Presales Podcast by Presales Collective

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Rich Kline connect on the topic "The 5 R’s of Leadership". Rich, Vice President of Solutions Engineering at OwnBackup, talks about the 5 R’s of Leadership: Revenue, Recruiting, Retain, Ramp, and Relationship. The 5 R’s are a way to think about what’s most important and how PreSales Leaders see the bigger picture. For scaling PreSales organizations, having a framework helps with great alignment. 

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Woody Evans connect on the topic “Business Discovery University.” Woody, Vice President, Global Presales at Delphix, discusses teaching and scaling business discovery within a PreSales Organization. Business Discovery University, or BDU, is a program Woody created to help Solutions Consultants improve the behavior that’s hardest to learn, most valuable, and that needs the most practice: meta-cognition.  Read More: https://www.presalescollective.com/content/business-discovery-university-for-presales 

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Piet Saegeman connect on the topic “Strategic Messaging”. Piet, Messaging Strategist at Yamazoni, talks about how good messaging optimizes the buying journey and drives business results. The reality is that every organization has a messaging strategy, but few manage it well. PreSales professionals are often the go-between for Marketing’s messaging approach and the reality of the messaging in the field by the Sales team.

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Ash Davis connect on “Communicating Value Effectively.” Ash, Principal Practice Lead at Red Hat and PSC DEEI Council Member, talks about how Value is not about you or your product but the customer. To effectively communicate Value and establish trust, more listening than talking is required. Ash delivers so much Value around how Solutions Consultants can elevate how they deliver Value in their day-to-day.

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis, Alex Navarrete, and Felix Navarrete connect on "Establishing Yourself as A New SE." Felix, Solutions Consultant at Gainsight and recent PreSales Academy graduate, and Alex, Sr. Sales Engineer at Slack, discuss Felix's recent transition to the PreSales profession. Making a career change can be daunting, so Felix provides his experience from his first few months in the role. Alex, a veteran in the profession, discusses how he has offered guidance to his brother but, more importantly, how SCs need to re-establish themselves year after year.

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Diana Cappello connect on the topic "Building a Customer Growth Org". Diana, Director of Solutions Engineering at Eightfold, discusses her experience building out a Customer Growth team at Clari. In this role, Solutions Engineers support the growth of existing customers only. This model is both interesting and important to the future of PreSales organizational structures. Hear Diana offer tactical advice on what and why a customer growth team and how she is going to implement the same structure in her new role at eightfold.ai. 

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Ajay Jay connect on "The Disparity between Technical Win and Business Win Rates." Ajay, Co-Founder and CEO, talks about his experience with the highly debated Technical Win. Ajay also provides a valuable framework for understanding Technical Win and its impact on organizations related to Sales 3.0.

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Dola Akinduro connect on the topic "Always Be Learning". Dola, Senior Manager of PreSales EMEA at Hubspot, talks about her perspective on the constant learning journey that all PreSales professionals are on. Dola provides tactical advice on change and both personal and professional growth. 

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Scott Blacker connect on the topic "Leveraging the Flywheel at Scale”. Scott, Global Head of Solutions Engineering at Atlassian, discusses Atlassian’s go-to-market strategy as it relates to the flywheel. With the topic of Product-Led Growth on the rise, Scott breaks down what the flywheel effect is and how it impacts the Solutions Engineers role within the organization. 

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Erin Baker connect on the topic "How To Get Promoted". Erin, Director of Solutions Consulting at AlayaCare and PreSales Collective Ambassador, talks about her promotion journey from Client Success Associate to Solutions Engineer and now Director of Solutions Engineering. Erin has been promoted 4 times during her 4.5 years at AlayaCare so she will share what has worked for her, how she has stood out, and what advice she has for those looking to make that leap.