Events

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

PSC Book Club (Winter '21)

You’re invited to our PSC WISE Breathers!

Journaling has long been a tool for self-reflection and self-exploration.  Find tips and tricks to start journaling if you're brand new to this practice or tips to focus or expand your existing journaling practice.

If you prefer to write with a physical pen and paper, or you have favorite journal, please bring them with you to this event!

This quarterly event is designed to informally connect Women in Solution Excellence (and allies!) as a virtual community once a quarter, followed by a meeting-free time block. The goal of this program is to help alleviate some of the challenges – such as exhaustion, overwhelming schedules, and lack of social interaction – that the pandemic and remote work has amplified.

· A quarterly meeting invite from 9:00 – 10:30am PT.

· The first 30 minutes will be a Zoom video chat, presentation, and/or interactive session. There will be a different theme and host every quarter.

· The following 15 minutes will be a networking session via Zoom Breakout Rooms.

· The last 45 minutes will be a Meeting Free time block. Feel free to use this as uninterrupted focus time, or as a break away from the computer.

PSC WISE Breathers! 

Invested in your career development? Join this PSC webinar where Kishore V will host Prashant Choube to discuss career growth and various roles within PreSales.

This event is in partnership with geo-india!


The Hats You Can Wear: The PreSales Career Graph 

Product-led experiences have evolved buyer expectations forever. The world changed in 2020. Everyone works from home. We had massive layoffs which changed the shape of our companies. The general public got used to living in a new normal.

As a result, customer facing agents, both account executives and 

, need to adapt their approach or they will look dated and will lose faith from their buyer.

Come learn from a panel of sales engineers at product-led, innovative companies on what these new engagements and customer interactions look like.

Real Talk: PreSales in The New Customer Journey

Earlier this year, PreSales Collective partnered with Consensus to raise awareness to their Sales Engineering Comp & Workload study. With over 1,000 responses, the report is full of insights in regards to compensation, AE:SE ratios, % of demos that are unqualified, KPIs, and more...

In this webinar, James Kaikis, Co-Founder of PreSales Collective, and John Cook, Senior Marketing Manager at Consensus, will review and present the results of the study while adding some commentary to the report.

Compensation and Benchmark Study: The Results Are In

Earlier this year, IBM released a study of 3,000 CEOs on which C-Suite role would be the most crucial in organizations over the next two-three years. The response? CTO’s came in at 36%, which is a big jump from similar studies done in 2013 and 2015. Unfortunately, having your CTO on every customer and prospect engagement is impossible. How can companies scale this mission-critical role? Insert your PreSales Engineer.

In this webinar, Tia Hopkins @ eSentire (host), Sam Parker of One Trust, Alice Wang @ Snowflake, and Uy Huynh @ VMware will talk about the evolution of the PreSales role and how important it is for your Sales Engineers to play the role of Field CTO in prospect engagements.

Security Matters - PreSales as your Field CTO

Leadership Next is the first PreSales Conference geared toward building the next generation of great PreSales Leaders. Many individuals want to grow into a Leadership role because they feel it is the next step but is it always? First time managers are thrusted into a position without adequate training and resources and are expected to perform.

Leadership Next is for first time managers, those early in their leadership journey, and individual contributors who aspire to become PreSales leaders. This one day event is focused on understanding the realities of PreSales management, navigate the day to day challenges, and learn the tricks of the trade to allow you to make a greater organizational impact from early in your career.

7:00 - 7:15 am PDT / 14:00 - 14:15 pm UTC - Welcome and Kickoff

7:15 - 7:45 am / 14:15 - 14:45 UTC - Stories from the Field: My First Year as a Manager 1

7:45 - 8:15 am / 14:45 - 15:15 UTC - How I got Promoted

8:15 - 8:45 am / 15:15 - 15:45 UTC - Why Management isn’t for Everyone

8:45 - 9:00 am / 15:45 - 16:00 UTC - BREAK

9:00 - 9:30 am / 16:00 - 16:30 UTC - Own Your Career

9:30 - 10:00 am / 16:30 - 17:00 UTC - Things I Wish I Knew about Management

10:00 - 10:30 am / 17:00 - 17:30 UTC - Finding Mentors & Sponsors to Fuel Career Growth

10:30 - 10:45 am / 17:30 - 17:45 UTC - BREAK

10:45 - 11:15 am / 17:45 - 18:15 UTC - Stories from the Field: My First Year as a Manager 2

11:15 - 11:45 am / 18:15 - 18:45 UTC - Closing and Next Steps

 for a full list of hosts, speakers, and presenters.

Avnio is the only Salesforce native solution for both RFP Automation & PreSales Operations. Check out our interactive datasheet and meet the team.

