Welcome to the Art of Pre Sales, where technology meets storytelling, strategy, drives action and careers are transformed.

Here's your host, Shawn Hank, a Pre Sales engineering veteran with over 30 years of experience.

He'll be your guide to mastering the most exciting, challenging and rewarding role in tech.

Whether you're here to start a new journey, refine your skills, or become a leader in Pre Sales, you're in the right place.

Let's dive into today's episode and unlock the art of delivering world class solutions.

Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to you, wherever you may be.

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Art of Pre Sales podcast.

I'm your host, Shawn Hank, and for 30 years, pre sales has been my canvas.

Join me as we explore the approach, mindset, tools and skills that make Pre Sales not just a job, but an art form that turns daily challenges into extraordinary outcomes for you.

Before we dive into today's episode, I wanted to share the story behind the Art of Pre Sales and how it came into existence.

For the past five years, this podcast lived in my mind as a dream, an idea that kept nudging me, but never quite made it to reality for one reason or another.

Like many of you, I've always been drawn to podcasting's unique ability to build genuine connections and share stories that matter.

Throughout my 30 year journey in pre Sales engineering, I've witnessed firsthand how this field can transform careers and change lives.

I've had the privilege of coaching many individuals, watching them grow from curious newcomers to confident professionals.

Yet I kept seeing a crucial gap.

Our industry needs more diverse voices and perspectives.

And that's when it clicked.

By combining my passion for Pre Sales with my desire for a larger, more diverse and inclusive tech community, along with my love of technology and gadgetry, I could create something bigger than myself.

This podcast isn't just about sharing technical knowledge, strategies, techniques or career tips.

It's about opening doors and creating opportunities for everyone who deserves a seat at the table.

The moment I connected these dots, all of my hesitation and paralysis by analysis disappeared and this podcast was brought to life.

This show is my way of being a force multiplier, reaching, teaching and inspiring more people than I ever could.

One on one.

I'm thrilled to finally bring this vision to life.

And I'm grateful you're here to be part of this journey.

Together, we're not just talking about Pre Sales, we're building the future of our profession.

I'm committed to do my absolute best to ensure you get tons of value from this podcast and I will do everything I can to honor that commitment.

And now on with the show your.

Roadmap to Pre Sales success.

Learn, Grow Lead the Art of Pre.

Sales what exactly is Pre Sales engineering, you ask?

Presales Engineering, AKA Presales is the art of solving problems at the intersection of technology and business.

Think of it as being a technical storyteller, problem solver, translator, salesperson, product manager, marketer, engineer and trusted advisor all rolled into one.

At its core, Pre Sales engineers help companies solve real business problems using technology.

But it's also so much more than that.

We're the linchpins connecting technical capabilities with business needs, transforming complex features into tangible value, and providing world class experiences along the way.

Pre Sales Engineering is a job function found in several different industries that require bridging the gap between sales and complex technology solutions.

Helping organizations understand, evaluate and envision how products and services can solve their business problems through demonstrations, proof of concepts and consultative selling to drive successful sales outcomes.

Unlike break fix technical support which is reactive and after the sale, Pre Sales Engineers, AKA Sales Engineers or SES are proactive problem solvers who practice the art of the possible before the deal is closed and the prospect becomes a customer.

While sales focuses on closing deals, we're focused on ensuring the solution meets requirements, delivers value and exceeds expectations.

We're not just demonstrating features and functions, we're crafting solutions that solve real world problems that transform businesses.

Let me share a perfect example.

Sarah was a backend developer at a major financial institution.

She was brilliant with code but struggled with the bigger picture.

During requirements meetings she delved deep into technical specifications, oblivious to the business stakeholders eyes glazing over in disinterest or overwhelm.

Things changed after she spent three months in a cross training initiative with Chen, one of my pre sales engineers.

She watched him translate complex banking APIs into business value, manage multiple sales opportunities, navigate difficult conversations and build bridges between technical and business teams.

Sarah had what I call a light bulb moment and within six months she was leading solution design workshops with C level executives.

By connecting technical capabilities to business requirements, she took a payment processing platform on its last legs being and turned it into a $2 million revenue stream.

Her solution solved issues, challenges and pain points that stakeholders had been experiencing daily for many, many months.

I caught up with Sarah recently and learned that she now leads a team of solutions architects.

Yes, another name for pre sales engineers.

She told me that pre sales experience with Chen didn't just change my career path, it changed how I viewed technology's role in business.

I learned that the best solutions come from understanding people, not just APIs and code.

