2. Who is Pre-Sale Consultant
1. The presales consultant assists the sales process by working with clients to
assure that they understand the software and/or consulting services that the
vendor is attempting to sell.
2. Need for PreSale Consultant
1. Every customer requires something different and if you are supporting multiple
sales people or one very busy sales person you never get bored.
2. The customer is usually very friendly to the presales consultant simply because he or
she is there to answer questions and does not apply pressure to close the sale, at
least not overtly.
3. Behind the scenes the Presales Consultant often build demos and presentations
while coaching the sales team in what the product can actually achieve.
3. Understand about Sale & Pre-Sale
Sales Process Pre-Sale Involvement
Product Knowledge
Prospecting
Approach
Needs Assessment
Customer Presentation
Sales Close
Follow-up
Product Knowledge
Prospecting
Approach
Needs Assessment
Customer Presentation
Sales Close
Follow-up
Place of Pre-Sale
4. Pre-RFP RFP Proposal Post-RFP
• RFP Issue
• Pre-Bid
Conference
• Clarifications on
RFP
• Modifications to
RFP
• Identify resources
to work on RFP
• Finalize reqmts
• Shortlist vendors
• Finalise Evaluation
Criteria
• Finalise Budget
• Customer
presentation by
vendor
• Prepare
Proposal
according to
RFP guidelines
• Customer
Visits
• Demo of
Capabilities
• Presentation
• Evaluation
Presales Stages
• Customer
• Sales
• Customer
• Sales
• Presales
• Presales
• Practice/Delivery/
Account/ Finanance
• Sales
• Customer
• Sales
• Presales
5. Winning a Deal
Opening
Game
• Market Analysis
• Strategic Planning
• Account Planning
• Branding
Middle
Game
• Account Management
• Relationship Management
• Opportunity Management
• Pursuit Management
End Game
• Proposal Management
• Presentation
• Negotiation
Deal Client Market
6. In Practice
1. Often the presales consultant conducts the software demos or explains the
project flows in sales presentations.
2. You may have encountered a few different names for a presales consultant.
3. Depends upon organizations Contexts we can call them presales engineers,
sales support consultants, and business solution professionals.
4. While presales consultants have both technical and business acumen, they
also have to have a little bit of sales person in their soul.
5. They have to know their products almost as well as an implementation
consultant but more importantly they have to understand the business of the
potential client.
6. PreSale consultant should plan about his action plan just before going to live
by considering the following factors after Product demo is over.
1. Segment the Audience
2. Target the Audience
3. Present about Unique versions according to their needs and personas
7. Pre Sale - Information Flow
Customer
Sales
Pre
sales
Delivery
•Business Reqmts
• Technical Reqmts
• Constraints
• Evaluation Criteria
• RFP
• Clarifications
• Provide infn on
products, services
• present success
stories
• seek further infn
on customer
• RFP
• Infn on customer
constraints,
preferences,
priorities
• Competitor infn
• RFP Clarifications
• questions on RFP
• questions on
customer
• status update
• Response to RFP
• questions on
business and
technical reqmts
• questions on
customer constraints,
Evaluation Criteria
• assumptions,
customer problems,
etc
• seek to understand
business and
technical reqmts to
form a solution
• seek to
• understand solution
provided
8. Presales Stages
www.themegallery.com
• Finalise reqmts
• Shortlist vendors
• Finalise Evaluation
Criteria
• Finalise Budget
• Issue RFP
• Arrange pre-bid
conference
• Provide clarifications
• Receive proposal • Request for site visit
and/or demo
• Evaluate and finalize
vendor
• Make customer
presentation showcasing
services, products and
strengths
• Receive RFP
• Seek clarification on RFP
• Get commitment from
internal resources
• Keep mgmt informed
• Assist presales with
inputs from customer and
about customer
• Add commercials to the
proposal
• Arrange for Customer
visit
• Arrange for demo and
presentation
• Provide inputs as needed • Receive RFP
• Identify resources to
work on RFP
• Form cross-functional
team
• Seek clarifications
• prepare proposal by
working with cross-functional
teams or by
taking inputs from them
• Assist sales in customer
visit, demo and
presentation
• Provide inputs as needed
(case studies,
testimonials)
• Provide inputs as needed
(questions to customers
on business needs,
technical specs, etc)
• Provide inputs as needed
(technical solutions,
relevant case studies, etc)
• Provide inputs as needed
(inputs for demo)
Delivery Presales Sales Customer
Pre-RFP RFP Proposal Post-RFP
9. Thanks for your attention!
Feel free to reach out to me if you need any help to work with you as
Pre Sale Consulting on Contract or full time basis.
About
• KVN Pavan Kumar
• Sr.Lead Business Analyst
Domains
Worked
• Retail & Ecommerce, Travel & Tourism, Healthcare, Digital Marketing, Social
media gaming, Elearning, Entertainment , Custom ERP , Mobile Centric
Apps , Secondary Research and Project report preparation , CRM apps etc
• Environments worked : PHP with MySQL,Java with MySQL and ASP.net with
SQL Server.
