Demand exceeds capacity
The important question is not whether a project is valuable, but whether the organisation can realistically do it now.
PPM DEMOS
Better demos forProject and portfolio management teams.
PPM buyers are trying to make trade-offs between demand, money, people and strategy. A colourful portfolio dashboard is easy to show. The hard part is proving how leaders decide what to start, what to stop and what happens when capacity or priorities change.
1,000+software demos reviewed
500+sellers trained
15+years in B2B software sales
I work with Project and portfolio management teams
01 / Buyer reality
What makes Project and portfolio management buyers different
Executives, PMO, Finance, resource managers and delivery teams all need a different level of detail from the same portfolio.
Priorities change
New executive requests, delays and budget changes can force the portfolio to be re-planned during the year.
Dependencies cross teams
A project can look green until another team, system or milestone it depends on slips.
Delivery methods differ
Traditional projects, product work and agile teams may all feed the same portfolio view.
More than skills.
DemoRamp is a complete toolkit built around three areas with ongoing guidance and coaching for long-lasting, behavioral and organisational change.
Skills
Improve your teams communication, presentation and soft skills.
- Storytelling
- Discovery
- Audience Engagement
- Objection Handling
- Managing Questions
- Confidence in Demos
- Demo Language
- How to Establish Trust
Process & Standards
Build repeatable processes and clear rules around demos.
- Entry & Exit Criteria
- AE/SE Positioning Canvas
- AE/SE Alignment
- Handoff to Sales
- Feedback Loops
- Demo Standards
Checklists, Frameworks & Templates
Practical, ready-to-use tools your team can apply in their very next demo.
- Objection Handling
- Bad & Better Demo Questions
- Demo Language
- Useful Prompts
- MEDDICC for Solution Engineers
- Demo Planning Template
- Post-Demo Feedback Template
Ready to build skills, systems and habits?Book a free 20-minute call
02 / Demo challenges
Where Project and portfolio management demos usually go wrong
Where PPM demos usually go wrong. Here are the patterns that come up again and again.
Main challenge
Portfolio reporting without decision context
Showing a beautiful portfolio dashboard without showing the decision that created the portfolio in the first place.
Using data where every project has a current status, clean estimate and clear owner
Real portfolio data is often incomplete or late.
Treating capacity as a simple headcount
Treating capacity as a simple headcount number instead of showing skills, teams, existing work and competing demand.
Showing dependencies as lines on a
Showing dependencies as lines on a roadmap without showing how one delay changes another commitment.
Running scenario planning without clear decision
Running scenario planning without clear decision criteria such as strategic fit, cost, risk or resource capacity.
03 / What buyers need to see
Your demo has to prove the right things.
Not every workflow deserves equal time. These are the things that matter most to Project and portfolio management buyers.
Add a new demand item and
Add a new demand item and show what happens when current capacity cannot absorb it.
Compare two portfolio scenarios and make
Compare two portfolio scenarios and make the trade-offs in money, people and strategic value visible.
Move a milestone or dependency and
Move a milestone or dependency and show which other commitments are affected.
Connect the executive portfolio view to
Connect the executive portfolio view to real delivery data without pretending every team works the same way.
Show forecast, budget and actuals together
Show forecast, budget and actuals together so leaders can see the financial impact of a portfolio decision.
Where do you want to start?
Start wherever makes sense for your team’s maturity level. You don’t have to decide everything now. We can always expand later.
How good are our demos?
FreeFree Demo Review
Let’s start by reviewing a handful of your recorded demos, to see how you’re doing and where you need the most support.
See Demo ReviewHow can we see results from the very next demo?
Quick winDemo Skills Workshop
Quick tips and better habits your team can use in the very next demo.
See Skills WorkshopHow do we make sure that everyone follows the same best practices?
Recommended90-Day Demo Performance Accelerator
A full training and coaching program with guaranteed results, and your sales team involved.
See 90-Day Accelerator
Also on its own: ENGAGED™ Demo WorkshopDemo Feedback ServiceOnline Demo CoursesCompare the options
04 / Proof
Relevant experience in Project and portfolio management
PMO and portfolio teams can get pulled into scoring models, fields, resource rules and reporting structures. The demo should first make the portfolio decision or capacity problem clear before showing every way the system can be configured.
“The demos that win are the ones that make the buyer’s real problem obvious first, and only then go deep into the detail.”Max LüpertzFounder, Presales Rockstars
1,000+demos reviewed
500+sellers trained
15+years in B2B software
Great Demo!certified coach
Grab your free resources.
Cheat sheets, checklists and guides to apply in your very next demo.
PDF · 1.3 MB10 Engaging Demo Questions
Meaningful and engaging demo questions beyond "Does that make sense?"
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PDF · 1.2 MBObjection Handling Cheat Sheet for SEs
The most common objections and how to handle them
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PDF · 246 KB54 Bad and Better Demo Questions
Detailed list of what questions (not) to ask during your demo
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PDF · 1.7 MB5 Quick Wins for Your Demo
5 ready to implement steps that will improve your demo and demo process right away
Download![[Mini Ebook] How to gain your customers trust](/images/resources/resource-5.webp)
PDF · 1.7 MB[Mini Ebook] How to gain your customers trust
How to build real trust with your clients by taking a genuine interest in their unknown challenges
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PDF · 1.9 MBMEDDPICC Guide for SEs
Everything you need to know about MEDDPICC as a Solution Engineer
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PDF · 126 KBDemo Entry & Exit Criteria
How to make sure that every demo request you and your team receives is properly qualified
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PNG · 102 KBStages of Your Customer Buying Journey
Understand your customers buying journey and what kind of input they need from you at every stage
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PDF · 657 KBDemo Preparation & AE Alignment Checklist
How to better align internally on your demo objectives and narrative to make every demo count
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PDF · 118 KBHow to Establish Trust in your Demo
Behaviours that make your customers trust you; or break it.
DownloadWant to make your PPM demos about real decisions?Let’s move beyond portfolio dashboards and show how your product helps leaders make hard trade-offs with limited capacity.