ClearTalk

How do you manage pre-sales engineering in your integration business?

Pre-sales engineering is a very important and expensive resource that technology integration companies need to use.

But it’s a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, an integrator is better served when the sales team brings pre-sales engineers into the conversation with the customers. They write a better scope of work, and they do the design upfront.

On the other hand, the more project engineering you do before a contract is sold, the more amount of money you risk losing if you do not win that contract.

When do you stop calling it pre-sales engineering and start calling it project engineering? 

We’ll give you one clue – 

It's not when the contract is sold. 

“It's where you move from maybe a block diagram to a line or where you move from general to specific kind of design. It’s not about when the contract is sold as to when you’re doing project engineering,” says Harris.

“The companies that do it very well achieve balance,” adds Dempsey “There's no clear KPI that we can say, ‘You should be spending X percent of your costs on pre-sales engineers, or you should be converting 70%.’ It really depends, and it's something that needs to be looked at on a regular basis and analyzed by the management team.”

Your percent of win rate will ultimately determine the cost of pre-sales engineering to your sales efforts.

So, this is a very important ratio to maintain and understand - the utilization, and the effective utilization of your pre-sales engineers. 

Listen to the podcast for all this a more!

If you are planning on selling your integration business in the future, what are the things you can do today, to drive the maximum valuation?
 
M&A activity in the integration industry has been rampant over the last few years. Solutions360 sees both a size and scale play driving these acquisitions, coupled with an industry that has owners wanting to sell. As a result, we do not expect integrator M&As to slow down any time soon.

In a previous episode, we defined the internal and external factors that impact the valuation of your company. These are the factors that a potential buyer will look at to determine the value of your business.

On today’s episode, Brad Dempsey and Joel Harris continue that conversation, and drill down on the internal factors. These are the things you can control that will drive maximum valuation for your integration company.

“Internal factors are all about taking risks out of my business. The more risk I eliminate from my business, the more my business is worth.”  Joel Harris
 
3 internal factors that drive maximum valuation for integrators:
1. Show steady earnings
You don’t want earnings to bounce all over the place, even if they are, on average, in an upward trend.

2. Higher growth rates equal a higher valuation
Historical growth rates are not a bad thing, but you are selling the future growth of your business, not the past.

3. Demonstrate sustainable growth
This is important because a buyer wants results that are going to be just as predictable as under new ownership. We will talk more about this in a future podcast, but this includes building out an executive leadership team and putting processes in place that enable an integrator to create a sustainable business.

Also on the podcast –

What are some of the things that should cause concern when you’re looking at an integration company to acquire?

Even if you are not interested in selling your integration business, this podcast is for anyone wanting to run an integration business with long-term profitability in mind.

Listen to the podcast for all this and more!

On today's episode - Brad Malone invites first time guest, Patrick Britton from Navigate Management Consulting to discuss the importance of a continuous learning culture, continuous process improvement and the model of Kaizen. 

Tune in to learn more!

On this episode of ClearTalk - Brad Dempsey and Joel Harris discuss acquisitions in the integration industry - What to expect, valuations and how to navigate the process.

On this episode of ClearTalk - Brad Dempsey and Joel Harris discuss collecting deposits for your integration projects. The pair chat about best practices, industry habits and the benefits of collecting cash up front.

On this episode of ClearTalk, Brad Dempsey has the pleasure of introducing the new President of Solutions360 and long time ClearTalk guest - Joel Harris. The pair discuss the fundamental difference between labor capacity and utilization.

On this episode of ClearTalk, our very own Tofiq Indawala is joined by Brad Malone from Navigate Management Consulting to talk about Project Management problems.

On this episode of ClearTalk, our CEO, Brad Dempsey, is joined by Brad Malone from Navigate Management Consulting to talk about conflict in a project driven organization.

On this episode of the ClearTalk podcast; The tables turn as Brad Dempsey becomes the interviewee - Brad Malone asks Solutions360's CEO about the implementation and go-live process for Q360. 

This week on ClearTalk, Tofiq Indawala is joined by Brad Malone to discuss the importance of WIP Management.