Pilots and POCs are still amazing sales tools. If done right, these will allow you to prove yourself and deliver value to the right people in a short period of time. Powered by actionable.me

1. SAAS
HOW TO STRUCTURE
AND MEASURE
A POC OR PILOT
Thierry Sequeira
CEO | actionable.me
thierry@actionable.me

2. actionable.me
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
A proof of concept (POC) or a proof of principle is
a realization of a certain method or idea to
demonstrate its feasibility, whose purpose is to
verify that some concept or theory has the
potential of being used. A proof of concept is
usually small and may or may not be complete.
⇒ Test feasibility
A pilot project refers to an initial roll-out of a
system into production, targeting a limited scope
of the intended final solution. The scope may be
limited. The purpose of a pilot project is to test,
often in a production environment.
⇒ Test feasibility + value (in production)
Ref: here

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THE CHALLENGE
The sales, pre-sales, consulting and services
team will need to deliver a project that has a
loose scope, small budget and tight timeline to
a team that is not yet convinced of the value of
the product and services you are delivering.

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HOW TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS?
Pilots and POCs are still amazing sales tools. If done right, these will allow you to
prove yourself and deliver value to the right people in a short period of time.
The key is to:
1. Plan your approach to success
2. Communicate constantly with your team and prospect
3. Set expectations and success criteria
4. Map next steps
5. Measure everything
6. Communicate some more

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WHY ARE SURVEYS KEY?
Surveys will help you:
1. Keep the entire team engaged
2. Identify issues early on
3. Document progress and success!!
Pro tip:
1. Make your surveys relevant and super easy to respond to
2. Get team leads (on the prospect side) to ensure their team expect and reply
to surveys

7. BEFORE
KNOW
● Project background
● Who is participating
● Who needs to be informed of
the progress and results
● Ideal project outcomes
DO
● Communicate the agenda and
timelines
● Get the right audience
● Communicate what happens
after the pilot
● Agree on communication and
feedback methods
Understand your audience and
capture interests over time
Powered by actionable.me
QUICK SURVEY

8. DURING
● Confirm success criteria
● Map out next steps
● Initiate a commercial discussion
● Track everything
● Communicate progress and
wins to everyone involved
Gauge engagement and excitement
multiple times during the POC
(once a week if possible)
Powered by actionable.me
QUICK SURVEY

9. AFTER
● Recap successes and results
● See what has worked well and
could be improved
● Communicate scope and
timelines for a project
● Set next steps: commercials,
rollout and procurement
Finally, don’t forget to ask for
referrals if the pilot went well!
Find out how you have done and
what you could do better
Powered by actionable.me
QUICK SURVEY

10. ONE-CLICK
DOWNLOAD
Super simple one-click surveys
for all your meetings.

11. THANK YOU
actionable.me
thierry@actionable.me