Altar of the Demo Gods

In this episode of Altar of the Demo Gods, hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton delve into the critical topic of customer retention in technical sales. They discuss the importance of building and maintaining strong relationships with customers, the role of customer success, and strategies for ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty. The hosts share their insights on the significance of being proa...

Welcome to Episode 20 of Altar of the Demo Gods, where hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive into the world of channel partnerships and the role of Value-Added Resellers (VARs) in sales engineering. This episode explores the importance of building and maintaining strong relationships with channel partners and how they can impact your sales strategy. Key Highlights: Understanding the different ty...

Welcome to Episode 19 of Altar of the Demo Gods, where hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive into the importance of team synergy and collaboration in sales engineering. This episode explores how working effectively with sales counterparts, technical teams, and product teams can lead to successful outcomes. Key Highlights: The significance of cross-functional collaboration in sales engineering. S...

Welcome to Episode 18 of Altar of the Demo Gods, where hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive into the art of negotiation within the realm of sales engineering. This episode is packed with insights, stories, and strategies on how to navigate negotiations effectively. Key Highlights: The importance of documentation in building value and leverage in negotiations. How to approach negotiations with a...

Welcome to Episode 17 of Altar the Demo Gods, where hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive deep into the world of sales engineering. In this episode, we discuss the often dreaded but necessary part of the sales process: RFx responses, with a particular focus on RFIs (Request for Information). Key Highlights: The hierarchy of sales engineer preferences: in-person customer meetings, remote customer...

In this episode of Altar of the Demo Gods, join experienced sales engineers Keith Wilson and John Morton as they dive deep into the world of solution design. They share their insights on the importance of discovery, gap analysis, and establishing a genuine partnership with clients. Learn how architecture whiteboarding can be a powerful tool in understanding and addressing customer needs. Plus, get...

In this week's episode, Keith and John discuss the importance of the discovery process in sales. They emphasize the need to identify pain points, build relationships, and approach objections with empathy. The discovery process sets the foundation for successful sales conversations and helps sales professionals understand their customers better. Tune in to learn how to navigate the discovery ph...

In this episode of "Altar of the Demo Gods," hosts Keith and John discuss the importance of handling objections in sales engineering. They share their experiences with customer events, like attending sporting events, and delve into addressing both technical and non-technical objections. John emphasizes the value of bringing objections back to business value to navigate challenges effecti...

In this episode of Altar of the Demo Gods, the hosts discuss the importance of storytelling in sales engineering. They touch on the concept of the "story sandwich" and the art of creating a captivating intro and outro. They also explore the application of social engineering and the need for ego suppression in sales engineering. If you're interested in improving your storytelling skil...

In this episode of Altar of the Demo Gods, the John and Keith are joined by guest Erich Mueller, a former cybersecurity practitioner and social engineering champion. They reminisce about their experiences at DEF CON and dive into the topic of imposter syndrome. Tune in for an engaging conversation filled with personal anecdotes and insights from experienced sales engineers. The group discusses the...

In this episode of "Altar of the Demo Gods," Keith and John discuss the importance of preparation in sales demos. They emphasize that being prepared is crucial for success in technical sales and share tips on how to effectively plan and present demos. The episode also touches on the importance of presentation skills and how to engage and keep the audience's attention. Tune in for val...

In this episode, Keith and John delve into the challenge of keeping virtual participants engaged during a demo. They acknowledge the difficulty of gauging the attention of virtual participants, particularly when their cameras are off. The hosts also discuss strategies to maintain engagement throughout a 45-minute demo. This is a modern-age problem that requires a better solution. Keith and John su...

In this episode, Keith and John discuss the importance of technical expertise and human empathy in building trust in sales. They acknowledge that having technical knowledge and expertise is crucial as it establishes credibility and demonstrates competence to potential customers. Without technical proficiency, salespeople may struggle to gain the trust of their audience, especially in technical sal...

In this episode of Alter the Demo Gods, hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton discuss the importance of developing and managing a sales pipeline. They emphasize the need for lead generation and qualification in order to keep the pipeline flowing and ultimately fill the "money bucket" with successful sales. Tune in to learn valuable tips and strategies for maximizing your sales pipeline.

In this episode of Altar the Demo Gods, Keith Wilson and John Morton are joined by special guest Charles Herring, the CTO of WitFoo. They discuss various aspects of the sales cycle, including lead generation, qualification, presentation, objection handling, and post-sales follow-up. They also delve into the roles of coaches, champions, and economic buyers. Tune in for insightful advice and tips fr...

In this episode of Altar the Demo Gods, Keith and John are joined by special guest Charles Herring, the Chief Technology Officer of startup WitFoo. Charles, who has experience as both a sales engineer and a sales rep, provides valuable insights and perspective. The hosts discuss Charles' transition from sales engineer to sales rep and his impressive achievements in the field. Tune in to gain v...

In this episode of Altar of the Demo Gods, Keith Wilson and John Morton discuss the MEDIC framework for sales teams. They explain that MEDIC stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identified Pain, and Champion, and how it serves as a discovery framework for sales. They emphasize the importance of checking off these boxes throughout the sales process, not just in t...

In this episode, the hosts explore the advantages of selling SaaS (Software as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) products compared to traditional enterprise products. One reason for this is that SaaS and PaaS products often have lower prices, making it easier for technology teams to obtain operational expense budgets rather than capital expense budgets. The hosts acknowledge that they ar...

In this episode of "Altar of the Demo Gods," hosts Keith and John discuss the challenges of being sales engineers on the road, including the confusion of forgetting what day it is or what state they're in. They also briefly touch on the topic of career paths for SEs, followed by a longer discussion on the core competencies an SE should have. Tune in to hear their experiences and insi...

In this episode of "Altar of the Demo Gods," hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive into the topic of exploring career paths and opportunities in sales engineering. They start off by recapping their previous episode, where they discussed the evolution of sales engineering and what it entails. They also introduce the concept of OKR (Objectives, Key Results, and Initiatives) as a framewor...

"Alter of the Demo Gods" features Keith Wilson and John Morton, experienced sales engineers, who discuss their passion for sales engineering in this episode. They reflect on their background in cybersecurity and share their desire to explore different aspects of sales engineering. They mention that sales engineering extends beyond the tech industry and give examples such as selling water...