Hello, and welcome to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast. I'm Rachel Klett Miller. Quick here at the top. Have you checked out a sender mad a sender dot co. If you like the content we're putting out on the podcast, you'll love the content we're publishing on a sender almost every day. Be sure to check it out. Brian Walsh is joining me today to dive into a topic that I think a lot of you are dealing with.
Hi, Brian, Hello, Rachel. Hello.
All right, So today we are going to talk about pilot projects. Some of you may be in those sales process. You're in these meetings, you feel like you got a great position here to move a deal forward, and the customer says, hey, let's just try a pilot project first. So, Brian, I know we're going to kind of dive in and how you deal with that and how to counteract that and when you want to do it and when you don't.
But first, let's talk about why these projects pop up and make their way into our sales caps.
Okay, So the obvious answer is the economy, right, It's the it's it's the old line from politics, it's the economy. Stupid. Uh, so that wasn't at you right, correct? Yeah, But you know everything's got more pressure, everything's got more heat and light, everything's got more people involved or you know, fingers in the in the pie. And that's typically the number one reason. But even if it's not the economy, this happens all
the time, even when the economy is good. And I think that's one of the big questions, right, So I I know we can go deeper here in a second, but the why is always the first question I got to ask myself, is that really what's happening in this moment in time? Because in this moment in time, it'd be easy when somebody says, oh, I think we need to do a pilot, to just assume, oh, it's the economy, but it might not be especially and so even I it's I'm like, this is my nephew economy. When the
county is good, it's definitely not the economy. So the first question is, well, why, what's the why behind that? Is this a political landscape conversation. Is it a resources conversation other than money, like people or time? Is it is it a competing project with a completely different alternative? Is it a competitive conversation. So digging under the covers to get to the why, I think is always the first place to start.
Yeah, and there's reasons why you may want to move them forward. And if we look at the why, why would we want to move why, is it a good reason to take on a pilot?
Yeah? Okay, so I think there are four things. It's the who, the why, the how, and the when. And doing a pilot for any of the wrong reasons against these four questions is never a good idea. And it often happens because we have a tendency to react to a request because we are good people, we're problem solvers, and we want to react to a requests instead of stopping and really thinking through all of those factors. Right.
So with that in mind, it's also a chance in that moment when this idea of a pilot comes up to also frame the negotiation that's happening before the customer even realizes we're negotiating. Now, that might be a conversation for another day, but I will say this, we have a tendency, as they said, as sellers, to give things away without thinking about it because we're solving, like we
want to help, we're givers. As you know, I like to say, but remember every request that comes from a customer, including something like this, Hey, let's little pilot, you know, you know whatever, especially if it's veil right. You don't know why, right, But this is a chance to expand
the conversation and begin to trade. And so when you do that consistently, when you expand the conversation before you respond and start to trade on things of value, you're actually keeping others in this case the customer, that you will never just roll over and give something, but instead you'll always look to find ways to create more value for both sides before you decide whether or not. In this case, the ask of a pilot is a good idea for both of us.
So once you've assessed that, what do you need to do as a salesperson? And you know some of this is like an implementation of part But what do you need to do to increase the likelihood that these pilot projects will lead to a more permanent solution.
Okay, let's stay on our four factors. You might just write like it's the who, the why, the how, and the when. Right, let's just kind of break each one of these down. On the who conversation. I got to be asking myself some questions. Who's this person in the organization who's asking for this? How much power and influence do they have? And what part of the buying decisions the economic buying, the technical buying, or just like the and when I say just it's not to discount or
the implementation part of the decision. And are are will other people listen to this person? Right? Is this person a coach or are they more than that? Are they a potential or even a current champion? So those are some of the examples of what I've got to be asking myself and my team about the who. Then there's the why, like what's the real objective of this pilot? How are we going to measure the ultimate success? Now that this is important, how are we going to measure
the ultimate success of a pilot? Is one thing, right, A six week or a six month pilot has got some sort of finish line objectives rights positive business outcomes, as we like to say. But the other thing you got to have in place is are short term metrics? So what are the metrics we have in place to ensure that we can course correct during the pilot If we're not on track. Right, if I got a three month or six on pilot, I better have some shorter term metrics in place that tell us whether or not
this is on track. And this is a critical question because without these metrics, you're starting at point A in the hopes of getting the point Z with nothing in between you to tell you whether not you're still on track. And that's never that rarely, rarely turns into anything more than like, you know, let's go to church and light a candle and the hopes that we get a great outcome. Right. And then then there's the how, like so around the concept of how, what's the specific plan to include players
from both sides, the responsibilities, the date, et cetera. Who's the sponsor like this of this pilot and what are their objectives and level of buy in? How are we going to keep everyone informed in a consistent fashion, What happens if one side or the other is not holding up their end of the bargain? And how will we communicate results and move forward based on success or any lack thereof. So like, there's all of that going on. It's the who, it's the what, it's the well, how
are we going to make sure this happens. And then last but not least, maybe the easier, easiest of the ford. But the answer is the when, like, what are the real timelines for this pilot? Are those appropriate and achievable? And what happens if those timelines aren't met by either side? I think there's a level of detail that you've got to go into if you're going to do a pilot.
