The following actually happened. I kid you not.

In response to the question, “How would you like to improve the behavior of your pre-sales team?”, an EVP of Sales of a multi-billion dollar company actually referred to his SE team as “his sales - - - - - - s”.

Did he really just say that? I couldn’t believe my ears. I don’t think I have ever been so offended in my 25+ year professional career.

As extreme as this opinion is, the fact is that some form of this cultural attitude and stigma lurks in the shadows everywhere we go. As a pre-sales community, we let this happen to ourselves. In many sales organizations we visit, sales reps treat SEs like subservient second class citizens. Do your demo, sit down, and shut up. Reps have no respect for the SE’s time or opinion. And worse, SEs just sit there and take it. SEs have no control and are controlled. In some cases, executives want to reduce SE headcount because they don’t add value. SEs are an expendable expense.

Fortunately, many other sales organizations have a healthier culture. SEs are given a say in what deals they will work on. SEs are deeply respected and their opinion regarding sales strategy is valued. SEs are given control of the technical decision. SEs are an equal partner to the rep, a strategic asset, and a sales weapon. Without SEs, reps would starve.

Recently a sales manager nearly screamed at me that SEs should NEVER talk about the value of the solution, that is the domain of the sales rep. Sigh.

That sales manager will never believe that his SEs could be making him filthy rich. When SEs are empowered to leverage their technical credibility, a value message from an SE is 10 times more powerful than anything a sales rep can say, and that SE will put more money faster in the rep’s pocket.

In a handful of organizations, executives are hiring more SEs than reps because they’ve learned that empowered SEs drive more business than reps. Case studies provide documented proof that one empowered SE can grow incremental revenue $500,000-$1M per year. Let them go. Let them help you make money. As Captain Picard said, “Make it so #1″.

The issue here is the dreaded C word — Control. The more sales reps and execs want to control their SEs, the less value SEs will provide. Through a change management program, SEs can drive more revenue faster and reduce their cost of sales by giving them more control.

For reps and Sales EVPs who demand control of SE resources, that’s a real - - - - - .

On several occasions lately we have been asked to provide a management skills improvement program for pre-sales managers. This begs the question, why are people asking?

It is common to find pre-sales managers who have been promoted from within the SE ranks. There is a right reason and a wrong reason for doing this.

The wrong reason is because the SE is due for a promotion. All kinds of problems can arise from promoting a person who doesn’t know how to manage - they will be prone to be ineffective managers. We have had experience where weak pre-sales managers try to remain buddies with their buddies, so it becomes problematic for them to implement the necessary procedures, policies, and measurement to facilitate changes in pre-sales process.

The right reason to promote a manager-wanna-be is because they have demonstrated a clear ability to manage in the true sense of the word. A reasonable checklist of managerial abilities includes:
- Communicating the “big picture”
- SMART goal setting
- Cultivating initiative, responsibility, accountability, and commitment
- Development of business strategy
- Using measurement as a motivator
- Implementing reward / consequence systems
- Varying management style as the situation warrants
- Making use of structured risk/reward decision making technique
- Assessing behavior, aptitude, and attitude
- Coaching and mentoring
- Recruiting
- Time and priority management
- Conflict management
- Relationship building with sales reps, sales management, and other staff

If you are a manager, do you see the need for improving your managerial skills? If you are an executive, does your manager-wanna-be have what it takes to “manage”? Can your manager manage? If you perceive a need for managerial improvement, we recommend the American Management Association (amanet.org) who offers excellent management effectiveness courses.