Presales isn't a job, it's a calling.

Explore it all on the Art of.

Presales Think about the last time you had to explain a complex technical concept to someone non technical.

How did you approach it?

What was the outcome?

How did they feel when you were done?

Were you successful in your explanation?

How do you know this is the.

Art of pre sales?

One of the things that sets Pre Sales apart is is that we work across the entire organization.

One day you might be deep in technical architecture discussions with engineering teams.

The next you're presenting ROI calculations to C level executives.

Another, you're gathering feedback from prospects, customers and partners and translating that into terms that product management teams can understand to churn out new features and capabilities.

You could also meet new people at a marketing event or a trade show and explain how your product or service works.

This versatility makes pre Sales such an exciting adventure that's constantly changing and keeping things fresh and new.

Let me share a story that perfectly illustrates the impact of pre sales engineering.

Early in my career, I worked with a manufacturing client struggling with significant production delays.

On the surface, it seemed like a simple efficiency problem, but through detailed discovery conversations, a key skill we'll discuss in a future episode, we uncovered something deeper.

Their production line had sensors generating valuable data that the management and executive teams didn't have any visibility into.

Different teams at different production phases manually enter data into spreadsheets for, and I'm putting this in air quotes, analysis.

The problem was that no analysis actually happened because the manual data entry took hours to complete and was prone to human error, creating massive delays in analysis and decision making.

Imagine how they felt knowing that the work they were doing was getting them nowhere.

Instead of focusing on the manual data entry problem everyone complained about, we went in a different direction.

After careful analysis and collaboration during several workshops, we designed an automated data pipeline that pulled all sensor data directly into a data warehouse to 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

That data warehouse was connected to an analytics and visualization platform that allowed us to create different real time dashboards to help the management and executive teams ask questions about their data across 20 different production lines.

They got answers about each production line's status, output and forecast, which empowered the leadership team to make informed, data driven decisions.

The outcomes the solution saved them nearly 5,000 labor hours.

In the following year, production output increased by 15%, adding millions of dollars in revenue to the bottom line.

And that's great for the business, but it gets even better.

Everyone involved in the project received positive performance reviews that resulted in individual pay raises and team bonuses that were paid out.

They also received recognition in the company newsletter and at the year end picnic, morale and loyalty were soaring to all time highs and employee turnover was at the lowest rate in two and a half years.

And as great as that was, it wasn't even the real win.

That came when the customer signed a three year contract, paid up front and told us that we would become their long term trusted strategic partner.

That's not just a technical win, that's business transformation.

And it's just one of many outcomes that can occur when one truly masters the art of Pre Sales Engineering Let me share another example that shows the human side of our impact.

I worked with Maria, a pre sales engineer specializing in health care technology.

She was brought into a regional hospital during their electronic medical record migration.

On the surface, it could have been just another software implementation, but Maria saw beyond the technical specs.

During discovery sessions, she noticed nurses constantly switching between five different views to document basic patient care, sometimes entering the same exact information into different applications.

One nurse, Jessica, spent nearly six hours of her 12 hour shift on documentation alone.

Instead of demonstrating the new EMR platform's features, Maria spent two days embedded in the nurses workflows.

She she shadowed night shifts, watch emergency responses, and identified dozens of micro frustrations in their existing processes.

The solution she designed didn't just move data, it transformed workflows with customized templates, voice dictation, mobile access, and communication with disparate platforms and systems.

It also included intelligent defaults based upon various procedure codes, all secured and encrypted to meet HIPAA requirements.

The results documentation time dropped from six hours to just over 30 minutes, which would be considered a win all on its own.

However, the tangible improvement in patient experience and care was the real impact.

Listen to what Jessica the nurse told Maria.

One of my patients is an elderly gentleman recovering from complications with heart surgery.

During a checkup, he told me something that I'll never forget.

He said, nurse Jessica, you're actually looking at me during this conversation instead of looking down at that computer screen.

That's when I realized this new technology wasn't just saving time, it was giving us back our ability to provide human care.

And you can't put a price on that.

The Art of Pre Sales.

Let'S talk about where presales engineering exists and thrives.

The beautiful thing about this career is its versatility.

Across many industries, wherever complex technology is needed to solve business problems, there's a need for pre sales engineers.

In traditional tech sectors like networking and cybersecurity, pre sales engineers are the backbone of successful sales organizations.

We're seeing explosive growth in emerging fields including big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, financial technologies, digital banking, healthcare, industrial automation, and sustainable energy solutions, to name a few.