Gong.io enables revenue teams to realize their fullest potential by unveiling customer reality. The patented Gong Revenue Intelligence Platform captures and understands every customer interaction then delivers insights at scale, empowering revenue teams to make decisions based on data instead of opinions.

Reprise is the no-code platform to help Sales Engineers easily deliver cloned production environments full of tailored demo data.

Troops is the central nervous system for go-to-market teams. Troops monitors your key systems for changes, notifies associated people when specific conditions occur, and presents them with immediate actions they can take, all through your messaging platform. Teams never miss a revenue signal, allowing them to take rapid action, share intelligence, and make better decisions.

Leadership Next! by PreSales Collective

When it comes to Competition, PreSales professionals are on the front lines. Marketing organizations will craft narratives, Sales people will pitch and position how they want to, but PreSales is the wildcard. Since PreSales professionals are Customer Centric problem solvers, the opportunity to uniquely position the product or provide a perspective can be met with openness.

In this webinar, Konnor Martin (Sales), Delia Parman (SC), and Howard Glynn (SA) will join James Kaikis to give their perspectives on how to strategically use PreSales when it comes to competition. Different roles, and different opinions!

RFPIO is the industry's first AI-enabled RFP response management solution, trusted by some of the world's smartest companies to manage responses to RFPs, RFIs, Security Questionnaires, and DDQs. More than 150,000 users trust RFPIO to digitally transform their response process, share knowledge, and collaborate without borders.

How PreSales Sharpens the Competitive Edge

PSC Book Club: Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed 

This year, the PreSales Collective has partnered with Reprise to bring the Demo Creation Category to market. After over 1,000 interviews, and 25 small group executive roundtables; they're ready to bring a series of best practices to the community. Hear about this cross functional responsibility, and learn how most of us are getting it wrong today. Join Cofounder Joe Caprio and a panel of Product, Marketing, Sales, and PreSales Experts on what it truly means to own your company's demo.

Troops is the central nervous system for your go-to-market teams. Troops monitors your key systems for changes, notifies associated people when specific conditions occur, and presents them with immediate actions they can take, all through your messaging platform. Teams never miss a revenue signal, allowing them to take rapid action, share intelligence, and make better decisions

Real Talk: What does it mean to "Own Your Demo"?

When it comes to Sales, PreSales professionals play a critical role in creating trust in the buying journey and ongoing customer success. Additionally, PreSales teams play that trust role with internal teams like Product, Engineering, Marketing, etc..

Because of this, PreSales professionals are uniquely positioned at the center of both internal and external collaboration.

In this webinar, we will discuss how and why PreSales professionals are at the Center of Influence and how you can ensure that your PreSales organization is operating as your organization’s most strategic asset.

Scale your team, beat the competition to product-market fit, nail your forecast, revive dormant opportunities, and unlock vital sales intelligence to close deals faster

PreSales at the Center of Influence

70% of all professionals experience Imposter Syndrome

 “Imposter Syndrome (IS) refers to an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be…to put it simply, imposter syndrome is the experience of feeling like a phony – you feel as though any moment you are going to be found out as a fraud – like you don’t belong where you are, and you only got there through dumb luck.” 

This topic is coming up more and more, and PSC is placing a special emphasis on helping our members combat it.

Join workshop leaders Hannah Bloking (AWS) and Allison Macalik Tibbits (Salesforce) for this special opportunity to collaborate in a fun, safe environment about Imposter Syndrome and learn tips and tricks for not letting it get in your way. 

ALL are welcome, we want and encourage an inclusive and diverse group for this discussion.

This event is 90 minutes and will broadcast as a Zoom Meeting versus Zoom Webinar.

*please note that this event will NOT be recorded*  

PSC Presents Imposter Syndrome Workshop

"The demo" in SaaS used to be a specific moment in your sales process (likely call #2.) It had a specific script and outcome. But in the new normal, your demo has taken on a life of its own>> It lives on youtube. It lives on your website. You're delivering pieces of it throughout the sales motion. You're delivering it differently by segment and role. Prospects use free trials as their own demo sandbox. How do we, as PreSales Professionals adapt to this modern, disjointed buyer/seller motion? What does "a demo" even mean anymore? Hear from a panel of experts on the best practices for Demos in the New Normal.

Real Talk: What Happened to the Demo?

PSC Book Club: Demonstrating To WIN! by Bob Riefstahl

Content will always be king when you're in front of a customer for a presentation or demo. However, the way that we present this content plays a pivotal role in capturing the WOW factor, especially in virtual meetings.

