The purpose of online demonstration
The purpose of well-developed demonstration assets is to create proof in the market that you are actually good at what you do.
Why is this important?
Firstly, the best types of clients want to work with professionals who have the right reputation.
Secondly, you’re operating in a competitive environment, your ideal clients are creating a mental or physical list of people that they will consider when the time comes to invest in a solution. You want to be as far up that consideration list as possible, because your clients start calling position ONE and work downwards.
If people don’t trust you, you’re not even considered.
If people think you’re mediocre, you’ll be last on that list.
High-value people and companies are selected to solve important problems.
How can people know that you are high-value or even world-class at your expertise when you don’t demonstrate it?
Unless it’s some sort of referral, people will never know.
Demonstration assets and winning clients
Adding to the reasons above:
Marketing is changing. We’re plummeting into an era where trust is hard to develop but easy to break down.
Without the right demonstration, it’s an uphill battle to win over people who require more trust for their projects.
This is because people make assumptions about you when there is not enough proof out in the marketplace that proves that you are exactly who you say you are.
It’s like doing a Google search and nothing showing up — people don’t have the reassurance they’re looking or hoping for.
Now, in a time where your prospects do have options, they’re going to gravitate towards those who are working at building undeniable proof that they do in fact possess the expertise and the experience required to solve big problems.
Without this proof, I’ve seen firsthand how many more units of energy and resources it requires to take prospects from cold prospects to winning them over as clients.
People are skeptical, and rightfully so. They’ve believed false claims for far too long. That’s why they will do all their own research on you. They’ll look through your content, they’ll listen to your videos or podcast episodes and they’ll make their own conclusions.
The real question is: Are you providing them with enough proof that you are the expert?
And then: *Is what they’re consuming good enough?
The point here is that demonstration helps prove that you are legitimate.
- You want to show people that you can be trusted
- It helps you establish relationships
- It helps you with a platform to educate the right people
Like all things: Execution is key.
Demonstration pathway examples
Demonstration pathways have education as a component; some examples include:
- Social posts
- Communities
- Online workshops
- Events (online and offline)
- Live trainings
- Webinars
- Digital products
- Direct offers
- Books
I would say an important key here is the experience you create inside each asset as well. Communication and delivery are components that add to the effectiveness of the asset. Technique matters.
Again: Execution is key.
Where online demonstration fits in
You invite people to join or consume your demonstration assets.
If you think about the 80/20 principle — the pareto principle — where 20% of your activities will create 80% of your results.
Only a percentage of your prospects will move forward, and that’s perfectly fine.
In sales, there is always a percentage of your total prospects that you can prioritize, because they are more likely to move forward, they’re more likely to take action.
What to get right:
- Are you solving a real, important pain for your market?
- Is the timing right?
- Are you relevant in what you say to this person?
- Do the prospects joining this have the resources and ability to make buying decisions?
You’re filling a virtual room with people who are willing to listen to you, and able to invest in themselves.
You want to focus on people who will prioritize working on the problem. Why is this important?
- Because they’ll have the mental bandwidth to do the work
- They may be more inclined to pay someone to help them because they know they cannot reclaim time spent “figuring it all out for themselves”
- They’re using their time to learn - they’re proving this by being present
Now you’re starting to see who’s serious about fixing stuff and who’s not.
Now you’re seeing who’s a good fit and who’s not.
They’re literally telling you the problem is important because they’re investing their time to learn. People don’t do that when it’s something far down on the priorities list.
So you set up the demonstration asset to filter out the 20%, the 10%, the 5% who are really hungry, who want solutions, who want to act on their problems.
Your demonstration gives you an opportunity to create this anchor. To build a virtual room where you know the people in that room are there because it means a lot to them to solve that specific problem.
This is the start of it all.
— Justin
Justin Booysen