3 ms·

How to demo software

44 points by danw 19y ago

mdemare 19y ago
I went to the demo in Amsterdam, and that wasn't the best venue in town: low ceiling, bad lighting, a weird and incredibly distracting echo in the microphone, and worst of all, it was incredibly hot. The talk was nice, although most of what he told was in his "evidence-based scheduling" article(http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/10/26.html http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/10/26.html). He's really a good speaker, although he did seem a bit groggy. I was glad to escape to the fresh november air, but fogbugz is in fact pretty good - it's also available hosted, and free for teams up to two people (startups!). I'm using it on my own, and I love it!
- brezina 19y ago
  "free for teams up to two people" I'm curious what kind of room there is for having a "team" in the under two people category. I'm sorry, I just found that funny.
crucini 19y ago
> Somewhere, I dont know where, Im standing exhausted outside a hotel ballroom right after the umpteenth demo, and someone is giving me some ridiculous objection. Well, its all good and fine what FogBugz does, but we wont use it, because we need PROJECT MANAGEMENT. A good salesman welcomes an objection like that. It means, "I'm ready to buy; but first you must solve this problem!" One path forward is to ask the prospect, "What is the biggest challenge facing you currently in project management?" Then demonstrate how FogBugz helps with this challenge. This assumes, of course, that FogBugz really can solve the prospect's problem. The fact that the prospect's objection was easily overcome by another audience member tells me that a skilled salesman would also have easily overcome it. > Excuse me, SIR? Do you have some kind of SUDDEN AMNESIA? Traumatic HEAD INJURY maybe? Did you WATCH the demo? Maybe the demo doesn't communicate as well as Joel thinks it does. A key to sales is recognizing the prospect's needs and objections as legitimate. Indulging in negative thoughts about the prospect distracts you from understanding and addressing his objections.

44 points by danw 19y ago

I went to the demo in Amsterdam, and that wasn't the best venue in town: low ceiling, bad lighting, a weird and incredibly distracting echo in the microphone, and worst of all, it was incredibly hot. The talk was nice, although most of what he told was in his "evidence-based scheduling" article(http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/10/26.html http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/10/26.html). He's really a good speaker, although he did seem a bit groggy. I was glad to escape to the fresh november air, but fogbugz is in fact pretty good - it's also available hosted, and free for teams up to two people (startups!). I'm using it on my own, and I love it!

brezina 19y ago
"free for teams up to two people" I'm curious what kind of room there is for having a "team" in the under two people category. I'm sorry, I just found that funny.

crucini 19y ago

> Somewhere, I dont know where, Im standing exhausted outside a hotel ballroom right after the umpteenth demo, and someone is giving me some ridiculous objection. Well, its all good and fine what FogBugz does, but we wont use it, because we need PROJECT MANAGEMENT. A good salesman welcomes an objection like that. It means, "I'm ready to buy; but first you must solve this problem!" One path forward is to ask the prospect, "What is the biggest challenge facing you currently in project management?" Then demonstrate how FogBugz helps with this challenge. This assumes, of course, that FogBugz really can solve the prospect's problem. The fact that the prospect's objection was easily overcome by another audience member tells me that a skilled salesman would also have easily overcome it. > Excuse me, SIR? Do you have some kind of SUDDEN AMNESIA? Traumatic HEAD INJURY maybe? Did you WATCH the demo? Maybe the demo doesn't communicate as well as Joel thinks it does. A key to sales is recognizing the prospect's needs and objections as legitimate. Indulging in negative thoughts about the prospect distracts you from understanding and addressing his objections.