Role Analysis

Quick Tips to prepare for IT Pre Sales

Likely Companies where this role exists:

• Capgemini
• Cognizant
• HCL
• Indegene
• GaintView
• Hashedin
• IBM India
• Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
• Infosys
• Wipro Technologies
• Tech Mahindra
• Accenture
• Oracle India
• Microsoft India
• Dell Technologies India
• Cisco Systems India
• HP India
• VMware India

Likely roles offered by these Companies:

• Pre-Sales Engineer/Consultant
• Solution Architect
• Technical Sales Specialist
• Pre-Sales Manager
• Client Solutions Manager
• Sales Engineer
• Pre-Sales Analyst
• Cloud Solutions Architect
• Product Evangelist
• Technical Account Manager

Questions about industry/sector:

These questions are important to prepare as a business graduate. Recruiters expect you to have holistic view of the
problem/role.
Industry Understanding:
 Understanding the industry and key business drivers
 Key business trends in the industry
 Impact of Covid’19 on industry and response
 How critical are domain building activities to keep abreast of the IT industry?
Technology Trends:
 Latest technology trends
 AI, ML, Blockchain, Analytics – questions on these
 Business applications/use cases on above technologies
 What is SDLC and what are its different stages?
Sales Strategy
 How is selling in IT/ITeS companies different when compared to a product company?

This document has been created to provide you some guidance for quick preparation. The questions listed here are not exhaustive by any means and are not
unique/ specific to the mentioned companies. Also, companies are also indicative (not at all exhaustive) – they are used to provide you with better context for
preparation. Use your own judgment to prepare exhaustively. Do not circulate further – we have worked very hard to create this!
Role Analysis
 In case you are speaking to a client from Australia, how would your approach vary vs your approach for a client from
India?
 What do you understand of IT management services for life science company?
 What is the role of IT services in R&D. How would it help?
 What target segments of customers are important for our industry?
 What is the size of Indian IT industry with respect to Financial services? Who are the potential competitors who are
strong in Financial Services?
 Are there are any new FinTech startups with different business model who can potentially disrupt the IT services market
in Financial Sector?
 How do you perceive our position in the <XYZ> industry compared to competitors?
 What is your suggestion on best strategy to grow in this extremely competitive <XYZ> market?
 What are the major trends shaping the IT services industry?
 What are the business drivers for <specific industry>?
 What is the implication of such business drivers on IT initiatives?
 What is the impact of the pandemic on our client landscape and us?

Sales Roles Specifics

 Inside Sales:
- Which industry would you prospect first for a specific offering and why?
- For each industry, who are the key decision makers that we should include in our outreach?
- Can you identify the key IT needs for each industry?
- Can you map each of our solutions to the needs in the market?
 Pre-sales:
- Which of our differentiators matter most to each of our industry verticals?
- Which operating and pricing model is best suited for each industry?
 Sales:
- Which industry do you think has the highest buying power today?
- What are possible areas of a typical deal that we can compromise during a negotiation?

Questions about Role/Profile (Technical or Functional Questions):

These are direct role-based questions which one should be thoroughly prepared on:
Pre-Sales Overview and Role:
 What is Pre Sales and how is it relevant?
 Steps in Sales cycle and what role does the pre-sales team play in that
 How do you define pre-sales? Why are you interested?
 Why a move to pre-sales? To what extent have you worked with sales reps before?

Sales Cycle and RFP Understanding:

 What is RFP?
 What is the difference between RFP/RFI? At what stage are both released?
 What could be the biggest focus areas when you get a detailed RFP?
 In case you have created a response to an RFP that you are happy with and your management wants you to rework
on the whole thing, how would you convince them about your viewpoint?
 Describe a typical direct sales cycle?
 How would an indirect sales cycle differ?
 Can you gather information about our prospect? Which tools do you use to identify key stakeholders and their
contacts?
 What should the funnel look like at a prospect stage?
 How do you qualify a lead for further discussion?
 Can you extract the key client needs (both implicit and explicit) from a sample RFP?

This document has been created to provide you some guidance for quick preparation. The questions listed here are not exhaustive by any means and are not
unique/ specific to the mentioned companies. Also, companies are also indicative (not at all exhaustive) – they are used to provide you with better context for
preparation. Use your own judgment to prepare exhaustively. Do not circulate further – we have worked very hard to create this!
Role Analysis
 Who are the internal stakeholders that you think will need to contribute to the solutioning?
 Can you capture our value proposition and solution in ppt or word?
 Can you build bespoke commercial models?
 Can you maintain a bid tracker?
 What is a typical sales funnel for this offering in this geography?
 How do you run sales campaigns for increased pipeline?
 How do you plan to increase bookings without losing track of your revenue?
 How do you gather and analyze customer requirements to recommend appropriate solutions?

