ServiceNow aspires to become the defining software company of the 21st century. To do this, we are deploying in our customers the platform of platforms. …

One behavior common to successful sales and presales professionals is comfort discussing their solution’s economic value with relevancy to the customer. Discussing value early helps the customer and vendor align on the budgetary scope of the project. It helps the customer disqualify overly ambitious vendor proposals. And it helps the…

A presales engineer’s success is realized when delivering solutions that allow customers to achieve business outcomes. Doing this requires four steps: Understand the customer’s business initiatives and expected outcomes. Provide a technology roadmap that will deliver those outcomes. Agree to a business case that justifies the investment. Document a plan…

I’ve wanted to write this story for a while. A short talk with my manager inspired me to start. While I usually write about presales engineers, this one is for their managers. It is a challenge to every one of them to be the most they can be. To be…

Measuring efficiency is a challenge for large sales and presales teams. The right metrics as leading indicators can help to optimize team performance in a tight feedback loop. I’m experimenting with this quantifiable sales process to measure effectiveness on a weekly basis. Its been one year since I returned to…

Last month I was listening to my colleague, ServiceNow’s solution consulting (presales) lead for EMEA. He was discussing the structure of a good consultative meeting with a customer. And laughing at bad ones. He brought up the trite sales opener, “What keeps you up at night?” I blushed a bit…

Seemed like a simple question when it was asked. The customer sitting in front of me was earnest. In response I almost instantly launched into a treatise on machine learning. But I’ve learned that a quick answer to a simple question may miss the point. So I paused before I…

This is the second half of my culture story spanning years in IT. Part one was published last weekend. In recent years I’ve become a believer in the power of culture to shape business. …

Do you like your job? Do you look forward to work in the morning? Are you eager to see what new problems present themselves to you each day? Think of a time you were not happy. Unhappy people’s reasons are varied and unique. …