What do you think of pre-sales?

jamesp1983

I had a company contact me about a Cisco pre-sales position and they were really interested. The pay would be about 20-30% more than I'm making now, but I dont have much experience in this specific type of role. I've done network design for awhile now and had a job where I would go with sales reps to answer tech questions on occasion. I would gather information about whats currently onsite, and then give recommendations/equipment suggestions to improve the infrastructure after I gathered the facts. That wasn't my sole responsibility at that job, but I would do it in addition to implementation and support. I wanted to see if anyone on TE has done/or does this currently as well as what your day to day is like. This company is a Cisco Gold Partner and is big on training. I have had two phone ints so far and another conf call with the regional sales mgr on Monday. The Pre Sales Sr Architect was a CCIE with 15 yrs experience and was extremely personable. Any input would be appreciated.

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Comments

shodown

Sounds like Force 3.

paul78

Pre-sales can be a great opportunity. Depending on your career goals, it can really open business opportunities. If the position has a commision structure as well - your compensation could have significant upside.

I never did formal pre-sales roles but part of various jobs including my current does involve talking with prospects. And I do enjoy it a lot.

jamesp1983

Thanks for the responses. The manager did tell me that I have to get used to saying goodbye to the CLI. He told me to think long and hard about that.

Mrock4

James, I haven't held a formal pre-sales position, but my current duties have me doing a lot of pre-sales work for various organizations. I would absolutely recommend going into pre-sales if you enjoy working with customers. For those who want to sit behind the keyboard all day- it's probably not for you. I DO however, use the CLI fairly extensively still, though. I really enjoy the pre-sales work. Just my $.02. Best of luck to you!

jamesp1983

Mrock4 wrote: »

James, I haven't held a formal pre-sales position, but my current duties have me doing a lot of pre-sales work for various organizations. I would absolutely recommend going into pre-sales if you enjoy working with customers. For those who want to sit behind the keyboard all day- it's probably not for you. I DO however, use the CLI fairly extensively still, though. I really enjoy the pre-sales work. Just my $.02. Best of luck to you!

I do enjoy working with customers and I'm sure the days will fly by. It sounds like you'd always be busy. Thanks so much for the info!

jamesp1983

I had aninterview today with the Regional Manager, Chief Architect, and an Account mgr. They were all really nice and said they would be contacting me with next steps. Fingers crossed...

jamesp1983

Update: I had an email in my inbox no more than 15 minutes after I hung up asking me to come in for another interview. This will be interview #4.

RouteThisWay

Good luck!

jamesp1983

RouteThisWay wrote: »

Good luck!

Thanks! I appreciate it!

Essendon

I'm sure you'll nail it James. Go get it man!

ColbyG

I dig it. I do ~30% presales now and it's fun. Breaks up the monotony. It's a pain dealing with customers' budgets and all that though.

jamesp1983

Essendon wrote: »

I'm sure you'll nail it James. Go get it man!

Thanks. We have a face to face tomorrow so we shall see. This would make life easier since my wife is out of work and there's a baby on the way.

jamesp1983

ColbyG wrote: »

I dig it. I do ~30% presales now and it's fun. Breaks up the monotony. It's a pain dealing with customers' budgets and all that though.

Do you usually give a few proposals at various costs for cases where the customer has a tight budget?

ColbyG

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Do you usually give a few proposals at various costs for cases where the customer has a tight budget?

It depends. If they ask for multiple options, yes. Otherwise, I lead with the best (best, not most expensive) option - basically what I would consider my ideal solution for this requirement. We usually go from there.

jamesp1983

Oh okay. That makes sense. Thanks for your responses.

UnixGuy

jamesp1983 wrote: »

.. This company is a Cisco Gold Partner and is big on training. ...

^^ you can't go wrong with that. My employer is Cisco Gold Partner (but I'm not part of the Cisco team). The advantage is that channel partners need to have a number of trained/certified professionals in order to sell/support products, so you will be getting plenty of training/seminars + web training. But that's not the best part.

The exposure you get with channel partner is excellent, and the experience is priceless. Pre-sales is a next logical step for someone who worked enough in technical position, and it's a pathway to Architect/Design type of roles. It will even give you certain exposure to management. This IS a great opportunity.

jamesp1983

UnixGuy, you have me really excited now. I met with the Sr Architect for my region as well as the RVP of sales. It lasted about an hour and they were saying they want me to take a look at the benefits package to make sure it works for me. This was interview #4 so we'll see. They were talking salary and benefits so hopefully I got it.

UnixGuy

Good luck! they pay well because it's a lucrative business

jamesp1983

UnixGuy wrote: »

Good luck! they pay well because it's a lucrative business

Thanks. I really appreciate it.

jamesp1983

The RVP got back to me today and said it was a pleasure meeting with me and said he and the Sr Architect have to get their ducks in a row and work with HR. He said I should be hearing from them shortly. I had some questions about their insurance coverage so I guess that's what he means by working with HR.

pcgizzmo

Forgive me if this is being too nosey but will you be getting a nice bump in pay or at least the potential for more pay? I always thought a sales engineer type roll might be a fun job at some point and I've always wondered about the pay in those types of rolls. Thanks...

jamesp1983

It would be a 30% bump from where I am now.

skinsFan202

shodown wrote: »

Sounds like Force 3.

I've always wondered about these guys. Have you worked with them in the past or heard good things?

jamesp1983

1 week and a day and still no word...

QHalo

If it's one thing I've learned, its that HR departments are notoriously slow. Find something to take your focus off if you can. It's the only thing that will keep you from going insane. Good luck, sounds like its in the bag but pushing paperwork is never quick.

jamesp1983

QHalo wrote: »

If it's one thing I've learned, its that HR departments are notoriously slow. Find something to take your focus off if you can. It's the only thing that will keep you from going insane. Good luck, sounds like its in the bag but pushing paperwork is never quick.

Thanks! I'll keep pushing on my ccie studies. It would be a nice career.

pinkydapimp

what are peoples thoughts on the stability of this career path? I feel like with the amount new technology that is consistently coming out, along with the outsourcing of traditional IT roles, positions like this could lead to a strong career path. I am curious what other folks think?

UnixGuy

I agree with you. It does look like a safer more rewarding career path.

NightShade1

I think go for it..
Im my compnay i have told my boss that i wanted to move to Pre Sales.... i think they are finally thinking about it... they invited me to a presales training which is a paid training

I like that work... desgining, demos, and telling the client what he should do and what he should not... and commissions hehe and i will dont have to get support calls or email, that much...
Here some presales in my country does sometimes post sales job... which i think its okay so you wont loose the practice tho.... but your main role is being pre sales...

UnixGuy

Also, adjusting "IT with Business" is very important. It can be part of a pre-sales job, where you get to address client's business needs and design solutions accordingly. The scope of work depends on your employer.