I wrote earlier that proven knowledge is at the core of what is expected of every pre-sales engineer, solution architect (SE). We obtain this expertise from ongoing learning, our exposure to a variety of verticals and technologies. It’s what our audiences expect and will be used by them to help form an opinion about the suitability of our solution. How we respond correctly to their need. And ultimately leads to a successful sale. Integrity is the foundation for great sales engineers.
We are not alone
However, in almost every sales opportunity, my pre-sales engineer’s (SE) presentation will be preceded, or followed, by a competitive presentation delivered by an equally competent team. They share, with us, the same objective: that of landing the deal. So how can we be on the winning team? We must stay top of mind after everyone has gone home for the day? It’s a key challenge.
I have to believe that the better our preparation – understanding of the requirement, the customer’s objectives, the context and the budget – the more likely we are to hit the right note and carry the day. We rely on our sale’s team to provide us with much of this. Our personalized presentations will allow the audience to put the pieces of the puzzle together in their mind and see our technology as their solution. As the winning team, my SEs have the best understanding of their problem and our respond to it better than the competition.
Is preparation all it takes?
All that being said, what if our competitors have an ace up their sleeve? Maybe they are an ex-colleague of the buyer, cheaper, or dare I say better prepared? Do we have any chance of winning? Of course we do. For price issues, I have always worked with sales teams that never lose on price. It’s not the major concern of the SE so, let’s put that aside for this article. My SE will overcome all other barriers. They will build trust with the customer so they are prepared to take the risk and choose our solution despite the apparently easier option of going with something they already know.
How can we compete with an existing strong personal and trust-based relationship?
The customers’ existing supplier, who we are bidding against, may have the required trust in spades. If the relationship is based on long term loyalty where the parties are prepared to go the extra mile, whatever it takes, we will struggle. It is important not to confuse a relationship based on habit and inertia with one based on trust. If we are given the opportunity to pitch, this is a strong signal that we have a chance. The decision may be difficult but if my future customer is to change and adopt our new solution, they are going to take a leap of faith and trust us.
Keep in mind the decision makers have a lot at stake – their job, image, reputation may be on the line.
Trust starts with our integrity
Integrity / ɪnˈtɛg rɪ ti
Noun
adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
How do you change the status-quo? Is there a quick fix? I am putting my money on, no. In fact, I think that everything of value a pre-sales engineer (SE) brings to the table must be based on their knowledge of the technology and customers’ context. Learning this takes time. They must believe us and this belief will lead them to trust us. Without honesty or integrity, the belief and trust we are building is built on shaky foundations. Our competitor can undo all our good work at the next meeting. If that happens all the preparation and our knowledge was for nothing.
Building up the relationship takes time. It is my role as the SE manager to ensure the sales teams are on board with this investment and that my teams understand the importance of the commitment. We will not go to customers hoping to win with standard presentations, boilerplate and vague promises of how we will solve the customer’s problem but build a strategy together.
Can you compensate for a lack of trust?
I put a strong trust-based relationship as a “must have” for successful pre-sales engineers (SE). “Fake news”, falsehoods, ambiguity, waffle undoes it all. Therefore, integrity is at the heart of everything we do and leads to the required trust.
When we present our solution, we base it on the existing and near future features of our solution. From this clear base we can elaborate possible scenarios that reflect realistic evolutions of our solution and its integration into the customers’ environment. We :
- do not fabricate features that might fit and might be developed,
- continually keep in mind the customer’s request and respond precisely to that,
- avoid drowning the audience in unnecessary features,
- respect our customers and the valuable time they have given us,
- do not brush over known limitations,
- explain how they do not impact the suitability of the solution and its ability to respond to the need.
If we ignore our limitations and cross our fingers hoping they will not be discovered what do you imagine will be our audience’s reaction when they discover them via a third party (our competitor) or themselves during a proof of concept? The trust we worked hard to obtain takes a hit.
Trust is also an inside job
SEs rely on accurate and timely information. And that comes from our colleagues. They also need to trust us if they are going to share information openly with us. They need to know we will use the information in the correct manner. In order to build this trust with product support, management and development I build SE teams that:
- know the technology
- engage in conversations between peers
- make a good attempt at resolving an issue before escalating
- use the information as instructed
- understand the demands on their time and priorities.
It is the manager’s role to ensure that knowledge, experience, win/loss information is shared in a structured and confidential environment. Just because we are colleagues, on the same team, SEs should not take the internal trust relationship for granted and not expect it to be given unconditionally. Our colleagues, also have a reputation, image and job that could be put at risk if we do not adhere to the internal rules. They also have many other demands, which may be conflicting, to prioritize. It is my role, as the manager, to communicate clearly the need when needed, and the response, and help my team overcome any remaining barriers to success.
Back to Preparation
It may not all be about preparation but preparation is extremely important. Knowing the history of the account, the solution we are selling, and the context are all important. However, I want to focus on 2 elements of our preparation which can undermine our developing trust relationship with the customer if neglected. Firstly, the competitive landscape, and secondly the audience.
Our preparation must include understanding of the market and our competitive positioning. Our competitors will know our weaknesses and we should know theirs. We cannot allow our honesty and openness to be used against us by our competitors who set traps for us.
As SEs we must be able to steer the conversation away from our weaknesses, highlight our competitive advantages and explain to the customer how we will deliver a great solution. Every SE remembers the time when a known weakness is thrown into the mix by a well-informed customer and the SE has felt like a foolish rabbit staring at the approaching headlights of disaster. All our energy then gets diverted into explaining away a shortcoming and trying to dig ourselves out of a hole.
Team meetings are a great time to bounce around strategies to achieve this.
Pitch at the right level
Secondly, it is key to pitch at the right level. SEs are extremely competent and technology savvy in the elements that make up the solution. The prospective customer is also extremely competent and knowledgeable about their business. The overlap of these 2 domains of expertise may only be the need for a solution. My SEs will focus on the need and specific request, avoid overelaboration, talking too much and will talk to the specific audience. They use their vocabulary, their examples, and reference points. A good SE will enable the customer to understand the solution, how it fits today and where it can take them in the future.
Our decision maker may not need to know much of the internal structure and operation of the solution. Often our solution’s weaknesses are exposed by talking too much about details or just talking too much. Or simply we lose our audience by talking using a strange vocabulary and irrelevant references. Pitching to the audience in a concise way that they can see the benefit maybe an easy way of winning.
A question of balance
My SE team is not alone trying to convince a customer to adopt our solution. We can use other members of the wider team to maintain our integrity. Our customers may expect sales and marketing to be ambitious with upcoming features and delivery dates. They may be used to hearing support talk about bugs and delay.
It is often of great value to allow additional conversations from the wider corporate team in allowing these teams to continue to handle of these aspects and build a wider trust relationship and allow the SE teams to keep building on the trust relationship.
My SEs need to understand their role and responsibilities within the sales cycle. They know that inviting other colleagues to the customer is beneficial, gets us more face time with decision makers, allows us to add more arguments to the overall pitch. My SEs also know they are part of the sales effort. They will never sink a deal. Knowing when to speak out and when to bide our time is also a skill that we must apply.
The SE glues our solution to the corporate sales relationship with trust to make a compelling fact-based pitch leading to combined success for us and our customers. A Win-win that should lead to repeat business and a long-term partnership.
My SE team:
- Know the customer and their need
- Understand the market, competition and our competitive positioning
- Know their role in the sales process
- Discuss and practice presentations and techniques to improve the win rate
- Build internal and external relationships on trust and integrity
- Demonstrate trustworthy behavior in everything they say and do
