Defining Proof of Concept (POC) scope when prospects just wants to “poke around”
The best sales engineers know to fully define the scope of a Proof of Concept (POC), especially when the prospect just wants to “poke around a bit”. Let me tell you why. 👇
Congrats… your prospect wants to take the next step!
They’ve LOVED all your demos. 😀
Your solution is a PERFECT fit. 🙌
One last thing though… they want to do a quick little POC… just to poke around a bit. 👍
No biggie, right?
Just give them access, right?
They’ll be done in a week, right?
❌ WRONG ❌
❌ WRONG ❌
❌ WRONG ❌
If you say yes without defining the scope, you are making a BAD assumption that your prospect actually knows what they need to do and see to be able to make their final decision to move forward with you.
(Here’s a secret 🤫… They don’t know that. They might think that they do, but they don’t. )
Here’s where you come in. 💪
✅ BUILD AN EVALUATION PLAN FOR THEM. ✅
Define a set of test/use cases and success criteria for their would-be POC based on everything that you know about them… their needs, challenges, pain points, objectives, etc.
Share this Evaluation Plan and ask them: “If you complete this plan successfully, will you be able to select us?”
If their answer is no… or maybe… or probably… that’s ok. It just means that you have more work to do on the Evaluation Plan before you should begin the POC.
So you ask… “What else do you need to do or see to be able to select us by the end of this POC?”
Collaborate with them to finalize the scope. Guide them with your experience. Help them figure out what they really need to do and see.
Once you have a final Evaluation Plan… then, and only then, should you be kicking off a POC, giving access to your product, and scheduling POC kick-off/check-in/wrap-up calls.
It may sound like more work upfront, but this saves you time and effort by avoiding scope creep, never-ending POCs, and POCs that are destined to fail or result in ‘No Decision’.
It’s how the best SEs/SCs/SAs run POCs that win deals. 😎
If you want to see how you run POCs that win deals… request a demo of Homerun Presales.