Join workshop leaders David Covey (Salesforce) and Tanner Drake (VMware) to learn about new ways to level up your virtual presence by using software tools like OBS Studio. They'll show you how they use this program to build a better demo, and they'll share some insight into equipment that you can add to your setup to raise the bar of your video and audio quality.

Upgrade Your Virtual Presence: OBS Studio Workshop

** The Timing of this event is being updated due to finalists in Australia ** 

180+ participants, 37 team submissions, 8 finalists, and there were only 3….

Join us on May 27th as the Top 3 Demo Days Team compete in our LIVE Grand Finale.

We will incorporate a fan vote so we hope to see you there as we crown the 2021 Demo Days Champions. 

2:05 - 2:25 PT Team Presentation 1: Presalinhos

2:30 - 2:50 Team Presentation 2: Team ATV

2:55 - 3:15 Team Presentation 3: Mighty Geekos

Demo Days - LIVE Grand Finale 

Doing a product demo can be nerve-wracking, and for good reason: this could make or break your deal.. 

You know your product is good, you know it can help the prospect –  but how can you make sure the prospect understands the value of what you’re offering?

In partnership with Gong, we analyzed 3,000,000 sales product demos using AI to understand which behaviors sell and which don’t. Our data analysis tells a clear story on the best way to do an insane persuasive and value-based product demo.

- How to ‘talk through the customer’ lens’ to deliver wildly persuasive sales demos

- Customer stories that turn features into a compelling narrative.

- How to align with your prospect’s needs with their stage in the Buyer’s Journey.

Gong is the #1 revenue intelligence platform for B2B sales teams. It helps you close more deals by shining the light on your team’s sales conversations. It records, transcribes, and analyzes all sales calls so you can drive sales effectiveness across your entire team.

How to Run a Mic-Drop Demo 🎤

Your SaaS Product Demo is one of the most important tools available. Hear from a panel of Sales and PreSales Experts on the Do's and Do Not's of the Product Demo. Understand the biggest gaps and mistakes being made- including the ones that your team is making today! Learn about proper segmenting, aligning the demo to your sales motion, scripting actual call flows and more in the latest from our RealTalk Series.

Real Talk: Product Demo Best (& Worst!) Practices   

Whilst we all believe that a career in PreSales is one of the best experiences one can have, oftentimes it is also an amazing stepping stone to many other opportunities.

Join us to meet three individuals who have gone beyond their PreSales roles to enjoy careers in other areas of business.

Going Beyond a PreSales Career

While feedback is a gift, for most people, giving and receiving can be quite the challenge. Think you’re the exception to the rule? How about when that feedback is unsolicited? Yup, thought so. Come join two PreSales professionals to learn how you can leverage your discovery skills to craft some seriously impactful feedback, and then put theory into practice as you network with your peers!

https://www.presalescollective.com/post/discovery-the-key-to-constructive-feedback

This is an interactive workshop that will be run as a Meeting with Zoom Breakouts. Only portions of this meeting will be recorded. 

Workshop: The Key to Constructive Feedback

Are you looking to create a support system for women in sales engineering? Not sure how to get started? 

Learn about the best practices for launching a WISE program at your organization. 

Promote allyship among your team and promote diversity within PreSales. Learn about the WISE journey at Pega, SalesForce, DocuSign, and Vivun.

Wendy McHenry, Sr PreSales Effectiveness Manager @Pega (HOST)

Victoria Cox, Director, Program Management @SalesForce

Kelley Pidhirsky, Manager, Solution Engineering @DocuSign

Launching a WISE Chapter at your Company

As an Individual contributor or people leader this webinar is for you. In Sales Engineering we are in a unique position to lead internal sales discussions, whilst also leading customers towards our solutions. In this webinar you will hear from Alan Eldridge, Stephanie Barnett, and Raymond Goh who join Jordan Barker to give their perspective on  self-leadership & what gets them through the day, through to how they build the roadmap for the next 2-3 years of their organization.

What Leadership is Really About

Video gets a lot of credit for it’s impact in the traditional remote demo environment and that’s often where it stays, but demos are just scratching the surface of what video can do to optimize and increase engagement in the pre-sales process. 

On August 11th, Ellen Stafford, Director of PreSales and Solutions at Vidyard, Joel Duffield, Solutions Consultant at Vidyard, and Megan Corkell, Brand Ambassador at Lenovo, join James Kaikis to break down how to simplify multi-person discussions with asynchronous video and the different types of videos you need for the most common stakeholders within your deals. 

They’ll share actionable tips for creating a library of frequently used videos to save time, keep your AE in sync and ensure late deal concerns are addressed efficiently. 

PreSales Secret Weapon: Video

Making friends can be hard, but we've got the solution! 

