Thanks to its technical expertise and commercial intelligence, pre-sales provides essential technical support to salespeople. He helps and accompanies them in the development of commercial proposals, and facilitates negotiation with prospects.
Pre-sales: definition
Meaning of the word and translation
Pre-Sales is the English word for the function ofpre-sales engineer. He is a commercial intermediary between the company he works for and the company's customers.
He participates in the development of the sales strategy of a sales team - especially on the technical side - and works hand in hand with Pure commercial, more sales-oriented.
What is pre-sales service?
With the increasing complexity of new technologies, it is becoming complicated to master simultaneously technical and commercial aspects when implementing innovative solutions.
Likewise, with the evolution and strengthening of competition, finalizing a sale requires more appointments than before. That is why pre-sales services emerged: in order to strengthen technical expertise commercial departments, and improve sales processes.
Depending on the company, pre-sales engineers are also involved in prospecting, canvassing and negotiations.
What is the role of a sales engineer?
The sales engineer (who often works in tandem with pre-sales) is involved in this context. It plays a role From an expert to prospects or customers, and develops a sales strategy alongside sales representatives to ensure the conclusion of the contract.
He combines his technical knowledge and his keen sense of human relationships to act on a specific market or a defined geographical sector, and conclude projects. Its role is also to monitor technological developments on all market developments, while supporting technical teams in the implementation of solutions.
What is the role of a pre-sales engineer?
Likewise, the pre-sales engineer works in a team in order to perform certain technical tasks as part of a deal, and sometimes also to prospect and develop commercial strategies. In addition, its mission is to ensure the technological and normative monitoring of the market, to carry out the benchmarking of the competition, to write recommendations for the orientation and adaptation of the offer, to represent your employer at trade shows and to take care of the drafting of tenders.
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What are the qualities of a good Pre-Sales?
What is the profile of a good pre-sales engineer?
A pre-sales person has a real appetite for negotiation and sale. His job is based on his ability to sell as many services as possible. Thus, his speech and his power of persuasion must be particularly sharp, especially because he is often in front of the customer.
It is a profile with a strong sectoral expertise on a sector (e.g. logistics, e-commerce, e-commerce, cloud, cybersecurity...). This expertise is based on his academic background (e.g. engineering school), but especially “in the field” when he has worked for several years.
He must also enjoy developing strategies and leading a fresh and global perspective on its sector of activity. It must have a very Good sense of observation, analysis and synthesis. Learning about the latest news on the market and its sector is his priority. One inquisitive mind is then an asset.
The pre-sales engineer is a crucial job. He divides his time between the prerogatives incumbent on management (e.g. product vision) and the establishment of links between the company's sales representatives and its potential customers. If he wants to move up the ladder, he will need strong leadership and a great ability to listen.
Hardworking and able to absorb the stress of commercial jobs, he enjoys taking on great responsibilities. An authority figure, he must, of course, make important decisions. For this, he does not hesitate to Ask for advice and to communicate with your teams. He knows how to work effectively in a team.
How to be a good pre-sales engineer?
To be a good pre-sales person, a certain amount of enthusiasm and a great sense of responsibility are required. He will have to make decisions quickly, know how to formalize clear goals and have good stress resistance. Likewise, a good spirit of synthesis and editorial qualities will also be useful when preparing letters or drawing up estimates and invoices. The good pre-sales must also be ready to to train continuously to deal with changes in legislation, the arrival of new tools or even a change in the company's commercial policy.
In addition, to optimize the probability of sales, pre-sales must know how to develop effective strategies and know how to adapt them to different situations.
Likewise, long trips, especially internationally, are very frequent. That is why being flexible is essential in this profession. Personal involvement is particularly important.
You also have to be vested ! Faced with complex situations: refusal of skeptical customers, faced with salespeople who cannot implement his recommendations, he must know how to adapt. Faced with an impasse, he must show reactivity and creativity.
How do I become a pre-sales engineer?
Skills required
Recruiters expect pre-sales candidates to have certain sales and relational skills. Because every word counts during a negotiation, pre-sales must mobilize all of its general skills (soft skills), namely in the order in which we believe:
- Commercial fiber
- Adaptability
- Sense of listening
- Taking initiatives and a spirit of conquest
- Determination
- Relational ease
- Stress resistance
- Good organization
- Critical thinking
- Mastery of commercial negotiation
- Mastery of sales and prospecting techniques
- Creativity
- Mastery of office automation tools and social networks
A pre-sales engineer may be required to work in an international company. Fluency in English will then be essential. Whether in customer communication, the development of advertisements and tenders, or even in the reading of commercial files, English will be omnipresent.
