Poc To Contract Closer

Closing playbook for converting a successful ToB POC into a contract. Use when a POC is technically accepted, near final demo, has cleared P0 issues, or has stalled after success and the team needs a structured contract path, gap list, one-page recap, quote action, and launch-node plan.

Use this skill after tob-poc-war-room says the POC is closeable or in closing range.

The goal is to prevent a successful POC from losing momentum. POC success is not a contract. The work is to convert evidence into a buying process.

Required Inputs

Use the POC summary from tob-poc-war-room when available:

• POC result and pass rate
• remaining P0/P1/P2 issues
• accepted business value
• customer champion and decision maker status
• customer silence signal
• competitor signal
• budget / procurement status
• expected launch window

If the input is incomplete, output a closing gap list instead of pretending the path is ready.

Time Risk

Closing has a window. POC success decays fast.

Time since POC accepted	Risk level	Action
0-7 days	Low	Proceed through six steps
7-14 days	Medium	Escalate: Champion must confirm buying path within 48h
>14 days no progress	High — Cooldown Risk	Pull Champion for face-to-face. If no response, return to tob-poc-war-room for re-assessment
>30 days stalled	Critical	Treat as lost. Archive and note lessons.

Also check external deadlines:

• contract season / fiscal year end
• customer-side budget cycle
• competitor POC parallel timeline

If a hard deadline is approaching, compress the six-step cycle: do Steps 1-3 in one pass, not sequentially.

Six-Step Closing Method

1. Data Passed

The POC result must be expressible in one sentence:

• what was tested
• what passed
• what business value was proven
• what evidence supports it

If the result is vague, first action is to produce a POC recap, not a quote.

2. Issues Cleared

• P0 must be closed or explicitly accepted as workaround.
• P1 must have owner and post-contract handling plan.
• P2 goes to backlog and must not block closing.

Never let a small open issue become an excuse for silent delay. Decide: close, workaround, or backlog.

3. Decision Maker Reached

Champion approval is not enough.

Check:

• economic buyer
• technical gatekeeper
• business owner
• procurement or legal owner

If decision maker is missing, next action is an executive recap meeting, not another technical demo.

4. One-Page Recap

Produce a one-page recap before pricing pressure starts.

Two-part structure:

• Part A (for decision makers): 3-sentence summary — pain + POC result + decision requested
• Part B (for procurement/internal): 10-field detail — pain, scope, result, business value, remaining risks, procurement path, closing window, cooling threshold, rollout, decision

Part A must be forwardable in a chat or email without attachments. Part B supports internal evaluation. If procurement path, closing window, or cooling threshold is missing, the recap must name that gap explicitly instead of implying contract readiness.

4b. Procurement Path Check

Before quoting, determine the buying path:

• Single source / direct purchase: Quote → internal approval → sign
• Requires bidding / tender: Prepare bid materials, identify timeline, assign bid owner
• Budget not yet locked: Gap list item — who must approve budget and when
• Procurement/legal review required: Submit One-Page Recap + compliance docs, track review SLA

If procurement path is unknown, next action is NOT a quote. Next action is to confirm procurement path with Champion or economic buyer.

Risk: In ToB, most deals with compliance requirements default to bidding. Assuming single source without checking is a common failure mode.

5. Quote

Quote only after the value and buyer path are clear.

Quote action must include:

• package / scope
• assumptions
• commercial owner
• deadline
• what customer must confirm

If budget is unknown, ask for buying-process confirmation before sending a detailed quote.

6. Launch Node

Every closing plan needs a launch node:

• kickoff date
• first production milestone
• customer-side resource
• success metric after launch

Without launch node, the contract has no urgency.

Closing Abort / Fallback

If closing stalls despite following the method:

• >14 days no progress on any step → return to tob-poc-war-room for re-assessment
• Customer explicitly signals competitor entry → trigger tob-competitor-snip
• Customer says "not now" with no alternative timeline → mark as lost, write lessons
• Decision maker leaves company / org change → return to tob-poc-war-room for stakeholder rebuild

Do not keep cycling through the six steps if the underlying buying process has changed.

Output Format

## POC-to-Contract Closing Plan

### 1. Closing Readiness
- Status: Ready / Nearly ready / Not ready / Blocked / Stalled
- Reason:
- Main blocker:
- Time risk: <14 days since POC accepted / 14-30 days / >30 days
- Procurement path: confirmed / unknown / bidding required

### 2. Six-Step Checklist
| Step | Status | Evidence | Gap | Owner | Next action |

### 3. One-Page Recap Draft

**Part A — Decision Maker Summary (3 sentences):**
- Pain → Result → Request

**Part B — Internal Evaluation Detail:**
- Original pain:
- POC scope:
- Result:
- Business value:
- Remaining risks:
- Rollout proposal:
- Decision requested:

### 4. Customer Message
- Recipient:
- Objective:
- Draft:

### 5. Quote / Commercial Action
- Quote now? yes/no
- Scope:
- Assumptions:
- Owner:
- Deadline:

### 6. Launch Node
- Proposed kickoff:
- First milestone:
- Customer dependency:
- Success metric:

### 7. Risks
- Buying-process risk:
- Technical residual risk:
- Silence / momentum risk:
- Time risk: cooling window status
- Procurement path risk: single source vs bidding uncertainty

Acceptance Example

Input:

POC pass rate 93%. Four of five issues closed within 48h. Last issue has workaround. Champion says result is good. No decision maker meeting yet. Customer has been quiet for 7 days after recap.

Expected reasoning:

• technically ready, commercially stalled.
• decision maker path is the main blocker.
• create one-page recap and ask champion for executive/procurement meeting.
• do not lead with a detailed quote until buying path is confirmed.

Boundaries

• Do not invent price, discount, contract terms, or launch date.
• Do not call the deal ready if decision maker is unknown.
• Do not hide unresolved P0 issues.
• Do not output generic sales copy. Tie every action to POC evidence.