A demo request form that prepares the salesperson for the call
A demo request is a meeting the prospect has already agreed to. What usually goes missing is everything the salesperson needs to make it a good one: why the prospect asked now, what they want to see, and who will be in the room.
What should sales teams ask first?
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What is your company, and your work email? | The basics for research before the call. |
| How many people work at your company? | It decides who runs the demo, and whether someone technical should join. |
| What made you request a demo now? | The trigger is the most useful thing a salesperson can know before the call. |
| What would you want to be able to do by the end of the demo? | A demo built around one job beats a tour of every feature. |
| What do you use for this today? | It tells the salesperson what the product will be compared with. |
| Who else will attend, and what are their roles? | Daily users and the person approving the budget want different demos. |
| For larger companies: is there a security or procurement review to plan around? | Knowing early keeps a won deal from stalling in review. |
If an answer would not change what you do next, leave the question out. Each extra question is one more reason for someone to stop before they finish.
Which answers come back too vague to use, and what do you ask next?
The answers that cause a phone call are rarely missing. They are present and too loose to act on. A narrower follow-up, asked straight away while the person is still there, usually settles them. Offering likely answers shows the person the level of detail you need.
| What comes back | The follow-up that settles it |
|---|---|
| “We want to see the product.” | What would you want to be able to do by the end of the demo? |
| “We use a competitor.” | What is missing or frustrating about it, or is the contract coming up for renewal? |
| “A few people will join.” | Roughly which roles: people who would use it every day, or people who would approve the purchase? |
Follow up once per gap, then move on. If an answer is still unclear after one follow-up, flag it for whoever picks the request up rather than pressing.
When is a call or a visit still the right move?
The demo is the call, so the question is not whether to have it but what it covers. A prepared salesperson shows the two things that matter to this prospect instead of the whole product. And a small prospect who would rather try the product themselves can be offered a trial instead of waiting for a slot.
How do you set this up from the Demo request intake template?
Acquainto has a Demo request intake template to start from. After you sign up, open Browse templates, pick Demo request intake, and it lands in the editor as a draft you can change before anything is published.
This template is built for the job. It asks for company name, work email, company size, the features of interest, a preferred time and anything specific to cover, and branches on size: a company over 200 people is asked how many people would use the product and whether a security or procurement review is coming. Replace the feature list with your own, and add what prompted the request and who will attend.
Acquainto runs it as a short written conversation instead of a form. It:
- asks a follow-up when an answer is incomplete, and asks for clarification when one is vague;
- uses a structured choice where precision matters and open conversation where detail matters;
- shows the person every answer before it is sent, so they correct their own mistakes;
- hands back one clean value per question, delivered to your own systems by webhook.
The person answering needs no account, and nothing has to be scheduled. Start free trial, see how it works, or compare plans.