In this episode two-part episode, Lidia Vasileva and Amanda Bertucci explore the nuances of pre-sales in the infrastructure sector, the importance of technical knowledge, and the shift from being an expert to becoming a customer advocate. They share personal experiences, insights on collaboration with technical experts, and strategies for managing proof of concepts (POCs) effectively.

The discussion emphasizes the need for a balance between technical expertise and understanding customer needs, highlighting the evolving role of pre-sales professionals in today's dynamic environment.

They discuss the nuances of pre-sales, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs, building trust, and the role of diversity and authenticity in the workplace.

They share insights on how to effectively communicate value in technical conversations, the significance of hands-on experience, and the challenges of navigating biases in a predominantly male-dominated field. The discussion highlights the need for genuine allyship and the importance of creating an inclusive environment where everyone can be their authentic selves.

Connect with:

Amanda Bertucci on LinkedIn

Connect with the hosts:

• Lidia on LinkedIn
• Paul on LinkedIn
• Website: solutionspathfinders.com

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WE ARE BACK.

And starting off with a bang, with an interview with the amazing Rew Dickinson.

In this conversation, Paul and Rew discuss the nuances of engaging presentations, the transition from sales engineering to sales, and the importance of leadership in sales roles.

Rew shares insights from his experience at DemoFestX, emphasizing the need to create networking opportunities and memorable experiences for attendees. They also explore the differences between sales engineering and sales, highlighting the skills required for each role and the motivations behind career transitions.

In this conversation, Rew Dickinson shares insights on the importance of personal accountability in sales, the strategic planning necessary for career growth, and the evolving roles of sales engineers and account executives. He emphasizes the significance of discovery in the sales process and how enabling success for others is a key responsibility of sales professionals. The discussion also touches on the impact of consumption-based selling on sales roles and the complexities of navigating these changes in the industry.

Connect with:

Rew Dickinson on LinkedIn

AlphaPresales

Connect with the hosts:

• Lidia on LinkedIn
• Paul on LinkedIn
• Website: solutionspathfinders.com

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In this episode of the podcast, Paul interviews Brian Lewis, Co-Founder and CRO of Homerun Presales, about the evolution of pre-sales and the emerging technology landscape supporting the function. Brian shares insights from his nearly two decades of experience building and leading pre-sales teams, and now developing purpose-built tools for the pre-sales community.

Also, Lidia is feeling guilty about making numbers up on the episode itself, so here are some of the metrics that Homerun Presales share on their website:

• Revenue: 15% increase in deal win rates
• Velocity: 16% decrease in sales cycle durations
• Productivity: 8 hours saved per SE/SC/SA per week
• Ramp: 4 weeks saved onboarding new team members

Connect with:

• Brian Lewis on LinkedIn
• Homerun Presales on LinkedIn
• Homerun YouTube channel
• Homerun website content library

Connect with the hosts:

• Lidia on LinkedIn
• Paul on LinkedIn
• Website: solutionspathfinders.com

Notable quotes: "If you're going to assign me and say, hey, if you close this customer, as the solutions consultant, you are going to stay with them throughout the entire customer journey... eventually all of your time is spent supporting your current customers, which means you have zero time to go out and find new ones."

"Pre-sales teams, we are really good at selling our own stuff. And then we're horrible at buying stuff. We know all the rules. We know all the processes. We know the tips and tricks and best practices when it comes to enabling our own buying teams. And then you turn the mirror on yourself and you don't know what to do."

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In this episode of The Wandering Tech Podcast, Lidia interviews Rob Dean, Head of Presales at the Access Group, about the changing landscape of pre-sales and technical sales roles. Rob shares valuable insights from his extensive experience leading world-class solution consultant teams.

Key discussion points:

• The shift from "masters of the mid-funnel" to a more central role in the sales circle
• How the consumerization of B2B behaviour is changing buyer expectations
• Creating inclusive environments for neurodivergent professionals in pre-sales
• The importance of authentic leadership and building genuine professional networks
• Career development inflection points at 12 and 24 months
• Adapting to evolving buyer journeys and digital transformation

Featured guest:

• Rob Dean - Head of Presales at the Access Group

Connect with the hosts:

• Lidia on LinkedIn
• Paul on LinkedIn
• Website: solutionspathfinders.com

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

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In this episode of The Wandering Tech Podcast, Lidia and Paul dive deep into the ongoing debate about the Chief Solutions Officer (CSO) role and its place in modern organizations. Drawing from their experiences at companies like VMware and various SaaS organizations, they explore whether this emerging C-suite position is truly necessary or just a 'nice to have'.

Key discussion points:

• The challenges of measuring trust and other proposed CSO metrics
• How organizational structure influences pre-sales priorities and values
• The evolution from traditional pre-sales to broader solution roles
• Why infrastructure companies might approach technical sales differently
• The balance between revenue focus and technical expertise
• Compensation models and risk-taking in pre-sales roles

Featured links & references:

• James Kaikis' blog post on Test Box about CSO role: https://www.testbox.com/post/chief-solutions-officer
• Customer Success book mentioned in the episode: Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue
• Connect with the hosts:
  • Lidia on LinkedIn
  • Paul on LinkedIn
• Website: solutionspathfinders.com

Think the Chief Solutions Officer role is the future or are we barking up the wrong tree? Connect with us on LinkedIn and share your thoughts!

