With rising competition in the business world, companies are constantly looking for ways to outcompete their adversaries and boost their businesses. While marketing and sales teams are crucial for driving business growth, the role of presales departments cannot be overlooked. This is because these departments support the sales teams in various ways including simplifying the sales funnel and identifying areas of improvement for closing future deals.

In line with the above, the following article sheds light on the importance of presales support in driving the growth of companies.

Understanding Presales

Presales simply refers to the different activities that take place before sales, i.e., before deals are closed. This includes tasks such as identifying sales-qualified leads, conducting product and market research, performing customer analysis, preparing buyer personas, and at times preparing project proposals.

The teams tasked with presales activities support sales teams to achieve their targets, centralize the process and systems such that sales teams do not work in silos, and bridge the gap between sales and other teams. In essence, presales teams lay the groundwork for the success of sales oriented organizations.

How Presales Department Supports Sales Team

• Improves Efficiency and Saves Time

Companies that intend to onboard new clients or close business deals need to ensure that their sales teams function effectively at all times. Presales departments can help sales teams by optimizing their efficiency and saving time. One way in which these departments can do this is by setting up tools such as: TextExpander for saving time, Paperflite for data centralization and analytics, Zoho CRM for setting up campaigns and managing leads and contacts, and Loom for recording and sharing videos with clients. For instance, a client named Kerry, who expanded 1160 snippets in a month, saved nearly 7 hours that month using TextExpander. This saved time was better utilized for connecting with new clients.

• Bridges the Gap Between Sales and Other Teams

Presales departments can also help in bridging the gap between sales and other teams such as marketing, operations (Ops), and accounts. For instance, if sales team decides to create a new website for increasing sales, it can involve the presales team along with the marketing team. This is because a presales team has expertise in conducting market and competitor research that is required for the successful creation of websites.

When it comes to Ops teams, especially in the IP domain, a presales team can be extremely helpful in extracting patent data using credible search tools. If need be, this team can also collaborate with accounts team.

• Analyzes Portfolios of Prospective Clients

Before closing a deal with a prospective client, the sales team must ensure that their portfolio has been analyzed. In the IP industry, it is crucial to evaluate the patent portfolios of prospects. A presales team can help in analyzing such portfolios using state-of-the-art tools such as PatSeer and Questel Orbit. Performing this analysis is critical for determining whether the prospect in question is a good fit for the company.

• Maps Projects Using Centralized Repository

A Presales team can support the sales department by maintaining a centralized repository of all the projects undertaken by a company. So, when a prospect approaches the sales team with a project, a quick search can be run to determine if the company has worked on a project similar to that of the prospect. In case it has, the same methodology or service can be used for saving time.

• Disseminates Relevant Information

Presales departments can help in disseminating industry-related information to companies or specific clients. One way of doing this is by creating client newsletters that can be distributed through various channels to keep the readers abreast of the latest happenings in their industries. For instance, in the IP industry, presales departments can help in preparing fortnightly or monthly newsletters for IP-related companies. The content of these newsletters can include IP-related topic of the fortnight/month, patent filing trends, IP news, articles, press releases, and other publications.

• Promotes and Advertises Content

In addition to playing the aforementioned roles, presales teams can also be actively involved in promoting and advertising content to reach the target audience along with the marketing team. By doing so, these teams can boost the company’s brand awareness, lead generation as well as conversions.

Conclusion

With an immense focus on the sales teams for closing deals and driving businesses, the presales departments are often left unnoticed. However, emphasizing on growing businesses without ensuring operational support for sales teams can eventually impact their ability to achieve sustainable growth. Since presales teams provide this support, it is imperative for both teams to work in collaboration for ensuring business growth.

• The Editorial Team

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