Accelerate Sales: Prove the Solution, Not Your Platform

You’re selling a platform. Ever found yourself stuck proving individual elements of it, maybe even every single feature? This happens all the time. Kilterset has seen platform “proof of concepts” balloon into lengthy processes that drag out the sales cycle for no good reason. The longer you focus on proving the platform, the further you drift from addressing the customer’s real problem. At Kilterset, we call this “platform proving vs solution proving”—signifying a disconnect in the sales cycle.

Your platform works, right? It’s been around for years, built on top of trusted standards that predate many people’s careers. It “does what it says on the tin.” So why keep proving its list of features, over and over, for every new customer?

It’s similar to visiting a car dealership and the salesman spends time demonstrating the adjustable seats. Of course the seats adjust!

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Proving the Platform: Stop Showing Off the Adjustable Seats

Your platform is packed with great features, and by now, they’re tried and true. But imagine yourself as that car salesman. For every customer that walks in, would you really spend time showing them the power windows, the adjustable seats, or the brake lights? Sure, those features matter, but they’re basic, expected parts of any modern car. Demonstrating these is what we call “proving the platform,” focusing on the fact that it does what it’s supposed to do.

The truth is, these features are just table stakes. Your real focus, and your valuable sales cycle time, should be on what truly matters: where the rubber meets the road—solving the customer’s actual, often unique, problem.

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Proving the Solution: Start Racing Around Hill Country

Rather than spending time on features that are a given, focus on what really matters: the customer’s specific pain points. What challenges are keeping them up at night? For instance, maybe they’re working with a key service provider that feels stuck in the past—running on legacy systems with standards straight out of 2008. And now, they need reassurance that your platform can smoothly integrate with this legacy provider while supporting newer standards.

This is where many sales cycles lose momentum: by focusing too much on out-of-the-box features instead of zeroing in on the real issues that need solving, such as legacy system integration.

So, instead of kicking every tire, imagine taking the car on a quick spin through hill country. You’ve been listening to your customer, you understand their key concerns, so now it’s time to show off the features that actually matter—like cornering on those tricky curves, where performance truly counts.

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Avoid Distractions

At the end of the day, proving the platform is a distraction to your sales cycle. It pulls focus away from what really matters: solving the customer’s pressing problems. That’s why sales cycles stretch out unnecessarily. By spending time on features everyone expects to work, you risk losing sight of their actual pain points—you risk losing your customer.

When you shift to proving how your solution addresses the customer’s key pain points, the sales process moves forward faster and with greater confidence on both sides.

And if you ever need an extra hand demonstrating the finer points of your solution, reach out! Kilterset is always here to support you in closing those trickier technical deals.

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