Run the perfect SaaS product demo [2025]

SaaS demo calls have changed, buyers are spending more time educating themselves before they end up on a SaaS product demo call. In 2019, Gartner reported that “buyers are completing a little over 60% of the buying process before engaging a vendor.” 4 years later in 2023, 6Sense reported that “buyers don’t engage with sellers until they’ve already completed 70% of their buying journey.”

What does this mean for you trying to run the perfect SaaS product demo?

It means your buyer is already halfway through the decision-making process before they even talk to you. They’ve looked at competitors, scanned review sites, watched videos, read your docs, and maybe even clicked through your product. The days of tired sales decks are over, because they aren’t adding anything new to the conversation.

There are two approaches to achieving higher conversion rates through your SaaS product demos:

1. Rethink the role of your live sales demo.
2. Enable buyers to self-educate better, earlier.

Rethink the role of your live sales demo

In 2025, a great SaaS sales demo call isn’t just a feature walkthrough. It’s a conversation built around validation, alignment, and relevance.

Winning by Design, a Sales coaching firm calls this “diagnosing before prescribing” and says that “Most sales demos suck because they are treated as a monologue - and it’s the same for every potential customer.”

So to run the perfect SaaS product demonstration, during your call you need to:

Expand on your customer discovery

Great demo calls don’t start from zero, they build on everything the buyer has already explored.

By the time a prospect books a call, they’ve likely browsed your site, attended a webinar, seen you at a conference, read LinkedIn comments, watched a YouTube video, or clicked through a product tour. Your job is to pick up from where they left off, not where you usually begin.

Here’s how to go deeper with discovery during the demo:

Start by confirming what they already know.
Ask questions like: “What have you seen so far that caught your attention?” or “Was there anything unclear or missing from what you’ve explored?”

This helps you calibrate the conversation and avoid repeating what they’ve already learned.

Junior sales people will often make the mistake of assuming knowledge, during our early sales experiences we made the same mistake. This makes for awkward conversations and missed opportunities. Why is that the case? Because you can’t assume that everyone on the call has the full context about the 

Use engagement data to guide your prep.
If you’re using tools like Hubspot, product analytics, or HowdyGo, you can often see what pages they’ve visited, what features they’ve explored in a self-guided demo, or where they dropped off. Use this to shape your talking points and prepare relevant examples.

We like to do this using a demo collection where we pull together sales sandboxes that demonstrate relevant features, but also customer examples that are not publicly shared, or examples which are publicly available but you know they haven’t seen yet.

Tailor your set-up email to drive better answers.
Before the call, send a short note asking: “Are there any challenges you’re hoping this demo can help solve?” This gets them thinking - and gives you a clearer signal of what matters to them before you even share your screen.

A simple agenda which forms the basis of your calls will help to make people feel like you’re in control. It also increases the likelihood that the right people will be on the call, rather than leaving it up to chance and having to arrange a follow-up.

Treat the demo as a continuation, not a pitch.
Frame your demo as a working session. You’re not “presenting” your product, you’re helping them explore how it could solve their specific problems. The more the conversation feels collaborative, the easier it is to build trust and momentum.

Remember: the goal isn’t just to show off your product. It’s to uncover the specific outcomes your buyer is hoping to achieve - and position your demo to deliver on them.

Adapt to your prospect’s understanding

No two prospects are the same - and your demo shouldn’t be either.

In 2025, buyers arrive at demo calls with wildly different levels of familiarity. Some have watched your product explainer videos, reviewed your help docs, and even clicked through your interactive demos. Others are still early in their search and evaluating several options.

This means you need a flexible framework that helps you adapt on the fly. A few ways to do that:

Use your pre-demo setup emails to gauge familiarity.
You can include a question like: “Have you had a chance to explore the product yet?” or “Are there any specific features or workflows you’d like to focus on?”

This gives you a quick read on where they are in their journey.

Have demo ‘tracks’ prepared.
For example, create one version of your demo for hands-on, technical evaluators who want to see deeper configuration or API capabilities, and another for non-technical buyers who care more about outcomes and integrations. You don’t need a separate slide deck for each - but knowing which path to follow helps you stay efficient and relevant.

Ask clarifying questions early.
Try: “From what you’ve seen so far, what stands out as most valuable?” or “Are there any gaps you’re still trying to fill in?” These help you tailor the walkthrough in real time - without guessing or overwhelming them with irrelevant detail.

Don’t be afraid to skip ahead.
If they’ve already explored your interactive demo or watched your onboarding video, acknowledge it and move forward. Respecting what they’ve already done builds trust and keeps the momentum going.

