How do you deal with 'no shows' at product demo sessions?
We have an HR SaaS which has had a recent surge of growth due to some new marketing initiatives that we are trying. We have seen a huge uptick in numbers of bookings for demo sessions, which is great, but we are also seeing now that quite a few of those demos (probably about 20%) are resulting in 'no shows' without any prior cancellation etc.
Demos are booked via a Calendly widget and API which inserts the appointment in the user's as well as our team calendars, and we send out a reminder email about an hour before the appointed time to ensure the user knows about it, and how to log into Zoom etc. for the session.
Normally it wouldn't be a huge problem, but because our audience is worldwide, and our small team is remote, it does mean that a lot of the time, the person doing the demo will have to wake up really early in the morning for the session, or stay up late, or give up on social commitments in the evening to run them - so for this reason it can be really inconvenient to us, and a massive waste of time and hit on productivity.
How are other IH members dealing with situations like this? We have even considered charing a 'fee for demo' which we can then roll into their first month's subscription if they go ahead, but that may not work.
I'd be interested in how others are managing this, or any creative ideas on how to increase the chances of people who book a cold demo on our website to show up at the nominated time.
I'm not familiar with the Calendly widget, but is there some way to introduce an additional step either before or after confirmation on the widget? That step should involve some work, like filling up a basic profile before the demo session, which might filter out some of the less serious candidates. It could be something as simple as getting a phone number.
Thanks for the reply - Yes we do ask for info. We ask for company name, number of employees and what their main HR headaches are. That really helps us to tailor the demo to their needs and prepare better.
That is the frustrating thing - almost all the demo requests have that information filled in, and we spend time preparing the demo beforehand that answers their specific pain points, so it is particularly troubling when they don't show up.
We also tend to send a couple of emails after the 'no show', just to see if they forgot, or got caught up on something else etc. We get one or two replies, but generally those that don't show just don't communicate any further.
Yikes, that is frustrating indeed. Instead of relying too heavily on email, why not send SMS reminders, or even a phone call. I understand that you have a global operation, so perhaps you can use something like Twilio to hook things up, or even just do this manually for now. I would say that for enterprise sales, an actual call still works best if you can swing it.
If all else fails, invest in a self-service demo and market the hell out of it, only schedule an appointment when you hit an activation point.
Great point about phone numbers. We try to avoid grabbing too many details which might make us seem 'pushy' (i.e. we totally avoid the 'call us for pricing' that a lot of our competitors do), but I think in this case a more personal call might be a better solution.
We do use Twilio in app to send SMS's to employees etc., but I might investigate using their Flex product to build a comms platform for our team to use to talk to customers.
Thanks for your useful feedback!
There will be no-shows. 20 % is quite a lot, but you should get ready for at least 10 % long term.
As a UX designer / manager I deal with this issue when recruting users for usability studies.
Use screening survey
Not sure how your sales funnel works, but my first step is to ask the users to fill in screening survey. This requires some effort on the users side, so already filters out quite large portion of the people who would otherwise become a no-show.
It also ensures a high quality of candidates for my interviews (or for the demos in your case).
It also increases the perception of exclusivity, where I am basically saying that I’m the one who says yes or no, instead of me being the one begging them for an interview. This increases the commitment on the user side.
Only invite quality candidates
If they make it through your initial survey, only then send them Calendly link without any sales tactics (which is ok to apply in the earlier stages of the funnel). If they book this way, they will be much more committed to actually showing up.
Don’t forget to send a thank you to those who didn’t make it through your screening survey. It’s ok to say something like you have already enough people from this paricular customer segment and that you might contact them later on.
Always book more than needed
For each round I plan to do 5 interviews, but I always book one more person than needed. I end up interviewing this extra person almost every time, either as a substitute or simply as a regular, 6th interview. But I hit my goal in 99 % of times.
Send out reminder 24 hours prior the interview
You need to be confirming much earlier than 1hr before. Many people will legitimately forget about your interview and 1hr reminder is simply not enough for them to re-schedule the existing plans, so they will not show up.
Also figuring out 1hr before that there’s a no-show doesn’t give you any time to find a replacement, so the demo doesn’t happen at all, which you said yourself is a huge incurred cost with no benefit.
I’d let them know that I’ll be sending out a reminder 24hr before the interview. Then I’d actually confirm 24hr prior the interview and if I don’t get a response I’ll try again 1-2 more times. If I don’t get response 12hrs before the interview, I simply thank them, cancel the interview myself and move on to schedule the replacement (which is a person who knows he/she might be asked to schedule on a short notice)
PS: There’s a free PDF by Norman Nielsen Group about recruiting candidates for usability testing which is a bit different purpose than what you’re doing, but it’s still full of valuable insights, no matter what you’re recruiting for :)
You could record an abbreviated demo (3-5 min) and then run a two step process where you send that over via email and then have a discussion call a few days later.
I get pitched demos sometimes for my job and I’ve found that sadly most people give awful demos. I don’t no-call no-show as a matter of principle but in a tightly packed day a demo is going to be the first thing to go.
Try to flip the frame— “hey my time is valuable and this product rocks, if you want access you’re going to need to respect my time and my team’s time”
Just had a no show; comes with B2B. Send reminders a week out. But honestly its something you just have to deal with.
Possible solutions:
But honestly, just keep going
We are currently dealing with the exact same issue!
I would say it is even worse since 1 out of 3 meetings booked on "self-service" results in a no-show, no prior cancellation, no answer to follow-up emails, ...
We have the same issue around waking up early and staying late at the office. This also leads to lots of wasted time (preparing the meeting, waiting 5min, sending follow-ups emails, ...)
The most infuriating part is that I have to find timeslots for demos resulting from actual hot leads discussion and these no-shows are basically cluttering my calendar.
I even had one time a guy answering my follow-up email to ask me (without even being sorry for not showing up) if we could reschedule the meeting at 1 am (in our timezone), which obviously could be done but the most incredible part was when we discussed about these arrangements he had the audacity to lecture me about not being able to google his timezone ("Central-America time" which does not exist and is actually 2 specific timezones CST-6 and CDT-5). Because obviously, I have to guess from his name and email where this guy was located in the whole world.
I am currently thinking of removing altogether the ability to book demos without having a prior discussion on LinkedIn or by email.
as @jaryl said, I would recommend to get customer phone number as a step of confirmation (send them a verification code to make sure its legit). Then if there is a no show, you can call them and arrange for another date.
Anyone can fake company name/details but they cant put up their phone number on your platform unless they are serious and willing to talk.
Good luck with your demos