Two PreSales in a Pod

Adam and Mark discuss a new maturity model for Buyer Enablement, how you can work out your current level and how to level up! What's more - it's another one of those fun episodes where we chat, have fun, discuss ideas and well - by now you know the drill right? It's Two Presales in a Pod. Companies like Tesla have completely changed the way they sold based on a buyers new expectation of what a gre...

In this episode we are joined by the one and only, Matt Dixon. Matt is the Wall Street Journal bestselling co-author of The Challenger Sale, The Effortless Experience, The Challenger Customer and The JOLT Effect. Matt frequently contributes to Harvard Business Review and is also the founding Partner at DCMi. Matt joins us to discuss a topic that should be on all sales professionals radar right now...

We're back with another of your favourite topics: How buyers are treated at the start of their journey with you (which is NOT, the start of their journey). Peter Cohan and Rob Dean join hosts Adam Freeman, Mark Green and Tom Edwards to discuss this hot topic. Now presales have the tools to scale further up the funnel - what's wrong with providing what these buyers need at that point rather than sc...

This week we're back to our regular podcast series with Adam and Don chatting with Matt Smith, Global Chief Architect at IFS about the world of Value Engineering.   Matt is a huge name, and massively influential, in the business value world.  We talked about why it's 'Value Engineering' and not 'Value Consulting', why we should be constantly searching for 'fiscal impact' and why creating value sho...

This week we're on the road with our first ever in-person, live recording of Two Presales in a Pod coming from the very new and shiny Customer Experience Centre at The Access Group. Don, Mark and Adam are today joined by Garin Hess, CEO and Founder of Consensus and Rob Dean, newly joined Head of Presales at Access Group. We presented in person to over 150 people, but for some it'd been quite a whi...

In this episode of 2PAIP we cover all things recruitment. Josh Hill from Ikuto joins us to provide an update on how buoyant the market is, why are people moving and what is the hot skill you need to have on your CV right now to get that dream role?! As ever, please share with your network, follow our Linkedin page and do reach out to join us for an episode. Thanks for listening and we'll see you f...

The Demofest Wrap party - It's exclusive, and you're all invited! After-show goodness from Mark, Don and this week's guests back by popular demand it's John Cook and Sami Focarino from Consensus. Following an exciting week at Demofest, we learn the ups, downs and exciting future for this industry conference pushing the boundaries of what's possible by having pretty much every big name in our world...

17th-19th May is the biggest and boldest presales event of the year, and all the 2PIAP hosts are back this week joined by John Cook and Sami Focarino from Consensus to take you behind the scenes of #Demofest 2022. Join us back stage as we hear how Demofest started, where it is today and where it's going - plus, we get the inside track on why it's LIVE or nothing for this industry conference that o...

"Don’t look back in anger, I heard em say" - well, we're certainly trying not to! We've all travelled quite the learning journey this past few years when it comes to presales, so should we begrudge the changes or adopt them now as normal? Well, certainly Don, Adam and Mark had quite the set of opinions this week and happily came up with some rather insightful ideas. So come listen to how you can l...

We celebrate our 50th episode by tackling a really tricky topic for many PreSales professionals. How do you have an opinion on a sensitive subject and do it with empathy? We have seen global events over recent years with Covid, Black Lives Matter, and the situation in Ukraine as well as many others where people and companies are having to communicate carefully and where many people feel that silen...

Join Adam, Don and Tom as we discuss your next career step. Are you in the right place to achieve your goals? If so, then stay! If not, there's a world of opportunity out there ready for you to grab. But why do we move, what are the motivations and where do we go? How do we map what we do and who do we talk to? What's more, hear some stories about reasons NOT to move! As ever, we'd love your feedb...

Join Adam and Tom as we discuss the environmental impact of PreSales. We'll discuss topics such as; Sustainability vs environmental impact Recognition of environmental issues as a key business driver A prospects impression of PreSales and our environmental impact Sustainability as a staff retention tool How big is the average PreSales professionals environmental impact What can we do to change? Ca...

Join Don and Adam for this episode of 2PIAP as we explore the virtual world. Just what is virtual reality to the professional world and how can we take our first steps to embrace it. We discuss the tech, the advantages, disadvantages and the obvious moral issues surrounding a virtual presence. Things are moving fast in this space, they've moved since we recorded this no doubt, but we'd love your o...