Tip: Interactive demos tools like HowdyGo can capture what a user has clicked through or skipped - giving you signals before the call that help you shape your story for their needs.

Add more value after the call ends

A successful demo doesn’t just impress, it equips.

Your job isn’t done when the call ends. In many cases, your champion still needs to convince their team, justify the budget, or map your product to internal workflows. What you send after the call can make or break that process.

Here’s how to follow up like a pro:

Send a personalized recap, not a generic “thanks for your time.”
Include a short summary of what you discussed, the key needs they shared, and how your product meets those needs. Keep it skimmable and use bolding or bullets to draw the eye to value points.

Some people will allow you to use a tool like Fireflies which creates AI notes for you, but you should be mindful of including these tools in all sales calls. Depending on your industry, and your typical buying persona you may need to get permission in advance to use these tools. For example, a cyber security firm may be hesitant to allow recording of calls even if it’s legally allowed in your jurisdiction.

Include a shareable link or replay.
If your meeting software supports recording (or if you’re using a tool like HowdyGo to turn live demos into recap flows), send over a visual summary your champion can show to others. It beats forwarding a Zoom recording or trying to recreate your conversation in a doc.

Add relevant content for their use case.
Depending on the conversation, include a link to a help article, a short product tour, or a customer story from a similar company or industry. This shows you were listening and reinforces relevance.

Case studies that closely align to their industry or the problem they are trying to solve are ideal for follow-up emails.

Offer next steps, without pressure.
Suggest a follow-up, trial access, or an invite to loop in other stakeholders. But keep the tone collaborative, you should focus on how you can support their decision-making, not just close the deal.

Think of your post-demo follow-up as part two of the sales conversation, one where your prospect becomes the presenter, and you’ve armed them with the right material to win the room.

Let marketing do more of the demo work

Most buyers don’t want to wait for a live call to get a sense of your product. They’re searching for interactive, visual, and authentic ways to explore your product on their own. That’s where marketing (and increasingly, product marketing) comes in.

Your marketing function needs to equip buyers with assets to self-educate more effectively:

Interactive product demos
Let buyers click through the product - without needing a call or login. 

These are more than “try now” buttons; they should showcase the experience of using the product in context. (HowdyGo helps marketing teams do exactly this, by turning real product usage into lightweight, embeddable walkthroughs.)

Here's an example of an interactive product demo:

Visual learning aids like well-produced videos
Buyers scroll faster than they read. Product demo videos, short GIFs, or even annotated screenshots help break down complex flows and build familiarity before the call.

Open and public documentation and help articles
Don’t gate your docs. Let your prospects explore how integrations work, how roles are managed, or what permissions exist - before they ask.

Use real product screenshots or interactive demos, not just “UI mockups”
Authenticity matters. Slick marketing images can feel misleading. Instead, use screenshots or interactive product demos of your real environment to show the product in action.

Self-guided product demo collections
A single demo often doesn’t cut it. Group together product tours by persona, use case, or feature set. This lets prospects find their own path based on what matters to them. It’s a great way to showcase depth without overwhelming a single flow.

Use sales scripts to prepare - not to perform

Before we move away from live calls entirely - let’s talk about the most underused tool in SaaS sales: the sales script.

Sales scripts are underrated - even by experienced founders and top-performing reps. Many people think scripts are rigid or robotic. But the best salespeople (and yes, even founders) use them not to read, but to anchor their conversations.

A good script isn’t a theatrical monologue. It’s a conversation framework: a set of battle-tested talking points, objections, and value hooks that you can pull from when needed - without losing flow.

Here’s how to use sales scripts effectively on your demo calls:

Use them to eliminate awkward silences.
You don’t want to be thinking about what to say next when your prospect is telling you something important. Scripts help you internalize structure so you can stay focused on listening.

Make them modular, not linear.
Build out branches for different personas or use cases. Your script should support pivots - whether your buyer is technical, executive-level, or completely new to the category.

Handle objections with confidence.
When you’ve practiced how to respond to the most common pushbacks - pricing, integrations, migration concerns - you’re not scrambling. You’re calm, clear, and helpful.

Drive team consistency.
Whether you’re onboarding new reps or scaling founder-led sales, scripts help everyone deliver the same quality experience, even if the delivery is different.

Free your mind to actually listen.
Ironically, the more prepared you are with what to say, the more you can focus on what’s being said. That’s how you uncover real buying signals - and build real trust.

The best salespeople don’t abandon the playbook - they master it, then adapt it in the moment.

And if you’re running call recordings through AI tools (like Gong, Fireflies, or even a custom GPT prompt), use those scripts as benchmarks.

Ask: did we hit the key points? Did we ask the right questions? Did we position the product clearly?