Of course, that is the first step. This Perl module (Makefile.PL) constructs a makefile which has various build-targets including install and test. This is the (well-documented) process that actually happens, whether invoked from cpan or not.
My point was that the OP did not explain why going through the perl Makefile.PL process would not work. It's worth asking about because 1) the OP may not be familiar with it and 2) it may shed light on why he needs/wants to just copy the Perl module if he is (i.e. feels like an XY problem).
I'm not really sure what your point is. Running "perl Makefile.PL" is most assuredly NOT the first step (unless the module requires C code compiled in and there's probably a way to get around that). If the module is pure Perl then it's possible to just copy the module to just about any location and then update %INC. Not necessarily wise, but still quite possible.
In fact, I did that with Expect.pm (not the Net::SSH::Expect the OP is talking about). I copied it from a Solaris 10 system to a Red Hat Enterprise Linux system to get a script our vendor has sent us to collect debug data working. No perl Makefile.PL used there....