Welcome back to "Altar of the Demo Gods"! In this episode, Keith Wilson and John Morton dive deep into the world of public speaking, especially focusing on its relevance and benefits for sales engineers and technical sales professionals. They explore why public speaking is crucial in building confidence, enhancing personal brand, and establishing oneself as a thought leader in the industry.

Key Highlights:

• Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking: Keith and John discuss common fears associated with public speaking and provide practical tips to conquer them, emphasizing the importance of public speaking in sales and technical roles.
• Structuring Your Presentation: Learn how to effectively structure presentations to keep the audience engaged, including tips on slide design and delivering your message concisely.
• Building Confidence and Exposure: Discover how public speaking can significantly boost your professional confidence and increase your visibility in the industry.
• Engaging Your Audience: Insights into engaging various audience types and making your presentations memorable through storytelling and relevant analogies.

Join Keith and John as they provide a comprehensive guide to mastering public speaking, making it an invaluable tool for anyone in technical sales.

In this episode of Altar of the Demo Gods, hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton delve into the critical topic of customer retention in technical sales. They discuss the importance of building and maintaining strong relationships with customers, the role of customer success, and strategies for ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty. The hosts share their insights on the significance of being proactive in addressing customer needs and the impact of customer retention on business success.

Welcome to Episode 20 of Altar of the Demo Gods, where hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive into the world of channel partnerships and the role of Value-Added Resellers (VARs) in sales engineering. This episode explores the importance of building and maintaining strong relationships with channel partners and how they can impact your sales strategy.

Key Highlights:

• Understanding the different types of channel partners and their roles.
• Strategies for identifying and selecting the right channel partners.
• The importance of education and training in building successful channel partnerships.
• Real-world experiences and tips for managing channel partner relationships.

Welcome to Episode 19 of Altar of the Demo Gods, where hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive into the importance of team synergy and collaboration in sales engineering. This episode explores how working effectively with sales counterparts, technical teams, and product teams can lead to successful outcomes.

Key Highlights:

• The significance of cross-functional collaboration in sales engineering.
• Strategies for building a culture of collaboration within an organization.
• The importance of clear communication and building trust with various teams.
• Real-world examples of how collaboration has led to successful sales engineering outcomes.

Welcome to Episode 18 of Altar of the Demo Gods, where hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive into the art of negotiation within the realm of sales engineering. This episode is packed with insights, stories, and strategies on how to navigate negotiations effectively.

Key Highlights:

• The importance of documentation in building value and leverage in negotiations.
• How to approach negotiations with a non-adversarial mindset, focusing on mutual benefits.
• The role of trust and rapport in making negotiations smoother.
• Real-world examples of negotiations in technical sales, including proof of concept timelines and feature enhancements.
• The significance of ethics and integrity in negotiations, ensuring that both parties win.

Welcome to Episode 17 of Altar the Demo Gods, where hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive deep into the world of sales engineering. In this episode, we discuss the often dreaded but necessary part of the sales process: RFx responses, with a particular focus on RFIs (Request for Information).

Key Highlights:

• The hierarchy of sales engineer preferences: in-person customer meetings, remote customer meetings, internal meetings, and cold calls to prospects.
• The importance of understanding customer needs through gap analysis and collaboration in solution design.
• A deep dive into RFx responses, particularly RFIs, and why they're considered a necessary evil in the sales process.
• Strategies for managing and responding to RFIs, including the use of AI tools and creating a repository of question and answer pairs.
• The significance of clear and concise communication in collaborating with team members, especially when dealing with high-level executives.

Acronym of the Week: RFI - Request for Information

Next Week's Topic: Negotiations - a crucial aspect of the sales process that can be both challenging and rewarding.

In this episode of Altar of the Demo Gods, join experienced sales engineers Keith Wilson and John Morton as they dive deep into the world of solution design. They share their insights on the importance of discovery, gap analysis, and establishing a genuine partnership with clients. Learn how architecture whiteboarding can be a powerful tool in understanding and addressing customer needs. Plus, get a sneak peek into what's coming up in the next episode on RFX responses. Whether you're a sales professional or just interested in the intricacies of technical sales, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways.

In this week's episode, Keith and John discuss the importance of the discovery process in sales. They emphasize the need to identify pain points, build relationships, and approach objections with empathy. The discovery process sets the foundation for successful sales conversations and helps sales professionals understand their customers better. Tune in to learn how to navigate the discovery phase effectively and set the stage for closing deals.