tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39165834364259592372024-03-13T19:04:38.523-04:00The Sales Engineer GuyPresales & sales advisory, coaching, training and improvementThe Sales Engineer Guyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09690995177536722346noreply@blogger.comBlogger287125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-89233422603627135292023-06-08T05:29:00.005-04:002023-06-08T05:29:54.109-04:00Panel on Presales Hiring in 2023<p> Malcolm Murphy and I were fortunate to join John Hodgson and Isabela Bianca Dumitru as they launched their <a href="https://www.brightdynamics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Bright-Dynamics-global-PreSales-hiring-survey.pdf">Survey on Presales Hiring</a> with results from 103 Presales leaders around the world. </p><p>Our discussion focused on the results, talking about things like Soft and Hard Skills, the role of Intuition in decision making, and what criteria Presales managers are using to hire in today's market. </p><p>Here's the full 44 minute session on youtube!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s4L0J83JJwc" width="481" youtube-src-id="s4L0J83JJwc"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-73111338756120269852023-02-09T04:13:00.003-05:002023-02-09T04:13:39.354-05:00Interview with Tony Moze - From newbie to Vice President of Presales<p> I had a great chat with up and coming Presales podcaster Tony Moze, talking about the pathway to leadership in presales.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="342" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8vVfABrCGcY" width="479" youtube-src-id="8vVfABrCGcY"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-19490636646962422732023-01-27T11:10:00.000-05:002023-01-27T11:10:10.932-05:00The real life Sales Kickoff is dead! (...or is it?)<p> Many people have said that real life big meetings and conferences are dead, and that we'll all only be doing virtual from now on. This may be a bit premature, as now on the return from our annual "Aspire" kickoff in Bellevue, I'm reflecting on all of the fantastic things it brought our team at @Apptio.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_xaegZ5UgJS2fp8oB2oxhpUza3WuTeanSSvoYz57FWPZYWQgOSgl6TbU9HpBk1HW1OcDX4-RlqU_W3TmQueNHiEQA88d4KsyyLvbA7VFLYUJWAwPt_XcXL2ZSTvDwyNJp8omUE0TzSV4Mg5c2fjTDlfScHG4p9XYTiPJhe1vQLz0_kmzTvgZ3DpMWg/s6000/230110-Aspire-0161-BarbieHull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3994" data-original-width="6000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_xaegZ5UgJS2fp8oB2oxhpUza3WuTeanSSvoYz57FWPZYWQgOSgl6TbU9HpBk1HW1OcDX4-RlqU_W3TmQueNHiEQA88d4KsyyLvbA7VFLYUJWAwPt_XcXL2ZSTvDwyNJp8omUE0TzSV4Mg5c2fjTDlfScHG4p9XYTiPJhe1vQLz0_kmzTvgZ3DpMWg/w400-h266/230110-Aspire-0161-BarbieHull.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Firstly, many of the sessions could have been done virtual. You can learn about the latest product improvements and process improvements on a remote session easily. What you miss, is the excitement and buzz in the room as something is announced, an award is given to a high performer, or the lively discussion afterwards over coffee or even something stronger. Multi-person conversations don't work on zoom or other platforms because the time zones are wrong, or the subtle body language is completely ignored. The casual nature of walking up to key people because you see they are ready for a chat, is something you don't get remotely. </p><p>Conveying emotion and passion is so much easier in real life. Having the chance to get the team together and have some shared experiences is valuable. One such shared experience was the chance to chat with sales legend "Skip" Miller, and have him coach and present to our team. We were able to have learning activities in mixed teams, bringing together talented team members with diverse backgrounds and stories to share. While you can do remote training and skills sessions, I doubt you'll see the same high level of engagement and desire to learn on a call. </p><p>I do hope the idea of real life meetings, and the travel, shared meals and chances to socialise are not dead. We will review the value from our live session and look at how we can quantify it. Perhaps we'll be able to measure the success of the lessons we learned, the new connections to peers and team members, the value of team.</p><p>Most of all, I think we'll value the memories of the session, and if in some distant future we struggle to get big teams together, we'll remember with fondness at how much fun it was and how it made us feel more confident in our work.</p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-26316561895698157722023-01-05T11:38:00.006-05:002023-01-05T11:45:01.203-05:00"Presales is Life" - What Presales can learn from the FIFA World Cup!<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCrpVKizq6zUXqPR9Md7YWW1gFJYvv9hx7ePIVY49ciSVLbpNv00JtGlIrwpUOLV9arHCg_HLmp6QhNTZheHRQb08m80y0FfLwwhINodeYi5i4Gk7SlnMIetG3I5lrsIcjvHfPuZYaPDtAT3vdSoWuftUIoX-5Qb8eQJvvUL9gksa7aeTIhIrHd0pqkw/s1080/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(11).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCrpVKizq6zUXqPR9Md7YWW1gFJYvv9hx7ePIVY49ciSVLbpNv00JtGlIrwpUOLV9arHCg_HLmp6QhNTZheHRQb08m80y0FfLwwhINodeYi5i4Gk7SlnMIetG3I5lrsIcjvHfPuZYaPDtAT3vdSoWuftUIoX-5Qb8eQJvvUL9gksa7aeTIhIrHd0pqkw/w400-h400/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(11).png" width="400" /></a></div>I think we can all agree that this world cup was very entertaining and delivered some amazing performances! Watching the teams play together was exciting, and I loved watching some of the collaboration and assists. Whichever team you support, I'm sure you found more than one part of the world cup exciting and inspirational. Congratulations of course to Argentina for their success, and for making the world cup exciting in 2022 - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhEWqfP6V_w">check out the final highlights here!</a><p></p><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>When it comes to comparing football and presales, I often wonder about what kind of football player a presales person is? There are elements of all sorts of players, from strikers to defensive players. Some SEs are seen by customers as the one who score the deal - with an awesome demo, POV or technology pitch. Other SEs are like midfield players, who can distribute the ball effectively to where it will be best used, and others can act like goalkeepers, defending the opportunity from competitive threats.<p></p><p>One thing when you look at the truly great players, is that it shouldn't matter who puts the ball in the net, because an <b>assist </b>is as important as a <b>goal</b>. Statista shows the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1347746/world-cup-qatar-most-assists/#:~:text=Five%20players%20tied%20for%20the,a%20total%20of%20three%20each.">top 5 assists players</a> at the world cup as Argentina's Lionel Messi, Portugal's Bruno Fernandes, France's Antoine Griezmann, England's Harry Kane, and Croatia's Ivan Perišić, with a total of three each. Part of being a great team player is focusing on what makes the team get the best results, and not just an individual achievement. For Messi - he managed both! Great presales is a job full of assists, and chances to score individual goals as well. </p><p>Also <b>we're talking about Practice</b>. (Thank you Ted Lasso)! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="330" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_UMIcM66S1M" width="426" youtube-src-id="_UMIcM66S1M"></iframe></div><br /><b> Practice is important</b>. Many goals at the world cup, and some of the best goalkeeping saves, came from great skills, but also set pieces which can be practiced to a deep extent. When you can control part of the environment, you can make it more predictable for yourself, and be able to react to what might happen during the game. Great penalty shots, saves, corner kicks, free kicks and in game positional play all benefit from practice as a team, and individual drills. A sales engineer can practice their RFP responses, Proof of Concepts, Demos, Storytelling, listening skills and much more. What you practice is how you will perform in the game. <p></p><p>Playing the <b>percentages </b>is important. Learning what actions lead to better outcomes is important in football. You learn in junior leagues that risky passes in your own half can be quickly punished. Goal keepers know to clear the ball if they are facing aggression, even kicking it straight out for a corner if necessary. Presales and sales team members can benefit by measuring the performance of different aspects. You can measure which kinds of meetings lead to better results, which questions are better to ask your customers. What level of discovery helps you understand your customer needs better.</p><p>Sometimes in football you need to play more <b>defensively</b>. If your team is leading, then pushing for extra goals could actually <b>increase the risk</b>. So you can adjust your lineup, your tactics, where you want to pass the ball, to maintain possession, or limit the chance the other team can attack. It can be the same in presales! Helping the customer keep their focus on the things your team can do well, the benefits offered by your product, will help you defend the deals you should win. Once you are ahead, you might want to stop pushing more features, and working with the customer on getting started with what they've already seen.