All of these companies sell into and service other companies in a variety of industries and verticals, including high tech, software as a service, data management and data operations, IT service management, robotic process automation, telecommunications, manufacturing, energy and utilities, retail and e commerce, education, transportation and logistics, media and entertainment, construction and real estate, software development and more.

What's exciting is how these industries are evolving.

The rise of cloud computing, digital transformation and artificial intelligence means that companies need skilled pre sales engineers who can navigate technical complexity and business strategy while presenting solutions clearly, cogently and confidently.

Your roadmap to pre sales success Learn, Grow Lead the Art of Pre Sales.

Which of these industries catches your attention?

Connect with me on LinkedIn and let me know.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

You can find my profile at www.LinkedIn.com inshawnhank or feel free to leave me a voice message on the podcast website theart of presales.com presales isn't a job, it's a calling.

Explore it all on the Art of.

Presales I'd like to share what I believe to be the top three essential skills or traits that set successful pre sales engineers apart from the rest of the field.

Consider this a teaser for our upcoming Deep Dive episode on SE skills that will be available soon.

Number one Curiosity paired with problem solving Number two Strategic storytelling and number three adaptable intelligence.

I'll break these down and share a story or two to illustrate why These traits are, in my humble opinion, the top three traits that make the difference between successful sales engineers and those who are not.

First curiosity paired with Problem solving.

This is really a two for one.

The best pre sales engineers are naturally curious.

They're always wondering or asking why, how and what if.

They don't just identify problems, they get excited about solving them.

I'm going to tell you a story that illustrates this key trait.

There was a fast growing SaaS company who approached us for a cloud storage solution.

During the discovery phase of the opportunity, their usage patterns caught my attention.

I asked a few different questions that were beyond the standard script that we had.

Why do your development teams access these data sets so frequently?

What happens during peak development cycles?

How do teams handle code merges across time zones?

Walking through their office, I saw developers playing ping pong, taking long lunches and clustered around coffee machines.

Their CTO explained, oh, that's sync 30, their nickname for a daily two or three hour period of time when engineers were blocked waiting for code repositories to sync across global regions.

Their storage problem masked a larger issue.

Global development teams were losing three to four hours daily waiting for these syncs to complete.

They had normalized this inefficiency, building their culture around these delays.

But by combining curiosity with problem solving, our team proposed our distributed edge computing platform with integrated development environments instead of basic storage.

And the results were clear.

Build times dropped by 82%, developer productivity increased 40% and release frequency doubled.

Best of all, team morale soared because developers could still enjoy their ping pong matches and coffee breaks now as genuine downtime rather than forced waiting periods.

As you can see, curiosity uncovers hidden challenges while problem solving creates innovative solutions.

Together, they transform an SE from a technical expert into a trusted advisor.

This is the art of pre sales.

Let's talk about trait number two, strategic storytelling.

Strategic storytelling makes the complex simple and the abstract concrete.

It creates what I refer to as light bulb moments by showcasing your product or service in a way that everyone can relate to.

When done correctly, people in different departments across the business will be able to see how your solution solves their challenges.

And this is key in the context of their role within the company.

Joe was a brilliant SE who was struggling with the manufacturing opportunity despite his technical expertise.

During his first demo, he perfectly presented every feature.

Network architecture, data pre processing and API integration.

The technical team was impressed, but the deal stalled.

Over coffee, Joe said, I don't get it.

I showed them everything our platform can do and that's when I shared the concept of strategic storytelling with him.

Joe took that conversation to heart and at the next meeting came up with a completely different approach.

He opened with the story.

Imagine it's 3am, your production line is down, your team is scrambling, customers are waiting, and every minute is costing you thousands.

Now imagine our predictive maintenance solution, flagging down a bearing failure two weeks earlier, allowing you to handle that situation during a scheduled maintenance period.

That's exactly what happened with Company x.

They saved $2.8 million in prevented downtime last year.

Joe wove technical features into this narrative, showing how each prevented that 3am crisis.

The demo had dramatic impact.

The plant manager leaned in and said, that's exactly what keeps me up at night.

The maintenance lead shared similar scenarios, and the CFO, who wasn't present at the first meeting, started calculating ROI on the spot.

The deal closed two weeks later, 40% larger because stakeholders saw themselves in the solution.

Again, Joe didn't just demonstrate features, he showed a future without their pain points, and that won the day.

While technical expertise opens doors, strategic storytelling gets signatures.

