The 3-minute demo that claimed victory at Dreamforce (twice)
A conversation with CEO & Founder of LevelJump, winner of two Dreamforce 2018 Demo Jams
50+ partners. 7,000 votes. 1 mega winner. That lead-in may sound pretty epic, and that’s because there’s really no other way to describe Dreamforce Demo Jams. First coming onto the Salesforce scene in 2015, Demo Jams are a fast-paced, game show-style competition where up to six partners have only three minutes to demo their apps live (no slides allowed).
This year, we hosted 11 live action-packed Demo Jams at Dreamforce, complete with a Mega Demo Jam where winners from throughout the week from sales, service, marketing, small-medium business, developer, and admin competed for the final trophy and, of course, bragging rights. Thus emerged LevelJump, a sales onboarding and training software on AppExchange. We caught up with CEO, founder, and now two trophies owner David Bloom to talk about his experience.
First, tell us a little bit more about LevelJump.
David Bloom: We believe that anyone can be great at sales. LevelJump provides sales onboarding and training software, built in Salesforce.
We help fast-growing companies provide a modern way to reduce ramp time, launch new products faster and get sales reps aligned and going to market consistently. LevelJump does this with prescriptive and interactive training programs directly tied to performance outcomes in Salesforce while providing deep insights and analytics for sales leaders.
LevelJump won both the Sales Demo Jam and the Mega Demo Jam at Dreamforce this year. Congratulations! How did you prepare?
DB: Practice is number one. I think the greatest challenge with a Demo Jam first and foremost is time. You have a strict three minutes — that’s it! — and there’s nothing worse than being cut off. So, you have to practice to make sure you’re within that designated time.
Second, within those three minutes, you must tell a story. If you simply stand there and demo, it’s really no more than a feature dump. We sought to put a narrative around our demo, being able to tie it back to my personal experience — the “why” we started this company — and also give insights to how the product helps deliver on that why.
Most enjoyable part of the experience?
DB: We definitely enjoyed winning [laughs]. But honestly, what’s really phenomenal about the entire Demo Jam experience is the audience participation component. Getting great feedback is the lifeline of any company and any product. Customers came up to us after both the Sales Demo Jam and the Mega Demo Jam telling us, “Hey that demo was really awesome, you’re on to something really amazing.” To receive that direct feedback and to know customers and other developers are buying into the solution — and buying into how we’re solving an old problem in a modern way — is my favorite part.
That sounds gratifying and motivating. What did you learn throughout the process?
DB: When we saw we were going to be competing in the Sales Demo Jam against some of the “ecosystem titans” like Conga, DocuSign, and others, we knew we had to hone our story — and personalizing the story was also key. Weaving the journey of my path through sales and marketing, training and enablement, and why I started LevelJump became a crucial piece of the puzzle.
But then, coming to the Mega Demo Jam, we recognized you had to be far more compelling from a broader perspective. It’s not just the solution — it’s the importance of the problem you’re solving. Between the marketing app and the developer app and all the other awesome apps and demos showcased, it’s all about who solves their respective cloud problem the best, and that means demonstrating the how and the why.
What’s next for LevelJump?
DB: We want to re-invent the way sales teams learn how to sell. Our customers are our partners, and we’re looking to keep spreading the message and work with innovative sales leaders to change the sales training and enablement game forever. As we continue to improve and develop our product, it’s all about getting our message out there. We want to go to market and drive amazing customer success. That’s our number one priority.
Any closing words of wisdom for other partners and companies considering signing up to compete in a Demo Jam?
DB: My closing comments are a testament to this ecosystem. The fact that Salesforce is now in so many different clouds — integration, developer, admin, sales, service, marketing, and more — the ecosystem for partners is robust. It’s really an exciting time with lots of opportunities for companies of all sizes. LevelJump isn’t a massive, institutionally backed company by any stretch, but we’re solving a real problem in an impactful way. Having the opportunity to participate in a Demo Jam is an amazing, democratized way of getting your solution in front of groups of people, and I would really encourage other companies to take the plunge.
Watch the action in the Mega Demo Jam replay:
Check out who won the 11 Demo Jams at Dreamforce, more participants’ apps, and if you’re an AppExchange partner, learn more about being part of a future Demo Jam.
