The role of Presales in any technical and software organization has become more important over the last decade. Often called the “hidden half of the sale” or the “credible side of the sale”, a correctly set-up Presales group can significantly and positively increase your company’s revenue. Learn what Presales is, understand how it can help your organization and what you need in order to become a trusted Solution Consultant in the software industry.

1. 1
INVESTING IN
From SMEs to Solution Consultants

2. 2
ABOUT MEAND WHY I’M TELLING YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT PRESALES
GEORGE BARA

3. 3
GEORGE BARA
THE GUY STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU
11
1
6
300+
Years in Software
Technical book
published
Years in Presales
Customer
engagements
Solutions Director, Government Intelligence EMEA at
I live and work in Cluj-Napoca

4. 4
PRESALES
ENGINEER
PRESALES
CONSULTANT
SOLUTIONS
CONSULTANT
“TECHIE”
SOLUTIONS
ARCHITECT
WHAT DOES ACTUALLY “PRESALES” MEAN?
SO WE HAVE A PROPER START
SPECIFIC TO TECHOLOGY AND
SOFTWARE SALES PROCESS.
ACTIVITIES PERFORMED BEFORE A
CUSTOMER IS AQUIRED.
“THE TRUSTED SIDE OF SALES”

5. 5
THE
SOFTWARE SALE
AN OBVIOUSLY OVERSIMPLIFIED VIEW

6. 6
New Product
Introduction
- Market definition
- Market campaign
- Preliminary
qualification by
telemarketing
- Further qualification
by Sales
Lead
Qualification
RFP
- Optional
- Try to avoid
unsolicited RFPs
- Discovery or Needs
Analysis
- Learn about the
customer
Customer
Engagement
Post Sales
Support
- Implementing the
solution
- Further developing
the relationship
- Up-sell opportunity
THE SOFTWARE SALES CYCLE
IT’S NOT LIKE SELLING CARPETS
- Working with
Procurement
- Financial and legal
terms
Negotiate and
Close
Present,
Demonstrate,
Propose
- Solution
presentation and
demonstration
- Optional PoC
- Solution design

7. 7
Marketing Technical Sales = PreSalesSales
RFP
Discovery & Engagement
Presentation
Demonstration
Proposal
Evaluation
WHERE DOES THE “PRESALES” COME IN
KEY TASKS FOR TECHNICAL SALES
Negotiation: close or lose
Post-sales support
Up-selling
Marketing Campaigns
Attend tradeshows, establish
relationships with partners
Answer hundreds of technical
questions
Conduct business analysis and
background reading
Synthesize the analysis into a
presentation of your business value
Demonstrate the solution that
delivers your value proposition
Develop a written proposal to be
used as part of a financial proposal
Prepare, define, monitor and work
with the customer on the PoC
This is Sales’ territory
Handover to the delivery team;
maintain customer relationship
Sell add-on products

8. 8
Technical
The job of the Presales/Solutions Consultant.
A key set of processes specific to Software Sales, where technical knowledge is required.
Commercial
The job of the Sales Representative or Business Development Manager.
This is what has been known traditionally as “Sales”.
50%
50%
A SOFTWARE SALE IS BOTH COMMERCIAL AND TECHNICAL
PRESALES’ JOB IS TO CLOSE THE TECHNICAL SALE
Commercial
Sale
Technical
Sale
+

9. 9
Every sale has
five basic
obstacles: no
need, no
money, no
hurry, no
desire, and no
trust
Zig Ziglar

10. 10




The
Purchase
The group with the actual solution
requirements. The users, sponsors
and enemies sit in this group.
Business
Oversees the process and makes
sure acquired solutions are inline
with the strategy and future plans.
Executive
The contract owners, with powers
over legal and financial terms.
Procurement
IT, IT standards or IT security, the
so-called “Gate keepers”. They can
only be sold “technically”
IT
WHY IS PRESALES CALLED “TRUSTED SIDE of SALES”?
SEE THE SALES FROM THE CUSTOMER’S EYES

11. 11
“I don’t want to be sold”
The customer wants to feel like he
makes the buying decision, based
on his terms. She doesn’t want to
be “sold”.
“Sales only wants to sell”
It is really difficult for Sales to
establish an immediate trust
relation with the customer.
“I need a trusted advisor”
Previous experience, industry
knowledge and the technical
approach makes presales a trusted
representative of the Sales party.
“Technical ≠ Sales”
A technical expert – although
working in sales – is not regarded
as a “sales rep” by the customer
WHY DO CUSTOMERS TRUST PRESALES?
WHAT’S IN THE MIND OF THE CUSTOMER

12. 12
THE PRESALES
PROFILE
YOUR SMEs AND HOW TO MAKE THEM GREAT

13. 13
Solution Expert
Know your software products and
solutions in-and-out
Communicator
And also excellent presenter, networker
and hi-scorer in all soft skills
Project Manager
Manage multiple PoCs in parallel,
spanning from weeks to months
Sales Oriented
Good negotiator and influencer with the
aim to close the deal.
Industry Expert
Know the industry, standards,
competitors, trends and software in
general
Self Aware
He is the face of the company, so need
to build a strong persona and
professional brand
Team Player
Work harmoniously with peers from
sales, support, product and engineering
GyShiDo Master
70% of the time is all about fire-fighting.
THE IDEAL PRESALES PROFILE
AS ILUSIVE AS THE MYTHICAL SASQUATCH

