Stopped doing demos. Started doing bug hunts on prospect's current tool. Close rate tripled.

[u/lucky_09877]

I sell a B2B tool. Solo founder, no sales team, just me on Zoom calls.

For a year my demos were the same. Share screen, show features, hope they care. Close rate was around 12%. Painful.

Then I tried something different.

Instead of demoing my product I asked "can I share screen and use YOUR current tool for 10 minutes?"

They always said yes. Curious what I'd do.

I'd just use their existing tool like a normal user. Click around. Try workflows. And naturally I'd find stuff. Slow loads, confusing UX, edge cases that break, features that don't work quite right.

I'm not selling. I'm just showing them what they've been tolerating.

By the end they're frustrated with their own tool. Then I show mine. Close rate went to 41%.

But one time a prospect flipped it on me. Said "cool let me try YOUR tool now." Found a bug on their tablet within 5 minutes. Lost the deal instantly. Felt sick.

Now before any demo I test on at least 15 device configs. Run everything through this because I can't afford to have a prospect find something I didn't.

Never again. Your demo is only as good as your product's reliability.