find
Good pilot customers
Traits of customers who can convert a paid pilot into a purchase order.
Signals that convert
They describe a workflow in their own language instead of a vague curiosity about AI. Someone owns a budget line or a card threshold that can start the work. They can tell you why the clock matters.
They accept a paid pilot as proof toward a commercial decision and don't expect free consulting.
Signals to nurture elsewhere
They need three case studies before they will try anything. They want to co-design the product for months. Nobody on their side can say what done looks like.
Worked vignettes (fictional)
Use these as pattern-recognition drills. They are teaching examples, not claimed case studies.
SME through enterprise
The motion is the same from mid-market to large enterprise: interest, paid pilot, proof, PO.
Claims and patterns on this page are paraphrased from practitioner session notes and the Startup Bible (Pilots that convert). See Sources.
Continue the journey
- Design partner vs customer pilotDesign partners and customer pilots are different motions with different clocks, prices, and outcomes.
- Compelling eventsFind the real deadlines that force a pilot to start and finish on specific dates.
- Early adopter vs case-study shopperTell buyers who will go first from buyers who only want proof from someone else.