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As the saying goes: "seeing is believing". Therefore, a software demo is critical step in the B2B customer decision journey when evaluating and purchasing a software solution. As an example, have you ever visited a software expo or trade show? Then you may have experienced multiple vendors trying to attract you to their company's booth. As soon as you stand in front of their display screen, a software rep immediately starts to maneuver across the screen, showing feature after feature of their great product. Too often, they forget to first ask about the purpose of your visit, your needs or challenges with current solutions and how you envision an ideal software solution would look like for your organization. If any of these scenarios sound familiar - either as a software vendor sharing a demo with a potential client or as a participant viewing a walk-through of a vendor's software solution - then I invite you to read further!   

I have attended a lot of software demos over the years as Solution Manager at HP and Xerox. Many of them were great, but some of the demos followed a common script: a team usually consisting of an account manager and a technical specialist (e.g. pre-sales consultant) hosts the online meeting. The account manager is responsible for relationship - building; the technical specialist  demos the software and answers technical questions. The account manager starts the interaction with an introduction of the company, sharing some facts such as number of employees, their office locations and a “who’s who” list of the software company’s partners. During the demo's "storyline", the technical specialist follows a fairly generic demo script and displays a dizzying array of killer features. At the end of the demo, you may feel rather confused - and perhaps  a bit bored? Have you ever thought after a demo “This is a waste of my time?”. This can often be a showstopper in developing a relationship with that software vendor. 

• RFPs are a great source of information about customers` objectives, providing insight on the decision process and clearly outlining customers needs and requirements
  
• Applying resources to capture and analyze RFP data can reap big benefits, providing valuable insights for marketing and product management and improving future RFP win rates for your sales teams

Unlike consumers who typically have a less structured approach to purchases, enterprises and public sector organizations explicitly and publicly document their "wants" and requirements through Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and other forms of requests to tender. [1]

RFPs are structured methods for public and non-public organizations to receive competitive bids for needed products and services and thus every month, thousands of RFPs are posted on the internet and /or send directly to selected vendors. The RFP process is meant to bring structure and transparency to the procurement decision, while reducing risk through open requirements and discussion.

Sales personnel and bid management teams spend a considerable amount of effort in answering customer questions and preparing an offer. However what happens after the sales team completes the RFP? Too often, not much, as sales and bid teams turn their focus to the next RFP.

RFPs are a great source of information about a customer’s objectives, their evaluation and decision process, and the customer’s needs and requirements – providing you with Voice of the Customer (VoC ) insight [2] .

Summary

In mature markets, differentiation on a product level is not easy to achieve. However, there is a lot of differentiation potential in the context of how you engage with your customers, in the ability to build relationships and evaluate customer needs, and finally in how you combine and deliver products and services to develop a solution which addresses customer needs and delivers the expected business outcomes.

How to build a business plan as a foundation for a successful partnership -  a quick guide for software vendors

 A strong business plan is key for a successful partnership between independent software vendors (further: ISVs) and their partners: re-sellers and service partners such as Value-Added Resellers (VARs), Technology-, OEM Partners, or other ISVs that build solutions on top of, or integrate with the vendor’s platform.  The time spent on developing the joint business plan is a great investment which lays the foundation for a lasting and successful relationship. The business plan helps to clarify if the collaboration creates the necessary win-win-win situation for customers, for the vendor and for the partner based on a unique and differentiated value proposition generated by the cooperation..