The Ignition Demo: A Conversation with Peter Cohan

I sat down with Peter Cohan, renown sales coach and author of the Great Demo! presales skills training methodology. In our discussion, Peter shared the Ignition Demo, a "new type of vision generation demo that provides the spark for the engine that drives the prospect’s journey to becoming a customer". We spoke about the importance of a high-level, yet tailored, overview demonstration that excites a prospect to take the next step in the buying process.

Nearly 50% of prospects evaluating vendors are "just browsing" without a clear intent to buy today. However, this means that the modern sales qualification process qualifies out this group before they ever have a change to get eyes on your product. Peter says that this immediate disqualification leads to a bad taste for future interactions, and when this group is ready to buy software, they will look towards your competitors instead.

In addition, Peter and I discussed:

• The right level of detail for this Ignition Demo
• The dangers of ignoring the "just browsing" crowd
• The "harbor tour demo" and the shortcomings of the explainer video
• The changing role of the SDR and AE when it comes to demo ownership