In this episode of The Wandering Tech Podcast, Lidia and Paul dive deep into the ongoing debate about the Chief Solutions Officer (CSO) role and its place in modern organizations. Drawing from their experiences at companies like VMware and various SaaS organizations, they explore whether this emerging C-suite position is truly necessary or just a 'nice to have'.

Key discussion points:

• The challenges of measuring trust and other proposed CSO metrics
• How organizational structure influences pre-sales priorities and values
• The evolution from traditional pre-sales to broader solution roles
• Why infrastructure companies might approach technical sales differently
• The balance between revenue focus and technical expertise
• Compensation models and risk-taking in pre-sales roles

Featured links & references:

• James Kaikis' blog post on Test Box about CSO role: https://www.testbox.com/post/chief-solutions-officer
• Customer Success book mentioned in the episode: Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue
• Connect with the hosts:
  • Lidia on LinkedIn
  • Paul on LinkedIn
• Website: solutionspathfinders.com

Think the Chief Solutions Officer role is the future or are we barking up the wrong tree? Connect with us on LinkedIn and share your thoughts!

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/mountaineer/milky-way

License code: GD2AS1RU1MVSELY3

In this episode of the Wandering Tech Podcast, Lidia and Paul chat about DEMOFESTxLondon 2024 with Lidia going through the event in rapid-fire action.

She shares highlights from the event, including the keynote by Consensus' new CEO, insights on demo automation, and strategies for scaling pre-sales impact.

They discuss the evolving role of pre-sales, the growing importance of asynchronous buyer journeys, and key takeaways from presenters like Nikhil, Natasja, and Max. Lidia also covers the Women in Tech session and Rew's energetic closing talk.

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Links:

Want to connect with us? Find us on LinkedIn:

Lidia & Paul

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/mountaineer/milky-way

License code: GD2AS1RU1MVSELY3

In this special 20th episode of The Wandering Tech Podcast, Lidia and Paul chat about DEMOFESTxLondon 2023, followed by the usual AI Therapy conversation and accompanied by a very quiet Danish cat.

The duo dives into their memories from last year’s DEMOFEST in London. From Garen Hess’s keynote on guided tours to Lidia’s jam-packed session, they highlight the energy and insights that made the event unforgettable. Adam Freeman’s talk on extreme ownership also gets a shout-out, along with the evolution of AI in pre-sales from last year’s whispers to this year’s hot topic.

Please connect with us and leave us a review on your platform of choice.

Want to hear more from us? Subscribe to our Newsletter:

https://thediscoverydigest.substack.com

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:38 - Recap from DEMOFESTxLondon 2023

00:39:40 - AI Therapy

Links:

Folks mentioned on the podcast:

Garin Hess

Adam Freeman

Rob Dean

Elisa Seghetti

Link to the infamous first time Lidia and Paul met

Want to connect with us? Find us on LinkedIn:

Lidia & Paul

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/mountaineer/milky-way

License code: GD2AS1RU1MVSELY3