When it comes to buying software products, the demand for sales proof of concepts (POCs) is on the rise. With tight budgets and executives scrutinizing every purchase, buyers are more cautious than ever before, and as a result, they want to know exactly what they are buying. This is especially true for B2B buyers, who are considering large, complex software purchases.
While buying B2B software isn't as simple as buying a new outfit, there are components of that experience that sales teams can optimize by way of sales POCs. A software POC is like trying on an outfit before purchasing it. It essentially gives the buyer the chance to determine whether the product is a good fit for their needs. This way, they can make purchases with greater confidence.
What is a Sales Proof of Concept (and what is it not)?
A sales POC (proof of concept) is a trial implementation of a software solution that vendors offer potential customers. It lets the customer experience and test the software's capabilities and features firsthand so they can evaluate the software's value and suitability for their specific needs.
It's important not to confuse POCs with business cases, free trials, and pilots though.
POCs vs Business Cases
Business cases are more comprehensive, broader in scope, and focus on articulating the broader organizational impact of using a software solution. A sales POC can be an important part of making a business case, soliciting buy-in across stakeholders, and demonstrating key value drivers of the solution — but it is not equivalent to a business case on its own.
POCs vs Free Trials
While both POCs and free trials are commonly used by organizations to give buyers a hands-on taste of their products, their components, nuances, and goals are completely different. Most free trials offer customers a blank slate, which requires them to start exploring from scratch, this can be effective for less complex software with a product-led growth sales motion, but for more complex enterprise products this can be a blocker.
POCs vs Pilots
Finally, a sales POC is also different from a pilot. The main goal of a pilot is to test the software in a real-world environment to evaluate its performance, usability, and impact on the buyer’s organizational operations. But pilots generally run for a longer duration than POCs and require customers to go through implementation and onboarding to allow for a more thorough evaluation.
A sales POC includes enough information to showcase the product's value in terms of how the customer plans to use it. This customized demonstration makes it easier for the potential buyer to see the benefits of the software without requiring them to invest time in an extensive setup.
The Two Types of POCs
With B2B SaaS, we see two types of Sales POCs used at different points in the buyer journey:
- Highly Tailored POCs: These are product instances customized for strategic, high-value accounts. With these types of POCs, the data within the instance is either highly customized and tailored to the prospect, or the sales and solutions engineering teams work with potential buyers to connect systems and integrate data. This type of POC demands significant time and effort.
POCs come with this demand because they involve creating tailored demonstrations of how software solutions address specific business needs. The process itself includes understanding the client's needs, configuring software to meet those needs, integrating with the business's existing systems, and developing customized features. POCs may also involve data migration, security assessments, and performance testing.
The goal is to provide a real-world simulation of the software's value, which demands detailed planning, collaboration, and iteration.
- Automated POCs: Recently a new type of POC offering has emerged which automates and lightens the load of traditional, highly custom POCs. These POCs sit right in between a free trial and a highly custom trial account. These are accounts pre-filled with relevant data and give buyers a true sense of how a product works without requiring them to connect their own systems. These are a much more scalable alternative to traditional, highly custom POCs. Once implemented, sales teams can give buyers access to these pre-filled product instances with a single click.
Ultimately, sales POCs provide a risk-free way for customers to evaluate a software solution before they commit to full-scale deployment. Sales POCs grant users the opportunity to get hands-on experience with the product and ensure it will work for their organization.
What Do Effective POCs Accomplish, and for Who
For the buyer and buying committee, sales POCs provide a way to experience a product's benefits and evaluate if the solution meets their needs. Sales POCs are a great way to build consensus across buying committees with multiple stakeholders and they’re a great way for buyers to have confidence in the decision they’re making. Buying software is a risk and sales POCs increase the likelihood that buyers make a good choice.
For sales teams, POCs a proven tactic to shorten deal cycles and increase win rates. They're a great way to bring buyers to that “aha” moment where they can experience the value of a solution for themselves. Today’s buyers want to get hands-on with your products, and being able to offer them that opportunity can prove to be a differentiator, especially in highly competitive markets.
Proving Capabilities of Highly Technical Products
As products become more complex, a buyer's doubts and concerns are likely to increase. POCs create an opportunity to prove that the software solution can back up its claims, as they provide hands-on validation of the software's capabilities.
Aligning Expectations Between Vendors and Buyers
The root of all conflict is misaligned expectations — and enterprise software is no exception. Most failed software deployments stem from misaligned expectations. Running a sales POC helps manage a buyer's expectations by giving them a clear understanding of how the product works and the results they can expect, increasing the likelihood of successful implementation.
Accelerating Deal Cycles
POCs help overcome buyer objections early in the sales process. Potential customers are more likely to proceed with a purchase when they see the product in action and become aware of how it can address their pain points. POCs also help build consensus and ensure that stakeholders are on the same page.
