30 Minutes to President's Club | No-Nonsense Sales #43 - Pitfalls, best practices, and unique ways to successfully run a POC (Adam O’Chart, Top AE at Gong.io)
Feb 17, 2021
In this engaging discussion, Adam O’Chart, a top-producing AE at Gong.io and recent President's Club member, shares his insights on managing Proof of Concept (POC) initiatives. He emphasizes the necessity of setting exit criteria before starting and allows prospects to set pilot expectations. Adam advocates focusing on both power users and non-users to drive conversions and suggests creating a shared Slack channel for effective communication. His practical strategies transform POCs into successful sales, highlighting the importance of champion building and robust relationship management.
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Let Prospects Define Success
- Let prospects define success criteria first to avoid raising their expectations unrealistically.
- Align their criteria with discovery insights and clarify a pilot shows only a glimpse, not full capability.
Push Back When Needed
- If a prospect refuses to discuss success factors, have the right to say no to the pilot.
- Push back respectfully to build trust and avoid unsuccessful efforts.
Pilots Lengthen but Boost Closes
- Pilots can lengthen sales cycles but increase close rates and predictability.
- It’s better to onboard properly, even if it takes longer, as pilots build excitement and investment.