Solutions Consultants are critical to the operations and technical scope of new business opportunities.
With so many plates spinning and professional relationships to nurture, it’s not surprising that personal stresses or shortcomings impact the work SCs do every day. Dedicating time to growing as an individual can help them overcome these challenges and hone their craft.
Keep reading to learn how.
Professional Goals for SCs
You likely share high-level goals with colleagues in other departments, like improving productivity, becoming more efficient, and generating more revenue for your organization. But as a Solutions Consultant, you are also in the position of interfacing with lots of people internally, as well as customers and prospects. This presents a unique set of objectives, like:
- Strong communication. Key to being an SC is discovery: asking the right questions to potential customers and practicing active listening to understand pain points and business needs.
- Technical mastery. Demos aren’t just about showing what your product does. They’re about demonstrating how your product provides value for the specific issues the prospect is looking to solve. And that requires a level of product knowledge unmatched by most within your company.
- Internal alignment and collaboration. Success isn’t achieved alone — especially in B2B sales. With account executives, marketers, sellers, product developers, and folks from other departments sharing their skills, tools, and data, you can engage buyers more powerfully.
- Overcoming obstacles within the sales process. Solutions professionals are proactive and anticipate potential roadblocks before they happen. Thinking ahead and being prepared means these barriers aren’t as detrimental to the deal.
- Developing relationships with buyers. For a prospect to sign on the dotted line, they’ve got to trust you. And building trust means going beyond business and understanding not just what the buyers need from a solution, but who they are personally.
Personal Challenges that Get in the Way
Unfortunately, try as we might to have a work-life balance, feelings can often become an obstacle to motivation, productivity, and overall success on the job.
Things like imposter syndrome can strike without warning, making you doubt your skills, talents, and accomplishments and diminishing your confidence. And these insecurities hurt relationships — both internally with your colleagues and externally with potential and existing customers — and as a result, your ability to be effective at your job.
The more anxious and unsure you feel, the harder it is to communicate effectively and have the drive to fulfill your professional responsibilities. You may even have difficulty staying organized and managing your time. All of these factors can cause feelings of isolation, fear, and burnout.
Investing in Your Development Has Widespread Benefits
There will always be times where we feel insecure or overwhelmed in our lives and careers. But there are also ways to help manage those feelings, like professional development opportunities. Professional development helps SCs hone the skills critical to doing their job, while also educating them on how to deal with particularly stressful or frustrating situations.
With a firmer grasp on the essentials of the job, you:
- Make yourself more hirable by adding more skills and experience to your resume.
- Work smarter, not harder with best practices and tricks of the trade.
- Improve relationships with customers by learning empathy, active listening, and other crucial people skills.
- Become a better colleague and team player by understanding the role everyone plays to get deals across the finish line.
- Overcome imposter syndrome by building trust and connections with others.
And, ultimately, you remember why you chose this profession in the first place and regain your belief in yourself.
So, What are You Waiting For?
Investing in professional and personal development doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking. Every small step counts. And we’ve got the perfect opportunity for you to get started.
The first 2023 virtual PSC Summit will take place March 15, with the theme The Modern SC. From battling imposter syndrome to practical methods for staying healthy on the job, we’ll engage, inspire, and challenge the PreSales community to think more holistically about the relationship between their personal and professional lives.
Hear from professionals from PreSales Collective and our partners about how to improve your health and wellbeing at work and beyond. Save your spot today.