Improving Sales Demo Show-Up Rates: Recommendations Needed

Preston R. · 2025-11-12 21:59:54.559326+00

Hey everyone - My company is struggling with the Sales Operations side of things particularly with show-up rates for Demos. Any recommendations or people to talk to that might be able to help a startup increase show up rate and remove friction? If you or someone you know can help increase our show up rate we would love to chat, looking to get a short term contract to complete this task if there’s a good fit. Thanks in advance!

9 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

David M.
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What's your show rate now? Are they accepting the invites but not showing up? Stupid question - but are the video links working? Are the show up rates consistent across all reps scheduling them?
Mike C.
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Happy to chat about your show rate. Got a calendar link?
Ahmed S.
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Hi Preston, No-shows usually happen when:
The product or service is positioned poorly
The lead isn’t properly qualified
There’s no follow-up before the meeting
We help fix that. At Pixelodigital , our GTM agency helps teams improve positioning and conversion. And with Prospectoo, our data intelligence platform, you’ll have cleaner, more accurate lead data driving your pipeline. Lemme know when we can hop on a quick call to discuss the same.
Dennis J.
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Hey Preston R., Your team should focus on improving the show-up rate from the moment a call is booked. Representatives need to ensure that clients confirm their attendance at the meeting, as very few clients actually show up without prior confirmation. I also suggest that team members include a reminder in the email invites, such as, “Looking forward to speaking with you based on your confirmation of this meeting.” Clients who have not confirmed their attendance have a 90% no-show rate because they tend to ghost the appointment. It's important to include essential details and set clear expectations. 5 straightforward bullet points to consider: 1. Confirm attendance to increase the likelihood of showing up. 2. Include a reminder in the email invite for better engagement. 3. Clearly state the purpose of the meeting in the invitation. 4. Set expectations by outlining the agenda briefly. 5. Maintain communication leading up to the meeting to keep clients engaged.
Preston R.
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Very helpful thank you!! 🙏🏾
1
Dan N.
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I want to doubleclick on Dennis J.’s comment because the simple tactical things are low-hanging fruit. One afternoon with your meeting booking tool can solve a lot of them and I bet you'll see a small decrease in no-shows. The thing that an afternoon of focus can't solve is the reps (or if these are cold inbound demos, Marketing) selling the value of the demo. Even without all of Dennis's excellent tactical hacks, if the reps/Marketing positioned this next meeting as a can't-miss opportunity, the leads would be showing up early with their pencils ready. It's a people issue and a positioning issue, not a workflow issue. I bet if you shadowed a few discovery calls you'd start to see the problem: reps failing to uncover the true pain points, failing to match product benefits to those pain points, failing to paint a future state (with your product) that's rosy and awesome, etc. Doesn't matter if it's a long or short sales cycle: that demo should feel like the lead is about to touch the face of God.
Eric H.
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well said Dan. 'shadowing' is an element of a good coaching strategy, which in my experience is one of the most important and effective ways to increase impact of the team. With coaching and shadowing, though, you also have to make it about shared learning, not just 1 to 1. So, if you can shadow the individuals, uncover key learnings, and raise the skill level of the entire team, you are on to something!
Logan M.
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Preston R. I know some people you’ve got to talk to, they could solve all this plus some!
David G.
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Great points Dan N., I think it begins before the call is over. There should be clear qualification check boxes. If the prospect isn't hitting enough of them, put that meeting on hold.

David M.
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·
What's your show rate now? Are they accepting the invites but not showing up? Stupid question - but are the video links working? Are the show up rates consistent across all reps scheduling them?
Mike C.
·
·
Happy to chat about your show rate. Got a calendar link?
Ahmed S.
·
·
Hi Preston, No-shows usually happen when:
The product or service is positioned poorly
The lead isn’t properly qualified
There’s no follow-up before the meeting
We help fix that. At Pixelodigital , our GTM agency helps teams improve positioning and conversion. And with Prospectoo, our data intelligence platform, you’ll have cleaner, more accurate lead data driving your pipeline. Lemme know when we can hop on a quick call to discuss the same.
Dennis J.
·
·
Hey Preston R., Your team should focus on improving the show-up rate from the moment a call is booked. Representatives need to ensure that clients confirm their attendance at the meeting, as very few clients actually show up without prior confirmation. I also suggest that team members include a reminder in the email invites, such as, “Looking forward to speaking with you based on your confirmation of this meeting.” Clients who have not confirmed their attendance have a 90% no-show rate because they tend to ghost the appointment. It's important to include essential details and set clear expectations. 5 straightforward bullet points to consider: 1. Confirm attendance to increase the likelihood of showing up. 2. Include a reminder in the email invite for better engagement. 3. Clearly state the purpose of the meeting in the invitation. 4. Set expectations by outlining the agenda briefly. 5. Maintain communication leading up to the meeting to keep clients engaged.
Preston R.
·
·
Very helpful thank you!! 🙏🏾
1
Dan N.
·
·
I want to doubleclick on Dennis J.’s comment because the simple tactical things are low-hanging fruit. One afternoon with your meeting booking tool can solve a lot of them and I bet you'll see a small decrease in no-shows. The thing that an afternoon of focus can't solve is the reps (or if these are cold inbound demos, Marketing) selling the value of the demo. Even without all of Dennis's excellent tactical hacks, if the reps/Marketing positioned this next meeting as a can't-miss opportunity, the leads would be showing up early with their pencils ready. It's a people issue and a positioning issue, not a workflow issue. I bet if you shadowed a few discovery calls you'd start to see the problem: reps failing to uncover the true pain points, failing to match product benefits to those pain points, failing to paint a future state (with your product) that's rosy and awesome, etc. Doesn't matter if it's a long or short sales cycle: that demo should feel like the lead is about to touch the face of God.
Eric H.
·
·
well said Dan. 'shadowing' is an element of a good coaching strategy, which in my experience is one of the most important and effective ways to increase impact of the team. With coaching and shadowing, though, you also have to make it about shared learning, not just 1 to 1. So, if you can shadow the individuals, uncover key learnings, and raise the skill level of the entire team, you are on to something!
Logan M.
·
·
Preston R. I know some people you’ve got to talk to, they could solve all this plus some!
David G.
·
·
Great points Dan N., I think it begins before the call is over. There should be clear qualification check boxes. If the prospect isn't hitting enough of them, put that meeting on hold.