Summary
The Software Solution Advisor (SSA) role focuses on pre-sales solution design. This role is responsible for working with internal and external sales teams to plan and organize sales strategies. The incumbent analyzes the sales environment including customer expectations, competitive environment as well as the customer's technical environment and business drivers and defines actions to be performed in the sales cycle timeframe.
The SSA is a field-based technical pre-sales role. They are expected to spend the majority of their time engaged with CDW customers, sellers & partners in their assigned local markets. The SSA develops and maintains strategic relationships with sales & leadership of the teams they support and is seen as a trusted advisor to grow business. The SSA is expected to be subject matter expert in multiple families of solutions. The incumbent in this role operates independently using standard approaches, existing tools, templates, and resources; shares knowledge and information that may benefit the team.
Main areas of responsibility will be high level of experience with and understanding of:
- Application Modernization
- Automation
- Security & Management
- AIOps/Observability
The Software SA will have deep knowledge of DevOps and will focus software pre-sales and design of technologies such as OpenShift, Tanzu, Rancher, Docker, Ansible, Puppet, HashiCorp, GitHub, GitLab, Prisma, Sysdig, Sonatype, Elastic, Cisco FSO, Dynatrace, Logicmonitor
The Software Solution Advisor (SSA) role focuses on pre-sales solution design for CDW’s current and emerging portfolio of modern technologies. This role will have a specific focus on assisting our customers and sellers in qualifying and identifying opportunities with the DevOps stack including initiatives around Orchestration, Infrastructure as Code, Container Security, & Application Performance as well as related tools and both internal and external consulting and service delivery partners. This role is seen as a trusted advisor to grow business. As a Software Solution Advisor, you will understand our client's environment and high level infrastructure. You will own the process of developing scopes of work and contribute to the sale of adjacent service opportunities.
Key Areas of Responsibility
- Educates Account Managers by conducting short training classes on Data OR DevOps products - Explains features, benefits, and technical specifications of Data OR DevOps products and solutions
- Identifies solutions for primary technology products and services
- Contributes to the team’s knowledge base and readily shares knowledge with other Solution Architects, Advisors and Account Managers
- Attends mandatory trainings
- Attain mid tier level partner certifications
- Is a passionate learner who demonstrates continuous learning by proactively expanding technical depth in products, solutions, and services.
- Assists customers in understanding their equipment maintenance contracts, upgrade needs, and renewals; analyzes the most cost-effective approach for the customer (e.g., renew the contract or purchase new equipment and contract.)
- Articulates to customers the Practice’s value proposition; articulates audience-centric version of the value proposition to customers, account managers, and partners and uses it to generate additional revenue opportunities for CDW.
- Leads business-focused technology solution presentations at CDW, Customer, and Partner events and meetings in your territory.
- Collaborates with Partners, other Solution Advisors or Architects and Account Executives to drive mapped opportunities; fine tunes strategies and approaches to achieve greater sales results.
- Operates in a regular cadence with multiple partners to educate, plan, and execute on joint strategies in collaboration with multiple stakeholders ; understands partner alignment in geography and leads customer opportunity mapping exercises; coordinates on-site partner visits.
- Identifies cross sell-and/or up-sell opportunities for an engagement, equips/assists FSAs and Sales to pursue it.
- Collaborates with Partners, Field Solution Architects (FSA) and Account Executives (AE) to drive mapped opportunities; fine tunes strategies and approaches to achieve greater sales results.
- Develops a detailed and ambitious Territory Plan in collaboration with Partners, AEs, and ISAs and uses it to manage their business.
Sales Support:
- Responds to questions about partner registrations, associated registration issues, and customer engagement history.
- Prioritizes time spent on opportunities based on potential return on investment.
- Maintains pre-sales pipeline data, develops plans, and takes actions to move opportunities to closure.
- Understands profit margin and how to increase profitability; works cooperatively with field sales to ensure healthy profitability. Leverages and maximizes partner pricing, partner registration programs, incentive programs, and special pricing, to win business and ensure healthy profitability, provides input on pricing to Account Managers, Field Sales, FSAs, and Partners to increase margin and deal size and position CDW for future opportunities; negotiates pricing with Partners
Other Responsibilities:
- Aside from being a passionate learner, the Software Solution Advisor is also a solution driver who has a passion for demonstrating continuous learning by proactively expanding technical depth in products, solutions, and services.
- The Software Solution Advisor is focused in the CDW Solutions tools and services space with a specific focus on identifying and qualifying sales opportunities into the appropriate sales pursuits.
Education and/or Skill-Set Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience
- Three year minimum technical pre-sales or technical architecting experience
- Three year minimum sales experience
Required Qualifications
- Proficient in Microsoft & Google Workspace applications
- Ability to travel up to 25% of the time
- Proven success and experience selling technologies solutions and services
- Knowledge and proven success of engaging and working with sales teams
- Ability to execute on territory goals and metrics
- Stay up to date on products, applications, technical service, market conditions, competitive activities, advertising, and promotional trends through the reading of pertinent literature, seminars, and online training
- Proficient in Microsoft office applications
- Proven success and experience selling technologies solutions and services
- Knowledge and proven success of engaging and working with sales teams
- Ability to execute on territory goals and metrics
- Ability to adapt and change to the business needs of the practice and team coverage model
- Strong interpersonal and presentation skills, including consulting skills
- Strong oral and written communication skills
- Strong passion for learning and teaching others
- Motivated and self-starting
- Ability to think creatively and come up with proactive ideas that will increase sales
- Strong problem solving skills
- Must be able to communicate effectively and in a constructive manner with management, peers and coworkers
- Ability to understand, remember, and apply oral and/or written instructions or other information. Ability to organize thoughts and ideas into understandable terminology. Ability to multi-task, organize and prioritize. Ability to apply common sense in performing a job. Ability to understand and follow basic instructions and guidelines. Ability to travel as needed.
Preferred Qualifications
- Obtain and maintain relevant industry standard certifications