Technical Understanding and Contributions:

 What methodologies or frameworks do you use to assess the technical feasibility of a proposed solution?
 Describe a situation where you had to troubleshoot an issue or challenge during the pre-sales process?
 How do you collaborate with the sales team to ensure alignment between technical recommendations and
customer expectations?
 How do you contribute to the post-sales process, such as assisting with implementation or providing technical
support?
 How do you handle situations where the customer's budget is limited, but their expectations for the solution are
high?
 Can you share an experience where you had to navigate competing priorities and requirements from different
stakeholders while designing a solution?
 How do you handle objections or skepticism from customers who are resistant to change or hesitant to adopt new
technologies?
 Can you explain the architecture and components of a typical enterprise-level network infrastructure?
 Describe the process and considerations involved in designing a scalable and secure cloud infrastructure for a
customer.
 What are the key differences between traditional relational databases and NoSQL databases? When would you
recommend using one over the other?
 Explain the concept of virtualization and its benefits in an IT environment. How would you explain it to a non-
technical audience?
 Discuss the main features and advantages of software-defined networking (SDN) in modern IT infrastructures.
 How would you approach assessing a customer's network security posture and recommending appropriate security
solutions?
 Explain identity and access management (IAM) and its significance in ensuring secure access to resources in an
organization.

Case/Situation Based Questions:

• A customer is looking to upgrade their data storage infrastructure to accommodate their growing data volumes and
improve performance. How would you approach this situation? What key factors would you consider when assessing
the customer's storage needs and recommending an appropriate solution?
• A potential customer is concerned about the security of their network and data. They are interested in implementing a
comprehensive security solution. How would you address their concerns? What components or technologies would
you include in your recommended security solution, and how would you explain their benefits to the customer?
• A customer is considering migrating their on-premises infrastructure to the cloud but is hesitant due to concerns about
data privacy and compliance. How would you address these concerns? How would you explain the security and
compliance measures implemented by the cloud provider to alleviate the customer's concerns and build trust?
• A customer wants to optimize their network performance and ensure high availability for their critical applications.
They are considering implementing load balancing and failover solutions. How would you approach this situation?
What load balancing strategies or technologies would you recommend to the customer, and how would you explain
their impact on network performance and application availability?

Things to highlight from CV/Profile

This document has been created to provide you some guidance for quick preparation. The questions listed here are not exhaustive by any means and are not
unique/ specific to the mentioned companies. Also, companies are also indicative (not at all exhaustive) – they are used to provide you with better context for
preparation. Use your own judgment to prepare exhaustively. Do not circulate further – we have worked very hard to create this!
Role Analysis
This helps make your CV more relevant to the role, helping with shortlists

Professional Introduction and Domain Knowledge

 Brief about yourself (Elevator pitch aligned with role)
 Any domain knowledge about the domain (if available)
 Brief about your past projects in your company? Explain each of it.
 What was your specific role in each project?
 Skills and experience from the past that are relevant for Pre Sales
 Participation in different stages of SDLC
 Industry/competitor analysis and understanding
 Team and Coordination Activities
 Live projects/ Work experience and awards

Technical Certifications and Knowledge

 Compare and contrast Tech Certifications/Tech knowledge
 IT or Consulting experience, if any- ITIL
 Global Experience and Education
 Experience interacting with global clients
 Graduation- in IT/CS/Engineering fields

Pre Sales and Solution Experience

 Any pre-sales or solution creating experience
 Client management and requirement gathering
 User Experience design
 Presentation and pitching skills
 Fitting existing solutions or customizing them for new requirements

Skills and Competencies

MS Office skills
Commercial understanding
Technical expertise

Courses and Events

Courses like B2B, MoS, IT Outsourcing, Digital Sales
Events – sponsorship with businesses

This document has been created to provide you some guidance for quick preparation. The questions listed here are not exhaustive by any means and are not
unique/ specific to the mentioned companies. Also, companies are also indicative (not at all exhaustive) – they are used to provide you with better context for
preparation. Use your own judgment to prepare exhaustively. Do not circulate further – we have worked very hard to create this!