Consensus Consensus
Consensus
Consensus Light Version Logo 3
  • Buyer Enablement
  • Platform
        • Interactive Video DemosEasily shareable and always available
        • Demolytics™Tantalizingly good stakeholder insights
        • Supporting ContentConveniently mapped content for each demo
        • OverviewIntelligent demo automation
        • IntegrationsCarefully curated integrations that work where you work
        • SolutionsPlatform tuning for teams across the funnel
        • SecurityGlobally reliable — way more fun than you think
        • ToursCreate on-demand product tours
        • Illustration of a calculator

          CALCULATE YOUR ROI
          WITH CONSENSUS.

          LET'S GO
  • Pricing
  • Resources
        • BlogThe #1 blog for Presales
        • Research & GuidesData and insights to help you scale
        • CustomersReal disruptors seeing real results
        • DEMOFESTThe best event for presales best practices
        • WebinarsThe how-to hub for scaling presales
        • Cost of Demo CalculatorDo you know the cost of your demos? Find out now
        • PodcastAnswers to burning Presales questions
        • Buyer Level AssessmentGauge buyer champion’s change project difficulty
        • Filter by Custom Post Type
          Posts
          Webinars
          Demofest Videos
          Podcasts
          Infographics
          Filter by content type
          Custom post types
        • Choose Your Own Demo feature image
          Choose Your Own Demo
  • Company
        • AboutOur WHY to everything we do
        • Press releasesSplash worthy buzz
        • CareersHigh-growth with high rewards
        • Consensus Partner NetworkJoin the network
        • SupportConstantly up-leveling customer users
  • Solutions
        • PresalesAutomate repetitive Presales functions and scale instantly
        • ChannelsOnboard and enable channel partners fast
        • SalesShorten sales cycles and improve close rates
  • Talk To Sales
  • Watch a Demo
  • Sign In
  • Watch a Demo
  • Sign In

7 Habits to Conquer Evaluations

  • Blog
  • Tony Matos
  • January 10, 2023
  • best practices, buyer enablement, demo automation, presales, sales, scaling presales, Table of Contents, Tips
Seven Habits for PoCs

Everyone wants the “stamp of greatness” for their work. Especially for those in the presales profession where so much of the value you provide is tied to your credibility. This affects so many parts of your job, but especially when being asked to provide an Evaluation or Proof of Concept (PoC). 

Being able to organically consider every stakeholder’s priorities while naturally speaking about your solution is a skill that takes time to cultivate. That’s why I wrote the Seven Habits of Impactful Evaluations. This ebook outlines a set of habits I’ve found to improve the collaboration and win-rate of a PoC. This ebook is a companion to the mindset and practices I outline in my book entitled The Essential Guide to Navigate Your Proof of Concept.

Why Focus on Evaluations?

As a staple of an SE’s responsibilities, a PoC helps a customer understand the value and capabilities of the solutions you are representing and of your organization as a whole. When PoCs are done well, they become the vehicle that drives value and helps move the needle towards a win. They should capture the customer’s imagination so they see the full vision of how the implementation of your solution addresses and improves their business situation.

While PoCs are part of most Solution Engineers’ functions, for many, this task is one that SEs dread. Even those that execute a PoC well, they tend to dislike even talking about PoCs. But just like turning on a light makes scary shadows disappear, learning the best practices for a PoC removes the dread that is often associated with evaluations.  

Conquering Evaluations

Evaluations are tricky, requiring lots of planning and strategy. There are many stakeholders involved and each of their unique perspectives need to be taken into account when creating a PoC. You also need to present the information in a way that is genuine and engaging. If this sounds like a tall order, it is, but there are practices you can develop that will make the PoC process less painful while increasing your win-rate. Some of those practices are found in the Seven Habits of Impactful Evaluations.

The seven habits aren’t technology focused, instead they focus on uncomplicated best practices that build mutual respect, active listening, and collaboration into the PoC process. These habits also don’t require a huge overhaul to any systems you already have in place. They are applicable to any sales process, team structure, and technology solution. 

The Seven Habits of Impactful Evaluations 

Adopting these habits are techniques to aid you in improving the human interactions with a customer during a PoC or evaluation.

These habits are not meant to be a step-by-step guide for completing evaluations. Rather, these habits are intended to facilitate and open natural conversations with your customer so that you can advance the evaluation and sales process. 

SEs can sometimes become rigid or monotonous when speaking about topics you’ve covered a hundred times before and that can annoy or even dissuade customers from continuing discussions. Often the focus in a PoC is primarily on the technology – which is fine – but the seven habits draw in human elements. This is a good balance and important to maintain a collaborative and engaged PoC engagement. 

Although you’re managing complex technology, you don’t need to act like a robot yourself. Incorporating these practices will help you build trust and rapport with your customers as you move them through their buyer journey. 