It transforms features into solutions, specifications into outcomes, and products into stories that resonate with every decision maker.

The Art of Pre Sales.

Let'S talk about the third key trait, adaptable intelligence.

This isn't about knowing everything, it's about knowing how to learn anything.

Technology changes fast and the ability to adapt and grow is crucial.

It's not what you know.

There will always be more intelligent, experienced and capable people out there.

Your job as an SE is to understand how to relate to these better folks so you can accomplish your goal of completing the sale and marking the opportunity as closed 1 here's another story about Tom that illustrates what I mean by adaptable intelligence.

After 22 years of architecting network infrastructure, Tom was at a crossroads.

His company was pivoting heavily into AI and machine learning solutions, and at 54, he was worried his career in pre sales might be winding down.

I looked at all these young AI specialists, tom told me, with their data science and machine learning degrees and thought, how can I possibly compete?

Tom didn't have these degrees or certifications, but he did have something these young folks didn't two decades of understanding how enterprises adopt new technology.

And instead of retreating, he leaned hard into his pre sales instincts.

He spent his evenings learning Python and basic machine learning concepts, but more importantly, he studied how AI projects succeeded or failed in large enterprise organizations.

He learned that technical challenges weren't killing AI projects.

Governance, change management, and user adoption were.

Today, Tom leads AI readiness workshops for Fortune 500 companies.

His last project helped one company save $12 million in AI implementation costs by identifying adoption barriers before they spent a dollar on the technology.

Age isn't the barrier I thought it was, tom said in pre Sales.

Our superpower isn't knowing everything.

It's being adaptable and knowing how to learn anything.

How to connect the dots that others miss, how to and how to bring people along the journey.

Your roadmap to pre sales success Learn, Grow, Lead the Art of Pre Sales.

We've covered quite a bit of ground today, and at the same time I feel like we've barely scratched the surface.

Thankfully, I have more episodes for you to listen to very soon.

We started today's episode by exploring what pre sales engineering really is, that unique intersection of technology and business where problems get solved and value gets created.

We learned that pre sales engineers are more than just technical experts or demo specialists.

They're bridge builders connecting complex capabilities to real world business needs.

Through stories, we saw the transformative impact that pre sales can have.

A manufacturing plant that turned data chaos into operational excellence, a developer who evolved into a business leader, A healthcare implementation that gave nurses more time with patients and improved patient experience and care.

We also discussed a few of the industries that leverage the pre sales engineering function, from traditional tech sectors like networking and cybersecurity to emerging fields like healthcare technology, sustainable energy and AI.

We also discuss three key traits that set successful sales engineers curiosity paired with problem solving, strategic storytelling and adaptable intelligence.

We use strategic storytelling to illustrate the power of these three traits.

These weren't just stories, they were well crafted examples showing how these crucial skills work in the real world.

Just as the plant manager saw himself in Joe's 3am scenario.

I hope you've seen yourself in these stories and glimpsed the potential impact of mastering these skills.

But most importantly, we've seen that pre sales is all about creating meaningful change.

Whether saving thousands of dollars in labor hours, improving patient and customer experiences, or helping someone advance in their career.

If you're feeling excited about the possibilities, you should be.

As I said earlier, pre sales engineering isn't just a job, it's a rewarding and fulfilling career that combines technology, strategy and human connection in a way that few others do.

Pre sales isn't a job, it's a calling.

Expl it all on the Art of.

Pre Sales thank you for spending your valuable time, attention and energy with me today on the Art of Pre Sales podcast.

I've said it before and I'll continue saying it until you're sick of hearing it.

Pre sales isn't just about technology, it's about empowering people, driving innovation, and creating real value.

With every solution you design and every challenge you tackle, you're shaping the future of industries and changing lives.

This grand adventure thrives on curiosity, growth and collaboration.

Because no one succeeds alone.

We're all in this together and it does truly take all of us.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it on your social channels and recommending it to your friends, family and co workers.

This is a one person operation.

Your support means the world to me.

It also lets me know that I'm on the right track.

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you can listen to future episodes as we post them.

Until next time, stay thirsty, be bold, keep pushing the limits of your comfort zone and never stop mastering the Art of Presales.

Thanks for tuning in to the Art of Presales if today's episode brought you value, share it with a colleague or a friend exploring this incredible career.

Visit the art of presales.com for upcoming resources, guides and tools to accelerate your journey.

Until next time, keep pushing limits, mastering your craft, and turning technical excellence into world class solutions.