presales

Presales, also known as pre-sales engineering or technical sales support, comprises activities that occur before a customer agreement is finalized. It focuses on understanding customer requirements, shaping a suitable solution, and validating that the product can meet technical and business objectives. In many industries, particularly software, cloud services, networking, and complex hardware deployments, presales is performed by technical sales professionals who collaborate with account executives, product specialists, and engineering teams.

Roles and skills include solutions engineers, solutions architects, technical sales consultants, and bid managers. Effective presales requires domain knowledge, strong communication, requirements gathering, configuration and architecture design, competitive analysis, and the ability to translate customer needs into a credible implementation plan.

Core activities include discovery sessions with customers, product demonstrations, proof of concepts, RFP/RFI responses, tailoring proposals, cost and risk assessments, and defining the scope of work and integration points.

The presales process typically begins with qualification and discovery, followed by solution design, demonstration, and validation, then collaboration on the commercial proposal and contract terms.

Deliverables often include technical proposals, bill of materials, architecture diagrams, POCs, and implementation roadmaps.

Presales acts as a bridge between sales and product/engineering, ensuring the solution aligns with customer needs while communicating constraints and possibilities to internal teams.

Common metrics include win rate, deal cycle time, forecast accuracy, and customer satisfaction with the pre-sales process.

Common challenges include reliance on highly skilled personnel, dependency on product maturity, misalignment between sales and engineering, and managing time across multiple opportunities.