As a PreSales professional, video is the workplace BFF you didn't know you needed. Video is built on developing communication while delivering incredible value. 

Want to show off a specific feature? Video is there.

Want to get information across without booking another meeting? Video has your back.

Want to showcase how impactful a product or service can be? Video is your go-to

In the world of virtual, video has become the leading star in creating lasting connections and information sharing.  Join Joel Duffield and Ankur Uppal, Solution Consultants from Vidyard as they break down the power of asynchronous video. 

In this workshop, Joel and Ankur will dive deep into what makes video a powerful ally in the world of PreSales and how you can start today!

It's time for you to meet your new best friend!

This workshop WILL be recorded and posted to the PreSales Collective YouTube post event.

Workshop: Learn to leverage the power of asynchronous video

Do you often wonder how you will keep all of your customers happy? I don’t just mean your external customers, but also your internal customers - your sales reps! What happens if you don’t agree with what they are proposing? What if you don’t think the customers need or can afford the solution? Well, this webinar can help you understand how to balance both customer success & sales success. Winning the hearts & minds of your sales team & your customers!

Balancing Sales Success & Customer Success

There will be a new executive role at your company soon: the demo engineering leader. 

Over the next three years, you’ll see the job title explode on LinkedIn, you’ll continue to see millions of VC dollars being dumped into the sales engineering tech stack, you’ll see boot camps and best practices docs pop up, and you’ll see the creation of an entirely new role – the Demo Engineer. 

Rumor has it that Todd Janzen coined the term over 15 years ago. 

Join our panel of PreSales experts to learn about what a Demo Engineer actually does, who needs them, and how to create (or transition into!) the role at your own organization.

Real Talk: The Dawn of the Demo Engineer (What It Is & Why You Should Care)

It’s a cold, hard truth; most SaaS demos fall WAY short of our buyer’s expectations. 

They aren’t tailored to our buyer’s specific problems, use-case(s), or even industry vertical. Worse yet, we’re forced to demo our cutting-edge software with canned slideware, recorded videos or, even worse, to show our customers’ real data during a live demo. 

But there’s a better way. And organizations that embrace a product-led growth motion are shaping what that future looks like. 

After 1,000s of interviews, and 30+ executive roundtables, we’re ready to bring a series of “futuristic” demo best practices to the PreSales Collective community. Join us as we explore how the rise of PLG is shaping the future of software demos & how PreSales professionals are adapting to thrive in the new environment.

PLG vs. B2B: How PLG is Shaping the Future of SaaS Demos

"The Channel" has always been an interesting topic when it comes to Sales Models. Mix in PreSales team and, typically, you have some uncertainty and ambiguity. 

How should PreSales teams best support channel partners? 

 to discuss how PreSales teams can boost channel productivity.

Channel Partners: Boosting Productivity via PreSales

PSC Book Club: The Introvert's Edge To Networking by Matthew Pollard

PreSales WISE presents Build Confidence, Command, and Presence when Speaking

Join us for a discussion and hear suggestions on ways to increase your confidence, command, and presence when speaking. Learn tips from our guests and hear how they've successfully developed these traits.

WISE Fireside: Build Confidence, Command, and Presence when Speaking

Oct 5th - Amazon countdown ebook deal begins 

Oct 20th - Book Club Meeting (open discussion) 

Nov 17th - Book Club Meeting (author Q&A) 

Patrick has provided PSC Members a Special Offer: The Social Sales Engineer for 99 cents on Amazon.com. This offer is available from Oct 5th at 8 am PT to Oct 6th at 8 am PT. The price will slowly increase with the offer so members still receive a discount! 

PS - the first 10 people to sign up for this event will also receive a free paperback copy.

PSC Book Club: The Social Sales Engineer by Patrick Pissang

Join our panelists as they discuss role PreSales has working with other functions, e.g. Product, Professional services, technology etc. 

What are ways that PreSales can provide product feedback to marketing, product developers, and support to ensure success? 

How can PreSales work on closing deals and making meaningful improvements on internal projects? 

Where can PreSales align with implementation and delivery teams to ensure smooth transitions after sales? 

Experiences with these and other points will be shared and we look forward to your Q&A for our guests as well!

PreSales Across the Organization: How to be Effective with Various Internal Teams

There are over 41,000 unfilled PreSales roles globally. How can your company attract talent in this highly competitive market?

What are the most important traits for PreSales today and more importantly, how do you ensure that you're finding candidates with those skills?

Join our panelists as they discuss what's changing in the market today. Hear ideas on finding diverse and nontraditional candidates as well as ways to position your team based on features that are important to candidates.

