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Stand Away From The Mouse! Letting Your Champion Drive
“Stand away from the mouse and nobody will get hurt!”
Here’s a terrific way to prove “ease of use”: have a customer representative do the demo.
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The Second Derivative
1538 Winding Way
Belmont, CA 94002
Phone: +1 650 631 3694
PCohan@SecondDerivative.com
www.SecondDerivative.com
www.DemoGurus.com
Peter E. Cohan, Principal
Stand Away From The Mouse! Letting Your Champion Drive
"Stand away from the mouse and nobody will get hurt!"
Most demonstrations are executed by an expert from the vendor - the "technical person,"
"guru", "techie" or "expert". It is interesting to note that the audience is often comprised
of end-users, who are decidedly not experts.
This creates a natural misalignment between the vendor's desire to generate a vision of
"ease of use" and the customer's perception. The "Do It" pathway in a Great Demo! is
designed to help build and support this vision of ease of use. Reducing the number of
mouse clicks and moving the mouse deliberately can go a long way towards creating that
vision, but you are still at risk.
Here's a terrific way to prove "ease of use": have a customer representative do the demo.
When a customer drives the demo, or at least part of it, two key advantages are gained:
- First, the rest of the audience sees first-hand that a non-expert can actually run the
software and get to the desired endpoint or output (without crashing, running into dead-
ends, or other problems). This provides the audience with a stronger sense of proof of the
Specific Capabilities than when the vendor drives. The sense of reality is deeper; there is
less perceived risk of "smoke and mirrors".
- Second, the audience begins to feel that they can run the software, themselves. "If Bob
can do it, then certainly I can as well" This also reduces the risk of the demo
appearing to be too complex or complicated.
An additional advantage may be realized as well: the demo event becomes remarkable.
When a customer representative "drives", it is generally considered unusual. This can
cause folks afterwards to talk about the demo with others, "You should have seen the
demo today. Bob drove and it was really cool!" The result can be a very positive word-
of-mouth effect that ripples through the customer's organization.
A few pragmatic guidelines:
Work with your champion or "volunteer" ahead of time. We recommend that you
coordinate with your customer champion, if you have one, or other lead user before the
demo. You want to make sure the champion is comfortable, knows what to do and howto do it reasonably well. You may want to set up a remote session to practice.
As a further note, if your champion is really a champion, he or she will typically be very
willing to invest in the effort to "get it right". Why? Because your champion has a
significant emotional and/or business reason for the demo to go well. Additionally,
involving your champion in driving the demo increases his or her ownership in the
overall process - and this effect becomes a positive feedback loop (the more involved,
the more ownership; the more ownership, the more involved).
Another recommendation: You may want to limit your customer involvement to the "Do
It" pathway. The longer the segment, the greater is the risk of the customer
representative making a mistake.
Finally, in the case where you do not have a champion available, you can still
contemplate using an audience volunteer. You will have to give greater guidance on the
individual steps, but the effect will still be very positive. Another, more controlling way
to accomplish this is to ask the audience, while you drive, "What would be my next
step?" or "Where should I click to?" This provides you the ability to manage the
process and reduce the risk of things going wrong, but it also reduces the positive impact
of a volunteer stepping up to the mouse.
The moral: It is good when you prove your capabilities; it is great when your customer
does it!
Copyright © 2005 The Second Derivative - All Rights Reserved.
For more on presentation and demonstration effectiveness skills and methods, visit
www.SecondDerivative.com. For other articles like this, as well as tips, best
practices, tools and techniques, join the DemoGurus Community Website at
www.DemoGurus.com. For more information go to www.SecondDerivative.com or
register at www.DemoGurus.com.
1538 Winding Way
Belmont, CA 94002
Phone: +1 650 631 3694
PCohan@SecondDerivative.com
www.SecondDerivative.com
www.DemoGurus.com
Peter E. Cohan, Principal
Stand Away From The Mouse! Letting Your Champion Drive
"Stand away from the mouse and nobody will get hurt!"
Most demonstrations are executed by an expert from the vendor - the "technical person,"
"guru", "techie" or "expert". It is interesting to note that the audience is often comprised
of end-users, who are decidedly not experts.
This creates a natural misalignment between the vendor's desire to generate a vision of
"ease of use" and the customer's perception. The "Do It" pathway in a Great Demo! is
designed to help build and support this vision of ease of use. Reducing the number of
mouse clicks and moving the mouse deliberately can go a long way towards creating that
vision, but you are still at risk.
Here's a terrific way to prove "ease of use": have a customer representative do the demo.
When a customer drives the demo, or at least part of it, two key advantages are gained:
- First, the rest of the audience sees first-hand that a non-expert can actually run the
software and get to the desired endpoint or output (without crashing, running into dead-
ends, or other problems). This provides the audience with a stronger sense of proof of the
Specific Capabilities than when the vendor drives. The sense of reality is deeper; there is
less perceived risk of "smoke and mirrors".
- Second, the audience begins to feel that they can run the software, themselves. "If Bob
can do it, then certainly I can as well" This also reduces the risk of the demo
appearing to be too complex or complicated.
An additional advantage may be realized as well: the demo event becomes remarkable.
When a customer representative "drives", it is generally considered unusual. This can
cause folks afterwards to talk about the demo with others, "You should have seen the
demo today. Bob drove and it was really cool!" The result can be a very positive word-
of-mouth effect that ripples through the customer's organization.
A few pragmatic guidelines:
Work with your champion or "volunteer" ahead of time. We recommend that you
coordinate with your customer champion, if you have one, or other lead user before the
demo. You want to make sure the champion is comfortable, knows what to do and howto do it reasonably well. You may want to set up a remote session to practice.
As a further note, if your champion is really a champion, he or she will typically be very
willing to invest in the effort to "get it right". Why? Because your champion has a
significant emotional and/or business reason for the demo to go well. Additionally,
involving your champion in driving the demo increases his or her ownership in the
overall process - and this effect becomes a positive feedback loop (the more involved,
the more ownership; the more ownership, the more involved).
Another recommendation: You may want to limit your customer involvement to the "Do
It" pathway. The longer the segment, the greater is the risk of the customer
representative making a mistake.
Finally, in the case where you do not have a champion available, you can still
contemplate using an audience volunteer. You will have to give greater guidance on the
individual steps, but the effect will still be very positive. Another, more controlling way
to accomplish this is to ask the audience, while you drive, "What would be my next
step?" or "Where should I click to?" This provides you the ability to manage the
process and reduce the risk of things going wrong, but it also reduces the positive impact
of a volunteer stepping up to the mouse.
The moral: It is good when you prove your capabilities; it is great when your customer
does it!
Copyright © 2005 The Second Derivative - All Rights Reserved.
For more on presentation and demonstration effectiveness skills and methods, visit
www.SecondDerivative.com. For other articles like this, as well as tips, best
practices, tools and techniques, join the DemoGurus Community Website at
www.DemoGurus.com. For more information go to www.SecondDerivative.com or
register at www.DemoGurus.com.
