Sales Proof of Concept Template

Key takeaways

• Who this template is for: Sales engineers, Solutions Consultants and Account Executives who are looking to level up the POC process.
• What this template is for: Clarifying the road from idea to implementation and sharing everything from project timelines to success criteria to support documentation.
• How to use the template: Outline the POC project, create a timeline, and list the evaluation team. Then add your success metrics, necessary information like technical documentation or training videos and set and assign next steps.

For many complex technical products, companies will run a free proof of concept to show the product’s value. Most teams are still using Google Docs to run these POCs. Dock takes this process to the next level by providing a collaborative workspace for sales engineers, solutions consultants and the buying team to collaborate on the project and understand the path to success. 

SaaS and B2B sales are all about matching a product’s value to a customer’s needs. But in order to know if your product will work for the customer,  you often need to prove it out with a thorough proof of concept process. And that means juggling the needs of the startup or SaaS company with the needs of your customers, as well as getting buy-in from the right people and prospects.

With Dock’s proof of concept template, you can take work with design partners and deliver the experience that will make a difference for your customers.

Here’s what else the sales POC template can do for you:

Make it easy to understand an idea’s value-add

• Establish a clear roadmap to prove out your product’s functionality, use cases, and viability, (including ROI).
• Align your success criteria with business needs.
• House all of the necessary data and market research for POC in one link. 
• Generate new leads with an automated sales pilot.
• Increase your POC win rate through template iteration.
• Set transparent expectations around the project scope and positioning in the B2B sales landscape.

Focus on customer needs

• Integrate POC into the sales process to give your customers the products they need.
• Use POC data to better understand your target audience.
• Talk to prospects during the pre-sales phase so your deliverables match expectations.
• Understand what constitutes the minimum viable product (MVP) for your customer base.
• Take advantage of automation to spend more time supporting your existing customers and focusing on business development.

Streamline your POC development process 

• Keep everyone on track to assess your business idea's feasibility through assigned workflows.
• Create a clear, step-by-step methodology to establish a successful proof of concept.
• Align your team members’ POC projects with business objectives.
• Reuse and refine the template to save time on future sales POC process setup.
• Identify and address potential issues well before they become pain points.
• Quickly connect project stakeholders and the development team with prospects to get real-time feedback on your idea.

A successful sales POC requires you to show promising results — but to get there, you also need to meet deadlines and get the right people in the loop. That’s where a POC template comes in handy.

How Dock’s customers use this template

• Outline your sales POC framework: Clarify the POC project scope, timeline, key contacts and project stakeholders, and success criteria like market demand and sales projections.
• Collect all critical POC documentation in one place: Embed recorded meetings, research documents, and more within the template.
• Establish next steps to take you from concept to approval: Get key contacts to complete the relevant steps, build your case, and use the gathered data to get get the project go-ahead so you can create the final product.
• Use your proof of concept template to refine the process: Get in-template feedback from users and see what links they click on most to make your POC process as simple — and effective — as possible.

‍