A pilot is supposed to be a short test that ends in a decision. In hotel tech it often becomes a free deployment with no end date. The property keeps using the product, nobody is quite sure what was being tested, and three months later the answer is that they need more time.

Pilots that convert are designed to. The decision, the criteria and the date are agreed before anything is installed. This checklist covers the five stages of a pilot. Use it as it is, or copy it into your proposal template. Any item you cannot tick is the part of the pilot most likely to go wrong.

1. Before you agree to a pilot

Not every prospect who asks for a pilot should get one. A pilot costs your onboarding team real hours, so qualify it as you would a deal.

• The property fits your ideal customer profile and would be worth having as a customer at full price.

• You have asked what a pilot would prove that a demo and a reference call could not, and the answer was specific.

• The person who can sign the contract knows the pilot is happening and has agreed to attend the decision meeting.

• The property has staff time available over the next 30 to 60 days.

• The pilot does not fall in the property's peak season.

If the honest answer to the second item is nothing, offer a reference call. Many pilot requests are a polite way of postponing a decision, a pattern I described in what hoteliers actually do with your free trial. The last item matters more than it looks: a property that is full has no attention to give a test, for the reasons set out in why hotel tech sales cycles stretch across seasons.

2. In the pilot agreement

Put it in writing on one page, and have it signed or confirmed by email.

• A start date and an end date. Thirty to sixty days suits most products, and longer pilots lose attention.

• Two or three success criteria, each with a number and a source for that number.

• The commercial terms that apply if the criteria are met, including the price, so there is no second negotiation.

• What happens if the criteria are not met: the pilot ends and the product is switched off.

• A named owner at the property and a named owner at your company.

• The date and the attendees of the decision meeting, booked in calendars now.

• A fee, or a clear reason for not charging one. A paid pilot, even at a reduced rate, gets more attention than a free one.

What a usable success criterion looks like

Vague criteria are the main reason pilots end without a decision. Each one needs a baseline, a target and an agreed place the figure comes from.

The targets should come from the property, not from you. A hotel accepts a number it helped to set.

3. Setup week

• Baseline figures for each criterion are recorded before go-live and shared with the property.

• The scope is the smallest setup that can meet the criteria: one property, one department or one channel.

• At least two members of staff are trained, not only the champion.

• The integrations needed for the criteria are live and tested. Everything else waits.

• The property knows who to call, and during the pilot it gets an answer the same day.

4. During the pilot

• There is a 15-minute check-in every week, with the criteria on screen.

• Usage is checked between calls, and a quiet week triggers a call the next day.

• Problems are logged with the date found and the date fixed, so the decision meeting deals in facts.

• The person who signs receives a short written update at the midpoint, so the result is not a surprise.

• No new features or scope are added mid-pilot. Requests go on a list for after the decision.

5. The decision meeting

• It happens on the agreed date, with the person who signs in the room.

• You present each criterion against its baseline, using the property's own figures.

• The contract with the pre-agreed terms is ready to sign that day.

• If a criterion was missed, you say so before anyone else does, and agree either a short extension tied to that one criterion or a clean end.

• If the answer is yes, you ask whether the property would act as a reference once it is fully live.

That last item is worth planning for. A property that has just watched its own numbers move is the best reference you will have, and building a reference property programme explains how to make the ask and what to offer in return.

If the pilot fails

A pilot that ends in a clear no has still done its job. You have learned something about fit, the property respects the clean finish, and your team is free for the next account. The outcome to avoid is the third one: no decision, the product still running and nobody paying. The end date in the agreement is there to prevent it.

The takeaway

A pilot converts when the decision is designed in from the start. Qualify the request, write down the criteria and the price, keep the scope small, check in every week and hold the meeting on the date you agreed. Most of that work happens before the product is switched on.

If pilots and trials are where your deals slow down, the 12-point leak audit takes about twenty minutes and shows how conversion compares with demand, activation and retention on your own numbers.

Frequently Asked Questions