Contact Info
• E-mail: pavanfico73@gmail.com
• LinkedIn: in.linkedin.com/pub/pavan-kumar-kvn/3/a49/95b/
• Contact No : 99849385640
• Skype: pavan.fico
10. My Expertise in the areas like
Pre Sale
Digital
Marketing
Requirement
Capturing,
Analysis
Product
Management
Business Model
& Presentation
Subject Matter
Expert Service
On Site /
Offshore
Resource
Consulting
12. Pre Sale Process - Success
Needs for Soft skills
A variety of Skills
The right attitude
Knowledge of the system of which you are a part of – the different
players, their stake in the bids, etc
Know how to prioritize
Continuous follow-up is a virtue
Learn to be a trusting partner
Be aware of getting setup for failures
13. Presales Engagement: When Does It Start?
Product Comparison
They have
recognized a
problem
They have
searched for a
solution
They have
identified
solution options
They are
investigating
the options
They are
deciding on an
option
They have made
a buying
decision
Product Comparison
14. Presales Engagement: Traditional
Approach
Goals: Help prospects make an
educated buying decision,
develop their confidence in
your organization
Traditional activities:
1. Solution preparation
2. RFI/RFP response
3. Product demonstrations
4. POCs (Proof of concepts)
5. Product collateral
Our Sales Expert
Part Sales Person Part Analyst
16. Presales Engagement: How Is It Changing?
Traditional Enterprise Sales
Onsite Demo
Proof-of-concept
Customer
References
Technical
Review
Product Comparison Product Confirmation
In-person
Meeting
Product
Bake-off
Emerging Subscription Sales
Custom RFP
Response
Solution
Definition
Product Comparison Product Confirmation
Download
White Paper
Product
Videos
Detailed
FAQs
Solution
Definition
Online Demo
Trial
Software
Video
Testimonials
White
Papers and
Videos
17. Presales Engagement: Resource Center
Easy to use
faceted
search
Sign-up for
ongoing
engagement
Extend
engagement to
social channels
CTAs to move
them through
the journey
More than a
‘wall of text’—
make it visually
engaging
What it Does
One-stop shopping to
get answers
Self-service interaction,
no need to call or wait
Opportunity to
personalize the
experience
Things to Remember
Search can make or
break the experience
Present content with
images—make it
appealing for people
Surround the page with
CTAs that leads the
person to the next steps
of the journey
Have them follow you
on their social networks
to get new updates
18. Presales Engagement: Customer Communities
Start with
search
The community
will confirm
your products
Registration
has its
privileges
Provide a
gateway to
other resources
What it Does
Enables your customers
to ‘sell’ for you
Builds confidence in
your products
Follow the
discussions—
understand what is
important to prospects
Things to Remember
If you have customers,
you have a community
Communities need a
strategy and leadership
A community can drive
registration and deeper
engagement with your
brand
Incent and cultivate
champions—it is a
lower cost of sale for
you
Show real
people as part
of your
community
20. Presales Engagement: Support Center
Start with
search
A real person
is a click
away
Show off your
support
capabilities
Show your
offerings, let them
see what
customers get
Make it obvious
for people to
find what they
need
What it Does
This provides insight
into the after sales
experience
Self-service interaction,
no need to call or wait
Opportunity to
personalize the
experience
Things to Remember
Search can make or
break the experience
Most people will be
searching for support
around a product
Make it easy for them
reach out to a person
22. Presales Engagement: Self Service Demos
Demo your
software with
their data
Sign-up for
ongoing
engagement
Make it easy to
get started—no
credit card
A demo that
moves into
production
What it Does
Let them demo the
actual software—let
them experience your
support and community
It is an easy step for
them to take it into
production once started
Things to Remember
Make this a key sales
tool—no credit card, no
commitment is EASY
Show them the options
from moving up—where
this initial demo can go
Again, get them to sign-up
if they have not yet
23. Presales Engagement: Videos
Use videos on your
home page to
quickly engage
people
Targeted 3-5 minute
videos address
specific questions
quickly
Customer
testimonials
build
confidence
What it Does
Builds confidence in
your product and brand
Communicates product
capabilities quickly
Validate the customer
experience with your
company
Things to Remember
Keep videos ‘bite
size’—3-5 minutes at
the most
Enable viewing across
devices—adaptive
streaming
Provide a high-performance
experience—consider
using a content delivery
network (CDN)
Look at Brightcove,
Ooyala for delivery
24. Presales Engagement: Key Takeaways
1. You cannot avoid presales efforts for complex B2B sales
2. Presales efforts affect the ‘60%’ prior to engaging sales
directly
3. Digital presales engagement shortens the buying lifecycle
and reduces costs
3. Digital presales engagement are cross-channel activities
4. Content marketing and segmentation analysis are
foundational for successful presales engagement