Presales Podcast by Presales Collective

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis, Ben Fleishman, and Jenna Jienzle connect on the topic "Forging a Foundation for Success". Ben, Director of Solutions Engineering at Showpad and Jenna , Solutions Engineer at Showpad, dicuss the creation and success of their Associate SE program. Listen to Jenna's story from BDR to ASE to SE! Spoiler alert - Jenna just won SE of the Year. 

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Bonnie Alexander connect on the topic "Increasing Your Visibility". Bonnie, PreSales Manager, talks about the importance of building your brand internally and external. As PSC continues to discuss elevating the role of PreSales, Bonnie provides guidance to PreSales professionals to get the recognition they deserve!

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Sheryl Stering connect on the topic "Transition to Director of Sales". Sheryl, Director of Sales and National Accounts at Omnigo , discusses her move from Systems Engineering into Sales. Sheryl's background in PreSales is allowing her to approach sales with a different perspective, which is making an impact on her organization!

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Neil McLean connect on the topic "State of Product Demos". Neil, Co-Founder and CEO at Navattic , reviews the results of the PreSales Collective & Navattic State of Product Demo survey. Buyer expectations are changing and s tandard sales led demos are still the most common way most prospects first engage with a product but prospects are looking for alterna...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Thomas Bieser connect on the topic "A Story About Hyper-Growth". Thomas, VP of Global Solutions Consulting at Forter , talks about his experience as one of the first Solution Consultant at OKTA. Thomas shares his learning and perspective about Hyper-Growth as he saw OKTA grow from a 1 million to 1 billion dollar company. 

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Dr. Brian Glibkowski connect on the topic "Answer Intelligence". Dr. Glibkowski, Author of Raise your AQ, talks about how questions and answers are both important to PreSales. While we typically focus on questions, or objections, answers are just as important. To note, James is a co-author of the Sales AQ Chapter in Raise your AQ.  Link to PreSales Collect...

This week on the PreSales Podcast, Eli Neumann joins James Kaikis to discuss "Sharpen the Saw". Eli, Vice President Worldwide Sales Engineers at Tenable and PSLC Council Member, talks about an i terative peer group competition that he runs with his PreSales organization. Each event highlights different PreSales skills and, ultimately, sharpens the skills of his Sales Engineering organization. 

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James makes a few bold predictions about the future of the PreSales profession. Also, PreSales Collective is focused on providing more opportunities to those who want to get more engaged: www.presalescollective.com/contribute  

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James discusses how PreSales Academy is building the next generation of PreSales professionals. Too often companies want to hire Unicorns, Sales Engineers that are technical savvy, business savvy, AND have years of experience. In reality, this is near impossible to hire for, let alone someone in an entry level position. PreSales Academy is making PreSales more ac...

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James discusses fixing the diversity problems in PreSales. Sales Engineering is the best job that no one has ever heard of yet companies make it nearly impossible to break into the role. The profession will benefit immensely from increase diversity so we must all do our part to lead from the front. Resources: 2021 State of Diversity in PreSales Report PreSales Ac...

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James highlights the shift in b2b sales and how the PreSales professional is more important than ever. According to LinkedIn's State of Sales in 2021 report, 65% of sellers always say that they put the buyers first but only 23% of buyers agree with that statement. Listen in on why James and PSC believe that PreSales Professionals are future of Sales. 

This week on the PreSales Podcast, James reflects on PreSales Collective's accomplishments, the Power of Community, and the future of PreSales Collective, PreSales Leadership Collective, and PreSales Academy.  PSC is focused on architecting a better member experience in 2022. Learn more about how that will happen in this podcast!  Executive Summit Sessions referenced: We've Arrived. The Year of th...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Wendy McHenry connect on the topic "Scaling the Right Way". Wendy, Senior Solutions Consulting Effectiveness Manager at Pegasystems and PSC WISE Council Member , talks about the core components of scaling a PreSales organization. As companies experience rapid growth, we sometimes experience frustration that the way we used to do things doesn't work anymore...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis, Kevin Mefford, and Mattie Stremic connect on the topic "Meet the PSC Team". Kevin and Mattie are the first two employees for PreSales Collective. Kevin joined the team in July 2021 as the Head of Community and Mattie joined as our Head of PreSales Academy Programming in November 2021. These two incredible people are doing a great job at moving the PreSales pr...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Julie Donaldson connect on the topic "Promoting Women in Solutions Excellence (WISE)". Julie, Director of Solution Engineering at Oracle and Chairwoman at PreSales Collective WISE Council , talks about her experience leading the PSC WISE council. Julie also discusses the council's favorite parts of 2021 and how they will use that momentum to elevate the pr...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Rachel Tilghman connect on the topic "Giving Back to the Local Community". Rachel, Senior Solutions Consultant at Sprinklr , talks about her experience building Community. Rachel is actively involved in both PreSales & non-PreSales related groups in the Austin community. Learn how to make a meaningful impact within the local community! www.presalescollecti...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Brent Krempges connect on the topic "Hiring Non-Traditional Talent". Brent, Vice President of Solutions Consulting at Gainsight , talks about his process of hiring non-traditional talent. Brett and his organization have successfully hired a handful of non-PreSales professionals into their Solutions Consulting team. What is his secret? Tune in to find out!...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Greg Holmes connect on the topic "Global Expansion". Greg, Regional Vice President of PreSales at Apptio , talks about Sales Engineering's impact around the globe. Greg highlights some of the projects that he is working on to bring awareness to the PreSales role and better support the global audience. Join PreSales Collective on Clubhouse: https://www.club...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Chris Browne connect on the topic "Maximizing Your Impact on Your Team". Chris, Director of Solutions Consulting at Lattice, talks about the role of a manager and how creating a coaching culture is a key ingredient to employee and team success.

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Tobias Dawes connect on the topic "Journey from PreSales to Founder". Tobias, Founder and CEO of Avnio, talks about the journey of a founder and how a PreSales foundation has been key to its success. 

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Tony Francetic connect on the topic " The Great Resignation - Retaining PreSales Talent ". Tony, Solutions Consultant Manager at Thomson Reuters , talks about the challenges PreSales leaders face in an employee market. PreSales jobs are all of the buzz right now. People are switching roles at an all time high as valuations are high and venture money is flo...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Yuji Higashi connect on the topic "Why We Created PreSales Academy". Yuji, Co-Founder of PreSales Collective & PreSales Academy , talks about the genesis story of PreSales Academy and how the program is a Win-Win-Win for future Sales Engineers, Hiring Managers, and PreSales Collective. In this episode we will also discuss our curriculum and hiring partners...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Todd Janzen connect on the topic "Cultivating Change in Your PreSales Org". Todd, Global Vice President Solution Engineering, Q Branch at Salesforce , talks about how PreSales Leaders need to start taking charge and implementing change. We can no longer stand around and wait for things to be handed to us. Because this role is looked at as a "do it all", so...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Megan Lin Gibbons connect on the topic "PreSales Operations". Megan, Head of Operations, Sales Engineering , talks about what the PreSales Operations role is and how it makes a positive impact on the business. Megan provides specifics on what the functions responsibilities are as well as how to measure the impact of operations. To continue the discussion,...

On the PreSales Podcast, James Kaikis and Stephanie Kinser connect on the topic "The Importance of Executive Sponsorship". Stephanie, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Solutions at Salesforce, talks about her experience with the Salesforce Women in Solutions Excellence (WISE) program and how executive sponsorship makes a tangible difference in the successes of Employee Resource Groups (ERG). St...