Technologists supporting business growth

Steve Wozniak knew how to put the pieces together to make the first Apple computer, but it was Steve Jobs who knew how to sell it. If they had not worked together back then, the Apple Empire we know now would not exist.

A common misconception (especially in the industry) is that Tech and Sales are unrelated or that no interaction between these departments is even necessary. This is far from the truth. Constant collaboration is key to achieving goals in any software design and development project.

At Spark Digital, this bridge between technology and sales is mostly built by the presales team.

In order to grasp all aspects of this collaboration, we need to understand which are the main activities Presales is concerned with and which activities are in charge of the technology team when it comes to developing new businesses and projects.

Main activities in charge of the presales team:

• Supporting the sales team and other teams by analyzing new requirements and opportunities.
• Understanding, gathering and analyzing clients’ requirements (both technical and commercial) and dependencies.
• Transmitting innovative solutions to meet clients’ needs.
• Working on proposals including multiple aspects such as project management, user experience, solution design, safety and quality control.
• Generating deliverables, which may include proposals, estimations, diagrams, support parts, among others.
• Working closely with HR to identify internal and external candidates and interviewing them in order to determine whether they are a cultural and technical fit for the roles.
• Orderly transitioning into the execution phase, cooperating with Delivery when a deal is closed with a client.
• Staying up to date with technology trends and PM methods.

Main Technology Activities within Presales:

• Understanding and analyzing PFPs or any other documents submitted by prospective clients.
• Studying Spark Digital’s prior experience and the support availability of specific technologists (for example, Mobile engineers within the company) so as to refine the technical solution to be pitched.
• Preparing follow-up questions and meetings with potential clients in order to gauge the chances to make an offer.
• Defining and assessing technical tasks and team composition for a certain project.
• Creating the architecture design and selecting the right technologies to implement it.
• Supporting HR when interviewing candidates for new projects.
• Preparing the work transfer, i.e., training the new members of the team for the tasks to be performed during project execution and supporting all new initiatives, both during discovery and during development.

Tech experts interaction with sales experts

Both teams interact constantly and, depending on the Project, experts in other technologies will be involved. For example, Spark Digital’s presales team includes new tech collaborators who perform activities with various degrees of difficulty during the project:

1. Starter: Developers and technical members get together to learn about the work dynamics, projections, estimates, team members, etc. At this point, IT members play a passive role, they just listen and learn; they do not need any special sales skills or experience.
2. Intermediate: some senior IT experts (such as experts in React, Mobile, or CMS) may participate more actively during the presale process. They don’t need to contact the client directly, though it may happen if the expert has soft skills for business relations. Such an expert may also attend meetings in order to take notes or to assess someone in particular.
3. Advanced: Experts such as architects and principals can actively represent the Technology during the presale process or even be in charge of it. This role implies greater commitment and includes talking to the client directly, presenting the solution, negotiating with the team on how the product is to be implemented and overseeing the final proposal.

At Spark Digital, these activities are part of an initiative we call “Presales Immersion”. This initiative aims at shortening the gap between the tech team and the presales department, basing upon the knowledge, experience and profile of each collaborator.

Conclusion

Organizations should foster collaboration among different teams. The leaders of each area should be truly prone to work as a team as organizations guarantee the right environment and training.

When faced with a challenging project, it is rather easy to assume our job is harder and more important than anyone else’s. However, success is only achieved when all the parts of the machine work together to perfection, as one.

“Someone has to make the software, and someone has to sell it. Development and sales go hand in hand- no code means no sales; no sales mean no code”– Bob Reselman for TheServerSide.

Enrique Pennimpede — Sr. Solution Architect & Presales Leader @ Spark Digital