August Sales Engineering Braintrust

Check out the latest edition of our Sales Engineering Braintrust, which includes:

• Win Wire: Find out how a Trusted Advisor brought in AVANT tools, leaders, and solution experts to close a $60K MRC CCaaS deal with Nice CXone
• Engineering Spotlight: Meet Peter Callowhill, AVANT Director of Engineering with a focus on Connectivity, Colocation, Wireless and Technology Expense Management (TEM)
• Pathfinder Updates: Explore and utilize our latest Pathfinder Matrices: the CCaaS Overlays Matrix and the UCaaS Features Matrix
• AVANT Updates: Discover the full agenda and list of more than 40 breakout sessions available at Special Forces Summit. Plus, dive into our latest partner and customer-facing content

 Win Wire

The Breakdown

• Technology Category: CCaaS
• Sales Engineer: John Paullin
• Industry: Accounting/Finance
• Size and scope: Approximately 375 concurrent agents and supervisors
• Winning provider: NICE CXone
• MRC: $60K

The Details

What were the drivers for the client?
The client was focused on modernizing their internal help desk operations via an integration with ServiceNow. This focus was done with the goal of reducing agent talk time through improved self-service and digital communication options and improved uptime, as their legacy Cisco PCCE was having stability issues.

How did the Trusted Advisor close the deal?
The Trusted Advisor brought in AVANT support via a demonstration of our customer-facing sales tool, Pathfinder. They also coordinated an introduction to AVANT President Drew Lydecker, and access to our Engineering resources. This secured the project for the Trusted Advisor, who registered the deal with Five9, Genesys, NICE CXone, and Talkdesk. Cisco was represented by incumbent VAR, ConvergeOne.

How did AVANT support the win?
AVANT led the vendor evaluation process. Sales Engineer John Paullin provided templates to capture requirements and score vendor capabilities to the customer stakeholders, helping guide key decision-makers. He also attended all vendor meetings and demonstrations and produced pricing summaries to aid in the final selections between vendors. John served as the primary technical liaison between the customer and vendors, helping to move the opportunity across the finish line!

Our Sales Engineers are constantly training and growing their skills, and they’re ready for you to put them in the game! Connect with the team here or fill out a solution IQA on Pathfinder to get started.

Engineering Spotlight

This month, we’re spotlighting Peter Callowhill, Director of Engineering – Connectivity, Colocation, Wireless and Technology Expense Management (TEM).

Peter brings more than 25 years of experience in the Connectivity, Colo, Wireless, and Technology Expense Management landscapes. His previous roles include Sales Management and a co-founding position in CLEC, ISP, Colo, and TEM companies. As an AVANT Field Sales Engineer, Peter works primarily in the West to develop winning solutions for our partners and their customers. He provides technical, pre-sales support to AVANT Trusted Advisors and our Sales teams. His expertise is present throughout the entire opportunity – he understands each customer’s requirements, develops pricing templates and requests, oversees the development of client-facing content, presents available provider options, helps down-select finalists, and offers guidance as to the best ultimate solution.

Peter also works with teammates to create and structure data in AVANT’s Dynamic Matrices and IQAs that deal with his solution focuses. These resources are invaluable to both Trusted Advisors and clients, as they provide impartial and factual details on the providers best suited to meet each unique customer’s needs.

Where are you located? San Francisco – the North Bay area

What is the best vacation you’ve been on? The summer I graduated from college I took three months to hitchhike Europe. It was fascinating to visit multiple countries, experience their cultures, and broaden my appreciation and understanding of different nationalities.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why? I would become a scientist that develops and builds a time machine. I would then go back in time and change all the events throughout history that caused issues for humanity and the Philadelphia Eagles to lose Super Bowl LVII. 

You can connect with Peter on LinkedIn here!

 Pathfinder Updates

• Guide your customers with the CCaaS Overlays Matrix, which details emerging Contact Center solutions that can be sold standalone. This includes AI/Self-Service, Reputation Management, Workflow Automation, Workforce/Performance Management, and Gamification. Layer these capabilities on top of existing CCaaS products to modernize and enhance the customer experience, improve outbound calling answer rates, and elevate agent performance.
• The second of our latest matrices, the UCaaS Features Matrix provides a framework to compare solution capabilities across price points. The updated matrix includes an expanded provider list and details 15 new features to help Trusted Advisors meet their customers’ needs in a cost-effective manner.
• Our entire catalog of Engineering Quick Hits is available now in Pathfinder. These short but impactful modules cover all technology solutions and dive into specific topics, based on Trusted Advisor feedback and requests. Choose from nearly 40 topics, including Reputation Management, MSP Opportunities, the Strategic Enterprise Selling Process, and the Business of Ransomware.
• Don’t forget to check out our latest Ninja Notes on BlueVoyant, CBTS, Lumen, Ooma, SilverSky, and Xcitium.

 AVANT Updates

• Come see your favorite engineers at this year’s Special Forces Summit! They’ll be hosting over 40 breakouts and several main stage sessions as well! We can’t wait to see you in October! Register here.
• In our latest podcast episode, Stephen Semmelroth, Sr. Director of Security and Sr. Analyst of AVANT Analytics is joined by Theresa Lanowitz, Head of Evangelism at AT&T Cybersecurity, to discuss the AT&T Cybersecurity Insights Report for 2023! Check it out and join the conversations everyone is having.
• Stephen also recently explored the best practices and tips for Trusted Advisors guiding Private Equity partners through cybersecurity due diligence. Read more here.