The Art of Presales - part II - Knowing

In part I we understood what presales is. Now lets deal with knowing.

Know yourself

First of all, know what you know, and what you don't, what you are capable of and what not. Know your limits. This will allow you to pull in the right team to help you with different tasks to fill in the greater picture. Are you a great SME, but less so on the technical side, then make sure you onboard a technical person to help you. Is it a long pre-sales cycle (like in insurance and other verticals), get some project management skills on board. Are you great at creating presentations, but less at presenting, then get the right support, have someone else present. As a presales-lead you are building the creditability with the client, so you have to show that you know, know what you do, and know what you don't. 

When standing in front an audience, or being asked questions over email, make sure this is something you know, and respond appropriately. Saying 'I don't know' or, 'let me get back to you on that one', shows strength, not a weakness, not everybody knows everything. This is accepted by clients, giving an incorrect answer is worse than getting an appropriate one later. Obviously, if that is all your are saying, there is an issue. 
The lack of knowledge can also lead to lower confidence. 

Know your opponent

Opponent? No, there is no opponent. The aim is to turn the party you are (pre)selling to, your client, your partner. Do not treat the client as the opposition!

Make sure you get to know as much about your client, as much in advance, and prepare accordingly. Getting to know your client is key to getting better results. When you know your client, what he does, how he does things, what the problems are and what needs to be solved, you will be able to achieve more.

Knowing your client as a company is not enough. You also need to understand what the current process is about. What are they looking to buy, for what purpose, and what reason. You might have the right solution, but if you are pitching for the wrong purpose or are not in line with the reasoning, it easy to miss the point.

Know who you are talking to. Understanding who your audience is, and what they know and understand. Who are the decision makers, and who are influencers. 

There is a difference if you are working opposite multiple disciplines or a single one. Without finding out in advance, you will no know who you are working with.

Know the competition

Know who the competition is.  If the competition is from the market, you should know your advantages in the marketplace, what you are better at and what the competition is better at. The competition may also be someone internal to the organization, such as internal development. Sometimes there is no competition, which means that the competition is actually yourself, as the client could opt not to do anything. Work on emphasizing your advantages to get the competitive edge.

Knowledge is power

As the saying goes, 'knowledge is power', mentioned in so many situations and by so many. 

In our case, knowledge, is the basis on which you can improve your chances to succeed