Contents

Presales Process Overview

Roles & Responsibilities

Writing a Winning Proposal

Post-RFP stage

A Generic Framework

Presales Roles
Roles
Customer
Sales person
Presales person
Finance
Solution Architect
Domain Expert
Technical Consultant
Account Manager

Presales Roles
Others
BCP and security advisors
cost accountants or estimation experts
technical writers
legal experts
regional heads

Presales Roles
Roles
Customer
A deciding authority (CEO/unit head,etc)
SPOC (head of the outsourcing division,
business head, CTO, COO, etc)
Other stakeholders (anyone who is
affected by the implementation of the
outsourcing decision or the project)

Presales Roles
Sales person
SPOC on the vendor side for both the customer as
well as the presales person for a specific
engagement
Once the engagement is over the SPOC does not
exist

Presales person
SPOC (specific to the account, geography, etc) for
both the sales as well as the practice and/or
delivery for a specific engagement
Once the engagement is over the SPOC does not
exist

Presales Roles
Solution Architect, Domain Expert, Technical
Consultant, Account Manager
Either a SPOC or a cross-functional team that gets
formed temporarily to provide inputs for the
proposal or that creates part of the proposal
Account Manager in some cases becomes a
decision making authority or provides inputs in
pricing

Finance
Provides inputs for the commercials

Presales Stages

Pre-RFP

Finalise
reqmts
Shortlist
vendors
Finalise
Evaluation
Criteria
Finalise
Budget
Customer
presentation
by vendor

RFP

RFP Issue
Pre-Bid
Conference
Clarifications
on RFP
Modifications
to RFP
Identify
resources to
work on RFP

Proposal

Post-RFP

Prepare
Proposal
according to
RFP
guidelines

Presales

Practice/Deliver
y/ Account/
Finanance
Sales

Customer
Visits
Demo of
Capabilities
Presentation
Evaluation

Customer
Sales

Customer
Sales
Presales

Customer
Sales
Presales

Responsibilities
Presales
Responding to specific client requests, before
RFP or after RFP
Such requests could include sharing expertise
details on solutioning, case studies,
competencies, etc
Preparing proposals for RFPs and RFIs and
SoWs (statement of Work)
Preparing for client visits, and making
presentations to customers
Supporting Sales in responding to general
client queries on solutions and capabilities

Responsibilities
Helping Sales in converting prospects into
customers
Working efficiently with internal groups such
as delivery, practices, finance, subject matter
experts, etc
Supporting marketing efforts in evolving Goto-market solutions, forming alliances with
other vendors, etc
Implementing PoC
Preparing and making product demos

RACI Matrix
Pre-RFP
Responsible

Customer

Sales

Presales

Delivery

Accountable Consulted

Informed

RACI Matrix
RFP
Responsible

Customer

Sales

Presales

Delivery

Accountable Consulted

Informed

RACI Matrix
Proposal
Responsible

Customer

Sales

Presales

Delivery

Accountable Consulted

Informed

RACI Matrix
post-RFP
Responsible

Customer

Sales

Presales

Delivery

Accountable Consulted

Informed

Engaging with the Client

Sales is closest to customer
Presales is one step away from the
customer
What this means
Presales engages with customer only
through sales, and not directly under
any circumstances
In engaging so, presales adheres to all
formalities, procedures and protocols
which a sales person does

To be Successful
A variety of Skills
The right attitude
Knowledge of the system of which
you are a part of the different
players, their stake in the bids, etc
Know how to prioritize
Continuous follow-up is a virtue
Learn to be a trusting partner
Be aware of getting setup for failures

Listening
Part of the communication process
Ability to receive messages accurately
Paying attention
To the message
How it is told
Both verbal and non-verbal language
Tone of voice
Pay attention
To what is being said
Also what is being not said

Active Listening
Pay Attention
Show that you are listening
Provide Feedback
Defer judgment
Respond Appropriately
Active listening needs a high-level of
self-awareness.

Types of Questions
Closed Questions
They are quick to answer
Have a yes or no answer
Have a single word answer
Keeps the control with the questioner
They are useful in
Starting a conversation
For testing the understanding
For achieving closure of persuasion

Types of Questions
Open Questions
They make people think and reflect
Will give you opinion and feelings
Give control to the respondent
They are useful
To develop a conversation, to help open up
To find out more about a persons needs,
problems
To get people to realize the extent of their
problems

Listening

Exercise

Communicating
Content
Words and
data
represent only
10%
Context
Circumstances,
timing, nonverbal cues,
assumptions,
interpretations

Communicating

Intent vs Impact
Intent what the sender is trying to communicate
Impact what the receiver is trying to receive

Communicating
Communication Mindsets
filters that dramatically influence how we
send and receive message
Ones orientation towards communication
Ones orientation towards learning and
feedback
knower, learner, victim, persecutor,
creator, challenger

Communicating
Facts vs Interpretations
Fact objectively verifiable truth
Ramesh is 32 years old
Interpretations are subjective opinions,
beliefs, assumptions
Problem occurs when people think
their opinions are objective facts
Most difficult conversations are less
about objective facts and more about
subjective interpretation

Communicating

Coordinating
Achieving harmony in individual
efforts towards a common goal
Responsible for planning, organizing,
staffing, directing and controlling
Coordinating is a critical skills to
master when almost none of the
resources involved are reporting to
you directly

Coordinating
Convene regular team meetings
Collect, propose and organize agenda
items
Make sure everyone has key
information
Keep the group on schedule
Help remove obstacles
Review the progress of work item
periodically
Keep the stakeholders informed of
progress

Developing Trust
Communicate, whenever possible,
directly
When not sure of a commitment,
voice your concerns
Be explicit and direct in your
communication. At the same time be
sensitive to others opinions and
feelings
Accept when you are wrong
Give credit when others are right

Developing Trust
When voicing your opinion, share
your reasoning as well
Similarly, when asking for others
opinions, ask for their reasoning
Share regular updates and feedback
with people

Session 2 -Summary

What did we learn

Questions