How Sales and Presales can collaborate on RFP

Teamwork:?Whether sports or corporate, this 8-letter word is the difference between success and failure. In any setting, wherever teams are involved, friction is inevitable. A small amount of friction is inevitable between different teams, but if it goes out of hand, it can completely derail the team.

Sales and Presales are different teams with different responsibilities, but inside a product-led organization, these two teams need to work together. With the right level of understanding, these two teams can complement each other.

Crafting an executive summary

Executive Summary is the crux of an RFP response, determining whether you won or lost a deal. The Executive Summary can be written by a bid writer (one with knowledge of the prospect's pain points) or sales executives (one who can showcase how the solution can address the pain point and how the product stands in contrast to the competition).

A Sales Executive needs to write a value-prop-defining summary. If they cannot, it means they have yet fully understand the prospect's business challenges. Presales and Sales teams should work together and write a compelling Executive Summary that encompasses their ideas, an understanding of pain points, and showcasing how their product can help.

Centralized repository and a single source of truth

Having multiple tools and not updating information is a recipe for disaster. It is essential for both sales and presales teams to have a single source of truth and to have real-time updates to the CRM repository. It not only helps the team to be organized, but it also helps pass accurate, latest updates to the prospect.

Each team member should have access to this data, and they all should be conveying the same information to the prospects. It ensures that bids are placed with high precision and accuracy.

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Communication is the key to success

For the efficient functioning of different teams, communication is vital. Teams must have real-time information from other stakeholders, passing of accurate information within the team, etc.

As the common objective of everyone is to win deals, effective communication determines victory. All great teams, be they sports or corporate, have one thing in common: open lines of communication and strong collaboration.