SaaS Trial/POC problems , conversion rates and getting better

Hi all,

I'm looking at a problem I'm trying to solve and would love to speak with experts in the field. 

Relevant for SaaS B2B Mid market-Enterprise.

Problem is during the sale cycle there is a trial/poc/pilot.

How to ensure best conversion with a measurable and replicable way.


Giving access even when guided to prospects adds a lot of risks as trial/poc/pilot are about how much you can control the output and the narrative.


This is a point I'd love to discuss with Sales expert as well as pre sales experts and would appreciate if anyone in the group is interested in discussing.

Also connecting me with pre sales experts to have similar conversations. 


Thanks in advance.

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📈 Closing
6
mitts2
Politicker
3
Account Executive
2 things:
1. Set very clear success criteria prior to starting the POC. Setting functionality goals is best (i.e. does the product work), but most clients will measure success from a performance perspective (i.e. did this drive X conversions, etc.) 

Need to qualify with the client stuff like:
- How long is POC?
- What are you specifically solving for?
- How do you measure that success?
- What benchmark makes a successful trial?
- If that benchmark is set, are you moving forward with an enterprise contract?

2. Roll the POC into an annual contract. Basically make it an opt in or opt out of continued usage so that you only have to negotiate everything once
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
I agree.  Understanding why the POC/trial is considered essential is a key.  In my experience, if there's no clear goal and measurable result expected, it's not worth doing it at all, even if you have "free" trials.

I also agree that establishing what step this is in the process is critical too.   Does this lead to a contract?   And if not, why is it being done?
hh456
Celebrated Contributor
0
sales
I've always been a fan of a three month trial and then I work hard to get their users adapted and using it as much as possible. Then when the trial is up, they'll fork over the cash for the contract rather then deal with all their employees getting pissed they have to go back to the old way.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
0
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Do you have a paid trial, or is it free?  

That's the difference for me between a POC (which may be configured for the customer and requires some investment of time/effort on the vendor's side) and a trial (generally OOTB and free - so there will be issues because there are guard rails, it's not configured, and the trial doesn't carry over).    
hh456
Celebrated Contributor
0
sales
free trial but if you spur adaption they're stuck using it and paying bc they cant switch again. it makes the decision maker look bad and they dont want to appear that way and they'll move forward with your product in a paid manner
Sunbunny31
Politicker
0
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Great approach when you can swing it.  I like it.  Good strategy.
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
This is a good strategy man, unfortunately doesn't work well with us as MidMarket ACV is quite less and learning curve/POC is validated within a month hence we always extend the trial is needed as that gives us one more touchpoint that we care for them 
PKTHUNDURUS
Opinionated
1
BDR
PKTHUNDURUS
Opinionated
1
BDR
FinanceEngineer
Politicker
0
Sr Director, sales and partnerships
Ok, I've found that POCs always drag, and are just a time suck. I would recommend putting a pilot of some kind in place that is attached to the systems that they use. That way, you can start the real integration and get them using the product. I always put a small $ amount attached to it to feed into the sunk cost fallacy that every customer feels. If you can front-load some integration costs, that makes that final sale a little easier as well, and if they want to move forward, you didn't waste any resources.
Flippinghubs
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
Congrats! 
Free22
Fire Starter
0
VP CS & Pre sales
Hi Gals & Guys,
Thanks for the response, very insightful and i see that we all face the same issues, which is mainly correct discovery and then closing correctly. 
Within that, would you say that one should productize their environment to be POC/trial ready even if they are B2B Midmarket/Ent?  

In order for the product to better sell itself and have the ability to further control the experience for the ones doing the POC?
@mitts2 @Sunbunny31 @GrizzleMcThornBody @Diablo @FinanceEngineer 
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
We have a generic trial environment.   It's guardrailed.  Our platform is extensible, so the problems arise when inevitably someone wants to actually integrate or see more advanced functionality.

In a way, we do have a productized version available for trial, but it definitely requires the same steps - understanding why they need a trial, and ensuring what we can offer will do the trick.  For us, it still requires oversight.
FinanceEngineer
Politicker
0
Sr Director, sales and partnerships
Can't agree more. Set the base use cases so that everything needs to go down that easy path. If the customer needs a more "custom" approach, that is when you bring in the tech guys to high-level explain and scope it out for your sale/pilot.
Free22
Fire Starter
0
VP CS & Pre sales
Oversight of course, ensuring intent and hat all information has been gathered to ensure success. 
This is key and i don't see it being removed as part of the sales process.
I'm trying to understand if there is an acute pain during the pre sales stage, as i have experienced myself during the last 3 years where to solve any issues during this time more ppl or more time  are thrown in the mix to ensure adoption by the prospect.
However these are costly and far from perfect and not very scalable.

Is it something that is a pain for you as well? 
I'm looking into creating a trial environment that allows much more self dependability for the prospects and will allow me and the team to be very reactive and even proactive depending on actions done there.
Point would be to guide the prospects towards actions that will create that Aha moment for them .

This is being wildly done for B2C such as in casual gaming and i believe can be replicated for B2C Ent as well.
The issue is that it requires lots of time from Engineering to help create that or attaching multiple 3rd party products to create that experience and then hard to stitch it all.

Is it something that you see would be beneficial for you too?
If it isn't your most painful part, , what would you consider that to be? 


 f.y.i
@FinanceEngineer would love your take as well.
Free22
Fire Starter
0
VP CS & Pre sales
Thanks . Tagged you in my response to  Sunbunny31 and would be good to have your input as well.

FinanceEngineer
Politicker
1
Sr Director, sales and partnerships
The extra resources do create that environment, and it really does create a better experience. I also see throwing more resources at prospects. Look, it depends on the prospect. If it's JetBlue, then we throw extra resources and realize that it'll be a longer sales cycle. If it's a random 500 person company, I will do a little work but a canned environment. 
Sunbunny31
Politicker
0
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Same here.   

Also, we do have the ability to do POC, but since that involves resources to build out, it's a paid experience.
FinanceEngineer
Politicker
0
Sr Director, sales and partnerships
We moved to no POC, only Pilot - unless getting approved by the CRO. And always paid. POC's get thrown away after use, Pilots stay in there.
Free22
Fire Starter
0
VP CS & Pre sales
ok, interesting @FinanceEngineer & @Sunbunny31 . 
I have discussed now with a dozen sales leaders, practitioners and pre sales practitioners and have heard very similar positions. 
I am doing these interviews for the reason i originally mentioned but as well as a discovery to understand if the existing pains can be solved/relieved  through the addition of  a technological solution. 
What i am drafting is a solution that Sales org at SW vendors selling B2B to Ent & Mid market can tie their products to  and create an environment for their prospects that is there to ensure they get to that Aha moment an see the value and on the way helps the sales org to be as proactive during these but lower on resources. 
The value for the  practitioners  would be to ensure adoption, have metrics, alerts.
For the Sales leader, to have a clearer view of the funnel for this stage.
More values through data etc..
Additionally this would be fully under the control of the sales org, so no requesting for favors from engineering.

Does that resonate with you?
Sunbunny31
Politicker
0
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
In our case, no.    A trial is only one small  part of a sales cycle, and not mandatory at all.  Personally, I'd rather avoid trials, as for many customers, it may slow down the decision cycle.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
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