While this list provides the framework for the seven habits, my ebook  Seven Habits of Impactful Evaluations provides further insights and more in depth explanations of how to establish these practices into your everyday operations. 

If you wish to dive deeper in the everyday issues and practices to manage evaluations then take a look at my book entitled The Essential Guide to Navigate Your Proof of Concept.

If you or your team require further training, consulting or coaching around evaluations then visit my website to review the POC Essentials service designed to improve the win-rate of evaluations for presales professionals.

The Moments that Matter Most

While these habits are great tools for crafting your evaluations, they won’t necessarily move you through the process in a logical sequence. Much like using road signs and markers to track where you are geographically, there are four milestones in PoC that will ensure you’re headed in the right direction. 

I’ve outlined the milestones of the PoC process that lead to the best outcomes:

  1. Qualify
  2. Define
  3. Execute
  4. Close

Each milestone outlines the practices you should employ for that stage and outcomes you should look for to make sure your evaluation is the best it can be. To find out more, look for the next blog in this series.

PoCs or evaluations shouldn’t be a daunting task or something you rush through to check the box. When done correctly, PoCs are a tool that bolster your credibility with the client and smooth the path to closing a deal. Use them as an opportunity to show the customer your solution can deliver on its promises and the benefits they’ll gain once they get through implementation. Even if you’re not a fan of performing evaluations, it’s important to have the skills necessary to carry them out successfully. Developing the habits to help move through the conversation naturally and following the milestones to ensure everything is one track will make each PoC easier for both you and your customer.

PrevWhat is the role of product demos in buyer enablement?
Influential MessagingNext
  • Tags: best practices, buyer enablement, demo automation, presales, sales, scaling presales, Table of Contents, Tips
Consensus is Intelligent Demo Automation that scales your presales function.
Watch an Automated Demo

More Interesting Posts

How Buyers Think – Overcoming Emotional ROI
May 9, 2023
Burning Presales Hot Tips
Burning Presales: Hot Tips from the Podcast
April 27, 2023
The Micro Demo
Micro Demo: Giving Prospects a Small Taste of What’s Possible
April 20, 2023

Presales » 7 Habits to Conquer Evaluations

Platform
  • Buyer Enablement
  • Overview
    • Interactive Video Demos
    • Demolytics
    • Integrations
    • Solutions
  • ROI Calculator
RESOURCES
  • Customers
  • Blog
  • Dojo
  • Webinars
  • DEMOFEST 2022
  • DEMOFESTx
  • Podcast
  • Buyer Level Assessment
COMPANY
  • About
  • Support
  • Careers
CONTACT US

info@goconsensus.com

801.653.0028

Talk To Sales

LAUNCH DEMO

© 2023 Consensus Sales, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
Key Activity Gap Analysis

The Definitive Guide to the 6 Demo Types

Download ebook

Research: 2022 SE Report

The Rise of Demo Automation Aargon Research

The Definitive Guide to the 6 Demo Types


Research: 7 Immutable Strategies for Scaling Presales


6 Demo Types Infographic


5 Burning Presales Problems Sales Leaders Observe

2021 Sales Engineering Compensation & Workload Report

Let us know where you want to see us next year!

Windows 95


Filter by Categories
Articles
Blog
Channel Development
Entrepreneurship
Event
Guides
Marketing
News
Awards
In the Press
Press Releases
Outreach
Press Releases
Sales
Business Development
Buyer Enablement
Presales
Filter by Customer stories Category
Customer Story
Featured
TP2
Filter by Tags
Artificial Intelligence
Automation
B2B Sales
best practices
buyer enablement
Company
Deep C
demo automation
Demo types
DEMOFEST
Demolytics
Demolytics best practices
Interactive videos
Marketing
Presales
product News
Research
Sales
scaling presales
test tag
Tips
Filter by Research Category
Appendix
Buyer enablement
Featured
Guide
Infographic
Research
Filter by Demofest Category
2020
2021
2022
2023
London
Silicon Slopes
Silicon Valley
Filter by Podcasts Category
Featured
Podcast
Filter by Webinars Category
Buyer
Presales
Webinar
Filter by Tags
*Best practices
*Buyer enablemen
*Buyer enablement
*Scaling presales
6 demo types
analytics
automation
b2b
b2b sales
best practices
Blog 2
business development
business strategy
buyer enablement
channel
company
customer insights
Customer Stories
data analysis
Deep C
demo
demo automation
Demo Types
demo video
DEMOFEST
demolytics
Demolytics Scaling Presales
demos
digital presales
digital transformation
disruption
dojo
EBook
faq
industry analysis
Infographics
innovation
interactive demos
Interactive videos
market trends
marketing
new demo player
outreach
podcast
presales
Presales Sales
presentation skills
Press
press release
product demo
product demonstrations
Product News
remote
Research
sale
sales
sales teams
scaling presales
Table of Contents
technology trends
Tips
virtual event
webinar
wfh