A Knowledge Management Framework for Presales Operations in High-Technology Companies

Abstract

High-technology companies usually hire presales teams to help customers make purchase decisions. The presales team communicates with customers and proposes solutions meeting their needs. Accordingly, the presales team needs to develop the required technology and business knowledge to conduct the presales activities successfully. Presales teams with proper knowledge management can respond efficiently to customers. This paper aims to design a Knowledge Management Framework for presales activities. To collect data, a literature review in addition to interviewing multiple presales employees was conducted by the author. The framework proposed by the author has five main components, namely the presales repository, stakeholders, knowledge management processes, technology infrastructure, and organizational support. Moreover, a road map for implementing the proposed framework is also presented. The significance of the framework has been addressed by discussing the perceived benefits versus the common challenges facing presales teams. The proposed framework and road map have been validated using expert judgment.