BIG NEWS, MarketingMoves are now also recruiting Pre-Sales Engineers. We’ve been listening to feedback from clients on how difficult it can be to find and hire the top 10% of Pre-Sales professionals. We’ve also heard all about the important role Pre-Sales plays in informing marketing strategy and product messaging. Our Pre-Sales recruitment expert, David Loubser, will be your go-to for Pre-Sales hires, reachable at dloubser@marketingmoves.com
To give you a little more insight on Pre-Sales, MarketingMoves spoke to Richard Stokes, a senior Pre-Sales professional, with over 10 years of Pre-Sales leadership experience in Technology. Last week, we discussed the fundamental question – ‘What is Pre-Sales and how does it differ to Sales?’ and this time we’re moving on to discuss ‘What makes a great Pre-Sales Professional?’
If you’d like to see the next two weeks of content ahead of time, download the full pdf version below.
Inside the Mind of a Pre-Sales Engineer
MarketingMoves interviews Richard Stokes
What makes a great Pre-Sales professional?
There are 4 main areas where a Pre-Sales person can really excel:
What you know
Depth of knowledge is a given or you have no calling card to talk to customers. But product knowledge is not enough, you need to understand the context of what you’re selling – the business function and industry you’re selling into. For example, pre-sales expert in financial services would need to understand the dynamics of the industry and finance department processes. They might have been an accountant earlier in their career.
How you do your job
In other words, how you engage with the customer – your soft skills. The best pre-sales people are master communicators, they:
- Carry out discovery effectively, researching customers and drilling down into problems to develop a strong understanding.
- Make the complex simple and easy to follow.
- Communicate solutions to the customer in a compelling way.
- Are creative, using techniques like storytelling to give a presentation flow.
- Make their customers imagine a world with their solution and build bridges by drawing on success stories from customers similar to their prospective clients.
- Make a presentation interactive, managing the room and monitoring audience reactions.
- Use visual techniques like sketching and whiteboarding.
- Don’t spend too much demo time going from screen to screen in the software, instead they discuss what the solution means in context so customers see why it’s important.
- Maintain the right level of detail
- Challenge a customer by teaching them something they didn’t know, giving a customer a fresh perspective and expanded thinking. E.g. with the advent of SaaS models, it was necessary to challenge customer thinking in the way they want to buy.
- Encourage an audience to ask questions, handling objections where appropriate without losing the flow of their presentation.
Who you know (and how you are known)
The best Pre-Sales people are very well-connected. They have strong relationships with their customers and partners and may belong to external bodies. For example, a financial expert might be part of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). They also have strong connections within their own company. A great Pre-Sales Engineer draws on his/her network for information, ideas and help in order to be effective. By being closely connected with customers a great Pre-Sales Engineer is armed with all sort of useful customer stories to tell.
The very best Pre-Sales professionals have a strong personal brand and actively manage their social media presence and speak at events as a thought leader. This gives them a certain authority and presence when they go to meet customers. These days, customers will look you up on LinkedIn beforehand and you want them to be excited to meet you. Sharing interesting articles on your area of expertise is a great way to start. If you can progress to writing blogs you are on to a winner!
What you do
Finally a big differentiator separating the Pre-Sales talent from the rest is what they do. The best Pre-Sales I know do a number of things differently. Firstly they look at things more holistically and support business development activity, develop partners and train Sales Reps. They help out their colleagues, sharing ideas, collateral and clever ways of working. Secondly they spend a high proportion of their time with customers. They have a real knack for short, efficient prep time and can quickly adapt and tailor their presentations and demonstrations to individual customers.
If you’re a talented pre-sales professional or looking to hire one, contact David Loubser on dloubser@marketingmoves.com or visit our Pre-Sales page.
