The B2B Demo World Is Changing According to “The Rule of 24”

Our attention spans are getting shorter. Very few people would dispute that fact. Those that would dispute it… well, they probably would get bored and move onto something else halfway through.

In the B2B world, this trend has affected those who sell their solutions through product demonstrations and presentations. Whereas you used to have weeks at a time to prepare a demonstration, schedule it, present it, and handle follow-up questions, you now have just a few hours. In fact, some people have just a few seconds to make their impact.

Trading out long presentations for short demo videos can solve this problem, especially when combined with demo video automation solutions.

“The Rule of 24” Makes B2B Sales Demonstrations Harder

We at 2Win! have started referring to the dwindling attention span phenomenon as the “Rule of 24.” Just one or two decades ago, having around 24 days was the norm for the demonstration phase of the sales cycle. Then, an oversaturation of available solutions covering more business pain points than ever — combined with an increasingly busy schedule for decision-makers — cut that time down to 24 hours.

Now, having an entire afternoon in a conference room with a prospect to yourself is a rarity. You may have as little as 24 minutes — or 24 seconds or even 2.4 seconds — to make an impact on leads and move them down the pipeline.

The “Rule of 24” is about the changing landscape of client engagements, particularly as it relates to their new expectations and demands of how quickly and professionally your team responds to their request for a demo.  Times are compressed. Clients want answers now, and you need to ensure you have the tools and techniques to Bridge the Gap between your buyer’s expectations and your solution.

How can you cope? Many successful organizations distill their messaging into compact, compelling and tightly-composed videos. A series of these short personalized videos can quickly cover overviews of solution features, and another series can respond to specific objections a lead may have to bring them closer to the end of the funnel.

Make sure to keep an eye out for 2Win!'s book (expected release Fall 2017), The Rule of 24, is your roadmap and go-to resource to see how you can proactively and successfully address this market shift through demo video automation and the latest innovative techniques for demo video content creation, web demos and in-person demos.   Just as important, we provide a roadmap for the organizational considerations your company should consider as you company executes our winning strategy. 

Mimic Pop Media With Engaging Sales Demonstration Videos

Hollywood and online content publishers know all too well how microscopic our attention spans have gotten. Movies created during the Golden Age of Hollywood and the early days of sound had average shot durations of 10.5 seconds. By the 70s, the shots had shrunk to 7 seconds. In modern movies, each cut is around 4 seconds, and in some movies it is quite shorter.

Four seconds may not sound like much, but the standard appears online, too. 17% of page views last less than 4 seconds.

You can play into this trend by creating sales video content that makes its point quickly and in an engaging way. By staging your demonstration across a series of videos, you can keep your prospect’s focus for a few minutes at a time and hopefully convince them to learn more. Even if they only watch a few of the videos, though, they have gotten more information than if they had simply said “no” to a 20-minute software demonstration.

Videos can also rapidly address specific pain points or objections the lead may have. You can create a personalized video illustrating the cost savings and ROI of your solution while looking at a sample P&L statement, for instance. By creating one-off videos, you quickly Bridge the Gap between what a client has heard and what they need to hear to say “yes” — all in seconds, not hours.

How 2Win! Bridge Helps You Bridge the Gap Through Demo Video Automation

Buyers expect information immediately, so you should be able to give it to them within a convenient, enjoyable package. Hosting your video on a public platform like Youtube can lead to distractions, fragmented metrics and zero control over what they do next.

By using 2Win! Bridge’s sales video cloud-hosting platform, you can automatically queue a series of videos so that each view leads to further, more in-depth information. You can also track granular statistics to see who watched what for how long, when they stopped, and whether they shared the video with others. This information is vital for both giving prospects a curated experience and getting the data-based feedback you need to improve over time.

2Win! Bridge also helps you master the art of sales video presentations through video creation tools, and sales demo training & consulting that can help you change up the way you do sales and find easier success through the transition.

Interested in learning more? Watch how our video solutions and training helped other sales leaders find success in our testimonials section.