How to close the technical win with AEs and SEs

Context switching is real. And it's a silent rule-changer. Here’s why it matters. Sales engineers juggle calls and demos. They soak up details on every account and deal. They shift from one task to the next. And guess what? They can’t always recall Monday’s prep call by Friday’s demo. So if you’re booking a meeting, and you see your SE’s calendar packed, know this: grabbing that one open slot might not help them deliver their best. They need room to think about what's next, not what's three demos away. Give SEs the time to focus on the next demo. You'll get a next-level result. Make space for quality

Don’t wait until the end of your demo to check with your customers whether or not you have ticked all their requirements. Because along the way, they will very likely miss half of their requirements if you don’t call them out as you go. So instead of waking up your AE at the end of the demo to conclude, tick the boxes as you go. Call them out whenever you finish presenting a solution to their problem. Or at the end of every demo segment. Make progress visible. And don’t leave it to chance that your customer will automatically understand everything while you continue talking and clicking for 60, 90, or even more minutes.

My successful closes come from this demo structure Great demos don’t start when the call begins - they start with preparation. The right prep turns a regular walkthrough into a powerful conversation that builds trust, highlights value, and drives action. Yet most reps still wing it. That’s why I built this Demo Call Prep Checklist - based on Reply’s real call structure and what actually works in our sales conversations. It breaks down the 6 key steps to get ready for your next demo - complete with Reply examples you can model today. -------- 👉 Save this post and use it before your next sales conversation.

#ThrowbackThursday to a great webinar discussing quality that scales with Axel Strombergsson, M.Sc., Michel E. Moravia, MBA, MSE, Nicolle Cannon, and Ross Bundy. Some key takeaways from the event: Treat distributors as coverage multipliers, not a replacement for your own selling and customer stewardship. ✅ Give them the tools to win - training, demo scripts, competitive positioning, and current collateral - and enforce clear rules of engagement (territories, lead registration, deal ownership, discount guardrails) to prevent channel conflict. ✅ Define post-sale responsibilities up front (install, training, first-line support, RMA turnaround) and maintain a direct escalation path so issues are resolved fast and feedback flows back into your roadmap. Done well, early placements convert into repeat orders and referrals rather than one-off wins - Interested in learning more? Watch the full video here: https://lnkd.in/ed2rccmZ

The purpose of a demo should be to confirm alignment, not to perform. If the buyer doesn’t leave with clarity on how this solves their pain, fits into their workflow, and actually improves their day-to-day then the demo failed, no matter how “slick” it looked. Too often, a demo becomes a feature tour instead of a conversation. The vendor shows what they can do instead of what the buyer needs done. And most just schedule them because that’s “how the process works.” At candidate.fyi, we don’t rush to demos without understanding the impact. Our goal is to use your time to demonstrate how we can drive real outcomes for your team and ultimately earn your partnership, not just your attention. If you are on an initial sales call and a vendor is eager to demo. RUN.

“The Discovery Trap” – A Lesson from Pre-Sales Theme: Discovery meetings often focus on what customers are asking for rather than why they need it. Hook: “Early in my presales career, I made the mistake of jumping straight into solutions. I’d leave the room feeling confident… until the deal stalled.” Insight: Share how shifting from feature-based discovery to understanding business drivers completely changed your win rate. Takeaway: “The best technical conversations aren’t about speeds and feeds — they’re about business impact.”

Forget BANT. You should be looking for Zebras. I was in outsourced sales for almost 10 years, running hundreds of motions for Fortune-500 companies. I've used BANT, MEDDIC, MEDDPICC, Challenger....you name it. It took this job - and chasing our Expert Language Model construct - for me to run into my ATF qualification methodology. A customer asked us to adjust their ELM qualification logic to reflect the "Zebra methodology" - and we did. After a little homework to find out what the reference meant. In Jeffrey Koser's book on the topic, a “zebra” is the perfect-fit customer, the one you’re built to serve, where your win rate is highest, and the value is undeniable. Chasing anything else just bloats the pipeline, drags out cycles, and wastes time. I've walked into hundreds of sales consultation / transformation meetings, and communicated my controversial belief that losing fast is the most important goal for a sales team. Think of all the waste that goes into finishing second slowly. Find your zebras. Go all in. That’s how you win more deals, faster.

Your demo died before you even opened your laptop. Why? Because you walked into that room without reading it first. Look, I've watched AEs bomb perfectly good deals because they treated every demo like it's the same conversation. It's not. The executive who booked 15 minutes to "see what this is about" needs a completely different experience than the end-user who's been forced into this meeting by their boss. Here's what most reps miss: 1) The room tells you everything Inbound call where they found you? They're already interested. Don't oversell. Outbound call where you're interrupting their day? Earn credibility first, product second. C-suite meeting? They want vision, not features. Competitive situation? Show gaps, not capabilities. 2) The audience changes the entire script IT wants to know you won't break their stuff. End-users want to know you won't make their Tuesday worse. Executives want to know you're worth their political capital. Same product. Totally different conversations. Yet most AEs use the exact same deck for all three. Then wonder why deals stall. Stop demoing your product. Start reading your room. Follow me Andrew Mewborn for more content like this.

A few years ago, I put together some thoughts on solution presentations. The post captured my observations on the state of product pitches and demos. In it, I provide my suggestions on how to improve them. ...and yes, it does include the phrase, "show up and throw up." https://lnkd.in/gyMGaNX6

Cold calling taught me more about confidence, communication, and discipline than anything else ever could. Now I lead a team of 12 SDRs who are out here every day making noise, booking demos, and proving what happens when you keep it simple and stay consistent. If you’ve ever thought about getting into sales or want to learn how to win as an SDR, this video is for you. 🎥 Watch the full video on YouTube — Branden Wilson.