Addressing Objections and Questions Early
Recent data from Ebsta and Pavilion shows that top-performing sellers are 109% more likely to satisfy objections by the mid-stage of the sales cycle. POCs help sellers replicate this behavior by teasing out potential issues earlier, such as integration challenges, performance issues, usability concerns, gaps in necessary features, security issues, and limited scalability options.
When buyers interact with the product in a controlled environment, they naturally raise questions and concerns. This allows sellers to address these objections upfront, preventing them from becoming deal-breakers later in the process. By resolving issues early, sellers can build trust and confidence, smoothing the path to a final agreement.
Showcase Competitive Differentiation
By allowing buyers to test the product, POCs showcase the unique features and benefits of the software solution in question. This helps differentiate it from what competitors are offering, which can be incredibly useful in gaining customers in industries with heavy competition.
Competition can be fierce in the B2B SaaS space, especially in categories that address business functions and have broad user bases. Key areas include Customer Relationship Management, project management and collaboration, and marketing automation.
Human Resources (HR) and Payroll Software, Cloud Storage and Data Management, Cybersecurity, E-commerce Platforms, Accounting and Finance Software, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) also see intense competition.
Insight Into Buyer Behavior
Depending on the method of delivery (which includes standard demos, customized POCs, trial versions of a product, sandbox environment tests, or interactive product workshops), POCs can provide valuable data on buyer interactions with the product, which can be used to help sellers personalize their follow-up approaches.
They do this by offering real-world insights into how a potential customer interacts with the software, which helps make sense of user behavior, identify pain points, and determine the effectiveness of specific features. This information can be critical for reworking the product, tailoring sales pitches, and determining the likelihood of conversion.
For example, TestBox typically offers features like engagement tracking, which allows teams to monitor how users interact with the POC, including metrics like time spent, features used, and overall engagement.
This way, they can identify areas of interest, concerns, and common questions, which enhances the team's sales strategy.
When Does a POC Make the Most Sense?
POCs come into play during the mid-to-late stages of the sales cycle, when buyers have already been qualified, have shortlisted possible solutions, and need to determine which one is the best fit for their needs.
Traditional, highly customized POCs require significant effort, and as such, should be reserved for well-qualified sales opportunities and later-stage deal cycles. Automated POCs, on the other hand, can be used more freely, because they require less of a resource lift.
Businesses will benefit from POCs if they:
- Have highly technical products. Complex software solutions, especially those with AI features to showcase, are challenging to demonstrate and require a high level of confidence to get buyers to commit to a purchase. POCs foster decision confidence by allowing customers to explore functionality firsthand.
- Differentiate on user experience. When user experience is a key differentiator, potential buyers need to use the product to feel the difference. POCs provide hands-on opportunities for buyers to experience the product’s value. (See how Catalyst used scalable proof of concepts to capitalize on their UX differentiation.)
- Offer innovative or disruptive technologies. Similar to highly complex products, new and innovative products need to clearly demonstrate the value and impact they offer. POCs help mitigate the perceived risk of investing in disruptive solutions and foster buyer confidence. (See how Dixa uses sales POCs to build buyer confidence in their innovative customer support solution.)
- Operate in a highly commoditized space. In crowded and competitive markets, buyer experience is everything, and deals are won and lost in the details. POCs allow buyers to see, test, and experience the product, a powerful differentiator that can set your buyer experience apart from competitors.
- Sell software that requires buy-in from multiple stakeholders. As buying committees grow larger, POCs are an effective way to align multiple stakeholders and help them get comfortable with a software solution.
Keep in mind, vertical and horizontal software products approach POCs differently due to the scope of their solutions. Vertical SaaS products, which are tailored to specific industries, often require more customized POCs to demonstrate how the solution addresses unique challenges. This can involve deeper integration with industry-specific workflows and compliance requirements.
In contrast, horizontal SaaS products, which serve a broader audience across various industries, usually have more standardized POCs focused on showcasing core functionalities that can be applied across different sectors.
How to Run an Effective POC
To run an effective sales POC, it's essential to follow a few key guidelines.
Step 1: Define Objectives & Success Criteria
Be aware of the buyer's goals and what your sales POC needs to demonstrate to them. Clearly understood objectives ensure that the POC aligns with the buyer's needs and addresses their pain points.
To evaluate the success of a POC, teams should monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) across several areas, including performance, user engagement, integration, financials, client satisfaction, and scalability. Essential metrics include response time, uptime, user adoption, integration success, cost efficiency, and client feedback. Regularly assessing these metrics helps teams determine whether the POC meets the predefined criteria and is on track for implementation.
Step 2: Set Up the Environment
Configure the POC environment using relative data that will demonstrate how the product functions. This setup can vary significantly, depending on whether you decide to run a traditional POC or a POC Lite. For traditional POCs, setting up the environment will be a little more involved than what's required for a POC Lite.
