Value Accelerator Wiki
Milestone 4: Value Demonstration
Introduction
The Value Demonstration Milestone is part of the Engagement Phase of the Value Accelerator Framework.
This milestone is optional but becomes essential when customer stakeholders need hands-on experience or a clear explanation of how the solution works. When executed correctly, this milestone builds customer confidence, validates solution fit, and accelerates the buying decision.
Purpose
In B2B engagements, customers often request product demonstrations or hands-on trials to validate how a solution addresses their challenges. Vendors typically respond with two types of activities:
Product Demonstration: A structured session where the vendor walks the customer through key product features, illustrating how the solution solves their problems. This is led by the sales rep or a technical SME and usually does not allow the customer direct access to the product.
Proof of Concept (PoC): A time-bound test engagement where the customer explores the product directly in a controlled environment. The PoC is supported by the vendor’s technical team and concludes with a review session to capture customer feedback. A PoC should always be subject to a formal PoC agreement. This agreement clearly defines the success criteria, access parameters, responsibilities, and timeline. By doing so, both the vendor and the customer ensure mutual clarity and alignment before starting the test engagement.
Unfortunately, these activities are often executed in a generic, resource-intensive, and unstructured way. As a result, they can slow down decision-making and undermine the solution’s value. When done effectively, however, a value demonstration can build trust, reduce perceived risk, and create momentum in the buying process.
Methodology
The Value Demonstration Milestone relies on three foundational principles:
Know the Audience
Start by identifying the right stakeholders. Limit the number of participants to those most relevant for the evaluation—decision-makers, mobilizers, and key users. Avoid overcrowding the session to maintain focus and interaction.
Define Success Criteria
Before the demonstration or PoC, agree on the success criteria with the customer. These criteria should:
Reflect the critical needs uncovered during the Value Discovery Milestone
Be specific, measurable, and achievable
Include both customer-stated and vendor-recommended success factors
Follow the principle: “As few as possible, as many as necessary.”
Best Practices for Writing PoC Success Criteria
To ensure clarity, alignment, and measurable outcomes, success criteria for a PoC should be defined in a way that is:
Specific – Focused on concrete outcomes.
Measurable – Clearly verifiable during or at the end of the PoC.
Relevant – Directly tied to customer challenges and business objectives.
Success criteria typically fall into three main categories:
Successful Delivery of a Use Case
These criteria confirm whether the PoC environment demonstrates the vendor’s ability to deliver one or more target use cases agreed upon during previous meetings (e.g. during the Value Design Workshop).
Example: “Demonstrate real-time energy usage analytics for all HVAC assets in Building A within 3 minutes of data collection.”
Technical Capabilities of the Solution
These criteria focus on backend functionality, robustness, and architectural fit. They are especially important for technical buyers.
Examples:
“System must integrate successfully with customer’s Active Directory for user authentication.”
“The platform must maintain uptime of 99.9% during the PoC period.”
“Data transfers must comply with ISO 27001 cybersecurity standards.”
User Experience and Adoption
These criteria address usability, intuitiveness, and ease of access for end users.
Examples:
“At least 3 users from the facility team must complete the defined workflow without external help.”
“Navigation of the interface is rated as intuitive by at least 80% of users surveyed after the PoC.”
Tip: It is recommended to limit success criteria to a maximum of 3–5, depending on the scope of the PoC. Fewer, more focused criteria improve clarity and evaluation speed.
These success criteria must be documented in the PoC agreement signed between customer and vendor before the PoC begins. This ensures both parties are aligned and prevents ambiguity at the end of the engagement.
Prioritize the Demonstration Sequence
The demonstration should be tailored to the customer’s business challenges. Avoid showcasing every product feature. Instead, focus on the capabilities that address the defined success criteria.
Demonstrate the most valuable and impactful features first. If stakeholders leave early, they should have already seen the most relevant aspects of the solution.
For PoCs, apply the same logic. Ensure that the customer understands the value of what they will explore before giving them access to the environment.
For demonstrating the use-cases apply the “Tell-Show-Tell” technique:
“Tell–Show–Tell” Technique
First Tell: Briefly explain what the customer is about to see and why it matters. Set context and align expectations.
Show: Demonstrate the capability, focusing on how it solves the customer's specific challenges. Keep it short—no more than five to seven minutes per capability.
Final Tell: Recap what was shown and connect it clearly to the customer’s success criteria and expected value.
Close with Confirmation
At the end of the activity, ask the customer to confirm whether the success criteria have been met. Their answer determines whether the engagement can progress.
If the criteria have not been fulfilled or additional stakeholders require a demo, schedule a follow-up session.
Asking Meaningful Questions
Stimulate engagement by asking questions that validate relevance:
“Does this feature address your challenge around [XYZ]?”
“How are you solving this today?”
“Can you see your team using this in practice?”
Avoid generic questions like “Any questions so far?” which rarely produce useful input.
Customize the Experience
Use real customer data, match the demo flow to the use cases identified in the workshop, and remove irrelevant configurations. The more the customer sees their reality reflected, the more persuasive the demonstration becomes.
