Yeah, we're David in a world of Goliaths.
Build it, and they will come. Well, they did for Kevin Costner in the Field of Dreams anyway.
For us SaaS businesses, we need to be really, really good for customers to be drawn to us in the same way. There are more tools out there today than ever before. And while that is daunting for SaaS businesses, it does present customers with a smorgasbord of delights. After all, with these many SaaS tools and platforms out there, surely there's one that's just right for you, right?
Unfortunately, not always. Back when I was overworked (and nearly burnt out!) Sales Engineer, I'd been searching high and low for a tool that not only helped me churn out demos at speed but also helped my sales reps focus on the core of their job: selling.
I had a very clear idea of the solution: no messy deployments, no learning curve, and no coding experience required. A simple, effective, smart solution for busy, overworked sales folks. It was just that no one had built it yet. So I built it. :)
Fast forward a few years, and now we have SmartCue!
I get it. You've probably never used SmartCue. Or see it in action. Maybe this is even the first time you're hearing of us. That's understandable: we're the new kids on the block, after all. This is why I'm comparing ourselves with other players out there that you have heard of. And I'm being honest (as honest as I can be, given that SmartCue is my brainchild!).
Simply put, SmartCue is demo creation software that takes the grunt work out of demo creation - Sales Engineers, Sales Enablement Managers, or Product Marketing teams can rapidly create custom, personalized product demos with loads of contextual cues. This is a double win: time saved on making demos, and time saved in meetings that they no longer need to attend, because the sales reps are confident enough to deliver the demos themselves, without the SE in the room.
How? Contextual cues. SmartCue presents cues to the presenter (and only to the presenter!) based on where they are in the product. It also provides a step-by-step demo playbook or demo flow, so the sales rep can simply follow the flow. It's a little bit like having a second brain (or an SE!) in the room. Without needing to do all this additional admin, the sales reps can focus on what they do best: selling your product.
There are things SmartCue can do better than most, and somewhere we have ways to go. This comparison with Wingman and Outreach lets you assess whether SmartCue might be a good fit for you: now, or in the future.
Wingman vs Outreach Vs SmartCue
Parameters | Wingman | Outreach | SmartCue |
Deployment speed | 3-4 weeks | 4-6 weeks | Instant, all you need is a chrome extension |
Training requirements | In-person, Live online webinars, documentation videos | Webinars, videos, documentation, and in-person training | None. So far, no one has asked us to train them. |
Works with your demo environment | Web-based screen sharing. | Yes. | Yes. No integrations are necessary. |
Lets you customize demos on the fly | No | No | Yes |
Create Demo Playbooks | You can create “game tapes” – a collection of calls or call snippets around a theme. These are better suited for onboarding new reps, than for sales. | Sort of | Yes. Even if you decide to move through the playbook in a non-linear fashion, it cues you with what's left to cover |
Do presenters need scripts? | Yes. There are AI-powered battle cards, but these are related more to conversational intelligence, and not the product itself. | Yes | No. Contextual cues basis where you are in your product |
Simplifies demo creation | No. | No | Yes. Simply add the cues for any feature, function, button, link, image, etc. of your product. You can have several of these on each screen. Combine screens into a demo flow. |
Manages your demo library | No | No | Yes |
Export to video | No | Possible through integrations with other tools. | Yes, through Loom integratio+n |
Export to PDF | No | If you're using slides, yes. | Yes. Can also include notes taken during the demo to make great leave-behinds. |
Note taking allowed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Edit dynamic text | No | No | No, as it uses your own demo environment |
Content analytics | Performance Analytics, Coaching cards, Call analysis | Basic Analytics | Know where your reps spend the most time in the product, whether they followed the playbook, how much did they deviate, and much more |
Integrations | 19 integrations with tools like Zoom, Slack and Microsoft Teams. | 90+ integrations across CRM, ABM, email, chat | Over 200 planned integrations in 2023! |
Support | Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support, 24/7 (Live Rep), Chat | Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone support | Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Chat |
Key Benefits
Wingman: The great thing about Wingman is that it helps get your sales reps up to speed quickly. It works well for training, onboarding, and coaching use cases. But if it is demo creation you need, Wingman isn’t much of a wingman. The tool provides AI suggestions in real-time based on conversational intelligence, yes. But your reps still need scripts, still need to practice their demos, and still need to commit things to memory.
Outreach: Outreach is a BIG tool. And like all big tools, it takes a little getting used to. But once you're up and running, you'll love the engagement functions, the automated sequences for customer contact, and of course, the ability to A/B test your email and call strategies. I also really like the AI-powered action-outcome pairs which help salespeople zero in on the most impactful sales actions. When it comes to demos though, there's not much here that saves time or boosts confidence, or minimizes practice time.
Honestly, I see synergies with SmartCue.
Why our clients chose SmartCue
There are some things you can only do on SmartCue. For instance, SmartCue sits atop your demo environment, and even your production environment!
As long as you've created a demo using SmartCue, it's in the library. Now, if your client wants to explore a screen that isn't covered by your current demo, but you have covered in another demo, have no fear! SmartCue can pull cues from linked demos. So you can go into screens you haven't practiced, with confidence, knowing that you have all the information and cues you'll need to deliver the goods and answer whatever questions come up.
SmartCue's demo dashboard screen is where you can see all demos created by you and your team.
SmartCue also helps keep track of the agenda - the client wants to explore functionality out of turn? No problem! No need to madly flip through slides or move your demo video back and forth. Just go into your demo as always, and SmartCue will cue you on the basis of wherever you are in your product. When done, it will cue you into what you can cover next, based on your agenda.
Also, no more cumbersome and long-drawn-out emails covering the demo play-by-play. Take notes within SmartCue itself, and export them as a PDF. This way, everyone gets exactly what you're referring to when you ask a question, provide additional information, or clarify something: because your notes are in context.
Of course, the core function of the tool is to make demos super simple to make for Sales Engineers, and super simple to deliver for Sales reps. No more starting from scratch, no more scripts, no more memorizing jargon (or anything!) EVER.
Smart, right?
