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Salespeople in tech companies are hired for their ability to sell, not for their sophisticated technical knowledge. But to sell complex technology—especially to highly technical buyers—someone needs to provide technical knowledge to both the prospect and to the salesperson. That’s where Sales Engineers come in.
Sales Engineers—"SEs" as they are usually called, but also called Pre-Sales Consultants or Solutions Engineers—do not focus exclusively on technical product issues. More generally, they bridge the gap between a customer’s business needs and their technical needs. In a sense, SEs are translators, matching up business needs with the best technical solution given the products’ capabilities.
Note that the term "engineer" is misleading. Although most SEs do have an engineering or Computer Science degree, SEs do not "engineer" anything from scratch in the usual sense of the term.
What They Do
The primary role of an SE is to serve as a technical product consultant to both the salesperson and to the prospect. Among other things, this includes answering prospects’ questions about product capabilities, creating technically focused slides for a sales presentation, leading sales discussions with technical staff members of the prospective customer, and responding to the technical portion of RFPs and RFIs (Request for Proposals or Request for Information).
Of course, SEs don’t always know the answer to every product question. They thus usually serve as a single point of contact for technical issues in a sales cycle but will leverage the internal knowledge resources of their company to find the answers. SEs call upon Product Managers quite extensively, for instance. The further along a sales cycle is, the more the SE will be involved. Most SEs receive a modest sales commissions for their assistance in closing deals.
Another key role SEs play is demonstrating the product to prospective customers. The type of "demo" and the extent to which it is customized for a particular prospect varies based on the type of product and on the prospect’s needs. For example, since websites are easy to customize in a demonstration mode, an SE at a vendor of Internet-based software might heavily customize a demo. Packaged software is trickier to customize, so perhaps only a handful of tweaks would be made. Hardware demos may involve configuring the hardware in a special way.
At some companies, the demo serves as the basis for the product that will ultimately be delivered to the customer. In this respect, the demo may be more analogous to a proof of concept, involving an actual deployment of software or installation of hardware. In these situations, the SE will typically work closely with Deployment or Engineering teams to build a quick-and-dirty but functional prototype. That prototype may then become the baseline configuration for the product that is ultimately deployed for the customer, and the SE may be hands-on involved in this deployment.
SEs may also provide valuable input into competitive analysis, which is typically managed by a Product Marketer, Product Manager or a dedicated Competitive Analyst. SEs are often asked detailed product questions by prospects regarding how their product compares to those of certain competitors. By exploring these questions, SEs learn valuable insights about their competitors’ product capabilities. SEs also provide formal or informal training to their salespeople on what they’re learning about their competitors’ product capabilities and positioning.
At some companies, particularly smaller hardware companies, an SE might be involved in the entire sales, deployment, and even post-deployment experience for a customer. Before the sale, the SE might actually help the customer evaluate their products (even competitors’ products!) and install software or hardware for the customer to evaluate (this is generally called a "sandbox") before committing to a purchase. During the deployment phase, the SE might help the company’s deployment team install and configure the products purchased, and even train the customer on its use. Post-deployment, the SE might serve as a technical support resource should the customer experience any problems.
Useful Skills
The type of background a Sales Engineer needs for a given company depends on what kind of product the company makes and how technical the buyer is. For example, a company that sells semiconductor design automation software to electrical engineers will need SEs who have a degree in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering. In contrast, a company that makes sales automation software which is sold to sales managers might find that hiring an SE who previously worked with this software would have sufficient product knowledge and be able to "talk shop" with the customer.
Regardless of one’s specific educational or professional backgrounds, the skills all SEs need include:
Career Paths
Sales Engineering is seldom an entry-level role. Prior to becoming an SE, most individuals gained expertise with the company’s product at the company in another department, such as engineering or product development (where they designed the product), information technology (where they administered the product), technical support (where they supported the product), or professional services (where they deployed the product). Some SEs come from other companies (sometimes customers), where they gained product expertise by using the product there, or something similar to it.
Many people are attracted to sales engineering because, despite a background in something other than sales, they find it more conducive to their personality or financial goals. Although the base salaries for SEs may be lower than those for engineering positions, with sales commissions and bonuses an SE may earn far more in total compensation.
Others are attracted to the field because of geographic flexibility. Since most SEs travel extensively to customer sites and can often do their work anywhere there is an Internet connection, it usually doesn’t matter where they’re based.
To get into Sales Engineering, the best advice is to become a product expert on the company’s products or something similar to them. Also, become comfortable working with a Sales organization and learn about the art and science of the selling process.
Sales Engineering is great preparation for a variety of other careers within tech, such as becoming a Product Manager, joining a Professional Services team in a new customer deployment capacity, or as a Consultant of various types. Because SEs understand the sales process and the product so well, sales engineering is also a good foundation for Marketing leadership positions.
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Sales Engineering
Salespeople in tech companies are hired for their ability to sell, not for their sophisticated technical knowledge. But to sell complex technology—especially to highly technical buyers—someone needs to provide technical knowledge to both the prospect and to the salesperson. That’s where Sales Engineers come in.