These techniques apply to both product demonstrations and proof of concept sessions. While PoCs are typically unsupervised, the final review meeting offers another opportunity to apply these techniques and gather feedback.
Execution
To ensure a successful Value Demonstration, the sales rep should coordinate and oversee the following activities. These steps apply to both product demonstrations and proofs of concept (PoCs), with PoC-specific activities noted accordingly:
Define and Agree on Success Criteria
Set Up the Demonstration Environment and Run an Internal Dry Run
Prepare and Sign the PoC Agreement (If Applicable)
Deliver the Product Demonstration
Launch and Support the PoC (If Applicable)
Assess the Success of the PoC (If Applicable)
Discuss and Align on Next Steps
The execution of the Milestone is driven by the vendor’s pre-sales team in collaboration with the sales rep.
In the sections below you can find detailed instruction on how to execute the Milestone.
1. Define and Agree on Success Criteria
Before any demonstration or PoC takes place, align with the customer on the success criteria that will be used to evaluate the engagement. This ensures clarity and avoids misaligned expectations. The success criteria should be:
Focused on top-priority use cases
Limited to a manageable number (typically 3–5)
Clearly measurable
For PoCs, these criteria must be documented in the PoC agreement before initiating the test.
For product demonstration, the criteria should captured in an email or in the meeting invite.
2. Set Up the Demonstration Environment and Run an Internal Dry Run
Once the demonstration sequence is agreed upon, the vendor team must:
Configure the demonstration environment
Validate that it reflects the specific use cases and success criteria
Eliminate unnecessary features or steps that might confuse or distract the customer
Before the live session, the sales rep and SMEs should conduct a dry run to ensure technical stability, validate timing, and rehearse the narrative using the “Tell–Show–Tell” structure.
3. Prepare and Sign the PoC Agreement (If Applicable)
If a PoC is required, the vendor must prepare a formal PoC agreement that includes:
Scope of access to the solution or test environment
Clearly defined success criteria
Roles and responsibilities
PoC timeline and duration
Terms of support during the PoC
Ownership of any data created
The agreement must be reviewed and signed by both parties before granting access.
4. Deliver the Product Demonstration
In the case of a live demonstration, the pre-sales professional leads the session, supported by the sales rep. The session should:
Follow the pre-defined demonstration sequence
Use the “Tell–Show–Tell” technique for each feature
Incorporate real or customer-relevant data
Stay focused on the agreed success criteria and target use cases
Capture any questions, feedback, or objections raised by customer participants, and respond thoughtfully to build trust.
5. Launch and Support the PoC (If Applicable)
If a PoC is being executed, ensure that:
The customer team has access to the environment, credentials, and documentation
The vendor SME(s) are available to support onboarding and troubleshooting
Regular touchpoints are scheduled to track progress and usage
A kickoff call is recommended to walk through the environment and align expectations before the customer starts testing.
6. Assess the Success of the PoC (If Applicable)
At the end of the PoC period, schedule a review session with the customer to:
Revisit the agreed success criteria
Assess whether the PoC met those criteria
Discuss the customer experience, feedback, and any blockers
The outcome of this session determines whether the solution can move toward roll-out or whether adjustments are required.
7. Discuss and Align on Next Steps
Whether after a product demonstration or PoC, the final activity is to align on what happens next. Possible outcomes include:
Moving forward to the next Milestone of the customer engagement
Repeating or extending the demonstration for new stakeholders
Customizing or refining the solution before roll-out
Document all agreed next steps, including responsible parties and timelines, and share a summary with the customer.
Note: in case the customer decides to stop the engagement with the vendor, it is recommended to run an Internal post-mortem analysis where the vendor team holds a debrief session to capture lessons learned and refine future demonstrations or PoCs.
Quality Gates
The quality gates for the Value Demonstration Milestone are the following:
Success criteria have been clearly defined and agreed upon by both vendor and customer before the demonstration or proof of concept begins.
The demonstration or PoC environment has been tailored to reflect the customer’s specific use cases and business priorities.
The product demonstration has been delivered using the Tell–Show–Tell technique and aligned with the agreed success criteria.
In case of a PoC, a formal PoC agreement has been prepared and signed by both parties, outlining success criteria, access scope, responsibilities, and timeline.
Customer participants have provided clear feedback on whether the success criteria were met during the demo or at the conclusion of the PoC.
A follow-up discussion has taken place to align on next steps, including further evaluation, business case preparation, or commercial engagement.
Sales Enablement Artifacts
List of Success Criteria: A curated list of typical success criteria categorized by solution type, industry, and use case. Use this to help customers articulate meaningful and measurable evaluation standards.
PoC Agreement Template: A standardized document to formalize the scope, timeline, access, roles, and success criteria for proof of concept projects. Ensures alignment between customer and vendor before testing begins.
Demonstration Flow Template: A step-by-step template to plan the flow of the product demo. It helps map each feature to the corresponding success criterion and ensures the session follows the Tell–Show–Tell structure.
Note: all templates and tools referenced above are available in the Value Accelerator Academy. The academy provides Sales Reps with ready-to-use resources developed by the Value Accelerator team to support the effective delivery of each milestone.
Need help? Visit the Value Accelerator Academy!
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