automate

Director of Sales

Transition from Presales to Account Management

Can it be done successfully?

I believe there is no right or wrong answer hear, but I am certainly interested in the communities viewpoints on this topic.

Can a Presales Consultant successfully transition to an Account Management type role (with a desire to becoming a Sales Exec in future)?

In two previous companies where I was on the Presales side of the fence, it was a hard no go. The rationale was past failures where folks that tried the transition failed miserably and either had to "rescued" back or let go.

Now that I am on the other side of the fence, I think it can be achieved, but needs the individual to put in the hard work and also receive the right guidance.

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detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

How did they fail?

Incompetence?

Anything can be taught if one is willing to listen with both ears.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Yeah its important to know why, was it a lack of training? This can be key for you do search for your own training, rather than a wait and see approach

automate

Good Citizen

Director of Sales

One common theme (that I saw a couple of instances of personally) was being able to let go of what has worked for you before (i.e. "my way") - so the Presales consultant would get too involved in demo prep, technical discussions and shy away from other aspects such as relationship-building and stakeholder management.

I guess the new stuff can be hard and lots of people revert to what they know...

detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

Hard to kick old habits. But those with self awareness will recognize they're prohibiting growth.

punishedlad

Tycoon

Business Development Team Lead

100% it can be done successfully, it just depends on the individual and how willing they are to learn the ins and outs of a new role.

I think it would make sense for someone currently in presales to start actively making the transition /with/ the prospects they're helping bring over to client side. That way the clients they're working with as an account manager are already familiar with them.

automate

Good Citizen

Director of Sales

I'm very much aligned with this perspective, totally agree with you @punishedlad

RandyLahey

Politicker

Account Executive

Can you expand on what a presales consultant is? BDR/SDR?

GDO

Politicker

BDM

Was wondering the same

automate

Good Citizen

Director of Sales

Posted below...hope it makes sense.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

What is presales?

automate

Good Citizen

Director of Sales

I have only even been in Enterprise sales, so will answer from that context.

Presales folks provide export support to the sales team across multiple areas such as product demos, business value, technical discussions, product fit/gap assessments, RFP responses etc. Demos tend to dominate their time (particularly in Enterprise where you end doing a lot of custom demos, proof of concepts etc).

I also asked ChatGPT:
Presales refers to the process of preparing and presenting product or service information to potential customers prior to the sale. It involves working with the sales team and engaging with prospective clients to understand their needs, identifying the most suitable product or service for their requirements, and creating proposals and presentations to showcase the features and benefits of the product or service.

Presales teams are typically composed of subject matter experts who possess technical knowledge and can provide insight into how the product or service can meet the needs of potential customers. They may also work with product development teams to improve the product or service based on customer feedback.

Presales activities may include product demonstrations, proof of concepts, and technical workshops, as well as responding to requests for proposals (RFPs) and other inquiries. The goal of presales is to help potential customers make informed decisions and increase the likelihood of closing a sale.

Maximas

Tycoon

Senior Sales Executive

BDR is an essential step in between to get the required experience to properly task the AM role!

automate

Good Citizen

Director of Sales

That's an interesting view point and certainly worth thinking about in more detail. My intention is to transition the individual to a "light" AM role where the farming expectation will be reasonable and achievable. We can't really justify a dedicated BDR role given the nature of our business (service sales, supporting the vendor that sells the product), but could work in BDR type responsibilities....

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automate

Transition from Presales to Account Management

13 comments

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