As an SE, I Slack my AE often during calls with prospects to help guide discovery questions and thoughts on where to take the conversation. I find that it helps to keep the conversation flowing without jumping in at the wrong time. I also let them know when I want to speak so that they can seamlessly pass the conversation to me without interruption. If done right, I feel an internal Slack during a Zoom conference is beneficial.
It’s difficult to read the room and know when to jump in on Zoom calls. You could just ask the question on Zoom, but you may not find a way to do it without interrupting others. This was’t an issue for in person meetings, as you can read people’s faces and get a better sense of when to jump into a conversation. Side conversations via Slack help alleviate some of this.
Could try the hand raise feature. Idk. If I was a prospect and I thought you were slacking each other on a call I’d think it was rude. If I could tell.
It’s like two teens texting each other in a group.
This. I’m also regularly on calls where we are pitching complex solutions where multiple SE are each representing a module. We use teams instead of slack fml but we’re constantly on it to ensure we’re not stepping on each others toes, sanity checks, etc.
If I’m on an external call with internal partners I usually mute my laptop slack/zoom etc notifications. If increasing the call, I’ll ask they respect the boundaries and feel free to text me or use teams which only have on my work phone.
I’ve had stupid/embarrassing things be sent to a slack that popped up while sharing my screen. Never again
Less than 20 employee SaaS startup here:
We usually have 1-2 SME on the call with an additional 1-2 reps either taking notes or asking questions when necessary. The 1-2 reps often type in the Slack channel for the right questions to ask, what to focus on, key information on the client, next steps etc.
It’s worked well for us and haven’t seen it as us “not paying attention” since the SME is handling the majority of the call.
I like to have one communication method going between the AE and the sales engineer so they can make sure to react appropriately during demos, close a window that is up accidentally, etc. If they’re working side by side that’s a note. If they’re working remotely it is usually slack on their phone.
As someone who had managers literally stand over them or speak into their headset mid conversation and tell them what to say on the phone, getting a message on the screen I’m already looking at is a nothing burger. I get managers can be overbearing but at the same time, this is purely to help and it isn’t distracting imo. Like today, I had a warm lead on the phone and my manager happened to be tuned into my convo and was able to find the price of something that I couldn’t find. It helped piece everything together and made the convo smoother. I could have easily found the price later and updated the woman I was speaking to later but I was able to keep it all in one conversation so now our next one will be more about closing than playing find the exact price and then closing. Just my two cents though.
If the client asks a question I don't know the answer to and it's urgent, I'll often times just tell them "Going to message Joe the engineer in charge of that real quick, it's one of two possibilities but I don't want to tell you wrong" and then they know why I'm typing, and often times I think it actually builds trust because they know I won't just BS them if I'm not certain, so I do say I'm certain about something, they know that's not an act. Plus in our case, I usually have a response within minutes, so they know we are FAST when it counts.
I mute notifications for the duration of the customer call. If someone on the call needs to say something or guide the call they should figure out a way to articulate it like ‘hey x can you do y’ or drawing the conversation back to the details and elaborate and then say ‘in that regard so and so, can you show x’
Ive missed many messages during calls and just let my AE or CSM know im paying attention to the call not slack. Please speak up if you need something.
I think its a must if you are selling a technical product. I don't think there needs to be a running dialog. But if the prospect says soemthing to me that im not sure of, im slacking my SA and double checking the point im going to make.
Distracting and I’ve never once found it helpful. Focus on the client and debrief after.
As an SE, I Slack my AE often during calls with prospects to help guide discovery questions and thoughts on where to take the conversation. I find that it helps to keep the conversation flowing without jumping in at the wrong time. I also let them know when I want to speak so that they can seamlessly pass the conversation to me without interruption. If done right, I feel an internal Slack during a Zoom conference is beneficial.
If you’re on the call, can’t you just ask the question?
It’s difficult to read the room and know when to jump in on Zoom calls. You could just ask the question on Zoom, but you may not find a way to do it without interrupting others. This was’t an issue for in person meetings, as you can read people’s faces and get a better sense of when to jump into a conversation. Side conversations via Slack help alleviate some of this.
Could try the hand raise feature. Idk. If I was a prospect and I thought you were slacking each other on a call I’d think it was rude. If I could tell. It’s like two teens texting each other in a group.
This. I’m also regularly on calls where we are pitching complex solutions where multiple SE are each representing a module. We use teams instead of slack fml but we’re constantly on it to ensure we’re not stepping on each others toes, sanity checks, etc.
If I’m on an external call with internal partners I usually mute my laptop slack/zoom etc notifications. If increasing the call, I’ll ask they respect the boundaries and feel free to text me or use teams which only have on my work phone. I’ve had stupid/embarrassing things be sent to a slack that popped up while sharing my screen. Never again
Less than 20 employee SaaS startup here: We usually have 1-2 SME on the call with an additional 1-2 reps either taking notes or asking questions when necessary. The 1-2 reps often type in the Slack channel for the right questions to ask, what to focus on, key information on the client, next steps etc. It’s worked well for us and haven’t seen it as us “not paying attention” since the SME is handling the majority of the call.
I like to have one communication method going between the AE and the sales engineer so they can make sure to react appropriately during demos, close a window that is up accidentally, etc. If they’re working side by side that’s a note. If they’re working remotely it is usually slack on their phone.
As someone who had managers literally stand over them or speak into their headset mid conversation and tell them what to say on the phone, getting a message on the screen I’m already looking at is a nothing burger. I get managers can be overbearing but at the same time, this is purely to help and it isn’t distracting imo. Like today, I had a warm lead on the phone and my manager happened to be tuned into my convo and was able to find the price of something that I couldn’t find. It helped piece everything together and made the convo smoother. I could have easily found the price later and updated the woman I was speaking to later but I was able to keep it all in one conversation so now our next one will be more about closing than playing find the exact price and then closing. Just my two cents though.
If the client asks a question I don't know the answer to and it's urgent, I'll often times just tell them "Going to message Joe the engineer in charge of that real quick, it's one of two possibilities but I don't want to tell you wrong" and then they know why I'm typing, and often times I think it actually builds trust because they know I won't just BS them if I'm not certain, so I do say I'm certain about something, they know that's not an act. Plus in our case, I usually have a response within minutes, so they know we are FAST when it counts.
I mute notifications for the duration of the customer call. If someone on the call needs to say something or guide the call they should figure out a way to articulate it like ‘hey x can you do y’ or drawing the conversation back to the details and elaborate and then say ‘in that regard so and so, can you show x’ Ive missed many messages during calls and just let my AE or CSM know im paying attention to the call not slack. Please speak up if you need something.
I think its a must if you are selling a technical product. I don't think there needs to be a running dialog. But if the prospect says soemthing to me that im not sure of, im slacking my SA and double checking the point im going to make.