14. 14
SME
Your solution architect or
product specialist that has
presales potential (soft
skills).
Comfortable in front of the
customer, with an interest in
the product lifecycle.
Presales Engineer
Managing demo instances.
Setting up customized
demos.
Performing basic
qualifications, discoveries
and demonstrations.
RFP work with Engineering
support.
Attends company events and
hosts webinars.
Solutions Consultant
A solution architect turned sales
consultant.
Works on multiple products and
designs complex software
solutions based on extensive
customer qualification and
discovery.
Works with product marketing
and product management.
Presales Manager
Manages a team of presales
consultants and engineers.
Oriented on processes,
procedures and continuous
improvement of the team.
Evaluates the team’s
performance and maintains a
culture of collaboration and
gratification.
Solution Evangelist
Industry renowned specialist,
the face of the company.
Attends key industry events,
host webinars, leads the
product strategy group and
consults on an executive level.
THE LADDER TO GREATNESS
THERE IS LIFE BEYOND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
❶
❷
❸
❹
❺

15. 15
1
You can’t be a presales unless you are willing to
travel frequently to customers; about 50% of the
working time.
TRAVEL
2
A sales year is typically split in Sales Quarters, each
with a target. Everyone in Sales becomes mental at
the end of each quarter.
SALES IS TOUGH
3
You will be one of the most visible people in your
company, from engineers, support, product, to the
executive team. This is both good and bad.
VISIBILITY
4
Presales is part of Sales, so you get commission out
of every sale you help close. Likely a 60/40
salary/bonus split.
BONUSES
WHAT YOU NEED TO REALLY KNOW ABOUT YOUR JOB
AND WHY IT’S GREAT AND IT ISN’T AT THE SAME TIME

16. 16
The presales “bible”
• Not just a “handbook”, but the most
comprehensive book on technical
presales.
• 3rd edition, up to date with latest trends
in the software industry.
• The authors – John and Aron - have
been in Presales since the 80s, now
both accomplished executives.
16
FURTHER READING
THAT’S WORTH READING!

17. 17
ARE YOU
PRESALES READY?
SOFTWARE SALES GREATNESS, HERE WE COME!

18. 18
You don’t
need presales
because your
products are
the best and
they basically
sell
themselves.
Delusional CEO

19. 19
Sales
E P S #
Engineering
“Please join a call
about our
encryption
techniques”
Product
“Please do a
demo and
speak about
the roadmap”
Support
“Please help
with this 400
page RFP”
Everyone
Who is available and
willing
WHAT IS PRESALES CHAOS
WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE PRESALES

20. 20
Level One
No process
Level Two
Adopting process
Level Three
Operational
Level Four
Repeatable
No shared, organizational, consistent practices for
Presales.
No defined roles, no consistency in roles or activities.
A PRESALES ROADMAP
FIND YOUR ORGANIZATION IN THESE LEVELS
Continuous Improvement
An operational process that drives Presales activity
and behavior.
Presales own Technical Sales closure and is
accountant for technical decisions.
Management acknowledges Presales a being
strategic.
Sales process adopted, but does not drive Presales
activity and behavior.
Mostly technical support, with some organizational
acknowledgement.
Documented, operational, enterprise-wide,
repeatable, measurable, managed, self-improving
Presales process.
The Presales role is well-defined and accepted by
executive management.

21. 21
Tech giants like Oracle and Microsoft have based their sales growth since the 80s on developing a strong
Presales organization. The emergence of SaaS and Cloud lead to the idea that products can sell themselves.
Some can, but most require constant and consistent technical sales approaches.
3
2
1
PRESALES HELP SALES INCREASE
It’s a buffer between Sales and everyone else. Sales doesn’t understand what you do in Engineering: releases,
tasks, sprints... So they won’t care about your well defined time management scheme. Presales will not only
support Sales, but will become a valuable repository of knowledge.
PRESALES BRINGS SANITY IN YOUR ORGANIZATION
You can’t just give your SME a Presales title and things will just work out. Presales requires specializes hard and
soft skills building, specialized processes, tools and success metrics. Once again: it’s not Sales, but it’s not
Engineering either.
IT’S A SPECIFIC ROLE, WITH SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
THREE KEY POINTS YOU NEED TO REMEMBER
AND THAT’S ABOUT IT

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CONTACT MEI ACTUALLY REPLY TO MESSAGES AND EMAILS (SOMETIMES)

23. 23
I work in the SDL Cluj-Napoca office,
Constanta street no. 24
gbara@sdl.com
SDL
EMAIL
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
ABOUT PRESALES, LIFE AND POLITICS
https://ro.linkedin.com/in/georgebara
QA
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