Each vendor has their own approach towards solving business problems and whether you resonate with their approach or not can only be found by engaging with customers preferably face to face or via remote sessions to understand your strengths and weaknesses. An ideal situation would be to perform a “Proof of concept” and perform a SWOT analysis after the result, thereby reducing the risk involved in choosing the right approach.
When sales engineers can demonstrate that the solution could be built and the customer’s stakeholders agree and approve the proposal, they can proceed with a purchase order and the idea or design can be transformed into reality.
Consultative selling is a needs-based selling approach that focuses on building a relationship with a customer or prospect, understanding their problems, and developing solutions to their challenges through open-ended questions and active listening. Consultative selling puts the buyer’s needs over the ideas of the salesperson.
A Proof of Concept is a small test to evaluate or demonstrate an idea. The main purpose is to probe the functionality and to verify a certain concept or theory that can be achieved. It involves a small-scale visualization exercise to verify the potential real-life application of an idea. It’s not yet about delivering that concept, but showing its feasibility. Developing a proof of concept generally requires some investment of time or other resources, such as supporting technologies or necessary physical components to complete.
A Proof of Concept can help vendors and customers to identify potential technical and logistical issues that might interfere with success. Another reason to do a proof of concept is that you’ll use it to persuade other stakeholders that the solution is worth investing in. Proof of concept says if it can be developed and validated the technical feasibility of a solution designed for a specific customer. This methodology serves as a step further to prove the usability of the proposed product/solution.