3. Pre-Sales Activity

 
In any discussion with a prospective client there will more than likely come a point when technical input is required. This can be in terms of contribution to teleconferences or face-to-face meetings. Clients often demand confirmation of capabilities in certain areas and it is up to the Operational staff to project that confidence and experience. Accordingly it is imperative that there are a number of Senior Consultants that can satisfactorily perform this role when needed.
 
The client Proposal is an extremely important document – it is possibly our main opportunity to impress on the prospective client our ability to perform the job in hand. In this respect it is vital to get professional input/validation of all of the claims made by the Salesperson. Additionally it is vital to get the ‘buy in’ of the operations department to the estimates of manpower being quoted. The consultants have a wealth of experience on testing assignments and their comments need to be acknowledged in the final documentation.
 
In some exceptional instances it may be appropriate that the Technical person creates the entire proposal because of the nature of the project. In these instances the remaining task for the Salesperson is to complete the commercials.