to screw up a demo is one person. If someone starts negatively critiquing every single widget in your application or constantly interrupts you simply because he/she likes to hear the sound of his/her own voice, your demo will be a disaster. It is your job to ensure that these bad apples don't show up to your presentation. Unless you're hosting a closed-door demo, it's very hard to control who will attend it. Omitting someone from your invitation list doesn't guarantee they won't hear about your demo through word-of-mouth and simply show up. Here are a couple of ways to trick bad apples into not attending your demo:
I'm well aware that these two tips sound like an excerpt from Scott Adams's Dilbert And The Way Of The Weasel, but unless you feel comfortable telling your peers, superiors or customers not to show up to your demo, these two options are pretty much all you're left with. Do A Practice Run I attended a demo last week hosted by the CEO of a local start-up. After meeting with him at a trade show, he managed to convince me that his company had developed a technology that could solve one of my client's needs. I therefore agreed to give him 30 minutes of my time so he could demonstrate his product's capabilities. I didn't need 30 minutes to realize I didn't want to do business with him. All I needed was 30 seconds. This guy couldn't even log in his own Web-based application! He spent the first 10 minutes of the demo looking for a password. Always do a practice run on the system that you're going to use during the actual demo. You might know the application like the palm of your hand, but if someone else has access to your demo system, who knows what shape it's in. They might have removed services, upgraded components or, as was the case with this CEO, changed the user credentials without informing you. Unless you don't mind looking like a fool, always do a practice run on your demo system before presenting to your audience. Pay Attention To Details The hundreds of demos I've performed over the years have taught me that people pay more attention to how the application looks than what it does. You software might be the solution to world-hunger but if a member of your audience notices a typo in your GUI, he/she will point it out! Readers are especially distracted by readable content - and that's a fact. Deal with it by carefully reviewing the text on your interface and in your graphics. If you don't have the time to review and finalize the text, use Lorem Ipsum. Lorem Ipsum has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, thereby making it look like readable English yet not distracting your readers. I now develop new prototypes strictly with Lorem Ipsum and add actual text when and only when I have time to write content that I know won't become a subject of discussion at my next demo. I strongly advise you to do the same. Point Out The (Obvious) Bugs Software contains bugs. It's that simple. Anyone who doesn't agree with that statement clearly hasn't worked in the software industry for long. Although we sometimes strive for defect-free products, reality is complex systems always contain defects - even when they're generally available. Doing a practice run before your demo will allow you to identify and resolve the showstoppers, and using Lorem Ipsum will deal with the nitty-gritty details that would otherwise distract your audience. But what about the other defects attributed to Murphy's Law? In the event that an obvious bug does display itself during your demo, point it out! In all likelihood, your audience will have already noticed the bug. Any attempt to hide it will give them the impression that you're not being honest. Consequently, they'll start to wonder what else you're trying to cover up. Point out the bug, explain that you have a solution, confidently state that the fix will be implemented by a specific date, and move on. This sincere behavior will reassure your audience that (a) you're not trying to sweep one under the rug and (b) the defect will be resolved by the time they deploy your system. I'm not advocating that you go hunting for bugs during your demo. If you can circumvent them by any means, please do so. But if a defect does surface during your presentation, don't pretend it doesn't exist. The only person you'll be kidding is yourself. Conclusion There you have it. Five tips for a great software demo. Do these 5 tips represent all I've learned over the hundreds of demos I've hosted? Absolutely not! The hardest part about writing this article was probably limiting it to 5 tips. I could have easily thrown in 5 more tips such as (a) control the situation, and (b) always have a plan B. But the goal wasn't to point out all the tips that can help you out. Only the very top five! Luc Richard holds an MBA with a major in high technology. For the past 10 years, he's been managing the development of software applications. He is the founder of The Project Mangler (http://www.projectmangler.com), an online resource that publishes free articles, stories, and other ready-to-use tools to help developers, team leaders and managers deliver software projects on time, according to specs, and within budget.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Microsoft Great Plains customization - Freight Forwarding/Transportation industry example Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains version 8.5, 8. How a Bug Challenges to a Software Professional It is really interesting that a bug can create problem for a learned person even the bug is not alive. One day my one friend was working and a bug created much problem. Story Development Software: Good or Evil? In the early days of the personal computer, we're talking the mid-'80s here, there was speculation that someday books would all be writen by computers. It sounded a little too science-fictiony for most writers. 