Two PreSales in a Pod

In this episode we unpack the concepts of digital PreSales, why it should be on your radar, what it is (and isn't) and why it's something to embrace rather than be afraid of it's impact on your role. Adam, Don, Tom and Mark discuss the above topics as well as the brilliant Digital PreSales Impact Model (DPIM) that co-host Mark Green recently published. you can reference the DPIM here https://www.m...

In this episode we are joined by Melanie Benham, Solution Engineering Director Cloud Systems at Oracle (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniebenham/). Melanie shares a deeply personal, moving and inspiring story for anyone working in tech on how you define and reach your goals. Melanie shares her tips on the importance of setting goals, why personal development matters, and how to reserve time to ma...

This week we welcome Melissa Peel to the show (https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissapeelavnio/) Melissa joins us to share her vast experience of the bid process and why it matters to prospects, PreSales and the organisations we represent. We cover lots of ground in this episode; Are responses legally binding? Are answer banks a good idea?  When should responses/documents be completed? What is the di...

Everywhere you look, companies are hiring PreSales professionals right now! It's an in demand role so just where do we look for talent to fill roles? How do you stand out as a candidate to get the role you want? If you're an individual contributor, what do we look for in candidates when recruiting? If you're a leader, do you promote internally vs externally? Do you take industry or technical exper...

This week we are joined by the oracle of PreSales, Peter Cohan! Peter joins Adam, Don and Mark to talk vision generation demos. This is a topic that is hot in PreSales right now. It's also got huge benefits if you embrace this topic and can drastically improve your results. How do you avoid average repetitive demos? How does discovery fit with vision generation demos? What is Peter's favourite thi...

Join Tom, Don, Mark and Adam to discuss job titles! It's one of the more controversial topics in our profession and it's a discussion that has been around for many years. In this episode we discuss the pro's and con's of different titles. Should we have Sales in the title? Is the "Pre" part relevant? Doe we have different titles internally and externally. We'd love your opinions on this topic so p...

Mark, Adam and Tom are joined by Mark McKinley, Solution Consulting Director at Infor. In this week's show, Mark takes us through mind mapping and explaining why it is such a powerful tool for PreSales, and how to use it during meetings both internally and externally. We discuss our favourite mind mapping tools, how to get started, and some practical tips for this often overlooked technique. It wa...

Don returns to the airwaves alongside Tom and Mark to welcome Denise Quinlan, USP hunter and all-round communications consultant to discuss why it's important to understand the context of how we portray ourselves. Come join the usual friendly chat to find out our top-tips for personal branding and don't forget to message us your ideas on LinkedIn!

Join Thomas Edwards and Mark Green to discuss how we can give back to the presales community. In this week's episode we are joined by Paul Solans. Paul tells us about his volunteer work with ReWork, a Tech Sales talent development network that helps break down barriers for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour by providing career-focused resources. If you'd like to join us for an episode please...

We welcome special guest Ed Baxter who leads global presales enablement and also manages a team of solution consultants across India, SE Asia and ANZ. Come hear some awesome actionable insights on enabling yourself, your colleagues and your company... especially now our world is more connected and more enabled than ever.

When was the last time you really thought about how you present content? Who doesn't love presenting! it's a fundamental part of PreSales, and it's something you love or grow to love. In this episode we explore the different types of presentation and our view points, and also finish with some really handy powerpoint hints and tips to try out. As always this is totally unscripted and the content is...

Networking is a HUGE part of PreSales. When we think about networking, we immediately think of LinkedIn and similar platforms to connect with external stakeholders. When was the last time you focussed on your internal network at your organisation and unleashed the power of a your brand. In this episode, join Adam, Don, Mark and Tom as we discuss the above in detail and give some practical tips to...

ROI vs ROE - just what is return on investment vs return on effort? Why does it matter to an organisation and what can you do to better understand this important topic to better help your prospects in their buying journey? Join Mark Green and Tom Edwards as they chat through these topics in an unscripted and digestible format. We hope you enjoy the episode, please do follow our LinkedIn page and g...

