by David Meyers on August 06, 2020
Last Updated: September 3, 2026. We updated this article with our latest recommendations for preparing for and evaluating ERP demos.
You’ve narrowed down your ERP options and now it’s time for the demos. But how do you know what to look for during an ERP demo? And when you’re evaluating two or three solutions, how do you objectively compare them?
Without a consistent evaluation process, demos can quickly start to blur together. It’s easy to get distracted by impressive features and lose sight of the business requirements that brought you here in the first place.
At ProjectLine Solutions, we’ve guided 200+ small and mid-size businesses through the ERP evaluation process. We know that a little preparation goes a long way at the demo stage.
By the end of this article, you’ll know how to prepare your team for ERP demos, what to look for during each one and how to consistently evaluate both the software and the implementation partner.
Prefer to watch? Check out this video where I explain what you can expect from the process and how to prepare so your team can get more value from each demo.
Who should attend an ERP software demo?
Getting a group of busy people together isn't easy, but try to have the same core team attend every ERP demo. This gives you consistency from one demo to the next and makes it easier to compare solutions.
At a minimum, your ERP project team should attend. They're responsible for making sure each solution addresses your requirements and project objectives.
You should also include:
- Your executive sponsors, if they aren't already part of the project team
- Key users from specific departments for the parts of the demo that are relevant to them
Avoid inviting more people than necessary. Too many people in the room can make it harder to stay focused and get through everything you need to see.
How do you prepare before an ERP demo?
Before you schedule ERP demos, you should have a clear understanding of your most important requirements and how they relate to your ERP project objectives.
If you haven't set your objectives or prioritized your requirements yet, do that before you start scheduling demos.
Think about what has to be true for the project to be considered a success. Which requirements are essential? Which are important but not critical? Which are nice to have?
Without that prioritization, it's difficult to objectively evaluate how well each ERP solution meets your needs.
Tip: Ask your ERP partner to help you fine-tune your requirements
A strong partner will have a proven discovery process that helps them understand your challenges, processes and goals before recommending a solution. How they approach this stage can tell you a lot about the kind of partner they'll be.
How do you score and compare ERP demos?
When you're evaluating multiple ERP solutions, you need a consistent way to capture feedback from your team.
We recommend looking at both quantitative and qualitative factors.
For functionality, you can use a simple 0–5 scale:
- 0: Not available
- 1: Major workaround or custom development required
- 2: Third-party solution required
- 3: Minor workaround required
- 4: Available in the current year
- 5: Included in the current release and cost estimate
This gives everyone a standardized way to evaluate how each solution addresses your functional requirements.
But functionality isn't the whole story. You should also capture your team's feedback on things like ease of use, process fit and system flexibility.
Create a simple scorecard before your first demo and use the same one for every solution. That way, when it's time to compare your options, you're working from consistent information rather than trying to remember which demo did what.
How should you prepare your team for an ERP demo?
Before you start, give everyone the information they need to evaluate each solution consistently. That should include:
- Your ERP project objectives
- Your prioritized business requirements
- Your demo scorecard
- Basic information about the ERP solution and implementation partner you're evaluating
Encourage everyone to review these materials before each demo so your priorities are fresh in their minds.
You should also designate someone to distribute information, collect feedback and facilitate your internal follow-up discussions. In most cases, this will be your ERP project champion, but it can be another member of your project team.
And take good notes! Your demos may happen over several weeks, and the details can start to blur together faster than you think.
You may also want to ask the partner if you can record the demo. A recording isn't a substitute for having the right people participate in the live session, where they can ask questions and be part of the discussion. But it can be a useful reference if your team wants to revisit a particular workflow or reconfirm something they saw during the demo.
Tip: Be selective about how many ERP providers you invite to the demo stage
Two or three is usually enough to give you a meaningful comparison. Any more than that and the solutions can start to blur together, making it harder for your team to distinguish between them.
What should you give an ERP partner before the demo?
The quality of an ERP demo depends heavily on what happens before it.
Make sure each ERP partner clearly understands your business requirements, project objectives and biggest challenges. That information should form the basis of their demo script.
At ProjectLine, we have a sign-off point after discovery to confirm that we've understood the business's requirements correctly before moving forward. If a partner doesn't have a similar step in their process, take the initiative to confirm their understanding before the demo.
You should also raise any potential functionality gaps ahead of time. That gives the partner an opportunity to address your concerns directly during the demo rather than being caught off guard.
The goal is to see a demo that's relevant to your business, not a generic tour of the software.
Tip: Provide the ERP partner with sample data before the demo
This could be a critical report you currently manage in Excel, a sample invoice or sales order, a production order or another document that's important to your day-to-day processes.
Using your own sample data gives the partner something tangible to work with when preparing the demo. It also makes it much easier for your team to understand how the ERP system could support your processes because you're looking at information that's familiar and relevant to your business.
What should you look for during an ERP software demo?
It's easy to get distracted by impressive features during an ERP demo. Keep coming back to the reasons you're considering ERP in the first place.
By the end of each demo, you should understand how the solution could help you achieve your ERP objectives and solve your biggest business challenges.
A good ERP partner won't simply work through a checklist of features. They'll demonstrate how the system could work within your business.
There are two things in particular to watch for:
- Relevant demo data: Look for the sample data you provided to be incorporated into the demo wherever possible. Seeing familiar transactions, reports and business scenarios makes it much easier to picture how the system would support your day-to-day processes.
- Business impact: They should show you more than how the system meets individual requirements. Look for how it could address gaps in your current processes, improve the way you work and give your team new capabilities.
That's ultimately what you're evaluating. Features matter, but what those features allow your business to do matters more.
Tip: Leave time at the end of each demo for questions
Don't feel like you need to get every answer in one session. If your discussion raises a question or requirement you hadn't considered before, ask the partner to follow up or schedule another session to walk you through it.
How should you evaluate the ERP implementation partner?
Choosing ERP software is also a decision about who you'll work with to implement and support it.
Your ERP partner can have a significant impact on the results you get from the system. So throughout the evaluation process, pay attention to how well they understand your business, how they communicate and whether they're focused on your success.
The demo can give you an early indication of what the relationship will be like.
Did they simply show you the features you asked for? Or did they connect those features to your challenges and explain the impact on your business? Did they listen to your questions? Did they demonstrate that they understand how your business operates?
Encourage your project team to provide feedback on the partner as well as the software.
An ERP implementation isn't a short-term transaction. You'll be working closely with your partner through implementation and, ideally, for years afterward, so culture fit matters. Make sure you're choosing people you trust and can see your team working well with long-term.
Tip: If possible, consider doing your demos in person
Virtual demos can work well, especially if your team is spread out geographically, but there's value in getting everyone in the same room. The in-person interaction can make discussion easier and give you a better feel for the people you could be working with long-term.
Get more value from your ERP demos
An ERP demo is your chance to see how a potential solution will work for your business. But when you're evaluating multiple solutions and partners, it can be difficult to keep everything straight and make an objective comparison.
Going into each demo with clear requirements, a prepared team and a consistent evaluation process will help you stay focused on what matters most: which ERP solution and partner are the best fit for your business.
The demo is also just one step in a larger ERP evaluation. If you want to understand what happens before and after the demo, read our guide to the ERP buying process with ProjectLine. It walks you through our process from the initial conversation and discovery through to your final decision.
Want to see if ProjectLine is the right ERP partner for you?
If you’re actively evaluating ERP solutions, choosing the right software is only part of the decision. You also need an implementation partner that understands your business, asks the right questions and can help you determine whether the solution is truly a good fit.
At ProjectLine, we work with small and mid-size businesses to understand their requirements before recommending a solution. If you’re considering a new ERP system and want to find out whether we could be the right fit for your project, talk to our ERP team.
