Done right, POCs (Proof of Concept) or POVs (Proof of Values), can be the ultimate deal-closers. They demonstrate value, solve for objections, and leave your prospects convinced they’ve found the perfect solution improving conversion rates and contract value. But done wrong? POCs can turn into costly, time-consuming headaches that eat up resources and stall deals. Maybe this sounds familiar or close to home?

That’s where presales automation comes in. By streamlining the POC process, AI automation drives efficiency:slashing costs,accelerates timelines, and increasing deal sizes. Let’s dig into the numbers and discover why investing in presales automation tools like Opine are one of the smartest moves your CRO and sales engineering team can make.

The Hidden Costs of Traditional POCs

Let’s face it: traditional POCs are a logistical nightmare to actually prove value efficiently. Sales engineers and presales teams are often unable to focus on deliver product value as they are buried under endless sales process and value engineering tasks: building an initial business case/proposal, creating a well scoped test plan, tracking feedback and guiding prospects to value, building outcome oriented decks and final executive summaries/readouts, drafting requests and implementation plans for post-sales, product, and engineering, maintaining visibility to internal stakeholders on progress and next steps, and doing the same for prospect stakeholders as well. . it’s an endless cycle of catchup that results in delays and in-turn lower conversion rates, plain and simple. 

Research shows that inefficient POCs can extend deal timelines by 100% or more, eating into conversion rates and bloating operational costs.

And let’s not forget the impact on your prospects. A clunky, unorganized POC experience can tank their confidence in your organization’s ability to execute and leave them second-guessing an investment. In other words, if your POC process is not of the same caliber of the solution you’re piloting with your prospect, and instead resembles the manual chaos they are trying to avoid, you’re going to face steep concerns that your team can deliver compared to the competition.

The impact is both financial and reputational – trust to transact. 

How Presales Automation Solves the Problem

Presales automation changes the game by taking deeply context driven, but ultimately administrative processes off your plate. Here’s how it works:

• Requirements Gathering and Test Plan Creation: Opine gathers context from sales conversations across all channels to understand the nuance of the prospect’s needs and how to position a solution. Drafting a tailored proposal/business case and test plan automatically when deals hit the SE desk.  

• Shepherding of Prospects through Test Plans, and measuring Success Criteria: Guiding prospects to acheive value according to their custom test plan. Particularly handling the tedious back and forth requried to get a prospect to accomplish the tasks their team must finish/blocking progression of the proof -of-value from your end.

• Maintaining visibility and seamless internal communications: Ensuring the many stakeholders involved with a complex POC/POV are appropriately in the loop where they live. Sales teams in Salesforce, Product/Engineering teams in Jira tickets, and other deal collaborators in Slack. But here’s the kicker. Most CRMs weren’t even designed to handle presales workflows in the first place. If you’re still trying to force Salesforce into something it was never meant to do, you’re fighting an uphill battle. Here’s why (and what to do instead).

• Enabling prospects to sell value: Producing business value cases and ROI justifications tailored to their specific business context and POC outcomes for them to present internally. 

Additionally, AI automation ensures that your POCs follow best practices consistently across every prospect, delivering a reliable and professional experience that rapidly builds trust every time, not just externally, but internally.

The bottom line? Presales automation eliminates administrative and communication friction that previously couldn’t be automated due to the large amount of unstructured data, business context, and solution context that was required, allowing your team to focus on delivering  exceptional solutions/value to prospects while accelerating and improving conversion to the top-line. 

The ROI of Presales Automation

Still wondering if automation is worth the investment? Here’s the math:

• Shortened Deal Cycles: With faster POCs, your sales team can close deals 25-50% quicker, we’ve seen up to 20 day shorter sales cycles in practice, accelerating new revenue growth.

• Higher Win Rates: We all know time kills all deals. Streamlined POCs means higher win rates, not just due to speed, but also because better customer experiences lead to increased trust. Our customers using Opine for more than a quarter have seen conversion rates improve by 44%.

• Reduced Costs: By automating repetitive tasks for high cost employees, companies save thousands of dollars weekly in labor and operational costs. For instance, cutting 20 hours of manual work per POC can save your organization thousands of dollars in customer acquisition costs per deal. Multiply that across your sales pipeline, and the savings add up fast.

Beyond the numbers, automation also fosters stronger team morale. When your presales team isn’t bogged down with repetitive administrative tasks that don’t fully leverage their skillset, they are more energized to proactively make deals succeed in creative ways, and have more time to focus on strategic initiatives like delivering consistently high-value and consultative customer interactions and building deep customer relationships that withstand the test of time. Energized teams lead to better results. Chances are you know or have experienced this personally.

Overcoming Objections: Why the ROI Outweighs the Cost

We get it: investing in new technology can feel like a risk. But the ROI of presales automation isn’t just theoretical—it’s proven. Gartner says that the time-to-value for productivity based GenAI investments is less than one year.

Here’s another benefit: predictability. Automation reduces the variability in POC outcomes, making it easier to forecast pipeline performance and set accurate revenue expectations. When your process is optimized, your sales forecasts become more reliable. If you’re a CRO, then that sentence alone should have you smiling… because chances are, your board is expecting more accurate forecast. If you want to build trust not only with your prospects but your board too, then this is where you need to spend your time and energy.

Plus, with tools like Opine, implementation is seamless. You can be up and running in days, with ROI in weeks not months, so you can experience the difference immediately.

Still skeptical? Consider this: companies that delay automation risk falling behind competitors who have already streamlined their presales process. Prospects have more choices than ever, and speed and efficiency will make all the difference between winning and losing deals. Stop. Read that again. Now before you progress, schedule a demo with our team here to learn how Opine can deliver results for your org.

Ready to Unlock Presales ROI?

Remember. Presales automation isn’t just another tool—it’s a strategic advantage. By cutting costs, shortening deal cycles, and delivering exceptional customer experiences, automation transforms POCs into powerful growth engines.

Imagine the impact on your business: faster sales cycles, happier customers, and a motivated team that’s free to focus on optimizing your solution for prospects and building deep prospect relationships to close higher value deals.

Don’t let inefficient processes hold your team back. Discover how Opine can help you streamline your POCs and unlock ROI today.