And oh, by the way, this applies to somebody asking for a proof of concept, right, it's very similar, right, very similar, but even more so here because the money is now on the line. There's more money on the line with a pilot than there is even with a trial, right, or a proof of concept. So those are the questions I'm asking myself or my teammates if we're really trying to consider whether or not a pilot is a good idea.
Great questions. I hope those of you who are getting this question a lot from your prospects or writing those down. I want to go back to when you were talking about the why the metrics conversation. Talk a lot about metrics, getting metrics as part of your sales process, with or without a pilot project. Right, how are we measuring success, and sometimes it can be difficult to get those nailed down.
So I want to talk a little bit about that, because, as you said, it's really critical when we're dealing with these pilot projects. So how do I, for lack of a better term, force the metrics to that outcome conversation with my customer? How do I get my customer to see the importance of that.
Yeah, this is a really important point, Rachel. And it's actually another example of negotiation as a skill that we're going to pull on throughout the entire opportunity pursuit. There is a cost to a pilot, right, and there's a cost to both thoughts. So I would not shy away from the question you've it's really really critical. I know already mentioned it. But without metrics, both short and long term metrics, right, pilots often turn into nothing more than
science experiments. Yeah, and hey, I'll be the first permit. And sometimes the science experiment is okay. Sometimes we want to do a science experiment as much as the custom Right, it's right, we got something new, we're looking for early adopters, whatever, But paf that and choosing to do with science experiment purposefully, and even then there should be metrics, you know, the back of the majority of time, no metrics equals no decisions.
And I think that's the key, because you know a lot of times pilots are being run by technical buyers, and eventually they're the ones who have to go to the economic buying audience and ask for more money or real money to take the pilot to a larger scale. And if you can't answer the business questions that the economic buyer cares about, you got yourself with science experiment, and as good as your technical buyer I might feel
about it, it ain't going anywhere else. So you know, someone who doesn't want to have a metric conversation is a red flag for me. Yep, And I won't do the pilot in that case because without success measures and an identified sponsor as appropriate level, we're just all kind of spin in our wheels. Now, I want to be clear. If somebody calls me and says, hey, I have X amount of money to spend and I have to spend it today by five o'clock, do you want it? Okay?
I'm not suggesting you should say no, take the deal off the street. I'm good with that, but you've got to at least understand that if you want this to turn into something bigger, Right, if this is an opportunity or an account where there's more runway for us, before you take that fifty thousand dollars or one hundred thousand dollars or whatever they have to spend, you better have a couple of these conversations in your in your back pocket. Need to have Hey, how are we going to measure
the success of the use of this bend? Because I want to help you look good inside of your organization. That's all. Like, we don't have to overcomplicate this. Yeah we might if it's a twelve million dollar deal, but if it's you know, I just want to make sure I'm sending that message. You know, everything is appropriate. How's that right? Yeah, we're not above that. Yeah that's right.
No, no metrics, no decision, no successes. Are great takeaways from that little segment there. Okay, Brian, what sort of things am I doing along the way through implementation of the pilot to make sure we're holding tight to what was promised in the beginning to keep reminding the customer of you know, the endgame here.
Yeah, great question, And I might have said this earlier or pointed to it earlier. But I think there are just three things to remember.
Right.
