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Post-RFP stage
A Generic Framework
What is presales
A set of activities normally carried out
before a customer is acquired
A
What is Presales
Happens along with a sales
person before a sale closes
It is sales support
It is also about being a technical
and business consultant
Product Knowledge
Prospecting
Approach
Needs Assessment
Customer Presentation
Sales Close
Follow-up
Presales Involvement
Product Knowledge
Prospecting
Approach
Needs Assessment
Customer Presentation
Sales Close
Follow-up
Presales in IT
Companies looking for vendors to
implement software solutions call for
proposals
Support for Sales in closing a deal
Many times a technical and business
consultant for the potential customer
Crucial link between Sales, Customer
and Delivery
Needs a blend of technical, business
and soft skills
Presales in IT
Needs to work having the big picture
in mind winning the deal for the
company as well as customer delight
Presales role could be specific to
account, territory, technologies and
partners
Plays an important role in making
proposals for RFPs and RFIs
Why Presales
Increasing complexity in customers
business requirements in terms of
variety in technology, number of
components or modules, security and
infrastructure needs
Customer delight is more than
matching customer needs with a right
technical solution. Customers expect
vendors to partner with them in
meeting their evolving business needs
Why Presales
Bidding process is a complex and a
very formal one, with strict adherence
to procedures and timelines
Bidding process involves intelligent
negotiation on price, scope of work,
schedule and other contract
requirements
Therefore is too important to be done
without committed and dedicated
professionals
Without Presales
Making proposals may either end-up
with delivery heads or worse, with
sales
Sales will not have the depth of
technical knowledge to provide a
solution
Delivery heads may not have skills to
match customers business needs
with the right technical solution
Both the teams could be short on
bandwidth to take full responsibility
Place of Presales
Sales
Customer
Presales
Services
Presales is different
Any specific sales engagement is
temporary
therefore the corresponding salespresales engagement is also
temporary
The same is true for the other
cascading engagements between
presales and others down the line
The engagement on an average lasts
for about a month from the start of
the RFP to the end of the RFP
Place of presale
Where does a presale person belong
to
Practices
Center of Excellence or Technologies
Accounts
Territory
Partners
Sales
Sometimes from the project itself
Common Problems
Presales work is not assigned the
right resources
Not enough training is given
Presales work needs many temporary
resources and therefore gets less
commitment
People who are on bench are assigned
Proposal can have too many technical
components and therefore may need
involvement of many people
Common Problems
May face ownership problems
Demanding on technical, business and
soft skills all at once
Every RFP response suffers from
extreme time constraints
Presales Process
Client
Deal
Opening Game
Market
Winning a Deal
Presales Stages
Pre-RFP
Finalise
reqmts
Shortlist
vendors
Finalise
Evaluation
Criteria
Finalise
Budget
Customer
presentation
by vendor
RFP
RFP Issue
Pre-Bid
Conference
Clarifications
on RFP
Modifications
to RFP
Identify
resources to
work on RFP
Proposal
Post-RFP
Prepare
Proposal
according to
RFP
guidelines
Customer
Visits
Demo of
Capabilities
Presentation
Evaluation
Presales Stages
Roles
Customer
Sales person
Presales person
Finance
Solution Architect
Domain Expert
Technical Consultant
Account Manager
Presales Stages
Delivery
Presales
Sales
Customer
Pre-RFP
RFP
Proposal
Post-RFP
Finalise reqmts
Shortlist vendors
Finalise Evaluation
Criteria
Finalise Budget
Issue RFP
Arrange pre-bid
conference
Provide
clarifications
Receive proposal
Make customer
presentation
showcasing services,
products and
strengths
Receive RFP
Seek clarification on
RFP
Get commitment
from internal
resources
Keep mgmt
informed
Arrange for
Customer visit
Arrange for demo
and presentation
Provide inputs as
needed
Receive RFP
Identify resources to
work on RFP
Form crossfunctional team
Seek clarifications
prepare proposal by
working with crossfunctional teams or
by taking inputs from
them
Assist sales in
customer visit, demo
and presentation
Provide inputs as
needed (case studies,
testimonials)
Provide inputs as
needed (questions to
customers on
business needs,
technical specs, etc)
Provide inputs as
needed (technical
solutions, relevant
case studies, etc)
Provide inputs as
needed (inputs for
demo)
www.themegallery.com
Information Flow
Provide infn
on products,
services
present
success
stories
seek further
infn on
customer
Customer
Sales
Business
Reqmts
Technical
Reqmts
Constraints
Evaluation
Criteria
RFP
RFP
Infn on
customer
constraints,
preferences,
priorities
Competitor
infn
RFP
Clarifications
Delivery
provided
Clarifications
seek to
understand
business and
technical
reqmts to
form a
solution
understand
seek to
solution
questions on
RFP
questions on
customer
status update
questions on
business and
technical
reqmts
questions on
customer
constraints,
Evaluation
assumptions,
customer
Criteria
problems, etc
Response to
RFP
Pre
sales
Discussion
Use the IFD to discuss about
The gaps in information flow
The inefficiencies
What kind of information loss happens
Identify areas of potential risks
The choice of medium and its suitability
Session 1 -Summary