Hey there, presales professionals.
As you set out to hopefully close your next deal, you may be thinking to yourself, “I wonder if there is an easier way to do this?” or “I wish I had a few more tools to make my job easier.”
You also may be thinking to yourself, “Wow, presales is so easy and I’m a genius.” (But if you are, we are envious of your self-esteem and maybe you should be writing this blog.)
But whether you’re a normal SaaS sales pro like us or you’re a “genius”, you may be surprised to learn that there IS an easier way to close more deals and showcase your product’s value. That’s by using the right presales tools.
What is presales?
But first, a recap.
Essentially, the presales process refers to the activities that take place before a deal is closed.
Presales teams usually know the audience and the product front and back, so they understand exactly what a prospect needs to see to get them to sign on the dotted line. They tend to have a strong grasp of the technical aspects of the product so that they can instruct buyers exactly how it can solve their needs. To do this, they’ll often use product demos to show why their product will address their specific needs.
When done right, presales can offer a lot of value to SaaS companies that are targeting knowledgeable customers.
Some common challenges of presales professionals
You can think of presales professionals (which are also called solutions engineers or sales engineers) as the brainy sales reps who really understand your product in and out and are more technically inclined. Their goal is to bring the product itself to the prospects in the best way possible.
However, because presales team members need to have in-depth knowledge of the product and the value it can bring customers, they sometimes enjoy the technical aspects of sales more than the personal part.
And that’s one of the challenges with presales, being able to do both, and do them well. Presales teams need to be able to tap into their technical know-how to create sales demo environments that showcase the full value of the product and address any technical concerns that might come up, while also offering support to the sales rep as they connect with the prospect on an emotional level.
Another challenge is that no two SaaS customers are alike. They can have different technology stacks, software portfolios, and workflows, which could affect the integration with your product.
This means that presales teams need to know how to adapt quickly and come up with technical solutions that address each client’s specific needs.
What are presales tools?
Presales tools are, just like you’d expect, tools that help manage presales tasks, including creating proof of concepts (PoCs), product tutorials, and sales demos.
A good presales tool will allow you to show off everything your product has to offer in a realistic and interactive way.
But presales software should do more than that. Customers care about how your product will alleviate their specific pain points, and that’s it. So, presales tools need to allow for personalization so you can highlight how the product will address each prospect’s unique concerns.
Even though they’re pretty new to the SaaS world, presales tools give solutions and sales engineers what they need to do their part when it comes to providing technical support throughout the entire sales process.
However, not all presales tools are created equal. Let’s jump right in and take a look at the different options that presales teams can use.
The top 7 presales tools to help your SaaS sales
1. Walnut
Walnut is a product demo platform that allows presales engineers to create sales demo templates that show value.
With Walnut’s codeless platform, presales teams can easily create a number of demo templates that focus on different use cases, industries, and needs. This way, sales reps can quickly personalize them and only show prospects demos that are relevant for their needs.
Plus, instead of relying only on live demos, you can also send your prospects interactive demos that they can click through on their own to get a feel for your product, its flow, and the value it can bring. Create self-guided and interactive product demo experiences to send out in the early phases of discovery to let prospects learn more about the product from practical experience.
This is a crucial part of the product-led growth strategy, which enables the SaaS product to market itself by virtue of its ability to meet the demands of the prospective customer.
Once the creation process is done and your sales team is successfully using your interactive demos, Walnut also gives presales teams unique insights to track which demos are the most successful and which features are resonating with your buyers.
This kind of information aids presales in improving demos, determining which ones are most effective, doing A/B testing, and continuously optimizing their work.
2. Gong
What should your presales team be providing to your prospects on their demo calls? What do your prospects really want to see? What are their common areas of confusion?
To provide you with the uncensored voice of the market, Gong records and analyzes every word throughout every sales interaction (including meetings, calls, and emails). Then, Gong uses AI to assist you in closing more deals.
Instead of sales managers having to review sales calls and sales demos to understand what went wrong or right, Gong’s technology does that for you. This way, presales teams can learn what they are doing wrong and what they are doing right.
3. Seismic
Seismic is all about helping marketing and sales teams engage customers and drive revenue growth.
The solution is able to give presales personnel immediate access to the necessary skills, content, tools, and insights.
Presales teams can use Seismic to achieve four key goals: individualizing buyer experiences, streamlining sales procedures, automating content management, and providing content analytics.
4. Vivun
Put your mouse down and back away from the Excel files!
Vivun is built especially for presale teams looking for ways to measure, manage, and enhance processes and outcomes.
Offering a one-stop-shop, Vivun enables presales leaders to define and measure the KPIs they want to achieve.
Vivun works its magic to help companies boost prediction accuracy, discover income by reviving dead prospects, and improve their products by utilizing aggregate field insights.
5. HyperComply
Creating security-compliant questionnaires in real-time is crucial in the discovery stage. And that’s where HyperComply comes in.
The platform has AI technology that gives it the power to autofill security questionnaires with over 90% accuracy.
HyperComply also learns from every questionnaire it fills out, so it updates as your security posture evolves.
6. CloudShare
Next up to bat is CloudShare. It’s a learning experience platform that helps with personnel certification, assessment, and training. Administrators can also use built-in templates to create realistic scenarios.
Presales engineers use CloudShare’s solution to organize and manage customized demos and set up virtual events.
7. OBS Studio
Even though OBS Studio was built to cater to the gaming streaming community, it is a powerful open-source tool that combines a free screen recorder and free video editing software. It allows presales engineers to use multiple sources, mix them, and create one cohesive final presentation.
The tool allows presales engineers to directly record with their webcam and microphone, as well as incorporate footage from elsewhere (including still images), capture windows or portions of a screen, and much more.
For presales engineers looking to put together sleek video presentations, OBS Studio presents a viable and cost-effective option.
Finding the right presales tools for your team
Presales software and tools help the engineers address specific needs and obligations that fall to them, including:
- Discovering the right prospects (lead qualification).
- Presenting the right narrative to not only hook in prospects but also show value early.
- Preparing demos for mapping the SaaS product’s value.
- Developing the right custom solution that hits every pain point the prospect shows.
- Scoping the right services to meet the prospect’s needs.
- Managing proofs-of-concept, proof-of-value, and trials.
Making a choice about the presales tooling that works for your organization should be simpler once you have determined which jobs are most important to the development of your presales team and overall business.
The go-to-market IT stack has been lacking presales tools for a long time. Based on the industry context in which your firm operates, now feels like the ideal time to investigate presales tooling to support your business’ expansion and success in the modern, almost post-pandemic digital economy.
So if you want to create sales demos that your prospects will love, click that “Get Started” button on the top of the screen.
