Sales Proof of Concept, or Sales POC, is one of the best tools to keep in your arsenal. This concept allows you as a sales engineer to introduce a prospective buyer to a proposed technology prior to them committing. A strong sales proof of concept can take on different shapes but ultimately allows your buyer to experience the SaaS product themselves and see first-hand how this tool can solve the problems they’re experiencing within their organization. All presales strategies are different, and in that same vein, all approaches to leveraging a Sales proof of concept will be different too. We did a deep dive into a few different ways to use Sales POC to drive revenue with SalesHacker, but you can find a summary of the article below.

As mentioned above, a Sales POC allows your potential buyer to experience your product in some capacity to help influence their decision-making process. This can come in a variety of different forms such as a guided trial, workshops, detailed POC/POV use cases, and, in some cases, a pilot. When deciding which option makes the most sense for your circumstances, it’s important to take into consideration the length of time each evaluation opportunity will take as well as the cost to seller. Other factors include deal size and sale profile. Regardless of the approach you take, the main takeaway as a sales engineer is to understand what process will make the most sense for your prospect to help them succeed and help you win more business.

When a deal enters the middle-of-the-funnel stage, it’s important to assess the deal as a whole and work through five key areas with your presales and account executives teams to really ensure success. These five areas are as follows:

  • Prospect: Fully Understand Their Pain
  • Success: Agree on the Evaluation Criteria
  • Manage: Effectively Drive the Project
  • Prove: Show Your Value
  • Win: Deliver a Differentiated Offering

Each of these five areas gives you the opportunity to dial into a prospect’s unique needs and showcase why your product is the right choice to meet them where they’re at. You can expect to spend roughly 15, 30, 45, or 90+ days in this middle stage, so ensuring that these areas are thoroughly addressed is crucial to success.

As you can see, the evaluation process and the way it lends itself to Sales Proof of Concept are critical game-changers for presales professionals who know how to use these tools effectively. See this process play out and the value it holds to presales leaders in the POC case study included in our full Sales Hacker piece.