</p><p>Finally, in the world cup I noticed many players playing very different roles in their national team, than they would for their club. This is interesting too, as a new team leads to each player rethinking their position on the pitch, and the role they perform in a game. Similarly for a sales team, working with different sellers, or with different colleagues - or a different category of customer - can lead to rethinking how you play your role! </p><p>So paraphrasing the words of Ted Lasso's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDFBG7_0H5I">Dani Rojas</a>, I'd like to say, <b>Presales is Life</b>! We can learn a lot of lessons from our social outlets and hobbies that can help us professionally, and by transposing some of these ideas into your presales life, you will increase your winrate, help more customers, and sign more deals.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-18613855294558024742022-11-30T08:52:00.001-05:002022-11-30T08:52:23.129-05:00Presales Talks - What do we love about presales in 2022?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/08/the-dark-side-of-presales-on.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjIk2KbQsEKd5DthdwK4yDCrrHiS2T9yEUqw-r2Yq2mqJBNutgw_htNZU5rPi7bXrujfH61iTaru17OC40yz4wNTewnNRqOihexM0G9ScgnXeTXDTW0ULrOqIVMVOI65e3k2v7azx9zCKxXkS8VzBxKEJDyKM-rXEjYXGxJx57oR1JYiuBpBXllPdHUQ/w200-h200/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(10).png" width="200" /></a></div> We had another big year of <b>Presales Talks</b> in 2022, with weekly calls throughout the year, getting many regular and occasional guests to the call! Before we think too much on what we're going to do next, I'd like to reflect on some of the great things we did in this year's sessions.<p></p><p></p>We explored the "<a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/08/the-dark-side-of-presales-on.html">Dark Side of Presales</a>" in August with a very popular show covering this topic. Presales is a job that has stress and pressure to perform on it, like many other sales roles. In some organizations this also has related problems of harassment, bullying and lack of diversity.<p></p><p>This discussion brought many of these issues up and how people deal with it. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/07/branding-for-presales-presalestalks.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCaV5xdIrs_JWiI152l9K5nhFpbmRcrlTxUVCFgv7GJiWR6k-iiwgkatRY8ff271kkls1t6b3W3TF6vT1xiU9QgBQlaSIITUu-2DTLGsDWsrVCfMWBfY9LXWY-oz0_vbrM_CBhn5_NAkI7rhO3nZEWPWPwUBrxcBlfJBsb92MjDcAZJXG4aGhm5z9CQ/w200-h200/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(9).png" width="200" /></a></div>In July there were several exciting sessions, including <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/07/branding-for-presales-presalestalks.html">Branding </a>& <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/07/big-room-meetings-on-presalestalks.html">Big Room</a> meetings. We shared ideas of podcasts and books to help on these big topics, and tools, tips and tricks for working on these better. <br /><p></p><p>Two big calls in June covered <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/06/listening-skills-week-on-presalestalks.html">Listening</a> skills and a fun topic of "<a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/06/the-most-awesome-thing-about-working-in.html">The most awesome thing about working in Presales</a>". I am still getting a lot of messages from people about that - which is awesome in itself!</p>One quote stood out from that session, which was "You learn more about life itself" and we explored the idea of using comedy and improvisation skills for actors in training for presales. Of course our aim is not to just entertain people, but to help them buy more products!<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/05/presalestalks-how-to-shine-in.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_bd3mw11VBNBgszV0S4v1EkELRoy36Gtij5vdeZTo5bdnRhELvB0ZO_HlrC5gZ_UJ8IGdOEcQ2xa4njNCv-Rcag10cGNP5ZjpLaxUMNS3HBZXCmTRztPSMpAiHILHqOmLmcXmO9-dq9R4YyMLYvXSI4BEmBNhNcoMJqtPrbjbdrRDU29os7gbrUXOGA/w200-h200/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(5).png" width="200" /></a></div></div><div><br />Back in May, we had several great sessions about getting hired as an SE including <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/05/presalestalks-how-to-shine-in.html">Presentation Interviews</a> and <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/05/presalestalks-how-to-ace-presales.html">Presales Interviews</a> more generally. We also covered what to put into your <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/05/presales-talks-what-goes-into-great.html">Resume</a>. One tip spanning these sessions is that you need to show the kinds of skills in applying for work as an SE that you'd apply to the job itself.<br /><p>These topics are always interesting, because everyone's schedule for looking for a new role is different. Earlier in the year we also discussed what it is like being able to build your own <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/03/presalestalks-starting-new-presales.html">Presales Organization</a>, and what things good presales organizations have in common across different businesses.</p><p>Back in the beginning of the year, we were discussing <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/02/presales-talks-presales-customer-success.html">how Presales and Customer success work together</a>, how Presales people can use <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/01/presalestalks-social-media-and-presales.html">Social Media</a>, and the rise of the <a href="https://www.salesengineerguy.com/2022/01/presalestalks-social-media-and-presales.html">Social Solution Engineer</a>! </p><p>This year we switched from the clubhouse platform to twitter spaces, which allowed us to explore a different technology with some pros and cons. We'll keep reviewing this, and other ideas around format and make sure you know where to reach presales talks going forwards. </p><p>Looking forwards to our final 2022 session this week, and ideas for next year's sessions. Thank you to everyone who's joined in on Presales Talks, the team at Presales Collective and of course the whole presales community!</p><p><br /></p></div>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-15301921730804779072022-10-19T05:08:00.004-04:002022-10-19T05:08:40.662-04:00Sales Engineer Guy on Feedspot!<p>Very happy to see that <b>The Sales Engineer Guy site </b>has been selected by feedspot as one of the <a href="https://blog.feedspot.com/sales_engineer_blogs/">Top 10 Sales Engineer Blogs</a> on the web.</p><p>I feel like many of the other sites are excellent learning resources for Presales people around the world! What makes your top 10 blogs?</p><p><br /></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-7744079787040836472022-08-26T13:56:00.000-04:002022-08-26T13:56:05.353-04:00 The Dark Side of Presales on #PresalesTalks<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXGeySC61tcnSKaMwcoKBDG2nE1Z9nAVWPVQIOUf5246_MBxMPkxVbawwtXs5DoRpNy61rBkIwx2JuFe28oHclbtDO-XYxLGb4GMU0GjD4mX-iMCvH8_KiOh2WOQjyHq5U4bOKM5M9cY5L-d9VX04OzAMnSQtDsgjhrcD5T3nCErqII9fg-jdQzFYDA/s1080/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(10).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXGeySC61tcnSKaMwcoKBDG2nE1Z9nAVWPVQIOUf5246_MBxMPkxVbawwtXs5DoRpNy61rBkIwx2JuFe28oHclbtDO-XYxLGb4GMU0GjD4mX-iMCvH8_KiOh2WOQjyHq5U4bOKM5M9cY5L-d9VX04OzAMnSQtDsgjhrcD5T3nCErqII9fg-jdQzFYDA/s320/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(10).png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Today's topic was to explore the things that get us down as presales professionals. Presales is an exciting role, but some of these things happen and we wanted to explore how you can deal with them.<p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h2 style="text-align: left;">Problems</h2><p>High Stress Environment</p><p>Presales is "free"</p><p>The AE relationship</p><p>Some customers - lack of respect</p><p>Women & Diversity</p><p>Harassment</p><p>Lack of respect</p><p>Deal strategy - who owns it?</p><p>Lack of alignment to AE goals</p><p>Product weaknesses</p><p>Imposter syndrome</p><p>Proving yourself</p><p>The openness of the role</p><p>Awkward Silences</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Solutions</h2><p>Often these situations represent opportunities to improve your skills, life and career</p><p>Remember it is just a job - you could move to a new role easily and quickly.</p><p>With the openness and "free" nature of presales work, you should set your rules of engagement and make it clear what work you do and how you prioritise your time.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-34411368939139875792022-07-18T09:21:00.002-04:002022-07-18T09:24:56.830-04:00Branding for Presales #PresalesTalks<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rZRQ9MI_Md6_Ri6gxb5GJnhYoiabzjISGwIDAOr5XRH_y3ZyLOSU9T8uppWTohdGecfuCK4hUqDmig46IzNArXSkkjLW0F5iVvSNC7c2a1Mc6Ttv3tr1SQFX5CUKYylt7-HJjbGZb0oPdvr0PhMs_SfLMvNwa_5u2omZVyz6nUoQ5e6yjErj-El6Fg/s1080/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(9).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rZRQ9MI_Md6_Ri6gxb5GJnhYoiabzjISGwIDAOr5XRH_y3ZyLOSU9T8uppWTohdGecfuCK4hUqDmig46IzNArXSkkjLW0F5iVvSNC7c2a1Mc6Ttv3tr1SQFX5CUKYylt7-HJjbGZb0oPdvr0PhMs_SfLMvNwa_5u2omZVyz6nUoQ5e6yjErj-El6Fg/s320/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(9).png" width="320" /></a></div><br />We had a great talk about Branding for Presales. If you don't consciously do this, you'll still experience unconscious branding based on how others perceive you. <p></p><p>Can be a much deeper topic - branding matters to everyone, not just presales of course.