When it comes to demos, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of showcasing your product or service. But, as I recently learned, sometimes less is more.
I was working with my partner to land a big deal with a major insurance company in our city. We had been preparing for weeks, and our demo was impressive – too impressive, as it turned out.
We built a workflow that was so complete, so polished, that the client was blown away. But, in our enthusiasm, we made a critical mistake. We showed them too much, and they used that information to negotiate a better price with our competitors.
## The Demo That Went Too Far
We had been working on automating one of the largest pastry shops in our city, with two locations. We created a workflow that was highly efficient, with a minimal error rate, and no Python code in sight. But we wanted more. We wanted to land a deal with the biggest insurance company in town, with over 16,000 customers.
We saw our chance when we found out that the company’s annual general meeting was coming up. We knew that if we could impress them with our demo, we might just land the deal of a lifetime.
And impress them we did. Our demo was a huge success. The financial director was amazed by our bot’s ability to summarize one of their most popular policies in audio format. We were on the verge of signing a deal worth between 8,000 and 12,000 euros, with the possibility of passive monthly income.
## The Lesson Learned
But, as we soon discovered, big companies play by different rules. They’re always negotiating, always looking for the best deal. And, in our case, they used our demo against us.
So, here’s my advice: sometimes, it’s better not to show all your cards at once. Leave something to the imagination, leave them wanting more. Don’t make the same mistake we did.
## Takeaway
In the end, we learned a valuable lesson. While it’s tempting to create a demo that will blow people away, sometimes it’s better to hold back. Leave them with a lasting impression, but not so much that they can use it against you.
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*Further reading: [ Demo Best Practices](https://www.google.com/search?q=demo+best+practices)*