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Degrees, training and experience required
Becoming a pre-sales engineer often requires a Bac+3 level. Employer requirements vary according to the complexity of the products sold. It is therefore recommended that candidates aim for broad courses, such as those offered by engineering schools or business schools (at the Bac+5 level).
Although this position is available to young graduates as well as experienced managers, the importance and size of the projects on which the pre-sales engineer will work depends above all on his experience and skills.
In order to optimally develop these soft skills and become a customer relationship expert, Akimbo Propose a Bootcamps Sales. A journey that allows you to discover and experience the many sales methods, of negotiation And of prospecting. It is an ideal choice for a retraining for example.
Adapted conversion profiles
All profiles with a “technical” background and who can demonstrate an affinity for the commercial function can qualify for this role. On the other hand, if they manage to demonstrate an affinity for the technique, the profiles of Commercials, Business Developers, SDR, BDR and Sales Manager with a few years of experience, and having developed a strategic vision and a critical look.
What career developments are there for this position?
As the years go by, the sales engineer takes on more and more important responsibilities. In the long term, he can claim the function of sales manager or sales manager (Head of Sales).
At any point in their career, engineers can choose to change sectors and companies in order to acquire new skills and obtain new responsibilities.
What is the salary for a pre-sales engineer?
Junior Pre-sales salary
The junior pre-sales engineer wins between €40K and €50K at the beginning of a career as a package (so with the bonuses). Commissions are often added to the base salary. Also, the monthly resources of the pre-sales engineer are not stable and vary from month to month.
Pre-sales Senior salary
Over time, pre-sales salaries tend to change. It can reach up to 120K € per year depending on the sector of activity and its effectiveness. The level of remuneration also depends on the size of the company and its field of activity as well as its location.
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Different related commercial jobs
The titles you need to know
The pre-sales profession as described here is particularly broad and encompasses many aspects. Thus, some titles deserve to be known in order to fully prepare for the job of pre-sales engineer. Some of these positions include:
- the Pre sales consultant
- the Pre sales engineer
- the Pre sales manager
- the computer pre sales
- Pre sales in cybersecurity
Our advice for finding a Pre-Sales job
There are more and more offers to become pre-sales. To be selected, adapt your application to the characteristics of the position and the company, highlighting your previous experiences in sales, negotiation and prospecting. Experience in connection with the services and products offered in the company where you are applying will be an asset.
Pre-sales are sought in various structures. Apply in fields that you master or that you want to know. You can also integrate a Graduate program within a company that offers career development, by first applying for a field sales position and then by evolving to a pre-sales position.
To facilitate your job search, think of sites offering job offers. For example Welcome to the jungle or Jobteaser are real tools. A lot of sales assistant offers are posted every day. By entering a geographic area or the title of the position, many proposals are offered to you.
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How to recruit the right Pre-sales in France?
Are you looking for the next nugget from your sales team, your next pre-sales among the many applications you have received? We suggest that you identify some areas of attention:
Autonomy and organization:
He must be able to work independently and in an organized manner. Indeed, he will be the intermediary between the land salesmen and the product for sale. He will ensure the establishment of a relevant commercial process and effective negotiations. In another context, with the recent health events, many facets of the profession have changed. The Covid-19 crisis has pushed pre-sales to telework, thus increasing the importance of autonomy and organization.
Relationship sense:
True head of operations and manager of a team, pre-sales must therefore have a very good relationship.
Also, make sure you're asking the right questions. Thanks to the candidate's answers, you will be able to Identify the motivations and detect information about his personality. So, beyond presentation questions, ask him:
- What skills do you think are essential to succeed with us?
- What makes you an excellent pre-sales person?
- How would you communicate with your customers?
- How do you explain what our company does to someone who doesn't know it?
Skills and experience are not everything. In order to get to know the candidate better and to project yourself into a possible collaboration, it is possible to test him through a business game or group interviews.
In addition, the candidate's references are good clues to identify the type of profile. This way you can better understand the candidate's background and decide if they would be a good fit within your company.
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