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Better-Selling-Through-Storytelling-Essential/dp/B07N6LDX1Q?adgrpid=114972476080&gclid=CjwKCAjwoMSWBhAdEiwAVJ2ndjkraU7GcqNxT8HnljVgzUzdsX75tM0Ksmyu775XBBwEWJpqh9HZOBoCvBgQAvD_BwE&hvadid=477160939102&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1006906&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=16882276513962835817&hvtargid=kwd-848694591764&hydadcr=24463_1816160&keywords=better+selling+through+storytelling&qid=1657905222&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=seguy-21&linkId=63159f479509c0daedd1f3b09cd21e32&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_il" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="240" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B07N6LDX1Q&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=seguy-21&language=en_GB" width="160" /></a></p><p>How to go from invisible to irresistible. The worst thing is if people don't notice you at all. Get yourself known for doing something. Tell people that you have experience at something, or are interested in it. Building a brand helps others know what to expect from you, and then they will spread the word for you.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Book recommendation on Storytelling:</u></b></p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/3PyoY6P">Better Selling Through Storytelling</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=seguy-21&language=en_GB&l=li2&o=2&a=B07N6LDX1Q" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /></p><p>Podcast episode - <a href="https://www.salesfornerds.io/044-john-livesay-on-better-selling-through-storytelling/">https://www.salesfornerds.io/044-john-livesay-on-better-selling-through-storytelling/</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.salesfornerds.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Sales-for-Nerds-Logo-700x700.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="186" src="https://www.salesfornerds.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Sales-for-Nerds-Logo-700x700.png" width="186" /></a></div><p></p><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Find an ally</h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Ask your sales team to help introduce you the right way to support your brand</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Use external people to help support your brand</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Ask your manage for ideas of branding</p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-90706161204237220372022-07-06T11:25:00.002-04:002022-07-06T11:25:21.527-04:00Big Room Meetings on #PresalesTalks<p>A skill many Presales people have is handling a big room meeting! Often at conferences and events, but sometimes also for deals, handling a large crowd of 10 more people takes additional skills. We discussed many of these on the latest presales talks session!</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>How many big board/meetings do you have?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Rarer</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Only a small number of team members need to do it</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• For virtual - chat.</p><p><br /></p><p>Listening skills</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• How are people reacting? Emoting</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Polling tools? Menti-meter</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Hands-up</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Look around the room (left-right-middle)</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Helps you identify people who are willing to interact</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://youtu.be/gpqfZJuZRNY">Scholar's cradle Gestures for public speaking</a> - the beginners' guide to scholars' cradles</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="364" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gpqfZJuZRNY" width="482" youtube-src-id="gpqfZJuZRNY"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• 12 different ones in use</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Try the Apex Cradle.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some differences and ideas</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• More scripted and directed</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Rhetorical questions</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Do practice runs with small groups</p><p><br /></p><p>Dealing with Heckling?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Ignore?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Put them in their place?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Getting the crowd to work against the heckler.</p><p><br /></p><p>Responding to questions</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Right away</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Later/at the end.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Much later - or afterwards</p><p><br /></p><p>Resonate</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Setting expectations - what do you want people to do at the end</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• What questions do you want answered?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Vision - if-then…</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Have a story structure that includes challenges, (5 Ps) "And But Therefore If Then."</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>Why do them?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Build up trust with our customers/audiences</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Help guide people towards solutions to common problems.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Give them a purpose - what you want them to do afterwards.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p>Gaining Calmness while nervous</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Box breathing</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Help control your breathing cycle</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Keep focus while breathing</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Keep some of that nervous energy - it can help you sound more human!</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-25926410936658319872022-06-28T11:31:00.004-04:002022-06-28T11:34:29.601-04:00Listening Skills week on #PresalesTalks<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHp1BT3GcacKnOc90ntFtJESo_yaRg9Spr4flZZcAlbrjKoIyQCQ7rbwsfqwpcI2-jIzdj6F7EaFnG8PhDNMqk2s8CG2RZ9bG61ZhTkDBV5oRQ5wgClWged863QGz96JPH4S7exNT6zYDfx1xqP8GaUapsfKVc2q9CzUSXPqfM0Bkdk0ABpZJ5U_SWQ/s1080/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(8).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHp1BT3GcacKnOc90ntFtJESo_yaRg9Spr4flZZcAlbrjKoIyQCQ7rbwsfqwpcI2-jIzdj6F7EaFnG8PhDNMqk2s8CG2RZ9bG61ZhTkDBV5oRQ5wgClWged863QGz96JPH4S7exNT6zYDfx1xqP8GaUapsfKVc2q9CzUSXPqfM0Bkdk0ABpZJ5U_SWQ/w400-h400/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(8).png" width="400" /></a></div><br />This week we talked about Listening Skills and went through the outcome of several people's <a href="https://www.oscartrimboli.com/listeningquiz/">Listening Quiz</a> results! Go and take yours and let us know how it went! In particular learn about the <a href="https://www.oscartrimboli.com/listening-villains/">4 Villains</a> of listening! <span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p>Some quick tips for helping promote good listening from today's session</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Making sure there is a balance of listening and questions.</li><li>How to listen when the customer just wants to talk?</li><li>Make sure you listen with the aim to understand, not just to know when you can speak next!</li><li>Make sure your questions have context.</li><li><a href="https://www.gong.io/blog/talk-to-listen-conversion-ratio/">Gong Research on Listening Ratios</a>: Gong have done some research into ideal listening ratios for b2b sales calls. The best conversion rates have the selling team speaking less than 50% of the time! How do we apply this to presales?</li></ul>We also saw a Book recommendation of <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nonviolent-Communication-Language-Life-Guides/dp/189200528X?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=x8aMg&content-id=amzn1.sym.822afc68-e2bb-4420-ac6e-1044cd2e7c1d&pf_rd_p=822afc68-e2bb-4420-ac6e-1044cd2e7c1d&pf_rd_r=PW8ZMTMP27E33S9PZT9A&pd_rd_wg=wQdI9&pd_rd_r=8d362345-6ddf-430a-833e-203cff6d0e41&linkCode=ll1&tag=seguy-21&linkId=4960e93d51baa65c94889fe7553f1893&language=en_GB&ref_=as_li_ss_tl">Non-violent communication</a> by Marshall Rosenberg<div><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin" scrolling="no" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=seguy-21&language=en_GB&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=189200528X&asins=189200528X&linkId=862a4c7fea6d131ff310f25645e3e375&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-8119010953540207702022-06-13T08:59:00.002-04:002022-06-13T08:59:22.808-04:00The most awesome thing about working in Presales is ...! #PresalesTalks<p> Great affirmative session celebrating the great things that happen when you work in presales! I'm sure some of these topics will come back in future weeks! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64RhiYQmawt1vJ6zx2Sf7S2Ah7IZ0i8pU6i10rsHvhkxwT-ssGiBLXvQqYBLwK0E1j2UEGf5AYz0DfWjnJHYuBM4C10u9nlba2FHf7jq9JSphJk3OZpI30OcQxVEkujM2VwpvZaicH8DxsguiEW-dWY069CXcEzpycys8AAKCGZRRDb5rgJcdYheeNQ/s1080/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(7).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64RhiYQmawt1vJ6zx2Sf7S2Ah7IZ0i8pU6i10rsHvhkxwT-ssGiBLXvQqYBLwK0E1j2UEGf5AYz0DfWjnJHYuBM4C10u9nlba2FHf7jq9JSphJk3OZpI30OcQxVEkujM2VwpvZaicH8DxsguiEW-dWY069CXcEzpycys8AAKCGZRRDb5rgJcdYheeNQ/w400-h400/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(7).png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><u>Top reasons why Presales is AWESOME!