New Years Resolutions For The Sales Engineer

Every year I publish a list of New Year's Resolutions for the Pre-Sales Engineer. Since one of my resolutions for 2010 is to use this blog way more than I did in 2009 I figured I would get an early start. So .. here for your enjoyment .. is a list of do's and don'ts for 2010.

New Years Resolutions For The Pre-Sales Engineer

The Bull Is Back

An example of branding and what happens when you mess with it.

Overheard at the local Starbucks this morning - two financial advisors from Merrill Lynch, bouncing up and down like six year olds (or maybe as if the Dow was up 500pts). The reason?

After Bank of America "rescued" Merrill they decided to put the ML bull out to pasture as part of a cultural remake. The most recognized icon in US finance was being killed. ML brokers whine, complain and bitch for months (so maybe they are six year olds). This week, BofA management relents and allows the brokers to place the bull on the back of their business cards.

The morale - even though what got got you here won't get you there, what got you here will stop you being dragged back to the there you were before. Crystal clear.

Really - it's protect the brand. So in your personal quest to be the best possible SE, which usually means learning new technologies and new markets - still keep up some of the old skills for a while to act as a bridge. Just in case.

You Know You're in Pre-Sales When ..

Someone gave me the idea to use this at the end of a recent speech, so .. with apologies to David Letterman - here are the Top Ten Reasons You Know You're in Pre-sales When ..


10: Everyone in the room waits for you to nod your head after the sales rep finishes speaking.

9: You have more email addresses than pairs of shoes.

8: The custom demo you worked on all week wasn’t the product the customer was expecting to see.

7: You spend more time changing the settings on your laptop than using it.

6: The only people who call you after 3pm on a Friday are sales reps who need something urgently by 9am on Monday.

5: Every deal you are working on is going to be HUGE!! I promise!!

4: Your sales rep thinks “RFP” means Really Fast Paperwork

3: You have to use the showers in the customer’s gym to freshen up before that 9am presentation of the POC results.

2: You have more servers in your basement than your customer has in their data center.

1: Not a single deal will be signed in 2010 without the involvement and expertise of everyone in the Pre-Sales Engineering Team!

Next MTS Newsletter

The next MTS Newsletter will be posted on Tuesday December 8th.

I will be featuring a Talking Point about "Working With the Difficult Sales Rep" , an article about male-to-female and female-to-male presentations and a fun Top Ten List : "You Know You're In Pre-Sales When .."

November Updates

The November content is now available. The website has been updated and the newsletter will be published on Tuesday (11/3) morning. I will be travelling this week in Europe and running a Perfect Pitch workshop in Amsterdam.

For November, the main Talking Point article is Activity Tracking for Pre-Sales Engineers. I make the case that time tracking is a useful tool, but only if sales and pre-sales leadership know how to use that tool. It should be used for driving changes inside and outside of pre-sales, not as a club to beat people with. Reminds me of a boss I used to have, who practiced “kiss up, kick down” leadership. I also (re)introduce a change methodology known as SCAMPER! If you are looking at a complex internal process or infrastructure which needs updating – this could be a resource for you to use.

Ask John covers what to do with a sales rep who constantly interrupts your demo with “show them this, show them that, why don’t you bring up that screen …”.

Safe travels, safe demo and much discovery!

Time Tracking For Sales Engineers

I overheard a lively conversation between a group of Sales Engineers and their manager last week. The topic wasn’t compensation, bad salesreps, lousy technical support, endless RFPs or any of the usual suspects. The conversation was about the requirement that they track their time and enter it into a CRM system by activity.

“Why do I have to record my time? It’s like Big Brother watching over me. Don’t you trust me to do my job?”

The manager immediately became very defensive, and replied “it’s now a job requirement. You better get used to it.”

The conversation kept going for a few minutes more without a satisfactory conclusion. It occurred to me that it would be a great Talking Point article for November. Why is it so important that the SE organization tracks its time when Sales doesn’t? So stay tuned.

The Trade Show Tango

OK – so how many of you really enjoy staffing the booth at a trade show? Once you have been in a pre-sales for a few years it feels more like a punishment than a reward, even if you are sent to some exotic location. If you are sent to run a trade show booth for day or two, how do you maximize the return on investment for both your company and your career? Here are some personal best practices for the Sales Engineer to get the most out of the Trade Show Tango.

One addition to this list of best practices is to take notes on every “A” and “B” prospect you meet. Don’t rely on your memory to make notes afterwards, take them on the spot so you can pass them on to the rep or marketing department.