RevOps playbook · AI Employee: Rev

POC & Pilot Stand-Up

POC starts within 3 days of ask

Install this playbookBack to marketplace
The problem

POCs are where sales cycles go to spin. Prospect asks for a proof of concept, sales says yes, then three weeks of email tag to figure out what the POC actually covers, who provisions what, what success looks like, when the readout is. Half the POCs extend into implementation because nobody set success criteria; a quarter drift for months because nobody drives the timeline; the ones that convert do so despite the POC, not because of it.

At a glance
Trigger
Form
Approvals
SE lead sign-off
What it does
Writes to your systems
Systems
Salesforce · Provisioning APIs · Slack
How it feels in production

An hour-by-hour walkthrough.

AE marks DEAL-4211 with "POC requested." Rev picks up the request and starts orchestration: Kickoff packet in 2 hours: - Discovery of what the customer wants (from recent Gong calls + email exchanges) - Recommended scope: 30-day POC on Product X, use-case Y, success = Z metric - Draft success criteria: quantifiable, aligned to their business case - Roles: their side (technical champion, business sponsor, project manager), our side (AE, SE, TAM) - Timeline: kickoff week 1, milestones weeks 2-3, readout week 4 - Provisioning checklist: sandbox environment, data samples, access, integrations AE + SE review the packet, adjust, present to customer. Customer confirms. Rev then: - Provisions the sandbox with the agreed configuration - Creates the shared workspace (Slack Connect channel + Notion project) - Schedules the milestone meetings - Tracks technical progress against success criteria weekly - Warns SE + AE when milestones slip or engagement drops Readout week: Rev assembles the results, drafts the outcome doc ("met 4 of 5 success criteria; the 5th was blocked on their side"), and drives the go / no-go conversation. POCs finish on time or on documented reason for extension. Convert-rate becomes visible; unsuccessful POCs get honest post-mortems.
How it works

Step by step.

  1. 01

    Detect POC request + assemble kickoff packet

    AE marks POC or Rev detects from call. Discovery mining for what customer wants. Draft scope + success + timeline + roles + provisioning.

    Salesforce · Gong · Chorus · Reasoning
  2. 02

    AE + customer confirm scope + criteria

    AE + SE review the packet, adjust, present to customer. Explicit sign-off before execution.

    Slack · Teams · Customer confirmation
  3. 03

    Provision environment + shared workspace

    Sandbox environment, data samples, access, integrations. Shared Slack Connect + Notion project space for the engagement.

    Product provisioning · Slack Connect · Notion
  4. 04

    Track progress + surface risks

    Weekly progress vs. success criteria + engagement signal. Milestone slips + engagement drops flag SE + AE.

    Progress tracker · Slack · Analytics
  5. 05

    Readout + go/no-go

    Outcome doc assembled, presented in readout meeting, drive go / no-go conversation with structured decision.

    Meeting facilitation · Decision doc · Outcome tracking
Systems and wiring

What you connect to make this run.

Salesforce · HubSpot · CRM

read+write

POC event + progress + outcome tracked as opportunity metadata. Convert-rate reporting from these records.

Product provisioning · Sandbox environments

read+write

Environment creation + teardown. Data-sample loading; integration setup.

Slack Connect · Notion · Google Workspace

read+write

Shared workspace for the engagement. Reduces email; increases visibility for both sides.

Meeting scheduler · Facilitation tools

read+write

Milestone meetings + readout coordination. Agenda + notes captured for the record.

What changes

Before and after, honestly.

POC time from request to kickoff
Before
10-30 days
After
2-5 days
% of POCs completing on documented timeline
Before
30-50%
After
75-88%
POC-to-close conversion rate
Before
20-35%
After
45-65%
SE hours per POC (excluding technical work)
Before
20-40 hours coordination
After
6-12 hours
Related

Playbooks that pair with this one.

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SDR → AE Handoff

Same pre-work + coordination pattern for meeting prep.

RevOps

Closed-Won Cascade

Successful POCs trigger the won-cascade with prior context.

RevOps

Closed-Lost Cascade

Unsuccessful POCs feed the loss-cascade with clear reasons.

Frequently asked

Answers about this playbook.

What if the customer wants a long POC (60+ days)?

Extended POCs supported with explicit multi-milestone structure. Success criteria per milestone; go / no-go at each. Prevents infinite drift.

How does it handle POCs that turn into free implementation?

Scope-creep detection: if POC scope expands mid-engagement, Rev flags to AE. Some scope expansion is signal (customer buying-in); some is scope creep. AE decides.

What about paid POCs (customer pays for the trial period)?

Paid-POC path: contract + invoicing + terms upfront. Same coordination flow but with commercial commitment; typically higher conversion.

How does it coordinate multi-product POCs?

Multi-product scope + per-product success criteria. Composite go / no-go respects individual product outcomes.

Can we require executive sponsorship on both sides?

Configurable per deal size. Deals over $X ACV require executive sponsor identified + engaged. Rev tracks + flags absence.

See it run on your data.

Free plan, no credit card. Connect the systems this playbook needs and run it against a past event first.

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