</u></span></h1><p>Creative and storytelling</p><p>Curious & Brave</p><p>Change & Variety <b>"You learn something every day"</b></p><p>Challenging</p><p>Artistic - Engaging.</p><p>Eager to help</p><p>Money</p><p>Interact with customers at a technical level and autonomy in doing so.</p><p>Work between the silos of your organization & customers. Your view on life is better</p><p><b>"You learn more about life itself"</b></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Improv</u></b></h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Many presales do improv on the side</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• In a minute - think of as many uses for a pencil.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• How many questions can you make about something?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Use <b>"Yes and …"</b> to deal with objections</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• How to transition to </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• And what else?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• "Anything else we should be asking"</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• "<b><a href="https://www.oscartrimboli.com/podcasts/">Deep listening podcast</a>"</b> </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Say what else</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Tell me more</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><u>Silence! </u></span></h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Don't fill every silence</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Give your customer enough time to think of their response</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• <a href="http://www.listeningquiz.com">www.listeningquiz.com</a></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• <a href="https://www.oscartrimboli.com/podcast/068/#:~:text=Meet%20the%20Four%20Villains%20of,which%20completely%20derail%20our%20listening">Villains of listening</a> - .</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Interrupter</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Give the customer a lot of space in the conversation</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Autonomy</u></b></h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Among technical roles</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Get a lot of chances to choose how you do things and figure out what is the most important thing to do.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• You get more as you progress</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• As a trusted advisor customers look to you for direction and autonomy</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Happiest SEs are confident in controlling their own time</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Use your time to learn and develop yourself</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Early in career - you get pushed more into precise situations and scenarios</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Block your mornings for prep time.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Big chunks or little chunks</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Curiousity</b></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Curious Connector</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b>Ability to do a lot of things in a short time</b></h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Learn multiple things </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Asking "Why" a lot.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• If you have a short time slot, you might achieve some quick things. If you need to do a longer task, schedule it.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Check out the <b><u><a href="https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/eisenhower-matrix">Eisenhower Matrix</a></u></b></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-74859185971018837152022-05-30T05:04:00.007-04:002022-05-30T05:08:25.057-04:00#PresalesTalks: How to shine in a Presentation Interview<p>Today we talked about what is often the final stage for a presales hiring process - The Presentation Interview. Usually done to a panel, this simulates a real life demo or presentation. There are many differences and variations. Some companies want to see you show something you are comfortable with already, others want you to learn their product and present something from it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8QCR9n4OitoY4zIxeEb9anX484rdQbn6Wr5xKSSct-ImHljNbCygM2g2jmvUxc6VRRyKnzxIhUUHmXyaRyjaOjD8ghIzZsRaKA4MW-RVOtIQ8aHV1YDs7yDl3r0KsG1yi6eNEUwsj5a9fDMewA9doF1uloTPdeW7FKlUgfCCZs8IYKbwkf5pHq6YsZw/s1080/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(6).png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8QCR9n4OitoY4zIxeEb9anX484rdQbn6Wr5xKSSct-ImHljNbCygM2g2jmvUxc6VRRyKnzxIhUUHmXyaRyjaOjD8ghIzZsRaKA4MW-RVOtIQ8aHV1YDs7yDl3r0KsG1yi6eNEUwsj5a9fDMewA9doF1uloTPdeW7FKlUgfCCZs8IYKbwkf5pHq6YsZw/w400-h400/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(6).png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>To succeed in these sessions, you need to show what you are capable of in a customer session. You should think of all aspects of a session, including engagement with all stakeholders, objection handling, time management, and what your next steps with the customer should be.</p><p>The real aim of these sessions should be to assess how well someone reacts under fire.</p><span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><p>Make sure you try to structure your session:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Introductions</li><ul><li>Roll Goal poll - to find out what they want and what they want to achieve</li></ul><li>Objection handling</li><li>Time management</li><li>Next Steps / Call to action</li><li>Will they say No sometimes?</li><ul><li>Make sure you say No, if the question should mean that</li><li>Have a good way of saying No...</li></ul><li>Keep it on track - check the time, usually a 30 minute session</li><li>Try to be complete </li><ul><li>address each participant & their goals</li></ul><li>Make sure you treat it like a business meeting with purpose & next steps</li><li>Make sure it is interactive</li><ul><li>Have questions for each member of the hiring team</li><li>You aren't feature dumping or training</li><li>Let them drill in and ask their questions</li></ul><li>Why should you ask why?</li><ul><li>You encourage conversation between customer stakeholders</li></ul><li>Make sure your camera angle is good</li></ul><p></p><p>Comment from: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Euyp-rdInk">We the SEs podcast - Ramzi - episode #204 Support The Customer by Holding Something in Reserve</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="357" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_Euyp-rdInk" width="469" youtube-src-id="_Euyp-rdInk"></iframe></div><br /><p><b><u>Something you ask in an interview</u></b></p><p>What do you do if your sales partner says something inaccurate</p><p>"Dealing with moron AEs"</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://hopin.com/events/demofest/registration">Demofest session - how to interview your interviewer</a> by Akshat Srivastava</p><p>Sometimes on the company's product, sometimes on something they are already comfortable with.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Best size of a panel?</u></b></p><p>Usually a small panel of 3 is best for decision making, sometimes stretching to 4-5. However some candidates talk of horror stories with 9-10 panelists, each with their own focus or reason to be there, or worse still, some with no real reason to attend.</p><p></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-79512328988137707532022-05-23T04:41:00.002-04:002022-05-23T04:41:14.894-04:00#PresalesTalks: How to Ace a Presales interview<p>Great topic this week. It seems people are always keen to share tips, and talk about how to best present themselves! We'll continue this next week on Twitter Spaces, be sure to sign up!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkR8WEBu4bCBXYvo3qV-M2WQVH4HzWI5plRZe_hzk0muh_vApsJ2SlpYzbX4CKgPn19MZiBuBM0X8DA_ebtoQZSLGfduwJ6Y14Vfe_y81snaUaQtr6lCaxat4gI6jNr9VpgLdrzotsN_1z4y88SSGHrvKBC3FtyLH1rthzFKv5LNDkwFpLUWXj8WaIQ/s1080/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(5).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijkR8WEBu4bCBXYvo3qV-M2WQVH4HzWI5plRZe_hzk0muh_vApsJ2SlpYzbX4CKgPn19MZiBuBM0X8DA_ebtoQZSLGfduwJ6Y14Vfe_y81snaUaQtr6lCaxat4gI6jNr9VpgLdrzotsN_1z4y88SSGHrvKBC3FtyLH1rthzFKv5LNDkwFpLUWXj8WaIQ/s320/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(5).png" width="320" /></a></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"> What happens in Presales Interviews?</h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Typical interview - with recruiter, internal/external, then to hiring manager, to a peer - another SC, someone in sales, technical presentation, final conversation with hiring manager</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><blockquote>"Early stage, they need to convince you to be in the process too"</blockquote></h3><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• In early stages, convince them you can do presales, that you are a potential fit</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Some recruiters can be harder to convince them you are a good fit.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Ask them "What your goal for the session is?"</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Check the salary expectations. See if they are a good fit for you.