One, you've got to have agreed upon process steps right again, short term metrics that we can constantly stay on top of so that we can fourth correct if required. And these have to be visible, tangible, and or measurable, right, That's the first thing. The second is you've got to have agreed upon, assigned and aligned roles that have clear responsibility from both sides, right. And then, last, but not least, you've got to have agreed upon communication processes with the
right capital right people. Right, Like I'm screaming that the right people throughout the pilot with some agreed upon rules of the road. I mean, it's really all about the front end setup with some well thought out and agreed upon standards of how are we going to do this, who's doing what and when? And how are we going to keep the right people engaged so that we can make good decisions throughout.
Right, Because then it's just an assumes part of the process. I mean, you almost embedded into the pilot when you lay out those rules of the road. That's right, And my next question kind of goes to that when you mentioned doing this early. How do I make sure I'm anchoring on the if this is If this is successful, then we are going to do this sort of that crux move into moving these pilot projects into more permanent solutions. How do I do that early in the process?
Great? Another great question. I think this isn't patches to the why conversation rights, because if this isn't established, you're kind of wasting people's time and money, right, including your companies and your own right. I mean, you've got to be working on the right deals at the right level of depth and breadth, right as appropriate for that opportunity.
So I'm not suggesting that the app is always the same thing, but for every pilot there does have to be an objective for that pilot and of corresponding set of next step and action. Otherwise, like here, give me your money and I'll give you what you want for the plot. Like it's kind of a I don't want to take a waste of time. That's that's a bad way to put it. And it might be now that I say it out loud, like you could find yourself.
Let's let's like, let's play this out. Imagine getting a pilot with someone thinking to yourself, this is one department and a large organization. I can get this pilot in here, and then I can take our solution and go company Wi trans and have a transformational effort inside of the company. Well that's nice, of course, if nobody inside of the customers organization knows that it ain't ever going to happen.
And now you you sign up for a pilot with one person and even maybe they've agreed, but you don't have any upfront agreement or alignment or access to other people that ain't gonna happen. It's just you know, so you are wasting your time, or at least you're dreaming about something that ain't gonna.
Happen, right, and it kind of it just becomes bad for your professional brand.
Right.
You become an order taker. You're not a problem solve. You're not adding value to the customer. You are becoming an order taker and to your part, take the deal off the street. But in the broader sense, you don't want to be doing this consistently.
I love that you just said that because it reminds me too that when you do these well at the level that I'm talking about, it's another example of setting yourself apart by how you sell, not what you sell. And I'm here to tell you ninety percent of organizations out there will have significant appreciation for how you handle
this conversation. And I'm not looking to say no. I'm looking to say yes, but I'm looking to say yes in a way that is measured appropriately for the opportunity and the long term opportunity and puts skin in the game on both sides. Yeah, and the appropriate level of skin, right.
Yeah, Yeah, we're following. Okay, great, and there's a lot of great takeaways today, Brian. Then I know people can keep the top of mind as we wrap up. Feel free to bring in any other final points that you want, But I'd also love for you to wrap up by giving us a rundown of those key questions you need to ask yourself when a potential pilot project surface itself in your sales conversation.
Okay, so I don't want to oversimplify it, but just remember these four words who, why, how, and when period? And then, like I was having this conversation with an organization this week about just getting in a room to talk about a live opportunity, this is an example of that you're probably going to find yourself in a room
talking to other people about this pilot. Might be you and your manager, it might be you and four other people, right, But when you're in that moment, you've got to create a culture where other people asking you these questions, will who's involved, why should we do this? How are we going to make sure it's successful from both sides, et cetera,
et cetera. When you're getting asked those questions, it's not viewed as an inspection, but instead it's viewed as an opportunity to look at this deal more strategically so that we can make really great tactical decisions. So it becomes coaching, non inspection. And I'll just leave it at that. Finish with the you know, stay focused on the who, the why, the how and the when, and you've got a really you got a much better chance of making the right decision for that given opportunity.
Thank you so much, Brian, thank you, thank you. And these are the type of topics I'll say it again that we are taking on in our platform as center. You go through a sales training and you learn the big rocks, but sometimes when you're executing your sales project process. Things come at that up like pilot projects or asking for a pilot project. What do I do? And you want to figure out your best next steps? You can
ask these questions in our community. Brian's taking questions Antonella, John, Tim, Patti Mac They're all there. Go ahead and check it out my dot assender dot co. And thank you for listening to the Audible Ready Sales Podcast