How do you balance the technical and emotional aspects of pre-sales?

Listening is the key.. The more you listen, the more is discovered. Come prepared with open mind and listen.. Pre-Sales is all about coming prepared and ready to pivot in any direction as the discussions move forward.. Pre-Sales is all about keeping emotions aside and understand the actual issue that the Customer is facing.. Live & Learn..

We wear many hats as presales professionals. Domain experts. Technical SMEs. Storytellers. But at the heart of it all, we are problem solvers. But before jumping to solutioning, we have to understand the problem. Asking open-ended questions. Actively listening to not only hone in on customer pain points, but also how these pain points are impacting the customer's business and other objectives.

Solving the problem is multifaceted. On the one hand, we need to understand the technological aspects of what the client wants us to solve. On the other hand, we need to understand their personal preferences and the hidden problems that they may not explicitly mention in the specification. Sometimes they don't even realize that they need to mention these things because they don't consider them important. However, their personal involvement is a very important factor from a business perspective.

I’m my experience as a pre-sales engineer I have to know my product inside and out. I have to know the features, plus my competitors features as well and articulate the pluses and minuses of both. Then I listen to the customers problem and see where I can help them. It’s not regurgitating speeds and feeds but how does it apply to the customer.

Listening and curiosity. Ask question…and listen. Ask follow up questions…and listen. All of us want to talk - and there is time for talking - but don’t forget that listening gives you the legitimacy to talk.

-Speak in your clients’ language. Listen and learn to their pains/needs and value drivers, then deliver a tailored demonstration in their context. -Do your best to keep POC scope under control. You don’t want to find yourself 6 months and 100s of hours down the road just to hear “thanks, but this isn’t a fit.” -Establish an agreement for what your client will deliver you in return for your work on the POC. Is it a decision date? A buying process? An executive champion? All of these are valuable tidbits to drive a deal forward.

In addition, a limited scope Proof of Concept (PoC) can accelerate the decision a thousand times faster. During the PoC, it is a good chance for engineering team get feedback on real situation not imaginations.

Not only the how is important the why is a trigger to open customer mind to new or innovative solutions. Sometimes, the proposed solution break the status quo and it′s natural to observe rejection to adopt it. Another key aspect is to explore the if-not scenarios, what happen or what will be loose if the new solution (change) is not adopted. Communication and presentation skills are critical here, you not only need to know how to solve the problem, you also need to know how to explain it and convince the audience. Study, be prepared and practice to master your presentation skills.

En el día a día, muchos prospectos no se convertirán en clientes. Evaluar a los prospectos es clave para decidir cuánto tiempo dedicar a una propuesta personalizada. Las propuestas personalizadas son muy apreciadas por los clientes, ya que demuestran un profundo entendimiento y conocimiento técnico para encontrar soluciones. Adaptar una solución muestra que valoramos y comprendemos sus necesidades específicas.

when designing solution, there's no silver bullet either. what works best i find in my experience is to find the nearest possible solutions (can be reference solutions, or past solutions with similar use cases) and then tweak that to their problems (via workshop or design thinking or brainstorming sessions)

The good sales kit is the one that can bring understanding to all audiences. And best to create sales kit with matching segment to engage the audience. Other thing is to make it interactive, engage customer to try your solution. Therefore, it raise the chance of the customer to buy the product.

In addition to engaging your audience I would say it’s crucial to know your audience. Pre sales professionals interact with both business and technical stakeholders. Tailoring the message with the audience in mind helps with the overall engagement.

Involucrar a la audiencia durante el proceso de preventa es crucial. Se trata de contar una historia que resuene con ellos, utilizando ejemplos reales y casos de éxito para mostrar cómo tu solución puede marcar una diferencia tangible en su negocio. Es esencial conocer el background del prospecto, sus valores y roles, ya que el discurso cambia si es dirigido a personas de marketing, finanzas o IT. No solo debemos planear una propuesta eficiente y competitiva, sino también saber venderla. Comunicar y presentar eficazmente es fundamental para que nuestras propuestas sean aceptadas. Involucrar emocionalmente a la audiencia puede ser tan importante como persuadir con argumentos técnicos.

This is something I think we as technical people struggle with but those that can truly engage with the audience will be seen as a trusted advisor or thought leader. If it’s an audience of 1 or 100, make sure you make the audience a part of the presentation. Show a slide, tell a story, ask a question to one person or to the group then don’t talk. Let them answer. Audiences will focus and retain if they feel part of the presentation. If not engaged you will see eyes on phones and watches and that is not good.

some tricks i know to keep them engage is (depends on the crowd) is to use big buzz words (digital labor, cloudify or cloudification, data driven, etc) then i explain what are these and how they can help and why it should be in their roadmap (modernization)

Collaboration (both internally and externally with the customer) is key for success in pre-sales. It is very crucial that pre-sales consultants/engineers are open to what’s happening in the surroundings. - Internally,it could be: being aware of what are latest development in the product, latest customer success stories or which conference we are participating, all this can help in building trust and relationships with your prospects. - And externally, building rapport with key stakeholders at the customer during POCs or workshops can help in becoming the trusted advisor.