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Peer interviews</h4><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• These can be good tests - they do the job day to day</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• You could reveal yourself by saying too much</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Cultural fit - are you a good match for the team</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Are they going to be a burden? I want them to be a good individual as well.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Can they help me? Future mentor?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• If you don't connect with the peer, you could ask for another person to speak to?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Try to make sure they like you!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>"3 Cs - Clarify, Concise, Confirm"</b></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Don't be overconfident.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Is it a good sign if you go over time?</h3><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Depends</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Some interviewers will end interviews once they decide someone is not a great candidate</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Ask for permission to go over?</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Prep your Intro</h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Be ready to tell people why you are a good fit for the role</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Be concise - do this in your 5 minute intro</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><div><br /></div>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-66830824378582218432022-05-16T06:26:00.008-04:002022-05-16T06:26:56.907-04:00Presales Talks: What goes into a great Presales Resume or CV?<p>We had a great chat with <a href="https://www.presalescollective.com/">presales collective</a> members on our Presales Talks weekly session, hosted this week on Twitter Spaces. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE224l509NdMMvbo3oajaYjsB863UExqNYsQwA40LhV-N_Jnh35ciQb8IikAzg-8gCrZa1RhvmCgEM1x4ds7vZLQNGHHduM87rpU11xoquHjJZf2Fg8S3cN-frwGYfrWQuPrqgYdfzsaGPXPCerAQ95qH7jWITIVDjkdxPEB9zqnBlDU0exVfw25yww/s1080/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(4).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE224l509NdMMvbo3oajaYjsB863UExqNYsQwA40LhV-N_Jnh35ciQb8IikAzg-8gCrZa1RhvmCgEM1x4ds7vZLQNGHHduM87rpU11xoquHjJZf2Fg8S3cN-frwGYfrWQuPrqgYdfzsaGPXPCerAQ95qH7jWITIVDjkdxPEB9zqnBlDU0exVfw25yww/w400-h400/Fix%20your%20demo%20data!%20Run%20in%20parallel%20Certifications%20Publish%20Recordings%20Learn%201%20new%20skill%20Write%20articles%20Practice%20demos%20Attend%20presales%20webinars%20Catch%20up%20on%20correspondence,%20Reflect%20(4).png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Topic was "<b>resumes for applying for presales roles</b>" and what goes into them. What do you put on your CV? How do you get to interviews?<p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><b><u>What Goes onto your CV?</u></b></h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Make sure you mention Presales (or sales engineering, solutions or whatever your target company calls it)</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Target Position: The role you want them to give you. Make it clear what your asking for. Make yourself look like a good fit.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Make sure your CV is going to pass the software test.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Have an alternative edition of your CV for the interviewing team.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Run your own CV through an <a href="https://resume.io/blog/how-to-build-a-bulletproof-ATS-friendly-resume?ga_utm_source=google&ga_utm_medium=ppc&ga_utm_campaign=17136739827&ga_utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwg_iTBhDrARIsAD3Ib5gB_6efCvq42RN_kDDar2H_qsG06tOw_5_dj5plzEg4tOfuITTHmHQaApxqEALw_wcB">Application Tracking system</a>. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Check out generic career advice - <a href="https://www.careercloud.com/careercloud-radio">https://www.careercloud.com/careercloud-radio</a></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Skills that get/got you into presales</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Convince senior leadership of new business needs</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Customer facing skills</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Photos?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Can affect bias (both ways)</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Look ready for the job</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Should be a positive.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Dress code is changing. Some presales people can wear tshirt to a meeting, others wear a full suit/tie or formal dress every time. Think about the role you are applying for</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Will your customers see you as a trusted advisor?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Case Study on a <b>individual CV (see picture)</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQ6eLq9GuyrHyS1jIbJtXXZdwIUix5rcH6bymscrz1XJ2ps7POA8_xClneoqpVODzRC0dfZaZTDU4ZB4igKkJQXa99mdFm05xGSIG7q6ixs5CSDWoFjGQF3DWFzlpgseqeBePs0On1rthJWL7XV1yIiHdcGSdsx0KnhhpYbTAJj7mbGDzv26SkmWlUQ/s1661/example%20cv.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1661" data-original-width="1173" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvQ6eLq9GuyrHyS1jIbJtXXZdwIUix5rcH6bymscrz1XJ2ps7POA8_xClneoqpVODzRC0dfZaZTDU4ZB4igKkJQXa99mdFm05xGSIG7q6ixs5CSDWoFjGQF3DWFzlpgseqeBePs0On1rthJWL7XV1yIiHdcGSdsx0KnhhpYbTAJj7mbGDzv26SkmWlUQ/w453-h640/example%20cv.png" width="453" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Look at your old titles, and see how they fit the story of what you want to do next</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Talk about how your contributions delivered business value</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Results of items, metrics, measures</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Email addresses - don't use joke or overly personal addresses.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-40619806828330551582022-03-30T05:42:00.003-04:002022-03-30T05:43:29.161-04:00Getting the best out of your team! Paul Lanigan "Bulletproof your business" podcast<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDh-1D0ld7oZ_IjmYKItujRTvDgh4R1_5ecG8sl0ly8S_-yJV-O934xpjCJ9Tf_7JE9lZsQ4UnSOwZY5iTystY-lK5rh9CuzEgFucaEy_yWY_RM-9yGwAcDqfhyOhITZYuGSTLIK-oLpz4zWrpfSqzeBpKz4m38dffB3TMqa2tT8-q4dCzQNqVi2iI_Q" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="331" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDh-1D0ld7oZ_IjmYKItujRTvDgh4R1_5ecG8sl0ly8S_-yJV-O934xpjCJ9Tf_7JE9lZsQ4UnSOwZY5iTystY-lK5rh9CuzEgFucaEy_yWY_RM-9yGwAcDqfhyOhITZYuGSTLIK-oLpz4zWrpfSqzeBpKz4m38dffB3TMqa2tT8-q4dCzQNqVi2iI_Q" width="239" /></a></div> I had the opportunity recently to sit down with <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7z9hViBwfl5JBcxLBSbMrK?si=d92ddf15fd4f4d91">Paul Lanigan on his podcast series</a> and talk about presales & sales! Some highlight topics - startups, people who code, and working with sales people! Have a listen to this and some of his other episodes to learn more about sales!<p></p><p><br /><br /></p>
<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="232" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/2Z0bZwAyNLAGgMjPwHD571?utm_source=generator" style="border-radius: 12px;" width="100%"></iframe>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-24435399159973527082022-03-14T12:11:00.005-04:002022-03-14T12:11:35.360-04:00PresalesTalks: Starting a new Presales Organization<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVdsp8g2yIBEuJOLR1BCu5kbA7rARltfkFVjxhQcUdeoqZk724eZxLU2AfVzsPj3NGuhxpqlFgCe_TUxBxA6dyq86b3ulJNvzXC6P7-58c87Mknz7Len0s6BkEcxYP8twY56VMz81xNLX4u0lo6L-iIA8yXcs0Q0OIMcm7tLHB6gXy1kOLwFz4vGt5Qg=s1080" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhVdsp8g2yIBEuJOLR1BCu5kbA7rARltfkFVjxhQcUdeoqZk724eZxLU2AfVzsPj3NGuhxpqlFgCe_TUxBxA6dyq86b3ulJNvzXC6P7-58c87Mknz7Len0s6BkEcxYP8twY56VMz81xNLX4u0lo6L-iIA8yXcs0Q0OIMcm7tLHB6gXy1kOLwFz4vGt5Qg=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><br />A great topic, important to several regulars on the call. We wanted to talk about how you start a new presales organization. This could be different depending on maturity of the company, bredth of the presales mission, company values, culture and more.<div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div>Notes from the session:<br /><br /><div>Setting a new org up to help a company with established sales team</div><div><br /></div><div>Organic vs inorganic</div><div><b>Organic - supporting the existing customers</b></div><div><b>Inorganic - supporting speculative new business</b></div><div><br /></div><div>New segments/new bases</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Why it happens?</h3><div>What is the <b>mission </b>for the Presales org?</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Define the problem space</li><li>Get other people's opinions about it</li><li>Marketing, product, sales</li><li>Iterative, can change over time</li><li>Try to be focused with the mission - make it clear what the real role of the team is</li><li>Origin based - if the team is formed from other staff, what is the dividing line</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Where does it report into? Sales, Technical Delivery, Marketing?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>How is it compensated?</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Don't start with everything</u></div><div><br /></div><div>Poll on linked in from PSC - where do people report to</div><div><br /></div><div>Which comes first - the function or the leadership</div><div><br /></div><div>CCO?