Sales Engineers—"SEs" as they are usually called, but also called Pre-Sales Consultants or Solutions Engineers—do not focus exclusively on technical product issues. More generally, they bridge the gap between a customer’s business needs and their technical needs. In a sense, SEs are translators, matching up business needs with the best technical solution given the products’ capabilities.
Note that the term "engineer" is misleading. Although most SEs do have an engineering or Computer Science degree, SEs do not "engineer" anything from scratch in the usual sense of the term.
What They Do
The primary role of an SE is to serve as a technical product consultant to both the salesperson and to the prospect. Among other things, this includes answering prospects’ questions about product capabilities, creating technically focused slides for a sales presentation, leading sales discussions with technical staff members of the prospective customer, and responding to the technical portion of RFPs and RFIs (Request for Proposals or Request for Information).
Of course, SEs don’t always know the answer to every product question. They thus usually serve as a single point of contact for technical issues in a sales cycle but will leverage the internal knowledge resources of their company to find the answers. SEs call upon Product Managers quite extensively, for instance. The further along a sales cycle is, the more the SE will be involved. Most SEs receive a modest sales commissions for their assistance in closing deals.
Another key role SEs play is demonstrating the product to prospective customers. The type of "demo" and the extent to which it is customized for a particular prospect varies based on the type of product and on the prospect’s needs. For example, since websites are easy to customize in a demonstration mode, an SE at a vendor of Internet-based software might heavily customize a demo. Packaged software is trickier to customize, so perhaps only a handful of tweaks would be made. Hardware demos may involve configuring the hardware in a special way.
At some companies, the demo serves as the basis for the product that will ultimately be delivered to the customer. In this respect, the demo may be more analogous to a proof of concept, involving an actual deployment of software or installation of hardware. In these situations, the SE will typically work closely with Deployment or Engineering teams to build a quick-and-dirty but functional prototype. That prototype may then become the baseline configuration for the product that is ultimately deployed for the customer, and the SE may be hands-on involved in this deployment.
SEs may also provide valuable input into competitive analysis, which is typically managed by a Product Marketer, Product Manager or a dedicated Competitive Analyst. SEs are often asked detailed product questions by prospects regarding how their product compares to those of certain competitors. By exploring these questions, SEs learn valuable insights about their competitors’ product capabilities. SEs also provide formal or informal training to their salespeople on what they’re learning about their competitors’ product capabilities and positioning.
At some companies, particularly smaller hardware companies, an SE might be involved in the entire sales, deployment, and even post-deployment experience for a customer. Before the sale, the SE might actually help the customer evaluate their products (even competitors’ products!) and install software or hardware for the customer to evaluate (this is generally called a "sandbox") before committing to a purchase. During the deployment phase, the SE might help the company’s deployment team install and configure the products purchased, and even train the customer on its use. Post-deployment, the SE might serve as a technical support resource should the customer experience any problems.
Useful Skills
The type of background a Sales Engineer needs for a given company depends on what kind of product the company makes and how technical the buyer is. For example, a company that sells semiconductor design automation software to electrical engineers will need SEs who have a degree in Computer Science or Electrical Engineering. In contrast, a company that makes sales automation software which is sold to sales managers might find that hiring an SE who previously worked with this software would have sufficient product knowledge and be able to "talk shop" with the customer.
Regardless of one’s specific educational or professional backgrounds, the skills all SEs need include:
- The ability to translate customers&rsquo business needs into a technical solution that the company can provide.
- The ability to explain the company’s product capabilities in terms that all parties at the customer who are involved in the purchase decision will understand and find compelling.
- Sufficient familiarity with the types of products made by the company to know what is and isn’t possible to accomplish, whether by using out-of-the-box functionality, customization, or custom product development. Most newly hired SEs go through some kind of training program to get them up to speed on the company’s product capabilities.
- Willingness to travel frequently, and often on short notice.
Career Paths
Sales Engineering is seldom an entry-level role. Prior to becoming an SE, most individuals gained expertise with the company’s product at the company in another department, such as engineering or product development (where they designed the product), information technology (where they administered the product), technical support (where they supported the product), or professional services (where they deployed the product). Some SEs come from other companies (sometimes customers), where they gained product expertise by using the product there, or something similar to it.
Many people are attracted to sales engineering because, despite a background in something other than sales, they find it more conducive to their personality or financial goals. Although the base salaries for SEs may be lower than those for engineering positions, with sales commissions and bonuses an SE may earn far more in total compensation.
Others are attracted to the field because of geographic flexibility. Since most SEs travel extensively to customer sites and can often do their work anywhere there is an Internet connection, it usually doesn’t matter where they’re based.
To get into Sales Engineering, the best advice is to become a product expert on the company’s products or something similar to them. Also, become comfortable working with a Sales organization and learn about the art and science of the selling process.
Sales Engineering is great preparation for a variety of other careers within tech, such as becoming a Product Manager, joining a Professional Services team in a new customer deployment capacity, or as a Consultant of various types. Because SEs understand the sales process and the product so well, sales engineering is also a good foundation for Marketing leadership positions.