3 of the Best B2B Pre-Sales Tools to Convert More Prospects

In an increasingly competitive environment, pre-sales engineers need a way to stand out from the crowd. Customers have never been more discerning, and product offerings never more complex. 

According to a recent survey by pre-sales thought leader Don Carmichael, 65% of pre-sales experts believe that buyers are looking for a value or outcome-focused story to convince them to commit. 

But there are many challenges for sales engineers to deliver this, besides hitting those ambitious sales targets. How do you communicate complicated, technical ideas to audiences with varying degrees of understanding? How do you condense a compelling narrative into a single presentation? 

Part of the answer, of course, is with the right technology. 

In this article, we’ll look at three of the most popular pre-sales tools for delivering value-focused stories that convert prospects.

Demodesk

Demodesk is a pre-sales platform designed to help businesses improve interactions with prospects, especially in a remote or online setting. Its features allow sales teams to automate and enhance their scheduling, meetings, and coaching at scale. 

What’s great about Demodesk?

One interesting feature is what Demodesk calls ‘playbooks,’ where it automatically syncs with your CRM to create interactive content and presentations. Demodesk also provides ‘battle cards’ that allow pre-sales engineers to counter objections with confidence. 

Demodesk’s playbooks can be used in ‘Demodesk Meetings’ — virtual spaces where you can meet with customers and pitch your products. Here are some of the benefits this approach offers:  

• Prospects can interact with your demo by offering reactions to slides
• Slick presentations without the need to share your screen or press record
• Pre-sales engineers can take notes during the call and have them sync automatically with the CRM

Are there any drawbacks or limitations?

Demodesk does a lot of things well. It’s a great tool for resourcing prospects and logging data into your CRM. But when it comes to elevating the value of the solution you’re showcasing, it offers nothing new. 

As we know, prospects not only want to understand the true value of your product offering, but they want and need to be shown that value in a way that is memorable, relatable, and engaging. Slideshows simply don’t cut it. They aren’t effective enough at communicating complex propositions and processes in a way that everyone can understand. 

In a world where 79% of people find presentations boring, you need a tool that demonstrates the actual value of your product in a more memorable and powerful way. 

Showpad

Showpad is a popular sales enablement platform that offers a broad range of sales tools — everything from CRM and sales analytics to presentations and customer onboarding. The idea is to help sales teams deliver high-impact interactions at all stages of the buyer journey.

What’s great about Showpad?

In terms of pre-sales presentations, Showpad offers what it calls ‘Advanced Experience’ templates. These allow you to quickly generate bespoke, no-code presentations, including: 

• Visual maps
• Mind maps
• Filtered content

You can even extend these visual experiences into interactive apps that allow prospects to see relevant information such as ROI calculators and personalised quotes. 

Are there any drawbacks or limitations?

Showpad may reduce the amount of time pre-sales engineers spend on admin, and it’s also likely to improve the customer onboarding experience. Features like mind maps and folder organisation are convenient for pre-sales engineers, but again it’s more for them than the audience.  

For bringing about a true shared understanding between engineer and audience, a tool more dedicated for that purpose is needed.

EMMa3D

EMMa3D is a revolutionary tool that brings complex ideas and processes to life through compelling 3D visualisations. 

What’s great about EMMa3D?

Instead of generic and uninspiring slide presentations, EMMa3D creates interactive 3D environments that demonstrate how a solution can impact a business in a variety of different contexts. 

EMMa3D enables pre-sales engineers to take prospects on a real-time guided tour of the model they’ve built. Because these models are 3D, they bring a range of unique benefits that 2D models cannot offer. For example:

• Not only can you demonstrate the horizontal and vertical fields of value, but also the depth of it too
• 3D models are dynamic, allowing you to show change over time
• Unlike 2D models, you can continue to add context and information without the model becoming cluttered or difficult to follow

The result is a truly memorable and powerful experience that helps stakeholders understand the true value proposition of your product or service, regardless of their level of technical expertise. 

Are there any drawbacks or limitations?

EMMa3D is not designed for organising pre-sales processes like Showpad, and it doesn’t offer the collaborative presentations offered by Demodesk.

However these were not what EMMa3D was built for. EMMa3D is a dedicated tool for creating powerful 3D visualisations that directly demonstrate the value of a solution. 

While there is little in the way of automation, you can still upload pre-exisitng data from spreadsheets and easily perform the diagramming needed. 

EMMa3D doesn’t integrate directly with your CRM either. But as we’ve already explained in this article, CRM integration doesn’t really matter much when it comes to converting prospects. 

Empower your pre-sales process with EMMa3D

Above all else, prospects need to understand the value that a new product, process, or system offers. Without a clear understanding, they can’t move forward with the decision that’s right for them. 

One thing is clear: the best B2B sales tools for converting prospects are able to demonstrate value in a way that is easy to understand, memorable, and compelling. 

This is exactly what EMMa3D offers. 

Other tools that help you automate key processes and workflows are still vital, but they must be used in tandem with something like EMMa3D so that the entire pre-sales process is as successful as possible. 

Unlike its competitors, EMMa3D allows you to tell a value story through interactive, 3D visualisations that show how a product can positively impact a business in different ways. 

Want to see how EMMa3D could transform your sales presentations? Book a demo today.

¹ Don Carmichael, LinkedIn survey.

² 37+ Presentation Statistics You Need to Know.