Adam, Don, Mark and Tom are joined by good friend of the show, Todd Janzen, Global Vice President Solution Engineering Q Branch, Salesforce. Todd is a thought leader in modern PreSales processes and in this episode, we explore the idea that there is no going back to how we used to work, how we used to sell, and how buyers used to buy. This episode is thought provoking, challenging, and should make...

Join Don, Adam and Mark as we welcome Steffen Müller to the show. This episode hits hard and hits close to home. Monday of this week was "Blue Monday", the saddest day of the year. We know the pressures that come with life as a PreSales pro, or scratch that, a professional in general. It's time to ask everyone the question..... "How do you feel?" This is the episode everyone needs to hear, even if...

Join Don, Adam, Mark, Tom and friend of the show Peter Cohan as we dust off the crystal ball and make some predictions for 2022! In this episode we'll discuss; What was the over used word of 2021, and what's the next over used word?! Key trends moving into 2022 An outstanding individual recital of a poem crafted by Peter a motivational talk from Adam All of the above and more in this episode. Than...

Join us in episode 43 with Semir Jahic of Clari! In this episode we are joined by Semir to discuss what it's like to work in PreSales at a hypergrowth organisation. 57% of our listeners said they'd prefer to join a hypergrowth organisation over an established industry leader. In this episode we discuss; How do you recruit well..... all the time!? How can you leverage your LinkedIn profile? What pe...

Hybrid meetings are becoming more normalised as the world unlocks at various paces across different geographies. Join us in episode 42 as we discuss this and other topics with Peter Cohan to really understand the advantages and pitfalls of a hybrid demo. What is a hybrid meeting? Are there advantages of fully remote meetings? Is been on site with a prospect a competitive advantage? Will remote mee...

Join us for episode 41 as we talk to good friend of the show, Patrick Pissang! Patrick has literally written the book on how to be a social media superhero with his new book, "The Social Sales Engineer". Join us in this episode as we discuss how to get started, why it matter, and what a great social media presence is for a PreSales professional.

Join us for this episode as we get to know the man, the myth, the legend that is Ramzi Marjaba! Ramzi is the founder and host of the PreSales/SE specific podcast, We The Sales Engineers. Ramzi was a pioneer in starting and maintaining an SE specific podcast that now has over 180 episodes, and a thriving youtube channel. Ramzi was one of the inspirations behind us starting 2PIAP and so join us as w...

Thrive Guys x 2PIAP Podcast Mash Up! In a recent poll, 88% of our listeners thought they were more productive than in pre-pandemic 2019. So, is the answer to that based on having better outputs, more working time, less travel time..... or is it that we are genuinely more productive? Is it that we really do understand how to leverage and maximise our main finite resource..... our time! Join us in t...

John Care discusses how demand from his clients meant a one-to-many approach was needed to get his and Chris Daly's revolutionary message out to the presales world. The Sales Engineer Manager's Handbook is a massive hit, so to hear the background and meaning behind his passion is a lucky opportunity we couldn't pass up! Come and join us for an awesome conversation with John.

Who better to tell us about great slides and crazy powerpoint skills than "The Prezenter", Russell Anderson-Williams! In this episode, Russ opens our minds to the latest and greatest Powerpoint and Prezzi tips and tricks. We go through the A to Z of presenting and talk about the technological advancements in presentation software. How many of our "presentation crimes" are you guilty of? Links: Rus...

Garin Hess, CEO of Consensus joins Mark, Tom and Don to discuss DQLs (Demo Qualified Leads) and how understanding them is revolutionising presales impact to buyers, and to sales cycles. Last time we chatted in Episode 16 buyer enablement was hotting up and the presales industry was booming. Well now it's accelerated fast than ever so stopping unqualified, wasted demos is more important than ever....

This week we are joined by returning guest and master of presales recruiting, John Hodgson! John joins Adam and Don to talk specialist presales recruitment. Last time we chatted, the job market was unfreezing - now there's a huge demand and presales is the hottest place to be with loads of opportunity for those who catch the right jobs. What is career progression? Why are people moving right now?...