PreSales Collective

?? "Self-promotion is not bragging – it’s owning your worth." We’re excited to announce that we are hosting the #IAmRemarkable workshop with Bea Krug on December 6! This global movement empowers individuals, especially those from underrepresented groups, to celebrate their achievements while challenging biases around self-promotion. In this interactive 90-minute session, you’ll: ??Reflect on your own beliefs about self-promotion. ??Learn the data and research behind biases. ??Practice identifying and sharing your accomplishments. ??Walk away with tools for growth. ? Limited to 20 participants to keep the experience impactful. ?? Date: December 6 ? 9 am PT/6 pm CET ?? Virtual ?? Reserve your spot now: https://lu.ma/PSC1262024 Thank you to PSC’s WISE Council and Bea Krug for bringing this important initiative to life!

Presales Leaders... Will you be in Vegas on December 3rd? We will be and we want to see you while we're there! If you're in town that week for a special event, we’d love for you to come be part of our "Connecting the Collective" Leader Dinner—an intimate gathering of presales leaders where we’ll discuss the current landscape, share insights, and tackle some of the challenges we all face in the field. ? Event Highlights: Thought-provoking conversations with fellow presales leaders Opportunities to share and learn from real-world experiences Delicious food and a welcoming, intimate setting Date: December 3 Time: 6:00 PM Venue: Crossroads Kitchen, Las Vegas Seats are limited, so be sure to RSVP here https://lu.ma/PSLC1232024 to secure your spot at the table. This is a unique opportunity to connect with some of the brightest minds in presales. A big thank you to our partners at Reprise for making this event possible! See you there?

It's hard not to be energized after an event like this! ?? Not only was it a great venue in a great city (Chicago), with great people and great food, but I also walked away learning a lot from the people I talked to. This is what it's all about, and it was such a great way to kick off my first week with the PreSales Collective! Our presales leadership dinner, hosted by our wonderful partners at?Reprise,?went about two hours longer than it was supposed to, but I didn't catch anybody checking the time and dashing out. I'm looking forward to doing even more of these events (maybe in a city near you?). Cheers! ??

Jack Cochran and I settled down in Chicago hosting the PreSales Collective Executive Summit (Link - > https://lu.ma/PSC11202024) and tonight's leadership dinner tonight alongside Microsoft Ignite 2024! A few seats available for dinner tonight if you're a PreSales Leader in Chi-Town: https://lu.ma/PSLC11202024 It's not too late to register and join us: ?? Gain Strategic Insights from Top Presales Leaders ?? Explore the Impact of AI in Presales MUCH MORE>

Dear PreSales Collective Community, 2024 has been a spectacular year for our community. With the support of our dedicated team, community partners, and - most importantly - YOU, we have grown the community to more than 50,000 members while advancing our mission to foster community, collaboration and growth for the Presales industry and its practitioners. Community: PSC held more than 100 virtual and in-person events this year, with thousands of members joining to learn from each other and have fun. Collaboration: We launched a new partnership program and upleveled our programming to better support leaders in the profession. Growth: We launched Enablement Unlimited, a first-of-its-kind enablement offering designed to provide PreSales teams with always-on training and development opportunities, introduced several new courses, continued our work with PreSales Academy, and published our PreSales Pathways report, the in-depth look at how people enter and progress through this great profession of ours. Our plans for 2025 are even more ambitious. To that end, we are excited to welcome our new General Manager, Jack Cochran, to lead our team and drive our mission forward! Jack has been an active member of PSC since 2020, working with PreSales Academy as a Career Advisor and regularly creating content about the PreSales profession. He joins us from a PreSales leadership role at ActionIQ, bringing more than a decade’s worth of PreSales experience to this new role. Jack's deep involvement in the community, PreSales experience, and time spent managing online and in-person communities make him the perfect leader for the next phase of PreSales Collective’s growth. Please join us in welcoming him to this new role! Chris Mabry will step into a pivotal role on our newly formed Board of Advisors, alongside other industry leaders (more on this soon). We’re deeply grateful to Chris for his leadership and dedication to this community and are excited to continue working closely with him in this new capacity. Chris Mabry will be taking a brief hiatus before embarking on his next endeavor, where he will continue to channel his passion for solution consulting. To hear more about the transition from Chris and Jack, check out the most recent episode of the PreSales Podcast: https://lnkd.in/eWbesRRD Thank you for being part of this community. The future of PreSales Collective and the PreSales profession is incredibly bright and we look forward to building it together!

What does it really take to break into Presales? How has the landscape changed post-COVID? We've crunched the numbers to find out. Today, we're excited to release our comprehensive PreSales Pathways Report, analyzing the career journeys of over 2,300 PreSales professionals. Whether you're hiring presales talent, plotting your own career move or just curious about how market forces have shaped our profession, this data-driven research provides unprecedented insights into the evolving presales landscape. Inside the report, you'll discover: The most common entry points into presales (spoiler: they're even more diverse than you might think) ??How COVID has reshaped traditional career paths ??Key trends in background experience and first PreSales roles ??Data-backed insights to inform your hiring or career transition strategy ?? Key Highlights: ?? Analysis of ~2,300 LinkedIn profiles ??Pre vs. Post-COVID market comparison ??Detailed breakdown of successful career transitions ??Strategic recommendations for both employers and career changers Download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eu7ayn-8 Have questions about the findings? Further analysis you’d like to see? Let us know!

