Wow. When Yuji and I formally launched this community in early 2020, we never dreamed it would blossom into the amazing group it is today. While the PreSales profession has been around for decades, there has never been a dedicated community for PreSales professionals to come together, learn and grow.

PreSales Collective is now over 15,000 members strong. And as this community continues to grow, we want to ensure we’re creating intentional space to reflect on the accomplishments and progress we’re driving as a community and keeping you in the know for what’s on the horizon. These past few months have seen some incredible momentum.

• We launched PreSales Academy, our 10-week online reskilling program designed to diversify and grow available talent in the PreSales profession. Our goal is to make the PreSales profession accessible for aspiring professionals, no matter their background. With the support of partners like Great Demo, 2Win and MindTickle, we’ve kicked off our first cohort who have launched head first into the program and will be graduating in November.
• Our WISE (Women in Solutions Excellence) and DEEI (Diversity, Equality, Equity, and Inclusion) councils are continuing to grow. As with PSA, our main mission with these groups is to create safe spaces for diverse PreSales professionals and allies to connect and grow. We want to continue elevating professionals from different backgrounds and showcasing a true diversity of voices within the PreSales profession.
• As the PSC community grows, so does the PSC team. In July, we hired Kevin Mefford as our Head of Community. As a leader in our Local Austin chapter, and a longtime member of the PreSales community, we knew Kevin would be a great fit for our team and enable us to continue delivering exceptional programming for the community.

And looking ahead at the next few months, the momentum only continues. There is so much to get involved with, but here are the highlights we’d recommend checking out.

• Executive Summit, November 8, 9, and 10 - If you’re a PreSales Leader, you don’t want to miss our second annual Executive Summit. As the world of work continues to shift, it’s becoming more difficult to drive innovation, motivate teams, and close revenue. Spend three half-days learning from the top minds in PreSales and connecting with peers.
• As always, we have so many upcoming events for the PSC Community and PSC Local chapters - from book clubs and fireside chats to virtual coffee and meetups.
• With the help of our partners, we’re also working on some new research:
• State of the Product Demo in 2022 - We’re conducting thought-provoking research to understand the changing role of product demos and how it impacts the role of PreSales professionals in the modern sales cycle. Please complete this quick survey and get yourself on the list to receive the results which will be released in November.
• We’ve also partnered with the Sales Talent Agency to take a look at diversity and inclusion in the PreSales profession today. This report, which will be released by the end of October, will provide hard numbers on the current makeup of PreSales professionals and how the growing demand for PreSales talent presents both opportunities and struggles to create a more diverse PreSales profession.
• Finally, our first PreSales Academy cohort will be graduating in November. If your organization is looking for fresh PreSales talent, visit presalesacademy.com/companies to get in touch about tapping into this new stream of talent. We’re excited to help these graduates in their next step in the journey in the PreSales community.

There’s never been a better time to be a PreSales professional - and there’s never been a better time to be part of the PreSales Collective. As the role of the PreSales professional becomes more important and the demand for this talent grows, we remain committed to supporting the PreSales community with resources, knowledge and mentorship. Whether you’re a member of the PreSales Academy cohort to a seasoned PreSales leader - PreSales Collective is here for you. Thank you for being part of this incredible community.

James

James Kaikis & Yuji Higashi

Wow. When Yuji and I formally launched this community in early 2020, we never dreamed it would blossom into the amazing group it is today. While the PreSales profession has been around for decades, there has never been a dedicated community for PreSales professionals to come together, learn and grow.

PreSales Collective is now over 15,000 members strong. And as this community continues to grow, we want to ensure we’re creating intentional space to reflect on the accomplishments and progress we’re driving as a community and keeping you in the know for what’s on the horizon. These past few months have seen some incredible momentum.

• We launched PreSales Academy, our 10-week online reskilling program designed to diversify and grow available talent in the PreSales profession. Our goal is to make the PreSales profession accessible for aspiring professionals, no matter their background. With the support of partners like Great Demo, 2Win and MindTickle, we’ve kicked off our first cohort who have launched head first into the program and will be graduating in November.
• Our WISE (Women in Solutions Excellence) and DEEI (Diversity, Equality, Equity, and Inclusion) councils are continuing to grow. As with PSA, our main mission with these groups is to create safe spaces for diverse PreSales professionals and allies to connect and grow. We want to continue elevating professionals from different backgrounds and showcasing a true diversity of voices within the PreSales profession.
• As the PSC community grows, so does the PSC team. In July, we hired Kevin Mefford as our Head of Community. As a leader in our Local Austin chapter, and a longtime member of the PreSales community, we knew Kevin would be a great fit for our team and enable us to continue delivering exceptional programming for the community.

And looking ahead at the next few months, the momentum only continues. There is so much to get involved with, but here are the highlights we’d recommend checking out.

• Executive Summit, November 8, 9, and 10 - If you’re a PreSales Leader, you don’t want to miss our second annual Executive Summit. As the world of work continues to shift, it’s becoming more difficult to drive innovation, motivate teams, and close revenue. Spend three half-days learning from the top minds in PreSales and connecting with peers.
• As always, we have so many upcoming events for the PSC Community and PSC Local chapters - from book clubs and fireside chats to virtual coffee and meetups.
• With the help of our partners, we’re also working on some new research:
• State of the Product Demo in 2022 - We’re conducting thought-provoking research to understand the changing role of product demos and how it impacts the role of PreSales professionals in the modern sales cycle. Please complete this quick survey and get yourself on the list to receive the results which will be released in November.
• We’ve also partnered with the Sales Talent Agency to take a look at diversity and inclusion in the PreSales profession today. This report, which will be released by the end of October, will provide hard numbers on the current makeup of PreSales professionals and how the growing demand for PreSales talent presents both opportunities and struggles to create a more diverse PreSales profession.
• Finally, our first PreSales Academy cohort will be graduating in November. If your organization is looking for fresh PreSales talent, visit presalesacademy.com/companies to get in touch about tapping into this new stream of talent. We’re excited to help these graduates in their next step in the journey in the PreSales community.

There’s never been a better time to be a PreSales professional - and there’s never been a better time to be part of the PreSales Collective. As the role of the PreSales professional becomes more important and the demand for this talent grows, we remain committed to supporting the PreSales community with resources, knowledge and mentorship. Whether you’re a member of the PreSales Academy cohort to a seasoned PreSales leader - PreSales Collective is here for you. Thank you for being part of this incredible community.

James

James Kaikis & Yuji Higashi