Setting up a Proof of Concept requires multiple stakeholders to work together in order to ensure success. The sales team initiates the POC by determining client needs. The CSM aligns client expectations with the POC's objectives and offers ongoing support. Product managers customize the product to meet specific client needs, and Solution Architects handle the technical integrations and troubleshooting needs.
Optional roles like a Project Manager or Executive Sponsor may oversee coordination and provide strategic oversight. Each role is crucial in planning, executing, and evaluating the POC to decide on full-scale implementation.
Step 3: Deliver to & Enable the Buyer
Grant the buyer access to the POC environment once it's fully prepared. Provide guided walkthroughs and offer any instructions or context needed to help them get familiar with the product's capabilities.
Step 4: Evaluate & Measure Results
Monitor your buyer's behavior within the POC environment. Before closing the deal, use the data you collected to address any questions or objections. For example, determine who the potential buyer has invited into the environment and what they’re doing during use sessions.
After the deal, analyze data patterns to enhance future GTM strategies. TestBox offers several capabilities in terms of data analysis in order to enhance the effectiveness of POCs. These include engagement metrics, usage patterns, performance tracking metrics, and user feedback. These capabilities help teams make data-driven decisions, enhance their POCs, and tailor their solutions to meet client needs.
You may want to explore whether your deals are more likely to close depending on the number of stakeholders in the environment. It’s also a good idea to determine whether users spend more time on specific areas of the product. Discover what makes your buyers tick and learn how to lean into it in your approach.
Sales POC Best Practices
Sales POCs can be a powerful sales tool for B2B software, but as mentioned above, they can also be a resource drain. POCs require time, personnel, and often a financial investment to execute. A few specific things that make a POC a big lift for teams include custom development processes, client collaboration efforts, and later, testing and validation to ensure that the POC process was executed successfully.
These elements pull team members away from other projects, stretching resources and potentially delaying other work.
To ensure a smooth POC process, teams should develop SOPs and clear documentation for managing and running POCs. They should also conduct dry runs and training sessions before beginning the POC. Dry runs help teams practice the process and identify any potential issues.
It's also wise to establish clear timelines and milestone predictions. It's beneficial as well to establish an agreement with the prospective client that lists the next steps in line if the POC is successful. These steps should focus on full implementation or deployment. Addressing these considerations can help ensure that the POC process is well-organized and meets the client's needs.
Use these best practices to understand when and how to best deploy sales POCs to make the greatest impact on your organization and sales performance.
Know How Custom Your POC Actually Needs to Be
Adjust the level of customization in your sales POCs based on the value of the deal and the potential buyer's needs. Reserve highly customized POCs for high-level accounts and use automated POC options for customers who may not be as far through the sales pipeline.
Give Buyers Context
Make sure potential buyers have enough information and guidance to see the value of your product. Blank trials create a high barrier to entry and don’t provide sufficient context for buyers to know what to do once they get into your platform. Providing guided walkthroughs helps ensure that buyers experience your product’s more valuable features.
Use Buyer Analytics to Sharpen Your GTM Motions
Harness buyer behavior insights from your sales POCs and use them to enhance your sales approach. What patterns are you seeing with your most enthusiastic and successful buyers versus those that drop off? Use these insights to not only improve your POCs but also help sharpen and tailor follow-up with customers based on their behavior.
What Tools Can Help Brands Run Successful POCs?
Organizations can utilize an array of tools and resources to create successful sales POCs. A short list of these include the following:
- Project Management Tools: These help solution engineers (SEs) manage their workloads, understand capacities, and communicate effectively with buyers throughout each step of the POC process.
- CRM Solutions: Integrating buyer analytics into CRM systems makes it easier for individual sellers and sales teams to track deal progression and report sales trends on a macro level.
- Customer Survey/Feedback Tools: Collecting feedback from buyers, especially from large buying committees, provides businesses with the insights they need in order to understand the buyers' experiences and address any lingering questions they may have.
- Automation Tools: POC automation tools like TestBox automate the process of setting up POC environments and massively reduce the workload required from solutions engineers to spin up these instances. As mentioned above, these automated POC instances are pre-filled with highly realistic, yet synthetic demo data enabling buyers to quickly see the power of the product. some text
- As an added bonus, these automated POC instances can act as a starting point for highly customized POC work. Instead of building custom POCs from scratch, Solutions Engineers can use the pre-filled instances to get a jumpstart and save significant time and effort in the customization process.
POCs play an important role in speeding up sales cycles and providing potential buyers with opportunities to evaluate your products. They're essential for building decision confidence, as they empower buyers to make informed decisions based on their firsthand experience. However, they're not a one-size-fits-all solution and need to be deployed with care to yield effective results.
By understanding the different types of POCs, you can adjust your approach based on the needs of each potential buyer and align your effort to your GTM motions. Ensuring that your POCs are well-structured and supported by analytics can enhance your sales strategy.
If you’re interested in learning more about how to leverage Sales POCs in your GTM motion, explore our findings from analyzing more than 1,000 POCs.
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