Build a demo that maps to the buyer's problems.
“How do I stop my demos from turning into a feature tour?”
Maps every feature you plan to show to a problem the buyer actually stated, and cuts what does not map.
What this skill does
Builds a demo script for one specific buyer, not a tour. It takes the problems the buyer stated in discovery and, for each thing you plan to show, forces a link back to one of those problems. Every moment gets a "so what" in the buyer's terms. Anything that does not map to a stated problem gets cut, because that is where demos go to die.
Inputs
- Works today with: the problems the buyer told you (paste your discovery notes) and the features you are considering showing. The skill does the mapping and the cutting.
- More powerful connected to a meeting or transcription tool: it pulls the buyer's exact quotes from the discovery call, so each feature maps to something they actually said, not something you hope they meant.
- Sharper connected to a CRM: it reads the qualification fields on the deal and orders the demo around the decision criteria that will actually get it bought.
How it works
- 1One problem per moment
Every feature you plan to show must map to exactly one problem the buyer stated. Write the problem in their words on the left, the feature on the right. If the left side is blank, the feature does not go in the demo. This is the whole discipline.
- 2The "so what" per moment
For each mapped moment, write the "so what" in the buyer's terms: what changes for them, not what the button does. "You click here" is a feature. "This is the 6 hours a week your reps stop losing" is a so-what. Illustrative, but that is the register.
- 3The cut list
Everything that did not map to a stated problem goes on an explicit cut list, so you can see what you are tempted to show and why it is dangerous. Showing it dilutes the moments that matter and invites questions you did not need.
- 4Order for the decision, not the product
Sequence the demo around the buyer's decision criteria, strongest pain first. Open on the thing that hurts most, not the thing your product happens to open on. Land the highest-stakes moment while attention is full.
- 5The feature-dump trap
The failure mode is showing everything the product does to prove it is powerful. It reads as insecure and it buries the two moments that would have closed the deal. The script names this trap explicitly and keeps you to the mapped moments.
Output format
DEMO SCRIPT · illustrative buyer
Order Stated problem (their words) Show this So what
1 "Reps lose hours building lists" Prospecting view Gives back ~6 hrs/wk/rep
2 "We can't tell what's working" Sequence analytics Kills the guesswork on cadence
3 "Handoffs drop the ball" Shared deal view Nothing slips between AE and CSM
Cut list (do not show):
- Admin settings deep-dive. No stated problem. Feature dump.
- Reporting API. Not raised. Save for a technical follow-up.
Open on moment 1. It is their loudest pain. Do not lead with the tour.
Tips
- No feature in the script without a stated buyer problem mapped to it.
- Every moment has a "so what" written in the buyer's language, not the product's.
- The cut list is shown, not hidden, so the feature-dump temptation is visible.
- The demo is ordered by pain and decision criteria, not by product menu order.
Turn a discovery call into a qualification scorecard.
Runs your call against your qualification framework, captures the deal, and names the gaps you still have to fill.
Give the deal a dated path to signature.
Builds a close plan with the champion: milestones, owners, dates, and exit criteria, written to send.