We’re less than two weeks away from the 2024 Executive Summit! Check out the incredible lineup of sessions and speakers below — each one crafted to give you actionable takeaways you can apply right away. ? Session 1: The Specialist vs. Generalist Debate: Navigating Team Structure and Scalability Led by Nazneen (Naz) Irani, Shawn Taylor, Diana Cappello, Jeff Margolese, and Ishaan S. Should your presales team remain generalist or move toward specialization? Join us as these experts explore how to scale teams effectively while maintaining agility and customer focus. ? Session 2: AI in Presales: Redefining Your Playbook Led by Jack Cochran, Pam Dunn, Jay Mulakala, and Steve Barriault AI is transforming presales – but how do you use it to drive value? Learn how top teams leverage AI to improve forecasting, automate tasks, and personalize customer experiences. ? Session 3: Scaling Presales Teams: Strategies for Global Success Led by Marjorie Abdelkrime, Darlene Volas, Frank Tisellano Sr., and Eliot (Eli) Neumann Scaling presales teams internationally presents unique challenges. Get strategies for expanding globally, balancing AE/SE ratios, and ensuring the right resources are in place for each market. ? Session 4: Retaining Top Presales Talent: Building Career Paths and Overcoming Change Resistance Led by Ron Whitson ??, Ben Kipnis, Deirdre Sommerkamp, Ryan Lavallee, and Maria Lat This session will explore ways to keep senior technical SEs engaged and motivated, while helping them embrace change and drive growth in a fast-evolving landscape. Whether you're looking to connect with peers, learn from the best, or get inspired by new approaches, this summit has it all. ?? Register now to reserve your spot: https://lu.ma/PSC11202024

?? Presales Leaders... Mark your calendars. The Executive Summit is back! November 20th | 7:30 am PT/10:30 am ET | Virtual At the 2024 Executive Summit, our mission is to equip presales leaders with the tools and strategies they need to thrive in 2025. We’re diving deep into AI advancements, global team scaling, and talent retention strategies. Join us as we define the future of presales together and lead our teams to new heights! ?? Agenda Highlights: 7:30 AM PST - Pre-networking: Start your day by connecting 1:1 with fellow leaders before the summit kicks off. 8:00 - 8:10 AM PST - Opening Remarks: A quick overview of the agenda and what’s to come. 8:10 - 9:00 AM PST - Session 1: The Specialist vs. Generalist Debate: Should your presales team stay generalist or move toward specialization? Let’s explore scaling strategies, timing for specialization, and best practices for navigating these structural changes. 9:00 - 9:50 AM PST - Session 2: AI in Presales: Learn how to harness AI in presales! We’ll dive into trends, use cases for AI-powered forecasting and customer engagement, and how to strike the balance between automation and human expertise. 9:50 - 10:10 AM PST - Networking: Take a break and connect with peers in a dedicated networking session. 10:10 - 11:00 AM PST - Session 3: Strategies for Global Success: Scaling presales teams globally presents unique challenges. Gain insights into AE/SE ratios, global expansion models, and how to manage resources and budgets across regions. 11:00 - 11:50 AM PST - Session 4: Retaining Top Talent: How do we keep our senior technical SEs engaged and motivated? We’ll share strategies for developing career paths and helping experienced team members adapt to an ever-changing environment. ? Don’t miss the chance to learn from and connect with presales leaders who are setting the new standard for excellence in our field. RSVP now and secure your spot https://lu.ma/PSC11202024 Thank you to Reprise for helping make this event possible!

?? Should You Look Internally or Externally for Your First PreSales Role? Let's Look at the Data…According to our soon-to-drop PreSales Pathways report, roughly 75-78% of professionals changed companies during their presales breakthrough over the past 8 years. This trend has remained remarkably consistent, with only a slight decrease from 78.15% (2016-2018) to 75.36% (2022-2024). What does this mean for aspiring PreSales professionals? While internal transitions might seem like the "safer" path, the data suggests that most successful transitions happen through external moves. This makes sense for several reasons: 1. Broader opportunities: External moves give you access to the entire market rather than just internal openings 2. Fresh start advantage: New companies may be more willing to take a chance on someone transitioning into PreSales 3. Market-rate compensation: External moves typically come with larger salary increases Key Takeaway: While internal transitions shouldn't be ignored, don't limit yourself. Cast a wide net and be open to external opportunities - you'll be following the path most professionals take. Keep your eye out next week for the full report drop.

Timing is ?? with Todd Janzen's pod dropping today. We are extremely aligned in the fact that your PreSales team is already doing the work - we already drive the ship - time to cash in. (Credit, Money, Influence) Link--->>> https://lnkd.in/emRTaw5v In our conversation, we dive into the PreSales craft, influence in GTM, and more. One of the standout points was Todd's focus on the statistic that?83% of B2B buyers engage in self-discovery before ever speaking to a sales representative. Todd brings a wealth of experience from his impressive career in pre-sales, including his time at Salesforce and now as SVP of Customer Success and Buyer Enablement, Consensus Spotify--->>> https://lnkd.in/emq7cucW