</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Stand for the customer</div><div><br /></div><div>First 60 days?</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Find out what people want before they start</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Build the functions and materials</div><div><br /></div><div>Create a culture for the team</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Base it on your first hires</div><div><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Make sure it grows</div><div><br /></div><div>Mentorship groups - black valley</div><div><br /></div><div>Final thoughts</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Don't get too caught up in what it will be in the future. Focus on what you need now."</b></div></div>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-26692548781264442492022-02-23T02:02:00.005-05:002022-02-23T02:02:58.015-05:00My Journey to Presales<p>#cross posting this from my post on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gregholmes_journeytopresales-presalescollective-presales-activity-6901841781722595328-vjKx">LinkedIn</a>.</p><p>“Do you want to be a post sales or a pre sales consultant? “ </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiU9f1Z4sEk2ZAGQsVzrRoB6V-lHp7u5rbl3I01OtSF_MbKz0C98uRaRUDWOJAL-lMfhx3YaImq3yBcZswI3Ls8GTJ61gslMYoJAPvLhTu64701EqYSegpYU_2pFQK1rweUg2ZiWnsABsttNbtimbyJ2h10zaBmK7_cGcE8waEqkTw0N9xtrbjI7o44sg=s1440" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiU9f1Z4sEk2ZAGQsVzrRoB6V-lHp7u5rbl3I01OtSF_MbKz0C98uRaRUDWOJAL-lMfhx3YaImq3yBcZswI3Ls8GTJ61gslMYoJAPvLhTu64701EqYSegpYU_2pFQK1rweUg2ZiWnsABsttNbtimbyJ2h10zaBmK7_cGcE8waEqkTw0N9xtrbjI7o44sg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I’ve heard about a lot of <a href="https://www.presalescollective.com/">PreSales Collective</a> members talking about their journey to presales this week, and it has been exciting reading. The question above is what set me off on my journey! <span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>It seemed an innocent enough question. I hardly had really given it much thought, but this is what first sent me in the career direction of Presales. Presales sounded more interesting to me and maybe a little bit out of my comfort zone! Nothing against post sales - there is a big need for good post sales consultants too and I've had the pleasure to work with many of the best. </p><p>Presales delivers a continual adventure to me. Each customer, each meeting and you have a chance to hear a new perspective or a new business problem. You're in the room when people start to get it. You help create "aha" moments! </p><p>For me the key skills of presales are passion, curiosity, and the patience to listen. Passion because you should be excited about your products & services, but curiosity so that you are interested in what your customer is thinking, and how they want to solve their business problems. Patience, because although you might have talked about this challenge, problem or product before, it is usually a new conversation for the customer, and you need to give them the time, space and control to share the challenge from their point of view.</p><p>Back over twenty years ago I made a decision to challenge myself with the unknown and it has paid off. Today I'm in a new country, representing my company and hearing fresh customer perspectives on their business problems and listening. Hoping to find a new way we can help them! </p><p><br /></p><p>#JourneytoPresales #presalescollective</p><p>#presales </p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-48973759478255215312022-02-07T05:18:00.004-05:002022-02-07T05:18:55.538-05:00Presales Talks: Presales & Customer Success<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfjpJjECZ99LtuCVOCzYiWXa2ypU95nC9tM8b3UVnjLyvDoe7iLVYlpfdUEIavRGFpAIOCcNFCElGV8HBEOaHvCmMNcvS34GaOqBC2oA70ge2i6LCHpwHYI9nsxi6nUYQsaUUfPhwfNDi89IX1CuQhUvB8Z-tgn5_3uiMF7Xy-TMSYvJRJa6LwhwPZJg=s1080" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfjpJjECZ99LtuCVOCzYiWXa2ypU95nC9tM8b3UVnjLyvDoe7iLVYlpfdUEIavRGFpAIOCcNFCElGV8HBEOaHvCmMNcvS34GaOqBC2oA70ge2i6LCHpwHYI9nsxi6nUYQsaUUfPhwfNDi89IX1CuQhUvB8Z-tgn5_3uiMF7Xy-TMSYvJRJa6LwhwPZJg=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div>Presales often work close with Customer Success organizations. In some companies, this overlap is 100% where one organization does it all. As companies mature and have different needs from existing and winning new customers, the teams can diverge and have a separate mission. How do you address these different needs? This is the topic we discussed last week on <a href="https://www.joinclubhouse.com/club/presales-collective">presales talks</a>!<p></p><p>Some of the key questions:</p><p>What are the goals of Customer Success?</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Driving consumption</li><li>Driving expansion & renewal</li><li>Ensuring long term satisfaction</li></ul><p></p><p>Why should presales get involved?</p><p>How big should customer success be?</p><p>Who should lead this?</p><p>Maturity of the company?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Startups don't have dedicated teams, it becomes part of everyone's job</p><p>Do CSMs move to presales or the other way?</p><p>Question</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Does CS require deeper tech skills than presales?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Is CS higher pressure than Presales? Troubled customers?</p><p>Are account executives under more pressure than presales?</p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-30368033650983216862022-01-31T05:59:00.002-05:002022-02-01T03:45:46.545-05:00Presales Talks: Fresh ideas for presales<p>We had a good chat on the IDEAS for Presales session of Presales Talks last week! Several big topics were started that we'll spend more time on in the coming weeks, so look out for the sessions and please join us! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiggC_syfY1HrBMCttOnrimrBC0P6DfpnZr-XRCg87a5zxIjfuEtJdWMr09v-YQ8S9pOvlI0Krw9xF5Y3ME8X3HlyOyuR3qQSftrRKlme5WKDzz1rQQvAJBpLtTEPE64R0qHzkfBeAUmTXJx6R0mVYTfyRByVKOGdn_LrAXa8rxpeDl5vteb-w2AAipOQ=s1080" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiggC_syfY1HrBMCttOnrimrBC0P6DfpnZr-XRCg87a5zxIjfuEtJdWMr09v-YQ8S9pOvlI0Krw9xF5Y3ME8X3HlyOyuR3qQSftrRKlme5WKDzz1rQQvAJBpLtTEPE64R0qHzkfBeAUmTXJx6R0mVYTfyRByVKOGdn_LrAXa8rxpeDl5vteb-w2AAipOQ=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>We have a solid group of regular participants and moderators who make new people very welcome and help them join in discussions. To join us on clubhouse look for the <a href="https://www.clubhouse.com/club/presales-collective">Presales Collective</a> club!</p><p>In recent times we've had several presales celebrities join in on our clubhouse including Patrick Pissang, (<a href="https://amzn.to/3oeQriO">The Social Sales Engineer</a>), Ramzi Marjaba (<a href="https://wethesalesengineers.com/">We the SEs</a>), Josh Hill (<a href="https://ikuto.co.uk/">Ikuto, presales recruiting</a>), Natasja Bax (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasjabax/">The DemoScene</a>), Ed Jaffe (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/edjaffe/">Demo Solutions</a>),Marjorie Abdelkrime (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marjorieabdelkrime/">PSC Ambassador and founding PSLC member</a>) and James Kaikis (<a href="https://www.presalescollective.com/">PSC co-founder</a>) keeps in touch about joining us on future sessions. Thanks to all of them for joining in and look forward to seeing you on again soon. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Partners - presales & sales</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Partners also can have sales engineers</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Partner SEs often have many techs to support - </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Make it easy for them!</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Won't sell just like you will.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Give them a cheat card!</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Keep the easy info in front of them</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Regular check ins</p><p>Help build out a client delivery model</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Organization thinking about Solutions and Customer Success together.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Vivun - leadership meeting with Snowflake adopting that kind of strategy</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Presales/CS combined roles</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Customer success into presales - helping make sure we propose solutions that are usable and useful.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Lots of titles: Customer success architect, Velocity Architect, Catalyst Engineer</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Companies that sell with pilots rather than POCs…</p><p>Market sales data analyst</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• People tell him he could be supporting sales</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• How to switch from any customer facing role into presales</p><p>Joining the Presales Collective!</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Why join? What can PSC help you with?