The Role of Pre-Sales in IT Companies: Understanding the Basics
Before answering how the presale function works (pre-sell, pre-selling, pre-sales success) and who a pre-sales manager is, we will talk about the standard structure of an IT company sales departmentThe presales process is crucial for understanding customer needsThe presales process helps in refining the presentation based on client feedback.
What is included in the structure of the business development department?
By default, a business development department covers the following functions:
- Lead generation is the first step in the pre-sales program that enables the sales team’s success in closing more deals. – it is better to attribute this function to the pre-sales focuses. The marketing department collaborates closely with the pre-sales team to align on customer needs, enhancing the overall sales strategy.. But often, small companies only have this marketing function, and salespeople usually lead the pre-sales focuses. The lead generation process can help improve the sales pipeline.. The main task of the position is to contact a group of the company’s potential clients that match the Ideal Customer Portrait, focusing on identifying sales opportunities.
- After the lead has been identified, the pre-sales team engages with the potential customer. Qualified leads are essential for a successful presales process. As an MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead), it is transferred to the pre-sales manager, whom we will discuss below to ensure effective lead qualification.
- Later, there are usually several iterations of negotiations and the long-awaited closing of the deal.
Pre-sales types
There are two types of a pre-sales process in a company: one that focuses on lead generation and another that works closely with the sales team’s strategies.
- Technical (very often this function is provided by a service station) – it is suitable when a service station will be present on the part of the client, with a clear task to check the company for competence in a particular technology.
- Non-technical or domain-based, when at the pre-sales stage, someone from the company acts as an expert in a particular industry (an experienced sales manager or business analyst does an excellent job in this sphere).
If the pre-sales team’s strategies are implemented effectively, the company can significantly enhance its workflow and customer engagement. When a company grows, it makes sense to establish a pre-sales program to enhance the workflow and support the sales team’s efforts. to 50+ employees, it makes sense to single out this function as a separate one and hire or train a person from the inside.
What are the main functions of a pre-sales manager in the company?
The list of the main tasks of the pre-sales manager includes:
- initial clarification of requirements with the client (identification of the client’s request);
- general presentation of the company to the client;
- assistance in the qualification of a lead (for example, a technical person is definitely better than a salesperson in understanding whether it is possible to close a client’s need using the company’s capabilities);
- preparation and presentation of RFP (Request for proposal);
- creating a balance in the relationship between the client / IT- department / marketing / sales.
What are the main types of requests in preparations of which the pre-sales manager takes part?
In the list of basic queries:
- RFI (Request for information) – a request for information about a company, projects, allowing the client to decide whether the company is suitable for him as a service provider;
- RFB (Request for bid) – the client has a detailed project or functionality that needs to be implemented and asks the company about the possible cost of the project. Same as RFQ (Request for quote);
- RFP (Request for proposal) is the most popular request. The requirements for this request often need to be clarified, and the pre-sales function plays a key role.
At which stages of the sales funnel is the knowledge of a pre-sales manager useful?
The knowledge of a pre-sales manager is needed:
- At the stage of preparation of the RFP (to collect the primary data required to prepare this document).
- After specifying the requirements (they are a key figure in the company, a kind of “driver” of the RFP preparation process).
- At the stage of finalizing the document preparation in the company. Here, they must agree on the synchronization of processes with all “stakeholders” within the company.
- And most importantly – during the joint presentation with the salesperson of the project to the client (answering questions, helping the salesperson deal with objections, applying deep technical/domain expertise, which the salesperson may not have).
Pre-sales process mapping
The pre-sales process typically kicks off when a new marketing qualified lead (MQL) is handed off from the marketing team. The initial steps include:
- Lead Qualification: The pre-sales rep reviews the lead to validate it aligns to the ideal customer profile and has clearly defined pain points that the company’s solutions can address. They may conduct additional research on the prospect’s website, publications etc. to learn more.
- Initial Contact: The pre-sales rep makes first contact, usually by email or phone. They introduce the company and solutions, mention the prospect’s pain points identified, and aim to schedule an exploratory call.
- Exploratory Call: On the first call, the pre-sales rep seeks to better understand the prospect’s needs, budget, decision making team etc. They establish next steps and a timeline moving forward. Insights are passed back to the sales rep assigned to the account.
- Requirements Gathering: Through demos, follow up conversations and exchanging information, detailed technical, business and budget requirements are documented as the foundation for a future proposal.
- Internal Proposal Development: Pre-sales works with relevant teams like services, engineering and finance to shape a proposal addressing all known prospect needs and preferences.
- Proposal Presentation: Pre-sales and sales team conduct an on-site presentation walking through the proposal. They highlight how the solution solves the prospect’s pain points and offer a chance for final questions.
- Deal Negotiation: The sales rep takes over deal structuring, pricing negotiations and crafting final contracts, with pre-sales available to answer additional questions.
- Closed-Won: The contract is signed, marked by pre-sales as a key contributor to shaping the winning solution. Formal solution implementation and customer lifecycle management by account management take over.
Who is best suited to work in Pre-sales?
We believe that people with a technical background who want to develop in other directions are best suited for this. After all, teaching a techie the nuances of business analysis and communication with a client is much easier than teaching, for example, .NET to the architect level.
Developers of this level are often too expensive to be used in pre-sales activities. In this case, you can discuss a slot in 25-50% of the time that a person can allocate for pre-sales.