Join Adam Freeman, Don Carmichael and Mark Green to discuss how you find your authentic voice. This episode covers key topics such as the art of story telling, and thought leadership. These two topics combined are a powerful tool for the modern PreSales professional. As always, thank you for listening and please do give us a follow on our LinkedIn page - https://www.linkedin.com/company/2-presales...

Scott Stiefvater is a master in presentation skills. Through his training company, The (anti) Presentation Coach, he is helping good speakers become great by shifting their speaking paradigm. His incredible knowledge and content is delivered through his coaching, LinkedIn feed and his podcast "Re: Speaking". In this episode, Scott helps Don and Adam unpack some of the untruths around presentation...

THIS EPISODE CONTAINS AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON FUTURE OF THE PODCAST. Software, we love software! Especially when it makes our lives better! In this episode we explore the software we love to use. We consider applications and platforms that make us more productive in our own working world, and also interactions with external connections. All views are our own, there are no endorsements, sponsorships...

Let's face it, all PreSales professionals love a gadget! In this episode we discuss the physical gadgets, from mic's to mouse, from camera to standing desks..... what are the ultimate PreSales tools of the trade?! All of the opinions on equipment are our own, and none of the equipment was provided or incentivised. It is our unbiased and honest opinions of what should be in your toolkit and why. Lo...

In this episode we unpack the concept of "Buyer Enablement" with the brilliant Garin Hess. Garin is the founder of Consensus (www.goconsensus.com) Consensus helps Scale PreSales with software that automates product demonstrations using interactive video demos. Garin is also the author of the book "Selling is Hard, Buying is Harder" which embraces the concept of buyer enablement and re-frames the t...

With Don playing the role of Marty McFly, and Bob Reifstahl the role of Doc, we go back to the future in this episode! As the founder of 2Win! Global and published author, Bob Reifstahl has been at the forefront of PreSales thinking for over 20 years. Not only a great guy, but a real pioneer in PreSales innovation. In this episode, Bob gives us a fascinating insight into his book, "The Rule of 24"...

In this episode we are joined by John Hodgson of Bright Dynamics. John is an industry leader in PreSales recruitment, and is responsible for hiring and identifying talent across the industry in PreSales specific roles. John gives us an honest assessment of the jobs market right now for PreSales, what skills are important, what makes a CV stand out and what hiring managers are looking for right now...

Continuing our mini series on "Future Thinking", to day we explore the role of the evangelist with good friend of the show, Mark Green. For many of our audience, understanding future career opportunities and alternative roles within your organisation are key to understanding the required skills for that role. In this episode, Mark Green helps us discuss, in our usual unscripted way, just what his...

It's time to get comfortable with uncomfortable. This episodes confronts the evolving PreSales model and explores if the way we currently work is still relevant. As a function, PreSales is facing huge technical advancements as companies start to realise the untapped potential in the PreSales function. Our options are to embrace this and change to work in this "new world", or alternatively to ignor...

In this episode we kick off another mini series all around future thinking. Sometimes to move forward, we have to embrace where we are right now. This mini series will allow us to evaluate our current state of play, look at the key skills and attributes we need to move forward and stay relevant as a modern PreSales professional. We've got some fantastic industry thought leaders and individuals bot...

We are 10 episodes old!! Hoorah! we made it to double figures. In this episode we're joined by industry leaders from across the PreSales world to discuss funny and lighthearted stories from our PreSales careers. This is an episode not to be missed for sure! We'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you for helping us get this podcast to over 1,500 visitors across 40+ different countries worl...

In this special episode we were joined on the show by our good friend Thomas Edwards, of the Modern SC Blog (https://themodernsc.com/). We talk about the importance for social media presence on platforms such as LinkedIn, and also discuss what a minimum social media presence should be. As always, please keep the feedback coming and thanks for joining us! You can connect with us on LinkedIn here; D...