Five Big Mistakes People Make With Social Data Tech Demos

Oh the good old demo. Where would we be without them?

If you’re new to social intelligence, looking to up your game or shift your focus, a tech demo is the simplest, perhaps only, way of getting to know the tools you’ll need. It’s a great idea - see under the bonnet and behind the scenes before signing.

Sit back, relax and scrutinise. Easy. You can’t do demos wrong can you?

Afraid you kinda can. Here are five mistakes we see people making all too often.

Going in open to anything

While it’s great to be open minded and have a desire to learn, going into a demo without a plan for what you want to get out of it is risky.  You’ll be walked around some sleek and shiny tech and probably come out thinking ‘wow that’s cool’ but not much else - ultimately still unaware of what the tool can help you with. A bit of work upfront to understand what you want from a tool, and your social intelligence programme generally, makes a big difference.

Thinking it’s all about them

Going in too open goes hand in hand with another big mistake - thinking demos are all about the tool being demo’d. These days tools do far more than a demo has time for so you want to get into the relevant stuff as soon as possible. Instead of going in thinking ‘let’s just see what they do’, try ‘let’s see what they can do for me’.

Not asking the right questions

You get to the stage of the demo: ‘have you got any questions’ and yes, of course you do. Maybe lot of questions. Typically, questions will focus on the functions of the tool and what you’ve been shown, details about how it all works. The intricacies of the functions of the tool - the how and what - can wait (you’ll get plenty of support if you purchase). What you want to know now is why. If you haven’t already, this is the time to widen the conversation to understand contexts and use cases, not to focus on the little things.

Demo’ing at the wrong time…

Despite what the sales copy would have you believe, demos aren’t usually the best place to start when you’re considering tech. Your journey will depend on what stage you’re at and your goals but we’d recommend putting demos in somewhere after research and preparation. And same point as before - there’s little point in doing a demo just for the sake of it.  Too often it gets squeezed into your calendar at the end of a long day or after a tiring workshop.

…and only demo’ing

Nor is a demo the end of the technology hunt. Those doing things well realise that conversation is still really important. A demo should be the start of a conversation, not the end of a shopping spree.

Forgetting they’re not in the driving seat

Tech demos are designed for a specific purpose. They’re scripted, rehearsed and do a great job of showing awesome stuff. The assumption people make is that a demo is an example of the way the tech is going to work for you. It’s a fashion show, a simulation, a first date. The tool’s rep is the one in control… It’s easy to fall in love, right?  

And the bonus. Thinking the tool is the answer.

A demo is not going to tell you how to do social intelligence. In fact, the tool itself, however swanky, won’t do the job for you. It’s not about the tool providing the insight, you need a human. We can be way too tech obsessed.

We’re trying to fix the demo problem by doing it differently.

There are hundreds of social data tech solutions (*literally hundreds, you can search our directory of them here). So no wonder it’s a hard decision. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to test a load of them in one single day, know who’s doing what, and get the decision done?

What about getting inside knowledge on the questions you should be asking tech and how to choose a social data tool?

We’re holding a Tech Demo Day on 18th June. We’ve insisted that all the demos have a focus on real world case studies and lined up some awesome speaker experts to give their top tips on choosing the right tool and the RFP process. Sign up here.

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