🎙️ Live webinar May 21: Tim & Jan on building a PreSales team that drives revenue — not just demos. serockstars.com/webinar

94% of buying groups rank the shortlisted vendors before the first meeting. 77% buy from whoever was ranked first. So what's an SE team actually doing on that first demo — closing, or just confirming a decision that's already been made?

Stop treating the first demo like an introduction. Treat it like a confirmation interview. Ask the buyer what specifically made them book time with you. If the answer is vague, you're number two — and you need to change the whole conversation. If it's specific, don't blow it by running a generic pitch.

🔗 Resources & Links: paths.to/presales

📅 Book a Discovery Call: calendly.com/serockstars-tim/discovery-call

🎙️ Live webinar May 21: Tim & Jan on building a PreSales team that drives revenue — not just demos. serockstars.com/webinar

Ava killed every default post-demo technical deep-dive on her team's calendar. Booking rate on her new "get unstuck" link tripled. Nate pushes back — and they land on a more nuanced move.

Look at your last ten deals. Count how many standard technical deep-dives got booked by default, without anyone actually asking for one. Cut that default. Replace it with an on-demand option — and watch what happens to your win rate and your team's hours.

🔗 Resources & Links: paths.to/presales

📅 Book a Discovery Call: calendly.com/serockstars-tim/discovery-call

🎙️ Live webinar May 21: Tim & Jan on building a PreSales team that drives revenue — not just demos. serockstars.com/webinar

When you give feedback on four things at once, your SEs improve at none of them. Nate shares the counterintuitive approach that actually builds lasting skills: one skill per quarter, with deliberate weekly practice.

Pick one person on your team. Look at their last five calls or demos. Find the ONE skill that would have the biggest impact on their win rate. In the next 1:1, propose it: "I think your biggest unlock this quarter is X. What do you think?" Align on one skill. One. And ask them to come next session with a specific example of how they practiced it.

🔗 Resources & Links: paths.to/presales

📅 Book a Discovery Call: calendly.com/serockstars-tim/discovery-call

🎙️ Live webinar May 21: Tim & Jan on building a PreSales team that drives revenue — not just demos. serockstars.com/webinar

When your best SE quits without warning, the problem usually started months ago — in a one-on-one where "fine" was accepted as an answer. Nate shares what the best managers do differently.

In your next 1:1, replace "how are you" with one specific question — like "What's been the most frustrating thing since we last talked?" Then stay silent for ten seconds. After the meeting, write down one non-deal thing they said and follow up next time.

🔗 Resources & Links: paths.to/presales

📅 Book a Discovery Call: calendly.com/serockstars-tim/discovery-call

🎙️ Live webinar May 21: Tim & Jan on building a PreSales team that drives revenue — not just demos. serockstars.com/webinar

When your SE can tell you everything about the demo but nothing about why the customer will actually write a check, you have a qualification gap. Ava shares the one question that changes everything.

Next 1:1, skip the pipeline tour. Pick one deal — the riskiest or most strategic. Open with: "Why is this customer going to spend money with us?" Follow the thread: pain chain, economic buyer, biggest risk. Go deep on one instead of shallow on eight.

🔗 Resources & Links: paths.to/presales

📅 Book a Discovery Call: calendly.com/serockstars-tim/discovery-call

🎙️ Live webinar May 21: Tim & Jan on building a PreSales team that drives revenue — not just demos. serockstars.com/webinar

Most SE leaders run their one-on-ones the same way: open the pipeline, go deal by deal, close the laptop. Ava shares a three-part structure that turns status meetings into real coaching sessions.

• Why pipeline-only 1:1s are failing your team
• The 5-10-15 framework: personal check-in, skill development, deal deep-dive
• Why the SE should own the agenda — and what happens when they do

Set up a shared doc with one SE this week. Three headers: check-in, skill development, deal deep-dive. Tell them they own the agenda. Try it once. See what changes.

🔗 Resources & Links: paths.to/presales

📅 Book a Discovery Call: calendly.com/serockstars-tim/discovery-call

🎙️ Live webinar May 21: Tim & Jan on building a PreSales team that drives revenue — not just demos. serockstars.com/webinar

Tim Brömme introduces Leading PreSales — a weekly podcast where two AI-voiced characters, Nate Hargrove and Ava Vasquez, debate real SE leadership challenges in five minutes or less.

• What Leading PreSales is about and who it is for
• Who Nate and Ava are — and why they disagree
• Why the voices are AI but the content is real
• How 30 years of combined B2B SaaS experience shapes every episode

Produced by SE Rockstars. Content by Tim Brömme and Jan-Erik Jank.

🔗 Resources & Links: paths.to/presales

📅 Book a Discovery Call: calendly.com/serockstars-tim/discovery-call