Presales Podcast by Presales Collective

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.

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James reflects on PreSales Collective's accomplishments, the Power of Community, and the future of PreSales Collective, PreSales Leadership Collective, and PreSales Academy. PSC is focused on architecting a better member experience in 2022. Learn more about how that will happen in this podcast! Executive Summit Sessions referenced: We've Arrived. The Year of the PreSales Professional by James Kaikis The Power of Community by Naz Irani & David Maloof

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Wendy McHenry connect on the topic "Scaling the Right Way". Wendy, Senior Solutions Consulting Effectiveness Manager at Pegasystems and PSC WISE Council Member, talks about the core components of scaling a PreSales organization. As companies experience rapid growth, we sometimes experience frustration that the way we used to do things doesn't work anymore. The foundational aspects of scale are people, process, and technology.

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis, Kevin Mefford, and Mattie Stremic connect on the topic "Meet the PSC Team". Kevin and Mattie are the first two employees for PreSales Collective. Kevin joined the team in July 2021 as the Head of Community and Mattie joined as our Head of PreSales Academy Programming in November 2021. These two incredible people are doing a great job at moving the PreSales profession forward. In this episode, the community will have the opportunity to learn more about Kevin and Mattie!