How to Attract (& Hire) Top-Tier PreSales Talent

Believe it or not, there are people who didn't get into PreSales with the dream of leading a team one day. If you're one of those people (or just aren't sure yet), join our panelists as they discuss options for individual contributors (IC) throughout your career. 

You'll hear ideas on how you can keep growing professionally, ways to increase your influence without a "leader" title, and understand the appeal of remaining an IC from colleagues who have made a similar choice.

"What If I Don't Want To Be a Manager?": Don't Be Afraid To Be An Individual Contributor in PreSales

Making an impact isn’t only about showing up on a sales dashboard.

Nonprofit organisations are in dire need of technology to help them adapt to changing world, and PreSales professionals are in a unique position to help, utilising a combination of technical skills, storytelling, and vision setting. However, volunteer engagements in this sector can be challenging due to a historically low level of technological maturity. 

Hear from a panel of PreSales professionals on how they have been able to use their real-world knowledge and experience to give back to nonprofit organisations and their important tips to navigate common challenges.

Make an Impact: Deploying PreSales Skills for Purpose

Discovery, requirements gathering, interviewing, elicitation, asking questions - no matter what label you use, it's a critical part of the sales process.

Poor discovery is slowing down your sales cycles, it's causing you to give lackluster demos, and worst of all, if your competitors are better at it, you're losing sales!

Listen to our panelists discuss better methods for discovery and why it's such a critical skill for everyone in PreSales to master. Bring YOUR discovery questions on how to refine your abilities and learn from your colleagues.

How to do REAL Discovery (And Why It Matters)

Research shows that what buyers want most from vendors are product demos. But what type of demo should we deliver at each stage of the buyer journey?

Many PreSales professionals categorize demos into two types: the standard demo and the technical demo. In reality there are six critical types of demos that most stakeholders in the buying group must go through to reach a decision. Knowing what the buyer is thinking and the problems they are trying to solve at each stage of the buying process is key to understanding what type of demo to deliver.

In this webinar we discuss the six essential types of demos, their recommended content, recommended length, and who should be  leading them. We'll also discuss the role demo automation can play--where it is useful and where you should avoid it.

Join us as we discuss the 6 types of demos, where they should be used in your sales cycles, and how to make them successful. Hear from 

 on leveraging each of the demo types to make your PreSales team more effective.

Explore the 6 Types of Demos

Starting a new career in PreSales as a fresh graduate can be daunting. Come along and hear the amazing success stories, tips and tricks from our distinguished panel of Graduates who call PreSales home, and work across multiple award-winning organisations.

Hear about some of the challenges, successes, and personal stories that guided these graduates to be who they are today. 

Perfect for new graduates or those thinking of joining PreSales graduate programs and starting a fulfilling new career.

Pursuing a PreSales Career as a Graduate Hire

What is your company doing to attract new and diverse PreSales candidates?

Join this webinar to hear from our panelists, 

, who have built and managed internship programs, and 

, a participant in Stephanie's program, as they speak about what has made their programs successful.

You'll learn about creating a meaningful internship, how to recruit candidates, and real-world methods for building your talent pipeline.

Running a PreSales Internship Program: Tips on How to Recruit and Develop Talent

If you're like most PreSales professionals, you deal with Proof of Concepts (POCs) in your sales cycles. 

Maybe your sales counterparts are too quick to suggest a POC.

Your company might avoid POCs as much as you can.

Perhaps you run a POC in almost every sales cycle and you can't track everything.

Join us for a discussion with our panelists on what you can do to make POCs less scary and more likely to lead to a closed sale. We'll also share pointers on handling the project management side of a POC to help you and your team be more efficient.

The Proof of Concept: Learn to Crack the Code

What an amazing year! We are taking a break from live events but there is plenty of content to watch, read, or listen to: 

https://youtube.com/channel/UCygDsn1forWnLC-8UhmWonw

https://www.presalescollective.com/presales-professionals-blog

https://www.presalescollective.com/podcast

https://presales-collective.thinkific.com/

Be on the lookout for our content schedule release in early January 2022.

Enjoy a break from PreSales Collective content! 

In PreSales, we often have little control over our calendars, so it's difficult to find work-life "balance." Instead, we should be asking how we can blend the two.

With more people working from home, it's important to set boundaries between our personal and professional lives to be happy and productive. And it's equally important that we bring our whole selves to work.

Join our panelists as they discuss why this blend of work and personal is critical for your health, as well as practical ways you can help bring them both into harmony.

Finding Balance in the Chaos as a PreSales Professional

​In PreSales, we often have little control over our calendars, so it's difficult to find work-life "balance." Instead, we should be asking how we can blend the two.