Presales and solutions engineering leaders usually get promoted to director on how well other people can describe their value, not on how strong the work is. The decision is made in a room you’re not in, by people who each carry a short version of who you are.
This is how that works and what to change first.
Who is in the room when the decision is made
Promotion calls get made in conversations you don’t attend. The people in them are your manager, their peers, and often someone from sales leadership who has watched you work on deals. Each of them speaks for you in a sentence or two. What they say is what you get judged on.
That’s the same dynamic covered in how promotion decisions are really made in the room.
Why strong presales work does not speak for itself
Good presales work is spread across many deals and many reps. Each deal sees a slice of it. No single person holds the whole picture, so nobody in the room can summarize it for you.
The read is how the people who decide picture you when you’re not in the room. It’s mostly invisible to you, and it’s the one that actually decides.
Here’s how that happens, and it doesn’t take much. Sometimes it’s one bad meeting in front of someone influential. I watched it happen to a solutions engineer on my team. A high-performing account executive didn’t like how a meeting went and blamed the SE. The AE came to me and said I needed to fire him. When I asked why, there was nothing specific. No example, no feedback, just a read.
I knew he wouldn’t be successful on that team, so I moved him to another one. The following year, he was awarded one of the coveted sales club spots for his performance. His work never changed.
Moving him changed his room. Most people don’t have someone who can do that, so the read gets written by default.
Make your value easy to repeat
Start with one sentence about what changes for the business because you’re in the role. Test it on someone outside your team. If they can say it back in their own words, it’s ready. The steps are in what changes when you can say it in one sentence.
Get visible without selling yourself
Visibility for senior professionals works when it gives other people something accurate to repeat. It fails when it sounds like a pitch. See why visibility advice backfires for senior professionals.
What to do in the next 30 days
Write the one sentence. Ask two people who work with you to say it back. Then fix the gap between what you wrote and what they said. That gap is what the room hears.
Enroll in Stand Out Advantage.
Frequently asked questions
Do presales leaders get promoted to director on results alone?
Results get you considered. The decision usually comes down to whether the people in the room can describe your value clearly and with confidence.
Who decides on a promotion to director?
Usually your manager and their peers, with input from sales leadership. Most of the conversation happens without you in it.
How do I get visible without talking myself up?
Give other people something accurate and specific to repeat about your work, so you’re not the one saying it.
