Presales Podcast by Presales Collective

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Bonnie Alexander connect on the topic "Increasing Your Visibility". Bonnie, PreSales Manager, talks about the importance of building your brand internally and external. As PSC continues to discuss elevating the role of PreSales, Bonnie provides guidance to PreSales professionals to get the recognition they deserve!

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Sheryl Stering connect on the topic "Transition to Director of Sales". Sheryl, Director of Sales and National Accounts at Omnigo, discusses her move from Systems Engineering into Sales. Sheryl's background in PreSales is allowing her to approach sales with a different perspective, which is making an impact on her organization!

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Neil McLean connect on the topic "State of Product Demos". Neil, Co-Founder and CEO at Navattic, reviews the results of the PreSales Collective & Navattic State of Product Demo survey. Buyer expectations are changing and standard sales led demos are still the most common way most prospects first engage with a product but prospects are looking for alternatives. See the report here: State of Product Demo Report

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Thomas Bieser connect on the topic "A Story About Hyper-Growth". Thomas, VP of Global Solutions Consulting at Forter, talks about his experience as one of the first Solution Consultant at OKTA. Thomas shares his learning and perspective about Hyper-Growth as he saw OKTA grow from a 1 million to 1 billion dollar company. 

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Dr. Brian Glibkowski connect on the topic "Answer Intelligence". Dr. Glibkowski, Author of Raise your AQ, talks about how questions and answers are both important to PreSales. While we typically focus on questions, or objections, answers are just as important. To note, James is a co-author of the Sales AQ Chapter in Raise your AQ.  Link to PreSales Collective blog article: https://www.presalescollective.com/post/steve-jobs-had-high-aq-and-so-can-you

This week on the PreSales Podcast, Eli Neumann joins James Kaikis to discuss "Sharpen the Saw". Eli, Vice President Worldwide Sales Engineers at Tenable and PSLC Council Member, talks about an iterative peer group competition that he runs with his PreSales organization. Each event highlights different PreSales skills and, ultimately, sharpens the skills of his Sales Engineering organization. 

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James makes a few bold predictions about the future of the PreSales profession. Also, PreSales Collective is focused on providing more opportunities to those who want to get more engaged: www.presalescollective.com/contribute 

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James discusses how PreSales Academy is building the next generation of PreSales professionals. Too often companies want to hire Unicorns, Sales Engineers that are technical savvy, business savvy, AND have years of experience. In reality, this is near impossible to hire for, let alone someone in an entry level position. PreSales Academy is making PreSales more accessible for people who want to change their trajectory with a career in technology.

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James discusses fixing the diversity problems in PreSales. Sales Engineering is the best job that no one has ever heard of yet companies make it nearly impossible to break into the role. The profession will benefit immensely from increase diversity so we must all do our part to lead from the front. Resources: 2021 State of Diversity in PreSales Report PreSales Academy PreSales Collective WISE Program PreSales Collective DEEI Program Why does DEEI Matter Video Series Webinar: Why Inclusivity Matters for Closing  Business Webinar: Driving Better Business Results Through Diversity & Inclusion

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James highlights the shift in b2b sales and how the PreSales professional is more important than ever. According to LinkedIn's State of Sales in 2021 report, 65% of sellers always say that they put the buyers first but only 23% of buyers agree with that statement. Listen in on why James and PSC believe that PreSales Professionals are future of Sales.