Life as a Technical Pre-Sales Engineer / Architect
Over 2.5 years ago now I
took a leap in to the world of Pre-Sales for a Leading Global Software Vendor and
what an exciting ride it’s been so far! In this blog entry I’m going to share
with you why I got in to this role, how I got in to this role and what I have
learnt along the way, hopefully this will provide some insights if you too are
considering a role in technical pre-sales.
Preface
Technology today moves at
an extremely rapid pace which is allowing businesses to innovate faster rate
than ever before and we’ve all seen that there are start-ups now within almost
every industry that are challenging even the most dominant traditional players.
Why? Because the way we do business is changing with cloud, mobile and data the
main influencers of this change - With the power of three forces I can start a
business from my bedroom!
One great quote I heard
recently that resonated with me was “Innovate like a start-up, operate like an
enterprise” – a great mantra for any modern day business.
The company I work for now
is certainly one of the leaders when it comes to driving technology innovation
and this was one of the drivers for me join!
At first though it was a
shock to the system as the amount of information on new products and product
updates that comes your way is overwhelming – the term ‘drinking from a fire
hose’ is a perfect analogy to describe this. I cover the entire portfolio
(101/201 conversations and architecture) and specialize in certain areas
(301/401 conversations and architecture).
What is it I actually do?
I work as a trusted
technical advisor to ensure customers realise the full potential of cloud,
virtualization & mobility solutions and ensure that all solutions are
connected with measurable business values.
Customers of mine include
but are not limited to: government, healthcare, financial/insurance services,
wagering/gaming, and large retail.
The role involves
solution architecture, customer/industry presentations, account management and
technical sales.
Travel
As I write this blog I am
travelling at 37,000ft en route to a customer in Perth, Western Australia – a
city I am extremely fond of – sun, surf,
sand and a fantastic lifestyle to match.
One of my passions in life
is travel as it has allows me to “reset”, think of + be inspired by new ideas,
broaden my perspectives of life, experience different cultures and try some
amazing cuisines along the way – food for me is a close 2nd place
after travel haha. During my time in this role to date I have been lucky enough
to see some amazing parts of the world including Malaysia, Singapore, Hong
Kong, Macau, USA and various cities around
Australia (I’ve lost count of the Sydney trips!).
Communication and Presentation
One thing this role
teaches you and helps you improve on is the way you communicate with people
both written and verbally – skills that are universally valuable. It also
teaches you how to talk to a range of people from CXO level business driven
individuals down to engineers + read body language, steer conversations and
dial in your empathy radar.
In my role I am in front
of customers or partners almost every day of the week and the reason for these
engagements can range from a solution requirements/architecture workshop,
demonstration, commercial negotiation or worst case an issue that has caused
major downtime (generally due to misconfiguration but sometimes related to a
bug in the software) which generally means you are a walking target for the
customer to express their displeasure - rightfully or wrongfully.
Sales
Sales has been fascinating
for me and is something I have genuinely enjoyed being a part of. I see it as
more of an art than anything, yes there are frameworks to operate within that
will ultimately reduce the risk of a deal falling through and assist with
up-selling a solution but at the end of the day the following statement has rung
true for me from day 1 – people sell to people!
What this means is that no
matter how good your technology or solutions are, it all comes down to the
relationships and contacts you have within the industry along with integrity
and credibility ...also some good timing in a few cases!
Learning to sell teaches
you to listen, be inquisitive, challenge, empathise, influence, market
solutions and to be strategic – these are all priceless skills that can help in
everyday life and set you up for wider range of career options in the future
whether that be in the technology industry or within a different industry. I
also believe these skills are essential if you ever consider starting your own
business – something I would love to do one day!
Prior Role and Positioning for the Change
Prior to this I worked for
consultancy work over 3 years helping design and deliver enterprise
infrastructure solutions – working closely with the solutions and technology I
now work with/for today.
One thing I have always
found interesting is the advice people give you around being a generalist or a
specialist – both have their merits and not one is right in my opinion. In a
way I have chosen both as I’ve immersed myself in a wide range of technologies
throughout my career and always jumped at new opportunities to learn. At the
same time though I have carefully selected a few dominant technologies to focus
on, these include virtualization, cloud and storage.
One thing I would
recommend if you want to get in to a vendor is to involve yourself in the
community and partake in industry events where possible – lucky for me I was
able to raise my profile via a handful of public facing case studies (vendors
love publishing success stories with their technologies as it helps drive
marketing and sales) and by presenting at a couple of industry presentations.
This ultimately lead to me
building a valuable network which helped when I looked toward a role in
technical pre-sales with a software vendor – back to my previous point around
selling and relationships, I also firmly believe the same stands for job
hunting. Technical knowledge and experience are also hugely important but
references and referrals are priceless when it comes time to pursuing a new
role.
Wrapping Up
I have no regrets taking
this role, which you have no doubt picked up from reading this blog entry.
However, if you are considering a role in technical pre-sales I would take the
following in to considerations:
·
Are you
passionate about the solution or portfolio?
·
Is the company
respected by customers and employees within the industry?
·
Is the company
growing and innovating?
·
What are the
staff attrition rates? (Some sales organisations can have regular turn-over of
staff due to bad culture – there are some big Ego’s out there in the world of
sales!)
·
Don’t drink
the coolade too much! (Its a big old world out there – keep across other
technologies and solutions)
·
Consider where
you want to go and what you want to do after the role?
·
Are you ready
to adapt and change?
Hopefully this helps and
provides some valuable insights!
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