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TL;DR:
Misalignment between pre-sales and sales on customer pain points causes longer sales cycles and poor handoffs—stay aligned by collaborating early, using a one-view platform like Stellafai, and co-creating solutions.
A problem that’s all too common but rarely addressed head-on: the misalignment between pre-sales and sales teams. It might sound harmless, but when these teams aren’t on the same page about customer pain points and solutions, the consequences are costly. Think extended sales cycles, poorly qualified opportunities, and chaotic handoffs to post-sales teams that frustrate everyone, including the customer.
So, how do you keep everyone rowing in the same direction? Here’s how you can align your pre-sales and sales teams to build a more efficient, seamless process that leads to faster deals and happier customers.
1. Establish a Single Source of Truth
The first step to alignment is making sure everyone is working from the same playbook—literally. One of the biggest pitfalls is when pre-sales and sales have different understandings of what the customer’s pain points are and how your solution addresses them. When these teams are siloed, pre-sales might zero in on technical details, while sales is focused on high-level business outcomes, leaving the customer confused and unconvinced.
To avoid this, you need a single platform where all teams can access the same information in real-time. This is where platforms like Stellafai come in. Stellafai offers a unified view of your organisation’s goals, customer data, and insights, allowing pre-sales and sales to work together seamlessly. It provides a shared understanding of both the customer’s pain points and the proposed solution, keeping everyone aligned throughout the sales process. No more back-and-forth or mixed messages.
💡 Actionable Tip: Sign up to a shared platform like Stellafai (which is free and unlimited in usage) to ensure that everyone is working from the same set of customer insights. Regularly update these insights so pre-sales and sales have the most current understanding of the customer’s challenges and objectives.
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2. Collaborate Early and Often on Discovery
Misalignment often starts at the discovery phase. If sales and pre-sales aren’t collaborating early on, you’ll end up with miscommunication that’s hard to fix down the road. Sales teams may focus on getting quick wins, while pre-sales teams might dive too deeply into technical solutions without fully understanding the customer’s business challenges.
Here’s the fix: sales and pre-sales should partner closely during the discovery process. This doesn’t mean every meeting needs both teams, but it does mean sharing findings and having a joint discussion on the customer’s specific pain points. Sales provides context on business goals, and pre-sales can layer in the technical feasibility and potential solutions. That way, when it’s time to pitch a solution, both teams are aligned and the message to the customer is clear.
💡 Actionable Tip: Set up regular syncs between pre-sales and sales to go over discovery findings before jumping into solutioning. Encourage open dialogue where each team can challenge assumptions or ask clarifying questions.
3. Co-Create Customer-Focused Solutions
Once you’ve nailed the discovery process, it’s time to work together on the solution. But here’s the catch: if pre-sales and sales approach solutioning in isolation, you’re bound to run into issues. Pre-sales might craft a solution that’s too complex, while sales may focus on something that doesn’t fully address the customer’s technical needs.
The key is to co-create solutions that are tailored to the customer’s pain points and business goals. Sales teams should provide insight into what will resonate with decision-makers, while pre-sales ensures the solution is technically sound and achievable. Both teams need to buy into the final solution before presenting it to the customer.
4. Seamless Handoffs to Post-Sales Teams
Alignment isn’t just critical for closing the deal—it’s also vital for a smooth handoff to your post-sales team. If sales and pre-sales don’t communicate effectively, post-sales teams are left scrambling, trying to piece together what was promised and why the customer bought in the first place. This leads to a disjointed customer experience, frustration, and even churn.
Ensure your handoffs are structured and consistent. Create a handoff process where pre-sales, sales, and post-sales teams document and share critical information, such as the customer’s pain points, the solution sold, and key expectations. Provide an end-to-end view of the customer’s journey, from the first interaction to the final handoff, ensuring nothing gets lost in translation.
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5. Measure and Iterate
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. After aligning your teams and processes, it’s crucial to continuously monitor performance and gather feedback. Look for signs of misalignment—are sales cycles still too long? Are post-sales teams reporting that customers aren’t clear on the solution they bought? If so, tweak your processes.
Regularly reviewing key metrics like opportunity qualification rates, deal velocity, and customer satisfaction will help you identify areas for improvement. Encourage open communication between teams to surface any misalignment early on.
💡 Actionable Tip: There are lots of different ways to create and track metrics: OKRs, SMART goals, BHAGs, V2MOMs
The Bottom Line: Alignment Is Everything
In the end, the key to avoiding extended sales cycles, poorly qualified opportunities, and messy handoffs lies in alignment. When pre-sales and sales teams are on the same page—using the same data, collaborating at key stages, and co-creating solutions—the entire process runs smoother.
Platforms like Stellafai make this level of alignment possible by offering a single source of truth for your entire organisation. With everyone working from the same insights and goals, you’ll close deals faster, qualify better opportunities, and provide a seamless experience for your customers from pre-sales to post-sales.
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