I’m officially 2 months into the my new gig as a vArchitect at VCE. After a decade of being on the operations support side I’m no longer trying to solve one organization’s problems. I’m now spending my days (and nights) on the road and in meetings helping various organizations solve their infrastructure woes with Vblock.
Making the transition to the other side of the table was not something I took lightly. I knew it would be extremely valuable for my career advancement but with potential side effects. I’ve talked with several people since the move who have expressed interest in doing something similar so I thought I’d share some of my suggestions based on my recent experience.
Passion - Product and Vision
It should go without saying that if you wake up in the morning and excited about the work you do then it’s not always work. I kept this thought in mind when considering a new opportunity at VCE. One of the things that really excited me about VCE was the Vblock product itself. The value of the converged infrastructure to an operations and automation guy was a huge dangling carrot that left me thinking “I want to go to there”.
I truly believe when talking with customers now that Vblock is a superior product that can help them provide valuable services to their business. I get a small charge when I see the lightbulb go off in a meeting when someone starts to realize how their world might change for the better when implementing Vblock and I’m looking forward to those “Thank You” cards in the future. This sound silly? Perhaps it is but I truly believe in the product that I’m designing with.
If you’re considering a move to a company as a consultant, especially product pre-sales, you should make sure you believe in what the company is offering. After all, if you DON’T believe in it…why should your customer? This does not mean you have to go on the deep end and get a corporate tattoo or change your Twitter handle or persona. It simply means that you stand behind the product and want to see customers happy and successful with that product in their environment. My goal more than anything else is to make my customer’s lives just a little bit easier with Vblock.
On the same thread make sure you ask about the company’s vision. This vision should involve the vision of the product but also for the company as a whole. I was specifically interested in a company with a startup nature because I wanted to be somewhere where I thought I could make considerable contributions in a short period of time. I’ve mentioned before that I’m lazy but that isn’t completely accurate. I just like getting the most bang for my energy buck. :)
Family - Strain and Absence
Working all night trying to recover from an outage. Sucks.
Planning meetings for change windows where you work all weekend to perform updates. Sucks
On Call. Really Sucks
Each of these items are staples to an operations person and have an impact on your family and social life. You get accustomed to missing events, working weekends, and working all hours of the day.
On the other side of the table?
Traveling all day to a customer location to have the meeting cancelled last minute. Sucks.
Being away from your own bed 3+ days in a row. Sucks.
Seeing your kids remotely through Facetime and photos. Sucks but I’m so glad those technologies exist.
Each of these items are staples to a pre-sales architect/engineer on the road with customer meetings and have an impact on your family and social life. You get accustomed to missing things during the week though the weekends have been much more available,
Don’t kid yourself if taking a role that involves travel. Travel can suck if you don’t have the right mindset. I personally use it as an opportunity for me to be more productive. The bits of time where I’d normally spend with my family I then spend working on my job or my various other activities. I do this so that when I am home I can dedicate my time to them. Yes, I still work on the weekend but I find that generally my Sat/Sun time is my own. Make sure you communicate with your family about the change and LISTEN carefully to what your spouse and children are saying when they talk to you. I’m trying to be very aware of these things so that I don’t let my absence be a negative. I’m doing this to provide them a better life after all.
Team - Account Manager and Peers
If you’re going into pre-sales you had better pre-screen the account manager(s) that you’ll be working along side. You’ll be spending a great deal of time with this person and they have considerable influence on your time and energy. Make sure that you get along and are mostly on the same page. Understand what they’re being measured on and what your roles truly are in that relationship. One of the major deciding points for me in taking this role is that I knew the account manager previously and felt confident that we’d get along quite well. After a couple of meetings I definitely felt we were going to be in lock step most of the time. So far we have been and it’s working out well.
Also make sure that you have an opportunity to meet your peers. This is important since you’ll be depending on many of these people throughout your time there. They have a wealth of experience in the role that they can share with you. Make sure that your relationship is one where they’ll feel open to sharing that information with you. Essentially determine early on if you think you can truly be a part of that team.
Knowledge - Know it All or Know Enough
I often feel that folks give me more credit then I deserve on my knowledge. I’ve worked hard to feel that I know quite a bit and try to take strides to be one step ahead of the customer. Moving into this role meant that I needed to be much more knowledgeable about storage and networking then I’ve needed to be in the past. Many of my previous experiences have been extremely valuable but there have still been gaps.
Know going in that if a company is seriously considering you for a role then it’s likely they anticipate that there will be a learning curve and a time to get ramped up. It’s valuable to get higher on that curve as soon as possible but don’t feel like you have to learn it all over night. I don’t think anyone does. Make sure you ask and learn WHO to ask and WHERE to look. You’ll learn as you go along so be a sponge and don’t stress about having every answer all of the time.
Growth - Listen and Learn and Share
I took this role because I wanted an opportunity to be customer facing on a product that I felt passionate about. I wanted to put my interpersonal skills to the test and see if I can excel in an entirely new environment. The meetings and language on the sales side are completely different then operations. The concerns are different. I’ve made a point to listen very carefully to what is being said and what people expect. I can’t say honestly that I’m always executing on these things each time, but I do know that I’m learning to align more and more each day.
I’d say the most important thing a consultant can do is listen more and talk less. The more I get the customer to talk about their environment, their challenges, and their goals the better I can align Vblock to these things. Demonstrating that you are listening and understanding what was shared makes everyone’s life easier. I’ve learned a great deal from exchanges with customers and I gladly share things with my team. Not only does this provide the team with potentially valuable information, but it also informs them of the things that I’m experiencing. It may be something they could leverage me for in future opportunities. We’re a team with a common goal after all.
Summary
I could really go on and on about things that I’ve learned over the last two months. It really comes down to being honest with yourself and setting reasonable expectations. Happiness in life is all about managing expectations. I feel that my family and I went into this change with eyes wide open and since we had a fair expectation any deviations have been minor ordeals.
Make no mistake that a move from operations to sales/consulting can be a dramatic one. I feel like I’ve literally had to re-gear my brain on a day-to-day basis. The learning is non-stop and the sales cycle can be ruthless. Work hard but keep a level head and don’t neglect yourself or your family. A new job is always easier than a new you or a new family.
Please remember to be very honest when self-evaluating against the list above. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that things will be different then what your gut tells you. If you think you’re ready for the move then I know VCE is always looking for talented individuals and I’ll be happy to pass on your name and resume. I’m always happy to chat and answer questions. It’s an exciting change…if you’re ready!