Entourez vous de quelques ressources clés pendant la période d'avant vente (1) Vous êtes probablement excellent en travaillant seul, et assurément encore meilleur avec des équipiers (2) La charge de travail peut être répartie (3) Inévitablement, un interlocuteur chez le propect n' "imprimera" pas vos réponses. Une reformulation par un collègue avec un background différent sera salvateur (4) Pensez à la suite ! Si le contrat est gagné, il faudra délivrer et donc passer le relais aux équipes opérations. Si celles-ci ont été impliquées dans l'avant-vente, le transfert sera BEAUCOUP plus facile

to actually see result or a cordial collab, the pre sales needs to behave and act like project manager and sometimes you might have to whip someone.

Pre-sales has a perfect fit in the organizations to collect information from the market (customers) and influence in roadmap decisions. Team working is a must to allign the customer fronting force and internally as well, working together with Sales, Marketing, Product, Financials, logistic, etc in other words, Pre Sales is a multidisciplinary activity.

Ich gebe diesem Punkt Vorrang vor allen andern Punkten. Er skizziert die Rolle und M?glichkeiten des Presales in allen Sparten perfekt. Presales fungiert als ausbalancierte Schnittstelle zwischen Sales, Technik, Marketing und Management und je nach Branche ist der Bezug zu 1-2 dieser Abteilungen ausgepr?gter. Je mehr der Presales hier auch vorzeitig Ressourcen berücksichtigt die nicht unmittelbar in seinem Verantwortungsbereich liegen,desto flüssiger l?uft das "Gesch?ft" ab aber dafür müssen auch Eingest?ndnisse in d.Zeitmanagement des Presales - Engineers gemacht werden. PresalesTalente die diesen Punkt meistern findet man oft in den eigenen Reihen; man muss d.Potential und den Mindset erkennen, f?rdern und den Ver?nderung zulassen.

La tarea de preventa es un proceso de aprendizaje continuo; no debemos conformarnos con una presentación exitosa, siempre hay margen para mejorar. Esforcémonos por evolucionar junto con nuestro producto, comprendiendo cómo resaltar sus fortalezas desde diversas perspectivas, y nunca asumamos que conocemos todo.

I also will ask my colleagues in the meeting, how did I do, did you get what you needed? How can I improve? Each meeting you have is a learning experience to make sure the next one is better and provides more value for both parties.

As any other activity, we should learn from experience, debrief of why we win or we loose is an importante step to improve the process. We can identify what can be done better, Technical? Price? Financials? Services? customer relationship?All?

El feedback es esencial en cualquier campo, y más aún en ventas, donde las áreas de preventa y comercial tienen una responsabilidad directa y estrecha. Tener la humildad de aprender y recibir feedback, no como un ataque, sino como una oportunidad de mejora, que puede provenir tanto de los clientes como de nuestro propio equipo, es una habilidad que nos lleva lejos como profesionales. La preventa es un proceso continuo de aprendizaje. Analizar cada propuesta nos ayuda a identificar qué funcionó y qué no, buscando constantemente maneras de mejorar.

As a summary, Pre Sales is not a single area of expertise, we should manage technical knowledge of course, but in addition we should understand and use other skills, as sales, financials, operational, logistic, project management, etc. The best technical solution is not always the winning solution, the winning solution use to be the most cost-effective solution that comply with technical requirements, and fulfill customer expectations. Specially in markets where competition is aggressive.

Balancing the technical and emotional aspects of pre-sales is essential for successful sales interactions. The technical aspects focus on providing information, features, and specifications of a product or service, while the emotional aspects involve building rapport, trust, and understanding the customer's needs and desires. Navigating the technical and emotional aspects of pre-sales is an ongoing process that requires adaptability and a deep understanding of your customers. Remember that each customer may have a unique blend of technical and emotional preferences, so being flexible and responsive to their needs is key to successful pre-sales interactions.

It starts with empathy, understanding their challenges, and tailoring your technical solutions accordingly. Effective communication, active listening, and customization are key to connecting with customers emotionally. Embracing resilience to handle rejection gracefully and turn it into an opportunity to learn. Collaborate seamlessly with your technical team, bridging the gap between customer emotions and technical capabilities. Also, I feel staying informed about industry trends is vital because it's always important to step back and measure your success, adapt, and invest in training for both your technical skills and emotional intelligence. Striking this balance builds lasting customer relationships and enhances your sales success.