</li></ul><p></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-75082190018092420752022-01-28T09:52:00.002-05:002022-01-28T09:52:12.933-05:00Using Time Travel to describe the business value of your solution<p>One sales skill that helps customers accept and understand the impact that a new solution can bring them is the concept of Time Travel! I wish we had a Delorean that you could use to jump into the future and see the benefits of a change to your business, but as a Presales professional, this is an imaginary journey you can take your customer on. </p><p>The movie "Back to the Future" explores in a narrative way the power of time travel, and I feel that this is a very powerful way to use storytelling to help your customer visualize and see the benefits for their business.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="327" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Psxktpxkc6o" width="483" youtube-src-id="Psxktpxkc6o"></iframe></div><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a>First up, most people are in the market for a new solution to get away from a perceived business problem. People are less likely to buy something without a fear of their current pains and worries. So a part of this virtual journey needs to address these problems and pains that will be solved or mitigated by the change. You need to make the return on their investment real, and make them see beyond the "pain of change" that will be needed to get them there.<p></p><p>One way you can do this is to tell them a story, from the point of view of next year's renewal meeting. These are the points of time (imagined) that you realised value from this investment, and if possible you can demonstrate this with some key visuals from the product.</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><i>E.g. If you were selling a car you could tell the buyer a story including the 12 000 miles of comfort & saved £1000s on the costs of rental/transport they achieved after a year of ownership. They weren't stuck with a faulty gearbox in the middle of nowhere, and didn't need to take two cars on their trip with the whole family. Some of these miles were on a family holiday around Scotland, with great memories and fun, which wouldn't have been easy in their previous vehicle.<br />Overall you were 10% safer, more reliable and comfortable, and to justify this, you just had a small cost.<br /></i><p style="text-align: left;"><i>If you look at the cost of this - annualized and amortized - this car delivered all this at x pence per mile.</i></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p></p></blockquote><p>So it is easy to think about this with a car for a family, and you just need to think about this in terms of the business benefits of your product, and the problems your customer wanted to solve.</p><p>A few examples you could use depending on product and industry</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Security products - prevented X large vulnerabilities from exposing your 30 000 customer accounts. When a big vulnerability arrived in their busiest sales season, they were able to keep their retail site running and bringing in more revenue than ever before.</li><li>Marketing - helped increase your lead generation by 15% resulting in these major logos signing with your company that you failed to previously reach. One of your emerging regions had its first year hitting its targets and sending those people on a rewards trip!</li><li>Manufacturing - their factory run with an extra 10% efficiency, meaning that they could produce 5500 extra units with the same labour force, and increase product margins overall by 1%. Additionally none of the bottlenecks that previously caused production outages happened again!</li></ul><div>By telling these examples, you help the customer see the true benefits and the problems they currently have going away. </div><div><br /></div><div>And don't forget, if you sell this vision to the customer, you then really have to make sure your team can deliver it!</div><p></p><div><br /></div>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-73674782376969541242022-01-24T05:21:00.003-05:002022-01-24T05:21:25.554-05:00PresalesTalks: Social Media and Presales<p>We had a good talk last week on PresalesTalks about social media, personal & professional accounts, and how to get started in a new role using social media.</p><p>Join us again next week for more <a href="https://www.clubhouse.com/event/xl8J7Ojx">presales talks<span></span></a></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgek8h8TfxToGoMaA4lfJ0O4RgqPN8zst9WxzNskXL28KssNodPi9KSNEE0cZ851Vzhk_fMzSWXZ6hFdsTZDlXlF15pSqjF3o1yAqxxtzS15_zoLF88hUWY1pgWt6qltSxDZruPbscqRSFL/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="843" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgek8h8TfxToGoMaA4lfJ0O4RgqPN8zst9WxzNskXL28KssNodPi9KSNEE0cZ851Vzhk_fMzSWXZ6hFdsTZDlXlF15pSqjF3o1yAqxxtzS15_zoLF88hUWY1pgWt6qltSxDZruPbscqRSFL/w400-h213/image.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Joining a new company and wondering what to do about that on social media?</h3><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Post your first day experience</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Start linking to colleagues, customers, industry contacts, other presales</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Make posts about your early observations</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Your experience and growth journey is interesting in itself</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Social networking to Competitors? Dos and Don't</h3><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Sales leadership vs presales leadership</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Is it ok?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• You don't compete in every aspect</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• You have a special respect for your competitor</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Defensiveness vs openness</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Practical approach - good intentions in how you connect</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Comment on their posts.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Dividing your social media accounts</h3><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• One for your interest/hobby</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• One for your professional life?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Or combine it into one account about you?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Can you leverage one passion as an anecdote?</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Pros</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Building a brand?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Industry/role/passion</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ What resonates the most with your audience(s)?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Are some of your passions mutually exclusive?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Where do you draw the line of personal vs professional</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Think of what your personal brand is, and stay on brand!</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Cons</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Splitting your efforts</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ More effort to maintain and keep multiple accounts running</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>○ Might stop people from parts of audience getting to know the real you!</p><div><br /></div>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-84777568838819647902022-01-17T14:53:00.005-05:002022-01-17T15:02:07.644-05:00What makes a great Presales social media profile?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgopysuN5j5nKAqfsMRahkdOMlALqkH745KZ_yC7dekdJvh9g1aarvxpBYEnnpNGHQfxbH4K9DG9yhjHT1AMatjiL117YF7wtyuF-_Crq8XYyAA5XqkfUmSnhrlExtgorbU9NfFP3B5bmwrgEcB_sv9e-Xmmsrb4AuD1gnxfzbPbW_eF34Sm5-TW0RH2Q=s1920" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgopysuN5j5nKAqfsMRahkdOMlALqkH745KZ_yC7dekdJvh9g1aarvxpBYEnnpNGHQfxbH4K9DG9yhjHT1AMatjiL117YF7wtyuF-_Crq8XYyAA5XqkfUmSnhrlExtgorbU9NfFP3B5bmwrgEcB_sv9e-Xmmsrb4AuD1gnxfzbPbW_eF34Sm5-TW0RH2Q=s320" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Many presales professionals develop very strong in person skills on presenting, listening and handling objections. Often people ask me why should they bother having a strong linkedin profile or other social media sites? This is an interesting question, as having a good profile could help you start your face to face meetings with a stronger first impression. Your customers and prospects will do their research on you before meeting you. They want to know why you are coming, or hear from you in between sessions. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If you like this topic - please join our PresalesTalks session this week - <a href="https://www.clubhouse.com/event/xqk3qWd9">https://www.clubhouse.com/event/xqk3qWd9</a></span></p><p>A strong profile is part of a complete communication profile and could help you sell more by doing less work individually with customers. You may also have a stronger impression on others in your network and find new opportunities more easily. </p><p>Here's my top tips on what makes a good presales social media profile:</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1. How to make a good <b>first impression</b>? Your profile should reflect your company values, demonstrate your passion and knowledge, build your credibility and appeal to your target audience - customers, colleagues and your industry. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2. <b>Do the basics first.</b> Choose a name that people will search for. Tell your reader who you are and what you do as clearly as possible. Make it easy for them to contact you and give them a call to action. Include a links to your website and provide key contact details.