Beazley Security’s Post

What would you list as the most frustrating tasks for Sales Engineers? A common one we hear about is... Manual activity logging! 📝 It’s crucial for tracking metrics like cost of sale and utilization, but it’s often a time-consuming chore. At Elvance, we knew there had to be a better way. 😁 Make Your PreSales Team Smile with Intelligent Activity Capture 😁 Discover how you can capture the activities of your team with no manual effort: https://lnkd.in/dcajPEKW

What’s one of the most frustrating tasks for Sales Engineers? Manual activity logging! 📝 It’s crucial for tracking metrics like cost of sale and utilization, but it’s often a time-consuming chore. At Elvance, we knew there had to be a better way. 😁 Make Your PreSales Team Smile with Intelligent Activity Capture 😁 Discover how you can capture the activities of your team with no manual effort: https://lnkd.in/ethxsDd2

Senior Solutions Engineer - Permanent - The Hague, Netherlands For the right candidate this role is open to candidates outside of Europe that can work remotely Will work with the Sales team & bridge the gap between business needs & technical solutions. Solution Engineers add technical aptitude to the Sales function & provide sales aptitude to technical teams, you will be uniquely placed to bridge the gap between the product / engineering teams building the product & the sales team selling the product. The goal for the Solution Engineers is to help address our customer’s concerns on technical / usability aspects with regards to integrated management systems that they (the customer) are planning to buy & ultimately influence the purchase decision. Beyond the sales aspect, Solution Engineers are also involved in addressing customer churn issues. This means that they have to work with existing customers who are either not able to maximize the value delivered by the product or who have new user cases that the original product didn’t solve anymore. ·           You support Account Executives during a Sales process to discover & translate a customer's technical priorities and problem statements into high impact use cases leveraging integrated management systems. ·           Meet with prospective customers during Sales Discovery call to conduct platform demos ·           Understand Customers’ requirements/expectations & break down their (often complex) challenges ·           Map out how my client’s platform can be adapted to address the customer’s requirements / expectations ·           Collaborate with partners & customers to design & build solutions. ·           Design and scope proof-of-value projects which demonstrate the value, delivers for the customer within a short amount of time. ·           You will also communicate the value opportunity of a full implementation & the corresponding strategic roadmap ·           You will create re-usable collateral (e.g. product demos, case studies), best practices & tools to help scale your knowledge & expertise across the solution engineering function. ·           Work with product management to translate your knowledge of customer problems into product insights to shape client’s product roadmap. ·           Work with Product & Engineering teams to bring significant product improvements ·           You lead the creation of new use cases & implement them on the platform to assess product-solution fit. You provide feedback to my client’s product team & share results of your discovery with go to market functions. #assetintegrity #asset #roadmap #customerfacing #AIM #designing #B2B #Saas #assetintegritymanagement #workshops

I can’t help but wonder if there is any other profession where there is as great a diversity of names for the same job description as there is for Presales. Or should that be sales engineering? Or solutions? Or buyer enablement? It can feel like we’re in a perpetual identity crisis. Not sure what to call ourselves. Endlessly debating the words we put in our email signature or LinkedIn profile. Endlessly confusing for our relatives and friends, and a nightmare for those looking to break into the role. It’s also possible to see it as an example of the diversity of the job and everything it has to offer. And it is incredibly diverse. From where I’m standing, that what we should call ourselves is still such a hotly debated topic is a recognition the accelerating evolution of what it is that we deliver. It is time to retire “technical resource” from the lexicon though. #presales #salesengineer #salesengineering #solutions #solutionsarchitect #buyerenablement #solutionsconsultant

𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿? …unlikely, but they could be a powerful complement! How many leads in your sales pipeline were either not qualified or missed opportunities?🤔 Sales managers in technology companies are responsible for numerous tasks like market research, lead generation and outreach activities, building relationships with potential clients and setting up introductory calls to discuss their business needs and align them with company offerings. Sales representatives attend introductory meetings with prospects armed with case studies, brief information, and well-prepared pitches to present the company’s products or services. However, conversations can become less controlled when potential clients ask technical questions about potential implementation or delve into the details of their business cases 😰 💡 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿! The ideal fit for this role is a Solution Architect 😎 With extensive knowledge of a variety of technologies and processes, architect has a unique skill set that enables a deep understanding of client needs and constraints. It’s undeniable that stronger relationships with potential clients are forged when your team demonstrates technical expertise, understands the business domain and the interrelations between its entities. ☝ While there are exceptional technical sales managers who can cover both sales activities (with the lead generation process automated) and showcase technical expertise, this is often the case in product companies where technical skills are narrowed down to the specific technology stack and solutions used by the particular product or service. 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀? #presales #technicalSales #consulting #solutionArchitect #architectureDesign #discoveryPhase #saleManager #leadQualification

