The Ultimate Guide to Crafting a Winning Demo Request Email

Reaching out to prospective customers with a demo invitation is a key part of the sales process. The initial demo request email is your opportunity to spark interest in your product or service, introduce your solution, and schedule time to show its capabilities. An excellent demo request email can lead to productive sales conversations and help you gain new customers. Here are some tips for crafting the perfect demo request email template.

Do Your Research

Before reaching out to a prospect:

1. Research their company and their key verticals.
2. Check out their website to understand their products/services, customers, and business goals.
3. See if they mention any challenges or initiatives you can address.
4. Look for news articles about the company announcing new funding rounds, product launches, partnerships, or anything else notable.

The more context you have about the prospect, the more tailored you can make your demo invitation. Mention some details from your research to show you did your homework before contacting them.

Highlight the Prospect's Needs

Explain how your offering may be able to help address those needs. For example, you may say, "I understand you're looking for a solution to help onboard new clients more efficiently. Our platform can fully automate your onboarding workflows and documentation." Conveying your solution's relevance to their needs establishes credibility and garners enthusiasm for learning more. Discuss a few specific challenges and how your solution benefits may relate. But keep things concise; you want to save the details for a product demonstration.

Share Benefits and Features

Briefly highlight some of the key benefits, features, and capabilities of your offering. Focus on what would be most relevant and compelling for that prospect. For example, if reducing costs is a priority, emphasize how your solution can save them money. If security is critical, highlight specific security and compliance protocols you follow. Share how current customers are leveraging key features and the benefits they've achieved. A few sentences on your most important benefits and how they relate to the prospect's needs is sufficient. You want to give them a sense of what your solution offers but avoid an exhaustive list of every bell and whistle.

Request a Demo and Next Steps

Directly ask the prospect if they want to see your solution's live demo. For example, "Would you be interested in scheduling a 30 to 60-minute call for a personal demonstration of our platform and how it can help your business?" Provide some potential dates and times you have available for the demo. Ask if there are others from the organization who should participate, such as key team members or department heads. Communicate the requested next steps to set up the demo. The more complex your solution, the more people you may want to invite. But for a short initial intro, keeping the group small may make sense. You can always invite others to future demos and discussion calls.

Address Any Questions or Concerns

Invite the prospect to ask any questions they may have about your solution, company, implementation process, or customer experiences. Let them know you're happy to provide more details and have a productive discussion about their needs and concerns. Questions they ask can also help guide what you focus on in the product demonstration. Offer reassurance that you are there to answer questions openly and honestly and want them to feel fully informed. Your willingness to be transparent from the first conversation can help build trust in the relationship.

Thank Them for Their Time

As you close out your email, thank the prospect again for their time and interest in learning more about your solution. Express your appreciation for the opportunity to connect and schedule a demonstration for them. Say something like, "Thank you again for your time. I look forward to speaking with you further about how we can help achieve your business goals." A simple thank you can make a good first impression and help build a positive relationship with a potential new customer.

Use Interactive Product Demo Tools

In addition to simply requesting a demo call, consider using interactive product demonstration tools to visually showcase your solution. These tools allow prospects to see your offering in action within an interactive demo environment, making the experience more engaging and impactful. One popular product demo solution is Folio. Folio lets you create and embed live, interactive product tours directly in your demo request email. Prospects can then click a button within the email to launch an in-browser demo that walks them through key features and capabilities of your product in a self-guided fashion.Using Folio or a similar product demo tool in your demo invitation emails has several benefits:

• Prospects can view the demo at their convenience. They are not tied to your schedule for an initial live call.
• The interactive format makes the demonstration experience more personalized and memorable. Prospects can click, tap, and explore at their own pace.
• It gives prospects a feel for your product's user experience before any live discussion. This helps set the right expectations going into your conversation.
• If prospects have any questions after viewing the demo, they can then follow up to schedule a live call where you can dive deeper and address any concerns.

If you are new to such tools, consider using Folio to launch demo tours directly from your initial demo email. An interactive product demonstration can help generate more interest and prepare prospects to have a productive discussion on a follow-up call.

Conclusion

With a well-crafted demo request email, you can entice prospects to want to see more of your offering in action. Do your research, highlight their key needs, share compelling benefits, and make it easy for them to schedule a call. Be open to addressing any initial questions. And, of course, express gratitude for their time and consideration. These best practices will make your demo invitation emails more impactful and effective, leading to more productive sales conversations and new customer wins.

Credit: Cover Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash