Why our Engineers lead Demo Calls
..and why it works for us.
At most companies, demo calls are the sales team’s territory. They handle the pitch, and maybe a product expert jumps in later for the technical deep dive.
But at Airbook, we’re doing things a bit differently—our engineers lead the demo calls.
Sounds odd, right? A little unconventional?
Well, that’s by design.
Here’s why we think it works better and why this approach makes us a different kind of company.
Product Builders Should Be Talking about it too
People who build the product should be part of pitching and demoing it.
Why? Simple—no one knows the product like the engineers who’ve spent hours writing code, fixing bugs, and designing the system from the ground up.
They don’t just know the product—they live it.
When an engineer gets on a call with a prospect, they’re not there to just deliver a polished sales pitch.
They’re there to solve problems.
And that genuine desire to solve the customer’s issues—whether or not they buy Airbook—builds trust faster than any sales script.
It’s real. It’s authentic. And it’s unscripted.
Engineers can dive deep into how things work, why they’re designed that way, and how Airbook can solve problems in ways that standard sales pitches often miss.
The First Time We Tried It
The first time our engineer led a demo call for us was actually an accident.
We were doing founder-led sales, and I had to step out at the last minute. Our engineer, Danish, was the only one available to run the call.
He didn’t know the sales script.
I gave him a quick briefing on the prospect and the company they worked for, and then we decided to just roll with it.
Later that night, I watched the recording.
And honestly? It went way better than expected.
Danish’s deep dive into the tech was exactly what the prospect needed.
Instead of a polished sales pitch, they got a genuine look under the hood.
He answered questions no one else could, walked them through real-time use cases, and even coded on the spot to show how adaptable Airbook was.
It wasn’t perfect or polished, but it was real.
And by the end of the call, the prospect was sold.
Not just on the product, but on the fact that they’d just spoken to the person who built it.
(Although Danish thought we got lucky, I knew it was just not luck)
Sales needs a different energy
Here’s the thing: engineers bring a completely different energy to demo calls.
They’re not there to close deals or hit quotas.
Instead, closing the deal becomes the byproduct of a genuine, problem-solving conversation.
In fact, we’ve had prospects ask specifically to speak to our engineers after realizing how much they can learn in just one call.
It’s refreshing for them to skip the sales fluff and get straight to the tech talk.
Bringing Engineers on the frontlines
In most companies, engineers stay in the background.
They’re only brought out when there’s a technical question or when something goes wrong. But that’s a missed opportunity.
At Airbook, having engineers lead demos has led to some real benefits:
Faster trust-building: Prospects love the transparency and authenticity of hearing directly from the people who built the product.
Deeper technical conversations: Engineers handle complex questions on the spot—no need to bring in a separate team later.
Better product feedback: Engineers get firsthand insights into what customers care about, which helps us build better features.
This has become a part of our culture at Airbook.
Engineers are encouraged to hop on calls, share what they’ve built, and get direct feedback from the people who might use it.
It’s not just about sales—it’s about building the product and the company.
Nuances
I get that this approach might not work for every company.
But for us—being a product-led, engineering-driven team where our customers are fairly technical—this approach fits.
Having our engineers lead demo calls has been a game-changer, and it’s something we’re continuing to lean into.
It’s not traditional. It’s not polished. But it’s real. And for us, that’s what works.