Presales Podcast by Presales Collective

In 2021, the PreSales Collective released a State of Diversity report for the entire PreSales community. This report, with research supported by the Sales Talent Agency, benchmarked diversity metrics in our industry so that we could more fully understand the gender and ethnic makeup of the profession. We committed to putting out a report every year so that we could use the data over time to track trends and most importantly, focus on engagement with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) efforts field-wide. So, where is this year’s report? Join Cindy Goodwin-Sak, VP of Global Sales Engineering at Anomoli and Shawna James, Sr. Manager of Community at PreSales Collective, to discuss their plans to work on a much larger, more comprehensive survey with PhD researchers and PreSales executives who are focused on the qualified advancement of DE&I programs and initiatives across our industry. Want to be a part of a history making report? Fill out the State of Diversity survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/G6WTZ65 All answers are completely anonymous and data is held privately. This report will help us play our part and we are grateful for your participation.

On the PreSales Podcast, Mattie and Emmanuel Fadajutimi connect on "Lessons From My First Year in PreSales" Emmanuel, Solutions Engineer at Hubspot, talks about the realities of what’s like to be an early-career SC, lessons he’s learned over the past year, and what it means to have a learner mindset regardless of where you are in your career.

On the PreSales Podcast, Mattie Stremic connects with Allison Macalik and Gizelle Panton to discuss why “Mentorship Matters." Allison Macalik, Lead Solutions Engineer and Team Lead at Salesforce, and Gizelle Panton, Solutions Engineer at LinkedIn, share about their mentorship relationship, how to successfully mentor, and the importance of mentorship in career development. Gizelle and Allison were paired when Gizelle enrolled in the PreSales Foundations enablement course and have stayed connected ever since.  Learn more about how to approach mentorship and why it makes all the difference in your personal and professional growth. 

Jeff Stewart, Field CTO at SolarWinds, discusses PreSales Metrics that highlight team and individual performance, sales, productivity, and business impact. They delve into the future of measuring solutions data, emphasizing the importance of accurate data in assessing performance. The conversation explores security incident responses, optimizing pre-sales activities for success, and evaluating team performance metrics beyond simple ratios.

Meghan Noel, Global Vice President of PreSales at Amplitude, discusses running PreSales like a business. Topics include elevating Solutions teams, viewing pre-sales as revenue drivers, creating a detailed capacity model, and balancing hidden activities in pre-sales roles for operational improvements and impact recognition.

On the PreSales Podcast, Mattie Stremic and Akanksha Sehgal connect on "Building a Solutions Academy." Akanksha, Director of Global Solution Engineering at VMware, discusses the importance of entry-level or academy programs and provides tactical advice on how to build an academy program. Learn More about PreSales Academy: www.presalesacademy.com 

Jamal Reimer, an expert in closing eight-figure deals, shares insights on the complexities of navigating big organizations and the importance of teamwork in sealing massive deals. He emphasizes engaging with high-level executives, establishing credibility, and leveraging value engineering to succeed in enterprise sales.

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Paul Harris connect on "The Intriguing Similarities between Professional Athletes and Solutions Professionals." Paul, Principal Solution Architect at Loftware & PreSales Collective Ambassador, talks about how PreSales onboarding and development should be treated like top athletes. Paul discusses that development is a two-way street between player and coach, with a focus on continuous development and seeking the extra margin. 

On the PreSales Podcast, Mattie Stremic hosts Winny Delcin and Nina Berger on the topic of “Meet the PreSales Academy Team.” Winny, Training Program Manager, and Nina, Career Services Manager, are two of the newest members of the PreSales Collective team and are heavily involved in the day-to-day of PreSales Academy. In this episode, we learn more about Winny and Nina, their backgrounds, why they love PSA, and how to get more involved in helping the next generation of Solutions professionals.

On the PreSales Podcast, Mattie Stremic connects with James Kaikis to discuss “Two Years & 125 Episodes Later”. The podcast has experienced incredible success over the last several years with almost 167,000 listens, an immense amount of topics, and guests from all around the world. For this episode, Mattie asked James to discuss the history of this podcast, how elevated voices to the profession, and the lessons he’s learned over the years.