Chris Mabry
Gaurav Nemade
Podcast Summary: From PreSales Collective to GTM Strategy — With Chris Ma, VP at Reprise
On this episode of the Inventive AI Podcast, host Gaurav Nemade chats with Chris Mabry, VP of Solutions & Partnerships at Reprise and former GM at PreSales Collective, about scaling pre-sales teams, building community, and aligning go-to-market (GTM) strategies with real buyer empathy.
Chris brings deep experience from both sides of the pre-sales world — as a practitioner and a community builder. He unpacks:
- How he scaled PSC from 22,000 to 55,000+ members globally
- A practical 3-part GTM framework: Pipeline, Conversion, and Retention
- What most companies get wrong about demo programs
- The future of AI in pre-sales, and how to cut through the hype
- Candid advice on community-building, sales empathy, and staying curious
Whether you lead a pre-sales team, work in GTM strategy, or are building community as a sales motion — this is a masterclass in tactical empathy and execution.
Never miss an episode!
Subscribe now and get the latest episodes delivered straight to your inbox. Stay inspired, stay informed!
Key Highlights
1. How Chris Got Involved in PreSales Collective
Chris started as a curious listener and contributor, submitting a single content idea that turned into a speaking opportunity — and ultimately led to him running the entire community.
“Being a little uncomfortable and still choosing to share? That’s what opens doors.”
2. From Engineer to GTM Leader
Chris began as a network engineer but trusted his gut to pivot toward more people-focused, go-to-market work.
💡 Key lesson:
“Just because you can do something doesn’t mean it fulfills you.”
3. How He Thinks About Pre-Sales Leadership
Chris aligns his org to what the board cares about — tying every initiative to one of these three:
- Pipeline Generation
- Conversion
- Retention
“Our job isn’t just product demos. It’s increasing business health across the buyer journey.”
4. Challenges in Scaling Pre-Sales Brilliance
- SEs often influence multiple parts of the business (sales, marketing, retention) — but own none of the KPIs.
- Chris addresses this by aligning teams to strategic business outcomes and creating “councils” across functions like marketing, product, and CTO orgs.
5. Designing Demos That Actually Work
- Demos should be reliable, tailored, and role-appropriate
- Avoid “Star Wars” or joke data sets — buyers want to see themselves in the product
- Demo environments should never rely on fragile production tech
“The demo isn’t a presentation. It’s a process — and you're discovering while demoing.”
6. Community Building Lessons from PreSales Collective
- PSC grew from 22k to 55k+ members globally under Chris’s leadership
- Key lessons:
- Community looks easy, but is hard to sustain
- Focus is everything — say no to initiatives you can’t support long-term
- Add real value first, not sales messages
“People don’t engage just because you gave them a Slack group. You have to earn their engagement every week.”
7. AI in Pre-Sales: Where It Works (and Doesn’t)
Where AI helps:
- Call insights, performance coaching
- Demo data personalization
- Summary + relevance filtering
Where it fails:
- Spray-and-pray SDR outreach
- Overhyped “AI-first” tools that don’t actually do much
“I’ve undercut all the AI email noise with very human, hyper-personalized outreach — and it works better.”
8. Best Advice from the Episode
- For storytelling: “Give away the thing you’d normally charge for.”
- For building a network: “Connect on purpose. Small dinners beat big conferences.”
- For scaling influence: “Tie to metrics the board already cares about.”
- For maintaining curiosity: “To be interesting, you have to be interested.”
