Presales is a relatively new yet in-demand career highly valuable for tech businesses. While regular sales careers are concerned with selling a product or service to customers, presales involve educating the customers about the technical aspects of the product.
So it goes without saying that an ideal presales candidate will have both sales and technical skills to succeed in presales. While some presales jobs require a higher level of sales skills, others may rely heavily on the technical aspect of the selling process.
If you plan on starting a presales career, building the right skillset can help you land your dream job. So if you were wondering what skills are required to start a presales career, keep reading. This article will explain the five key skills you need to get into presales.
Five skills that you should have for a presales career
While the level of expertise and the skillset may vary from one presale job to the other, there are certain skills that most presales careers require. Without further ado, here are five skills that you should have to start a successful presales career:
- Technical skills: As mentioned earlier, presales careers mostly sell technology as a product or service. So it goes without saying that an ideal presales candidate should have sound technical knowledge about the technology you will sell.
If you have a background in IT, you are an excellent candidate for a presales job. You can have a successful presales career as long as you possess the necessary technical skills to educate the clients about the tech you are selling.
- Great communication and presentation skills: As a presales person, the bulk of your job will involve giving demos and presentations to prospects regarding the technology you are selling. Strong communication skills and being a good presenter are plus points for someone looking to switch to presales.
If you have what it takes to present complex technical knowledge in a simple yet effective way, you are fit for a presales career.
- Teamwork skills: A career in presales requires you to work alongside other presale team members and the sales department. Therefore, the ability to work well in team settings is a skill that will help you during your presale career.
As a presales professional, you will collaborate with others to build demos, provide technical training, and convey feedback to relevant personnel. So teamwork skills are necessary if you want to start a presales career.
- Sales skills: If you are good at selling, you are a good fit for a presales career. Besides delivering technical knowledge to the client, your job will also involve convincing them to purchase the product.
So understanding the customer's problems and selling your product as a solution can help you during your presales career.
- Negotiation skills: While negotiation skills come into play later during the sales process, they come in handy as a presales professional. So if you have good negotiation skills, you can get the clients to buy upgrades or solutions at your company's asking price.
Conclusion
Starting a presales career may seem complicated initially; however, if you possess the right skill set, you can easily transition into this field. Now that you know the skills required to start a presales career, you can polish them to become a better candidate for presales positions.