Solution Consulting - The Swiss Army Knives of Sales

There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t get asked what is it like to lead a large and dynamic Solution Consulting organization at ServiceNow. Parts of my role are easily defined – people leader, business strategist, decision maker – but the part about solution consulting actually raises a lot of questions. We are often thought of as “demo jockeys” and only appear when a customer wants to see product features, and that's just one of the myths I hear frequently. Solution consultants are the Swiss army knives of a sales organization.

I want to dispel some of those myths and provide some clarity around a role that’s part technical engineer, part storyteller, and full-on superhero.

Myth #1: Solution consultants are demo jockeys

Demos are just part of the job. If showing up to customer meetings to show demos were all we did, there would be lots of people lining up to be an SC. While demos have their place, SCs are so much more than salespeople who show up and walk through a product demo. Before showing a customer a demo, there’s a ton of pre-work that goes into it. An SC has to know the customer, know the industry, AND know the product. We need to know how to break down the tech to all levels of people – we're translators of sorts. A Solution Consultant also needs high business acumen. You need to paint a vision for customers of what their business could look like with your solution in place. I would love to see our profession stop talking about demos and start talking about how we can create experiences for our customers. It's the experience and the problem solving/value that customers really want.

Myth #2: Solution Consultants only work with Sales

Solution Consultants have a ton of different internal cross-functional touchpoints. We work with everyone; not just our Sales team! To gain product knowledge, we work with product teams. To understand how the products are built, we work with the engineering teams. As the depth of our role expands, so does our reach. At ServiceNow, we’ve started getting involved with marketing campaigns to drive incremental pipeline and customer success teams from a renewal perspective. Not only are we getting involved earlier, we’re also instrumental in keeping customers happy.

Myth #3: Solution Consultants only care about the Tech Win

While we do want to close the deal – and for SC's, the Tech Win gets us one step closer – we want to make sure we’re building long-lasting relationships with customers. That starts with early interaction and moves through the entire lifecycle of a customer, often including implementation, customer success and renewals. As the bridge between sales and other teams, we have a huge stake in the game and are rooting for the customer throughout.

My advice to sales leadership: utilize your SCs more! In many companies, Solution Consultants are very underused and can provide a unique point of view for you and the customer. If you are already an SC: make sure you are involved in the correct customer touchpoints and are showing the full breadth of your skillset! If you are interested in becoming an SC: it’s truly one of the most rewarding careers out there. You get to build and use so many skills – leadership abilities, technical expertise and relationship building – are all necessary to be a great SC.