

How to demo software - danw
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/11/16.html

======
mdemare
I went to the demo in Amsterdam, and that wasn't the best venue in town: low
ceiling, bad lighting, a weird and incredibly distracting echo in the
microphone, and worst of all, it was incredibly hot.

The talk was nice, although most of what he told was in his "evidence-based
scheduling" article(<http://joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/10/26.html>). He's
really a good speaker, although he did seem a bit groggy.

I was glad to escape to the fresh november air, but fogbugz is in fact pretty
good - it's also available hosted, and free for teams up to two people
(startups!). I'm using it on my own, and I love it!

~~~
brezina
"free for teams up to two people"

I'm curious what kind of room there is for having a "team" in the under two
people category.

I'm sorry, I just found that funny.

------
crucini
> Somewhere, I dont know where, Im standing exhausted outside a hotel ballroom
> right after the umpteenth demo, and someone is giving me some ridiculous
> objection. Well, its all good and fine what FogBugz does, but we wont use
> it, because we need PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

A good salesman welcomes an objection like that. It means, "I'm ready to buy;
but first you must solve this problem!" One path forward is to ask the
prospect, "What is the biggest challenge facing you currently in project
management?" Then demonstrate how FogBugz helps with this challenge.

This assumes, of course, that FogBugz really can solve the prospect's problem.

The fact that the prospect's objection was easily overcome by another audience
member tells me that a skilled salesman would also have easily overcome it.

> Excuse me, SIR? Do you have some kind of SUDDEN AMNESIA? Traumatic HEAD
> INJURY maybe? Did you WATCH the demo?

Maybe the demo doesn't communicate as well as Joel thinks it does. A key to
sales is recognizing the prospect's needs and objections as legitimate.
Indulging in negative thoughts about the prospect distracts you from
understanding and addressing his objections.