5 Time-Saving Tips in Microsoft Word Whether you have used Microsoft Word for years, have just switched from WordPerfect or are new to word processing, try these easy steps to save time and simplify your work in Word:Turn off Personalized Menus and ToolbarsAlthough it is a default, Personalized Menus and Toolbars is a terrible "feature" which limits your initial view to select toolbar buttons and menu commands. Do you only have one row of toolbars at the top of the screen? When you click on a menu, does it expand only after a few seconds? If so, you will save yourself a lot of frustration by turning off this personalized display:1. Cisco Certification: Introduction To ISDN, Part V The major reason I recommend getting your hands on real Cisco equipment rather than a simulator is that real Cisco routers give you the chance to practice and learn show and debug commands.The knowledge you acquire from debugs is invaluable. Microsoft CRM Customization - Programming Closed Email Activity Microsoft CRM is CRM answer from Microsoft and attempt to get market share from Siebel, Oracle and others traditional Client Relationship Management System vendors. Microsoft CRM uses all the spectrum of Microsoft recent technologies: . Spyware, Adware, etc. -- Terms and Common Sense When reading an article where some term is used often, it is useful to make sure the author of the article and you mean the same. Not surprisingly for those who still remember English lessons at school, every noun ending with "ware" is a mixture of objects having something in common--usually used for similar purposes. The Truth about Colossus: Are You Just A Magnetic Image? What is Colossus?Colossus is software licensed to about twenty-five insurance companies to aid in predicting the settlement value of claims. The insurance industry maintains it is a useful tool because it considers a great many factors, and the settlement values are just a range for use in any way the insurer wishes. Integrating Microsoft Great Plains Accounting/ERP: RMS, CRM, eCommerce, Lotus Domino - overview Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has substantial market share among horizontal and vertical clientele in the USA, Canada (including French version for Quebec/Montreal), UK, Australia, New Zealand, Spanish speaking Latin and Central America, South Africa and Middle East. Nowadays ERP can not stay as it is off-the-shelf product - it requires integration with Legacy or newly implemented systems, such as CRM, Retail Management applications, custom in-house made business systems (transportation/cargo tracking, etc). Corporate Accounting System: Microsoft Great Plains - Overview Corporate ERP/MRP selection might be tough one, especially considering very turbulent ERP world and fierce competition between Microsoft Business Solutions (Great Plains, Navision, Axapta, MS CRM), Oracle (Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards), IBM (including Lotus Domino), SAP, Microsiga (Brazil, Portugal). We recommend you, IT director of large corporation, make your home work and decide on Microsoft or Java/EJB/J2EE platform (however you should consider vendor dependence minimization, and stake on both with XML streams integration between the two). A Guide To Purchasing Professional XP Icons Online And Enhancing Your Applications Icons are used everywhere; right from software applications, to internet browsers, to operating systems to websites and even in print media. But businesses have to waste a good deal of money and time in manufacturing icons on their own. Brief Notes About Mainframe Software Pricing We don't think about mainframe software pricing anymore, we just go out buy a server hardware/software "package" from Microsoft, but did you ever tink about how they got their ideas for the usage licence, it all started with IBM and the introduction of Cmos logic technology in 1994, simnce then mainframe software pricing has steadily became disproportion to the comparatively minute hardware costs, which has been stated to be "typically four to five times the hardware cost" in terms of the system budget.This trend has given rise to growing concerns over the direct results of current software pricing techniques which are leading to problems such as making smaller applications costly to operate on large systems. Microsoft Great Plains Remote Support - Overview Microsoft Great Plains is now standard mid-market ERP application, serving the whole spectrum of businesses. In the case of mid-size business we usually see strong IT team with SQL querying skills plus accounting department is already trained to use Great Plains and needs minimal help in figuring out on how to use new Great Plains version and features. How to Choose the Right Accounting Software for Your Business With any good luck and a good amount of hard work, you're having the same problem many business owners today are facing. Your business is growing rapidly and you're having problems controlling your finances. Best Spyware Removers Finding the best spyware removers to detect and remove spyware and adware from your computer is much easier if you consider a few things before you make your purchase. Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking for a spyware protection program. Linux Dual Boot-How To Format Just the thought of a duel-boot scares many people away, but over the years it's developed into an easier process. Most people are running Windows, so I'm assuming it's your choice of preference:1. C++ Function Templates C++ Function templates are those functions which can handle different data types without separate code for each of them. For a similar operation on several kinds of data types, a programmer need not write different versions by overloading a function. Microsoft Great Plains SOP: Sales Order Processing Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies as well as Navision (which has very good positions in Europe and emerging markets where it can be easily localized).Great Plains Sales Order Processing (SOP) module forms a third of the core Inventory and Order Processing part of Great Plains. Microsoft Great Plains Customization Tools Evolution - Overview for Consultant When Great Plains Software introduced the first graphical accounting application for Mac and Windows in the beginning of 1990th it had Great Plains Dexterity customization tool, IDE and programming language. Dexterity design was based on several longevity principles: Graphical platform independence and database platform independence and easy switch from one DB to the other among the most important ones. The Dreaded Paper Label - Should it be Used? While paper labeling CDs and DVDs may appear to be a cost effective solution for printing on your media, there are solid reasons why you should consider other options.1) Hand application of paper labels can be time consuming and frustrating.
|
|
Powered By: Free Work At Home Business Opportunity! |
| © 2006 |