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3. <b>Fit your tone to the medium</b>. Don't be too casual or comical on a business networking platform such as LinkedIn, and Facebook is more a place for friends & family. Each profile you choose to use needs to be consistent with your brand values, but tailored to the audience on each site. You might even consider having separate profiles & brands if you have different audiences with different needs.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>4. Encourage your previous contacts to give <b>endorsements </b>to improve your standing. Mention some professional achievements, but don't make it just about you and your achievements. Tell people what you want to do, and WHY you are doing it.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>5. <b>Interact</b>! Don't do everything just from your own posts and profile. Read other people's articles. Comment on them, or reshare them with your own perspectives. Get into discussions. High engagement will draw people back to your profile to find out more about you and could help influence other people's opinions.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>6. Do <b>show some personality</b>. People like to see a balance of who you are, and not just the job you do today or what your company is doing. It is good to show you work at not just helping customers understand your products, but that you work at being a better presales resource for them too. If reposting something, it is always better to give some of your perspective and views on it, rather than just reposting it without context.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>7. <b>Pictures are important.</b> Make sure your profile pictures (and any that you post) are good reflections on who you are today. A quality image helps give customers an anchor point on who you are and feel more affinity than a blank profile or corporate logo. </p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>8. <b>Help people find you!</b> Keywords and phrases help people searching for the products and services you offer and the way customers get value from your solutions. If you have particular areas of expertise like demos or presentations, this would be good to use as well. Thinking about a quality BIO will help you get noticed more often, and help customers and others know more about the value you bring to a session.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>9. <b>Keep it fresh</b>. Update your profile often to show what you believe in today. Curate any pinned articles and posts to make sure your best items are easy to find.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>10. <b>Social selling is not blatant</b>. You should use it as a way to bring people into your network, and you'll get a clear signal if they want to know how to buy from you. Avoid being too pushy about what you can sell, and focus on what people want to learn from you.</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>11. <b>Check out what other good presales folks</b> are doing (not just in your industry). What draws your attention and what pushes you away? Would you connect with them? What can you learn from them?</p><p>Other ideas- read some books like "The Social Sales Engineer" which could help inspire you to be a thought leader in your industry or field. </p><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=salengguy-20&language=en_US&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=3982214777&asins=3982214777&linkId=6187a9ac5b6457631803486e5b6351fa&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-32871884290535945042022-01-10T05:02:00.002-05:002022-01-10T05:02:22.838-05:00PresalesTalks: Back in 2022!<p>Ok so it is a new year and we're "Feeling Good", so what does that mean for presales? </p><p>For some it is a new fiscal for financial year, with new targets, for others it is just the calendar and holiday season that is over. At #presalestalks we were back for another exciting session talking about personal goals and improvement. Some have new jobs and are onboarding, others want to onboard new skills or up their demo game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="363" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CmwRQqJsegw" width="580" youtube-src-id="CmwRQqJsegw"></iframe></div><br /><p>What are you trying to achieve in 2022? Let us know, or keep it secret, write it down and work on it!</p><p>Here's the small notes I took on Friday:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><i>No demos in week 1!</i></p><p><i>Lots of illness about</i></p><p><i>Sales kickoffs - what are they like for those who've never been on one?</i></p><p><i><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Meeting people</i></p><p><i><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Getting to know everyone</i></p><p><i><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Meeting different silos/functions/groups</i></p><p><i><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Hallway conversations</i></p><p><i>How do you do these things if there isn't a kickoff or it is just virtual?</i></p><p><i>Watch parties with local teams</i></p></blockquote><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-3663945565882137872021-12-26T12:17:00.002-05:002021-12-26T12:17:06.121-05:0010 tips for the New Year at Improving in Presales<p></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNbeNvJSptWBSl7goRkSA_C-SSUct8FEZAiGyByv2dj4GXa9C_BcNRtbYBCLE_pvlRTZG-a--4V8-_HioOMtuX7vc9b97bBO9CmJ_GI3rpROV8JFmd0GgtsVSwG1Gl-daDg9D1igioOQr5sMNXpIGFx7MPwGsfMq-ulFaS_aiUW2TC5UXCY4OwdOjF_Q=s1080" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNbeNvJSptWBSl7goRkSA_C-SSUct8FEZAiGyByv2dj4GXa9C_BcNRtbYBCLE_pvlRTZG-a--4V8-_HioOMtuX7vc9b97bBO9CmJ_GI3rpROV8JFmd0GgtsVSwG1Gl-daDg9D1igioOQr5sMNXpIGFx7MPwGsfMq-ulFaS_aiUW2TC5UXCY4OwdOjF_Q=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />Getting into the new year, these are my top 10 things to improve at for presales! No matter how good you are today, you should be able to find ways to improve and get better. Here are some of mine!</div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Practice your demos! Do dry runs, recordings and listen to yourself</li><li>Write out scripts on what you plan to do in a session. Be flexible, but go in with a plan.</li><li>After you say anything, think as if the customer is saying "so what" and make sure you have a reason</li><li>Make sure everything you said is understandable by a beginner in your field. Cut out jargon, acronyms and slang that might be hard for someone to understand</li><li>Do your demos from the customer point of view - think about your audience</li><li>Listen more. If the customer is taking time to say something, give them that time, and listen carefully to everything they say.</li><li>Introductions are important, try to understand why everyone has come to this meeting and what they want</li><li>Prioritize your time - and do the most important stuff first!</li><li>Try to find 1 thing to improve each time you do a task.</li><li>Keep score, and work out what things are your biggest leaks in your work!</li></ol><div><br /></div><div>What are your #topten things to improve at in presales?</div><p></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3916583436425959237.post-6382282506368400852021-12-20T06:26:00.006-05:002021-12-20T06:26:28.028-05:00Presales Talks: It's the most wonderful presales talks of the year<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4JpOfOGZZKdC72kHhLDyHFc_L1vWuL1MKorGuwoHFYotCJwgh3OZV11yOCKDnMbe092qvVRcicPd5AB-H1n24ouloTHZQpAyuj2PDiw1iu9yzTaKE1t9Hob0G0EieOB1igsdeB1bQgovXe1hFmuIHI5fvnylXoZ3I2glBwCxyBTnhKphCL7tjbiUs3A=s1080" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4JpOfOGZZKdC72kHhLDyHFc_L1vWuL1MKorGuwoHFYotCJwgh3OZV11yOCKDnMbe092qvVRcicPd5AB-H1n24ouloTHZQpAyuj2PDiw1iu9yzTaKE1t9Hob0G0EieOB1igsdeB1bQgovXe1hFmuIHI5fvnylXoZ3I2glBwCxyBTnhKphCL7tjbiUs3A=w400-h400" width="400" /></a></div>It is a shame when santa brings you Log4j vulnerabilities in the Christmas season. For those deep into security this can be pretty exciting. Well for the rest of us, it is a time to reflect, take a break and take stock. Get a plan for next year. Others this is just a holiday period in the middle of their quarter. <p></p><p><u><b>Some notes from this week's call:</b></u></p><p>Industry - spinoffs - let's people focus</p><p>Glad to be at the end of a quarter, year</p><p><b>A good time to take a break and freshen yourself up</b></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Corporate holiday shutdown</h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Forced breaks</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Checking email on time off?</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Remote vs office</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• If you're working from home, why have email on your phone…</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Do proper handovers - so other people can cover for you.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Reading about burnout </h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Burnout implies you're working too hard</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Addressing burnout</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• How quickly work is coming across your desk</p><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Are you able to deal with it at that rate</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;">Be available on your schedule</h2><p><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>• Email - active on your phone?</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hide apps when you are not available. </b></p>Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03687587751912152430noreply@blogger.com