Handling Failed POCs in Presales

A prospect recently asked me "Give me some examples of some of your POCs that failed in the past?" They didn't want to hear the success stories, they wanted to hear what could possibly go wrong. And I respected that because they reminded me that process is not built overnight, it takes time and experience. Atul and I make our fair share of mistakes all the time at Hyperbound, but we learn and evolve quickly. So here are the top 7 reasons why some of our early POCs failed: 1) Setting unrealistic success criteria 2) Not tying in the POC with a critical event or company initiative 3) Building the business case after the POC instead of before 4) Piloting with too many users 5) Not discovering the misalignment in priorities between end-users and decision makers 6) Conducting a free POC with no economic decision maker buy-in 7) Not having a structured process and timeline The common thread across most of these is a result of inadequate discovery. Without discovering a critical event or initiative, #2 is out of question. Without meeting different stakeholders in the buying group, #5 is out of question. Without discovering company priorities, #3 is impossible to resolve. Without discovering whether solving this problem is a priority, #6 is what prospects will always push for and #7 will never be established. It always comes down to discovery and ruthless qualification. It's what makes or breaks deals. That's why at Hyperbound, we don't see discovery as a one and done thing over a single call. Discovery happens throughout the sales process at every step, from when a new stakeholder is brought in to the demo to the negotiation stage, etc. Curious what are some other reasons POCs have failed for you in the past?

PoCs that work. When you startup and work with big brands you tend to PoC to kick sales off and get names on the board. I’ve done it. Perhaps you’re running a few pilots right now. What’s wrong with that? Well quite a lot. Potentially. I’ve been working with a number of founders over the last few months where it’s failed. Projects get stuck, value isn’t balanced, and ultimately they can’t convert PoCs into ongoing paying contracts. Some reflections on how to improve the odds: Feel for pull in the client as part of the sales process. If you don’t get a sense the problem you’re solving for them is really burning their underpants, it’s probably not a good match. Know what you want to get out of it, be explicit in document, and use that to qualify leads. Similarly, set an agenda, own the energy in the relationship - it’s yours too. No bending to breaking point. Mutually appreciate things may go wrong, but without dwelling. Agree divorce up front with scenarios planned. Removes the energy from any kind of failure. Sometimes agreements including things like IP escrow will be required. If so have them preordained like it’s BAU. You’ll over service them anyway to make it work and the right partners will know this. Or tell them. Do they need to know you’re a start-up? Maybe, but don’t offer it up or over explain. You got this. Charge something. For sure discount if needed, but there has to be a pay to play or it’s just not taken seriously enough. (There are a few exceptions e.g. big integrations, but rare). Don’t call it a PoC, it’s just an agreement, perhaps openly with a design partner aspect and a ‘get out of jail’ card for each party but ultimately it’s just a 12 or 36 month agreement. Names matter. What would you challenge? Or what’s missed?

"We need 300% pipeline coverage" Are you sure? Your POC win rate might be killing Your Pipeline… Here's something to think about: Last year I worked on a few deals directly where our POC crushed it - 65% faster patch deployment, automated workflows humming, security team raving about the UI. IT team loves how much time they'll save. Then the email landed: "We've decided to stay with our current vendor." Sound familiar? Here's the hard truth about why POC success only converts to closed deals 50% of the time in security sales: We're measuring the wrong things. Last year, I ran two identical POCs. Same product, similar organizations (SLED). One closed in 3 weeks, one died after 2 months of "great results." The difference? The successful POC ignored feature comparisons completely. Instead, we measured: - Hours saved on patch prioritization (dropped from 8 to 2 hours a week) - Average patch deployment time (cut from 14 days to 3) - Workflow disruption during deployment (zero changes to existing patch management process) The failed POC? We celebrated a 40% improvement in vulnerability detection rates. The team loved our UI. The technical win was clear. But we never quantified the operational impact. I learned this framework at Pavilion and Winning by Design Revenue Architecture course (credit to Jacco van der Kooij). This approach completely changed how I run POCs: 1. Baseline current operational metrics first - not scanning coverage 2. Map existing remediation workflows before showing new features 3. Track time saved in patch deployment, not capabilities added 4. Document integration friction points eliminated For Security Sellers and SEs: Start your POCs with "What keeps your team working late?" not "Let me show you our features." Map their operational pain before you demo a single capability. Because in 2025, security teams don't wake up thinking "I need a new tool" They need time back. Leading with operational impact isn't just a better pitch - it's the difference between a technical win and a closed deal. And maybe you don't need 300% pipeline coverage. Maybe you just improve conversion rates a bit more. If you're running security POCs and want to learn how to adapt this to your company, DM me. #securitysales #salesstrategy #cybersecurity