Entry & Exit Criteria for Software Demos - Maximize your Chances for Success

TLDR: Many presales teams and sales orgs struggle with unqualified demo requests. This causes problems like lower demo conversion and wasting valuable presales resources on unqualified opportunities. As a result, deals often stall after the demo. Entry and exit criteria help control demo quality, focusing resources on promising opportunities based on key information that need to be discovered before the demo. Exit criteria ensure you cover all important topics and resolve all objections during the demo stage, before moving an opportunity to the next sales stage.

Think of your sales process like a well-oiled machine. Without specific protocols, the machine might work, but it won't be efficient or reliable.

That's where entry and exit criteria come into play to ensure that your sales process follows a repeatable framework and has minimum quality metrics, so the machine keeps going and going and going.

Entry and exit criteria usually apply to any sales stage whenever you move from one stage to another. In this article, we are looking specifically at the most important conditions that ensure your software demos are set for success, and that in presales and solution engineering, you have all the relevant insights to make your demos count and deliver great customer value.

At the same time, the exit criteria provide guardrails to help you understand what makes a successful demo, and how to maximize your chances for success by ticking off all boxes. But be careful: ticking off boxes does not help, hence, we will go into the importance of making all conditions customer centric, embedding customer feedback whenever possible.

What are Entry and Exit Criteria?

Entry criteria are the specific conditions that must be met before you proceed with a software demo. They ensure that the demo is qualified, relevant, targeted, and likely to be effective.

Exit criteria, on the other hand, define what must be achieved by the end of the demo to consider it successful and move the sales process forward.

Usually, they would show up as mandatory fields and checklists that you would need to fill in whenever you or the seller moves an opportunity from one stage to another.

Entry and Exit Criteria for entering and exiting the Demo Stage

Below, please find a list of entry and exit criteria, which have specifically been designed to make demos as effective as possible, and avoid any "spray and pray" approach.

These criteria require a close collaborations between sales and presales / solution engineering, as both parties are supposed to provide input and take ownership of certain conditions.

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Why Entry and Exit Criteria Matter

Increase Pipeline Quality:

• Entry Criteria: By setting a high bar for what constitutes a qualified lead, you're ensuring that your sales team's efforts are focused on the most promising prospects. This means less time wasted on unlikely deals and more time closing the ones that count.
• Exit Criteria: They help in objectively assessing whether a prospect is ready to move forward in the sales process or if they need more nurturing. This approach prevents clogging your pipeline with stagnant deals.

Establish a Repeatable Framework:

• Consistency is Key: Entry and exit criteria standardize your approach, making your sales process more predictable and manageable. This repeatability is crucial for scaling your sales and presales operations effectively.
• Training and Onboarding: New team members can quickly understand and replicate the successful demo process, ensuring a uniform customer experience regardless of who's qualifying and leading the demo.

Standard Quality Requirements:

• Maintaining High Standards: Entry criteria ensure that every demo meets a baseline of quality and relevance, which reflects positively on your brand and increases the likelihood of success.
• Measurable Outcomes: Exit criteria provide clear metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of each demo, allowing for continuous improvement and adaptation to changing market needs.

Make your Entry- and Exit Criteria Customer Centric

It's crucial to emphasize that all entry and exit criteria should be deeply rooted in customer-centricity. This means going beyond just ticking off a task; it involves creating a feedback loop with the customer.

For instance, rather than simply concluding a demo with a scheduled follow-up, integrate a step where the customer explicitly acknowledges their understanding or interest.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of simply ticking off tasks and boxes. While this approach might give the illusion of progress, it's often ineffective if it doesn't involve direct customer feedback. Just going through the motions without engaging the customer is akin to sailing without a compass; you might move, but you're not necessarily headed in the right direction.

The key is not the quantity of actions but their quality, especially in terms of incorporating customer feedback. This means transforming every interaction into an opportunity for dialogue and understanding.

Instead of just completing a demo and scheduling the next meeting, take the time to ask meaningful questions and truly listen to the responses. It’s about creating a space where customers feel comfortable sharing their honest thoughts and concerns. This level of engagement provides deeper insights into their needs and expectations, enabling you to tailor your approach more effectively.

The Bottom Line:

Entry and exit criteria turn your demos into a strategic tool rather than just a feature showcase. They keep your sales process disciplined and customer-centric, ensuring you're not just flying blind but navigating towards a successful deal.

Implementing robust entry and exit criteria in your software demos isn't just about following a process; it's about enhancing the quality of your pipeline, creating a repeatable and scalable sales framework, and maintaining a high standard of quality in every interaction.

What you might have missed:

• Ignorance and Curiosity - Your Secret Presales Superpower
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• How to (not) respond to demo questions, feat Harry Potter
• 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀: 𝗔 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘃𝘀. 𝗘𝗻𝗱-𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀

I'm Max, and I help solution and pre-sales engineers achieve more in their careers. My background in sales, pre-sales, and team leadership allows me to offer unique insights that go beyond product knowledge. My focus is on equipping you with the skills to be exceptionally effective in your customer interactions, enhancing both your personal growth and customer success.