What is Pre- sales? Pre-sales team plays a crucial role in not only acquiring the customer but also ensuring that the customer realizes value quickly from their investment and, ultimately, becomes a successful customer with a high lifetime value. Yet, in today’s customer success driven (albeit dependent!) software industry, the pre-sales organization (sales engineers, solution architects, field engineers, etc.) is perhaps the most underserved group when it comes to headcount, support, and software. Is this justified? Are many software companies missing a huge opportunity for their business and customers when it comes to more effectively leveraging pre-sales teams to drive customer success? #Customer Success #Pre-sales #Sales

I wanted to share a great example of a Solutions Architect taking ownership in a sales cycle Solutions Architects, Systems Engineers, Solutions Engineers - Different names, but all do the same things, are the technical bloodline for sellers helping to design solutions for customers. I was impressed by a recent SA and how he took ownership of an engagement for our customer. As other SAs out there, I feel sharing this story creates a blueprint for how you could improve in your engagements. This is a specialist SA that supports a specific product line at AWS. Our team brought him into the conversation, because our customer was going to build their product on top of this service and was going to become a critical piece of infrastructure. He took the time to understand the product needs, how the solution ties into their product, and why this solution stands out technically. This helps us secure the decision to use our product going forward. Next, we found out there are a number of features that are needed for the customer to continue using our service. This SA took ownership, engaged the product teams, and managed the proposition of why they need to fast track these features for their launch. When certain feature launches will extend past the deadline for the customer, the SA researched and tested workarounds in the meantime. This SA continued to own weekly calls with the technical teams, bringing in other specialists to help guide the solution. Giving us updates on progress and how the customer is progressing towards critical timelines. He never said that's not my job and did this proactively without anyone bugging him. Impressive the level of ownership from a specialist not even dedicated to an account. A great example for others to follow! 

Pre-Sales. Sales Engineer. Technical Sales. Solutions Consultant. It goes by many names, but at its core, it's about being the "technical expert." Yet, being in pre-sales means so much more. It's about being the customer's voice. Translating tech jargon into real business wins. Cultivating relationships with people (yes, your customers!). Contributing insights to refine our messaging. Bridging customer needs with product innovations. While expertise matters, let's not overlook the human side of the role. It's the blend of technical prowess and empathetic engagement that truly makes pre-sales shine.

What does it take to be a great Solutions Consultant/Sales Engineer?   📌 Be awesome at demos. 📌 Great at discovery/good listener. 📌 Ability to tell a good story. 📌 Confident Industry Expert. 📌 Great at RFP Responses.    Yes, that’s a good start, but the role is expanding and even becoming blurred.   It’s extending out across the whole sales cycle. 🔄   ------ Pre Sales is Solution Sales. Anywhere the potential solution is being glimpsed by the buyer, Pre Sales have probably left their mark.   Let’s add a few more things to the list above: 📌 Customer Success. 📌 Product Training and Enablement (Internal). 📌 Proof of Concept (PoC) Development. 📌 Articulating Value. 📌 Technical Advocacy and Thought Leadership. 📌 Video Production.    What am I missing?   ------ Being in Pre Sales is such an amazing place to be at the moment, but it is constantly evolving and we need to stay ahead of the curve. 📶   💲 Million-dollar question 💲 How should we be structuring our Pre Sales teams to pivot towards this and plan for the next 3 years? #presales #salesengineering #solutionsconsultant #solutionsengineer #sales #buyerenablement

Success in technical sales demands various skills: technical proficiency, effective communication across technical and non-technical audiences, identifying customer pain points, understanding their processes, problem-solving, adaptability, tenacity, and relationship-building. These abilities are vital for a technical sales professional to thrive. Often overlooked is the extensive preparation that precedes each demo or customer call. This approach ensures conversations feel less ‘sales-y’ and more focused on helping businesses achieve their goals. I encourage my fellow technical sales professionals to prioritize their customers’ needs and seek ways to assist them rather than solely highlighting platform features. This customer-centric approach fosters an fair exchange of value and compensation for both parties. #salesengineer #solutionsengineer #solutionsconsultant #techsales #consultativeselling #presales