10 guides for planning and reviewing a proof of value
Start with the decision the buyer still has to make.
If a buyer asks for a trial, start with the guide that answers the question still open. Use the discovery guides when the outcome is unclear and the agreement guides when the trial is taking shape. Use the last two when deciding whether to advance a deal or reporting across trials.
These ten guides from this site cover discovery, trial agreements and the evidence a software buyer needs to decide. The suggested order draws on the Sales Engineering approach. Each guide can be read on its own.
1. What is a Proof of Value?
Use this guide to decide whether the trial needs to show technical feasibility or a change in a business outcome. A team may need both. A successful installation does not by itself establish a business outcome. Get the economic buyer to agree which business result will matter before you design the test.
2. Sales value pyramid
Use the annual report exercise to connect a public business objective to a capability the customer might need. It gives you a hypothesis for the next conversation. The annual report cannot tell you whether this team owns the objective or has a reason to act now.
3. Business Value Assessment interviews
Use this interview guide when one person has described the problem and the other people doing or relying on the work have yet to be heard. If a manager says approvals take too long, ask the approvers and the teams waiting for them what happens during the delay. The interviews may reveal a disagreement that the trial design needs to address. Measure the impact separately.
4. MEDDICC Metrics examples
Use the two layers of metrics to show how a result in the product might change work for the customer. A faster report is a product result. The value depends on whether someone can act sooner and what that earlier decision changes. Record the assumptions between those two measurements and ask who at the customer can confirm them.
5. Buyer decision criteria
Use the examples written by buyers to check what the people judging the trial will actually compare. Ask who sets the threshold and whether a missed criterion can be traded off against another strength. Published examples can give you questions to ask, but the buyer has to confirm the rules for this decision.
6. Business case for a software purchase
Use this business case guide if the trial needs to support an approval. Map the evidence to the question the approver still has, whether that is affordability, value for money or the work needed to roll out. A trial designed to show value may have little to say about delivery cost. Capture that separately.
7. Mutual action plan
Use the mutual action plan guide to make the buyer and seller’s dependencies visible. Write down who supplies the data, who reviews the result and when the decision is due. A date entered by the seller gives you a proposed schedule. Ask the person responsible to confirm it.
8. Proof of concept vs pilot agreement
Use this comparison when the trial might lead into a subscription. Check whether the pilot ends on the agreed date or starts a subscription. Agree who reviews the result and when. The article helps locate those questions in the agreement. For the actual terms, read the document both parties will use.
9. Sales stage exit criteria
Use these exit criteria examples when the team is checking what evidence a deal needs to advance to the next sales stage. Look for what the customer confirmed, tested or signed. An internal stage change does not show that the buyer has agreed to proceed. Record which buyer decisions are still open.
10. PoC win rate and technical win rate
Use this measurement guide if you report on multiple trials. Count successful technical tests separately from deals won, and show which trials are still open. State the denominator and the reporting date. The rate alone cannot tell you why it moved.
Sources
- What is a Proof of Value, and what does it need to prove?
- Sales value pyramid: how to build one from an annual report
- What stakeholder interviews add to a Business Value Assessment
- MEDDICC Metrics examples: product results and business value
- MEDDICC decision criteria: examples written by buyers
- Business case for a software purchase: what each part needs
- Mutual action plan template: what it holds and proves
- Proof of concept vs pilot: what the agreement leaves out
- Sales stage exit criteria: examples from published processes
- PoC win rate and technical win rate: define what you count
Sources checked on 4 November 2026.