The Winning Demo and Follow-Up Formula for Closing More Deals

Let’s be honest—anyone can show a product. But not everyone can sell it.

Back when we first launched WISK, our demo process was decent. We had a clean deck, a reliable walkthrough, and a solid product. But too often, the calls ended with:

“Thanks, I’ll take a look and get back to you.”

Sound familiar?

After hundreds of demos and countless follow-ups, we realized something critical:
The best demo doesn’t feel like a demo at all.

It feels like a collaboration. A working session. A trusted conversation that helps the operator see how their problems can be solved in their context—today.

In this edition, I’ll break down how we restructured our demo strategy, refined our follow-ups, and created a playbook that consistently converts interest into action—especially in an industry where timing, trust, and pain points vary wildly from one operator to another.

Rethinking the Demo: From Feature Dump to Problem Solver

Early on, we made the classic mistake: we focused too much on what WISK did, and not enough on why it mattered to the operator on the other side of the screen.

So we flipped the script.

Here’s how we approach every demo today:

🔍 Step 1: Research Before the Call

Before we hop on a call, we do our homework:

• Check out their venue type, POS system, menu style, and even recent press or social media mentions.
  

• Understand whether they're bar-heavy, food-heavy, multi-unit, or just starting out.

Look for clues in their job titles—are we speaking to the owner? The GM? The controller?

This helps us shape the conversation with context, not assumptions.

🎯 Step 2: Anchor the Conversation Around Their Pain

The first 10 minutes of our demo isn’t a demo at all. It’s a discovery session.

We ask things like:

• “What’s taking up the most time in your weekly operations?”
  

• “How are you currently tracking inventory or recipe costs?”

“Where are things falling through the cracks?”

Their answers drive what we show next.

📊 Step 3: Show the Future, Not Just the Features

Instead of walking through every button and tab, we paint the picture:

• “Here’s how you’ll cut 10 hours of inventory work each week.”
  

• “Here’s where you’ll catch overpouring or shrinkage in real time.”
  

• “This dashboard? It tells your GM exactly where costs are drifting—before it hits your P&L.”

We make it real. We make it immediate. And most importantly—we make it about them.

The Follow-Up: Where the Deal Is Won or Lost

If the demo builds trust, the follow-up builds momentum.

And yet, most follow-ups sound like this:

“Hey, just following up on our demo. Let me know if you have any questions!”

We used to send those. They rarely worked.

Now, we treat follow-ups like mini-conversations that continue the story.

Here’s our cadence:

✅ Same Day Follow-Up (Within 6 Hours)

• Short recap of 2–3 key pain points discussed on the call
  

• A Loom video walking through the exact features relevant to them

Bonus: a screenshot of their favorite dashboard with a note:

“Imagine seeing this every Monday morning before service starts.”

📅 Day 2–3 Follow-Up

• Send a case study that mirrors their venue or group size

Include a customer quote or metric they can relate to
“Like you, [Venue X] had high variance. Within 30 days, they brought it down by 4.7%.”

📈 End of Week Follow-Up

• If no reply yet, share something valuable:

  • A relevant podcast episode

  • A short industry trend (e.g., “Why inventory-first systems are outperforming POS-based tracking”)

  • A new feature launch they might want early access to

The key? Every touchpoint adds value.

No fluff. No spammy "just checking in" messages.

The Tools Behind the Process

We’re not using 15 different platforms to make this happen. Here’s our simple stack:

• Calendly – for frictionless scheduling

• Loom – for hyper-personalized follow-ups

• Pipedrive – for tracking email opens, demo views, and deal stages

• Notion – where we house demo frameworks, playbooks, and objection-handling guides

Slack – for instant alerts when prospects re-engage (we celebrate this stuff like wins)

And one of the most underrated tools?

Our podcast.

Sometimes a follow-up is just,

“By the way, our latest episode features a GM who tackled the exact issue you mentioned.”

The Impact on Our Close Rate

Since we implemented this new strategy, we’ve seen some pretty noticeable shifts:

• Faster closes – Especially when the recap + case study combo lands well

• Fewer no-shows – Our pre-demo prep builds early buy-in

• Higher average deal size – Because we’re no longer “selling,” we’re solving

It’s not about pushing people through the funnel faster—it’s about making each step feel purposeful.

Takeaways for Anyone Running Demos

Whether you're selling software, services, or solutions, here's what I’d say:

• Start with empathy, not slides.

• Make your product a supporting actor, not the star.

• Personalize everything—especially post-call.

• Don’t follow up just to “stay top of mind.” Follow up to move the deal forward.

You’re not selling a platform. You’re helping someone make a decision that will affect their team, time, and bottom line. Treat it with that level of care.

Want to See It in Action?

If you want to see how we demo WISK—or want our follow-up email templates—just reply and I’ll send them over.

And if you’re currently evaluating inventory management tools for your restaurant group, here’s our Demo on Demand link or book a custom walkthrough tailored to your operation.

No hard sell. Just a helpful chat.