Explanation
According to the Cisco Design Zone website1, an SE's demo process should include the following activities:
Identifying which capabilities require demonstration: The SE should understand the customer's business objectives, pain points, and technical requirements, and map them to the relevant Cisco solutions and capabilities. The SE should also prioritize the most important and impactful features and benefits that address the customer's needs and challenges, and plan the demo accordingly. The SE should avoid showing irrelevant or unnecessary features that may confuse or distract the customer12.
Determining whether the customer would like to dive deeper during a follow-up: The SE should use the demo as an opportunity to engage the customer in a dialogue, solicit feedback, and gauge the customer's interest and satisfaction. The SE should also identify any gaps or questions that the customer may have, and offer to provide more information or a deeper dive during a follow-up session. The SE should also ask for the customer's permission to schedule a follow-up meeting or call, and confirm the next steps and actions13.
The other activities are not recommended or necessary during an SE's demo process, because:
Highlighting opportunities that although not currently within scope would result in lower operational costs and complexity: The SE should focus on the customer's current scope and needs, and not try to upsell or cross-sell other solutions or services that are not relevant or requested by the customer. The SE should also respect the customer's budget and timeline, and not introduce additional costs or complexity that may jeopardize the deal or the relationship1 .
Asking the customer to provide network drawings or white board the environment for you: The SE should prepare for the demo by doing the necessary research and discovery before the meeting, and not rely on the customer to provide the information or draw the network for them. The SE should also demonstrate their expertise and credibility by showing their knowledge of the customer's environment and challenges, and not ask the customer to do their work for them1 .
Leveraging a company such as Complete Communications to build a financial case: The SE should not outsource or delegate the financial analysis or justification of the solution to a third-party company, as this may undermine the SE's role and value, and create a dependency or risk for the deal. The SE should also use the Cisco tools and resources available to them, such as the Business Value Calculator, to build a financial case and show the return on investment and total cost of ownership of the solution1 .
References:
1: Cisco Design Zone 2: [Cisco Demo Best Practices], page 3 3: [Cisco Demo Best Practices], page 6 : [Cisco Demo Best Practices], page 4 : [Cisco Demo Best Practices], page 2 : [Cisco Demo Best Practices], page 5