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In this episode of the Wandering Tech Podcast, Lidia and Paul chat about DEMOFESTxLondon 2024 with Lidia going through the event in rapid-fire action.

She shares highlights from the event, including the keynote by Consensus' new CEO, insights on demo automation, and strategies for scaling pre-sales impact.

They discuss the evolving role of pre-sales, the growing importance of asynchronous buyer journeys, and key takeaways from presenters like Nikhil, Natasja, and Max. Lidia also covers the Women in Tech session and Rew's energetic closing talk.

Please connect with us and leave us a review on your platform of choice.

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Links:

Want to connect with us? Find us on LinkedIn:

Lidia & Paul

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In this special 20th episode of The Wandering Tech Podcast, Lidia and Paul chat about DEMOFESTxLondon 2023, followed by the usual AI Therapy conversation and accompanied by a very quiet Danish cat.

The duo dives into their memories from last year’s DEMOFEST in London. From Garen Hess’s keynote on guided tours to Lidia’s jam-packed session, they highlight the energy and insights that made the event unforgettable. Adam Freeman’s talk on extreme ownership also gets a shout-out, along with the evolution of AI in pre-sales from last year’s whispers to this year’s hot topic.

Please connect with us and leave us a review on your platform of choice.

Want to hear more from us? Subscribe to our Newsletter:

https://thediscoverydigest.substack.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:38 - Recap from DEMOFESTxLondon 2023

00:39:40 - AI Therapy

Links:

Folks mentioned on the podcast:

Garin Hess

Adam Freeman

Rob Dean

Elisa Seghetti

Link to the infamous first time Lidia and Paul met

Want to connect with us? Find us on LinkedIn:

Lidia & Paul

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The episode kicks off with one of life’s most important questions: How much cough syrup can one drink before you cannot legally drive a car anymore?

Lidia and Paul dive into a usually serious topic around tech giants' and CEOs' stances on responsibility and the power we may or may not have to content moderation. Plus Lidia finally has the chance to crack open the can of Tech Obfuscation.

Then they discuss the very timely topic of Consensus acquiring ReachSuite and what their opinions are on where POC fits in the Solution Consulting track. (Spoiler: it’s a waste of time.)

They wrap up with a conversation around Google Gemini's new feature that generates AI-hosted podcasts from notes and yet again dream of the day J.A.R.V.I.S. will be a real thing.

Please connect with us and leave us a review on your platform of choice.

Want to hear more from us? Subscribe to our Newsletter:

https://thediscoverydigest.substack.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:04:05 - Tech companies take 0 responsibilities

00:19:14 - Consensus and ReachSuite and POCs

00:29:24 - AI Therapy: No more need for podcast hosts

Links:

Casey Newton’s Platformer newsletter

Video to convince you to never post a picture of a child ever again

Google Gemini and Notebook LM

Want to connect with us? Find us on LinkedIn:

Lidia & Paul

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

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In this new, refreshed and totally revamped (ok.. it’s still a work in progress) edition of The Wandering Tech Podcast… Lidia and Paul dive into a couple of different topics. 

Is the era of public cloud infrastructure over? It depends. If you ask the CEO of Broadcom you’ll get one answer, but Paul and Lidia discuss why it may not be quite so simple. 

And why when two big companies fight - we all lose…

Then the question of whether or not there is yet ANOTHER hat that Presales and Solution teams should wear. The nature of the relationship between product and sales, and how to impact it practically yourself.

Finally, in AI therapy, did you really write a book if ChatGPT helped? That’s the dilemma for the largest global writing challenge as Paul brings an example of how bad PR can go really, really bad.

Links from the show:

VMware article: https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/29/hock_tan_vmware_private_cloud/

Vivun article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-presales-must-own-sales-product-relationship-vivun-imsme/?trackingId=AI/Dh8iwT/OR9xPjur5nQQ==

NaNoWriMo article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/09/04/nanowrimo-ai-writing-controversy-explainer/

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In this episode… recorded IN PERSON in Paul’s studio* (*dining room with a mic balanced on some books) Lidia and Paul discuss the differences of being in person to remote when it comes to getting stuff done… and what we’d do if sleep wasn’t necessary.

Paul shares how his desire to be more intentional with technology led him to adopt something he had previously shirked, they wonder if they’ve quit social media or are just getting old and revisit the topic of a shrinking internet.

There is also a DEEP dive in this episode of the topic of YouTube content, it’s increased diversification and whether there is an answer to the proliferation of AI-generated content.

We have some BIG (all caps) plans for The Wandering Tech and would love it if you could share with just one person who you think would like it.

Want to connect with us? Find us on LinkedIn:

Lidia & Paul

Want to hear more from us? Subscribe to our Newsletters:

Paul - TechSalesUnplugged

Lidia - PacketMage

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

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