Sales Engineer Tips

Sales Engineer Job Description

2010-08-31T11:40:00.000-04:00

A typical Sales Engineer job description would include common attributes such as solution crafter, problem solver, thinks outside-of-the-box, with the ability to demo and position value statements, objective handle effectively, and uniquely elevate his/her solution over their competitions

So, you probably agree that an SE job description typically sounds the same regardless of which company, so how do you differentiate the good SEs??? Well, I look for a few things, and for me it comes down to passion and competitiveness. You find out very quickly if a Sales Engineer has passion based on how much research they have done on your company, the marketplace you serve, your competitors, and your solution offering. If candidate can not invest in themselves by properly prepping when they are selling their value based on a posting for a job description, then they sure wont do it if they come on board, and a candidate needs to always prep up a couple of questions about the role. Next is competitiveness, if they ok with losing, they are probably not the right fit for your team. I drill into a candidates experience working competitive deals. Usually, great SEs love talking about their competitive victories, war stories, battling in the trenches....So as a hiring manager, really invest time in seeing how well your SEs candidate relate their passion and competitiveness to your SE job description.

Powerpoint Demo Tips

2010-07-30T10:17:00.000-04:00

Powerpoint demo tips allow a Sales Engineer to help aid and assist the audience at their prospect to better understand and focus their attention to areas on a slide....These tips are very important when it comes to remote based demos like webex, goto meeting, live meeting etc... because oftern Sales Engineers are required to grab screenshots of functionality for a variety of reasons (beta, proof of concepts, limited release etc...) instead of actually demoing the software solution. So next time you are in this situation, try one of the following....When running in Powerpoint presentation mode, right click on your slide and selection the Pointer Options, from there use the highlighter option....This works great for identifying key unique differentiators to your prospect. Even better is when you grab a screenshot and email it as a 'leave-behind' for them after the demo so that they can refer to it. I use the red Felt Pen option also, great circling competitive flaws, negative blogs etc...

Sales Presentation Tips for SEs

2010-06-25T08:42:00.000-04:00

Tips for Sales Presentations include organizing a common theme and storytelling...For example, if you are selling software, and you compete against the same competitors day in and day out...Please dont tell me that you are using only the standard corporate ppt deck... Prosepcts HATE feeling like they are the 87th person this week that you have presented the same deck to... So, it is time to mix it up, how about personalizing the deck, apply a common them across their 4 Key Business Requirements or pains that they are trying to solve.
They will appreciate the effort that you put into it, and the effort to understand and solve their pains.

Simplify your powerpoint deck, sales presentations are either to dry because they are the same old thing, or they are way too long...Simplify the messaging, use concise visuals for your target audience, and practice your delivery and your conversion ratio will go up. Great good images from a variety of sources, such as istockphoto.com, dearmstime.com, shutterstock.com, imageafter.com to name a few... Also, a great book that describes creating more effective sales presentations is Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. Good luck!

Sales Engineer Salary Bands

2010-04-30T14:34:00.000-04:00

An average Sales Engineer salary varies on a bunch of factors...Here are a couple of the factors: location (each city has its own supply and demand)...so someone working in the Bay area will command a higher salary than an SE in North Dakota. SO if you are an upcoming SE, you may want to research cities than have a higher pool of companies to match up to your salary expectations. Years of Experience is important, so if you are a SE who has covered the corporate fortune 500 space for 15 years will offer you more $$$ than and entry level SE will only a few years experience. A variety of experience is also important, as a Sales Engineer salary takes into account selling and solutioning in a variety of different marketplaces and segments. Strong supplementary skills around BPM, requirements gathering, project management, team lead responsibilities can also lend themselves to higher OTEs. Vertical experience is just an important as product and competitive knowledge. Typically vertical experts and SMEs can demand higher salaries and usually get them. Previous Track Record is important, an SE that repeated supports a sales team that over achieves on their quotes can command a higher salary. These are just a few of the areas to consider when negiotating an Sales Engineer salary

Sales Engineer Interview Demonstration Role-Play

2010-04-17T10:23:00.000-04:00

I always have Sales Engineer Interviews with new candidates perform a demonstration role-play as part of the interview process...One of my previous mentors always did this and it always give him a great cross section of the potential of an Sales Engineer candidate. Always have your recruiting team set the stage with your SE that this stage in the interview is to see how they present a solution that they are comfortable discussing. It is important to have the interview candidate provide the following details at least a day or two prior to the mock demonstration event. They need to tell the panel the roles of the interviewers, the current mock system/application environment and a couple KBRs (Key Business Requirements). The demo is usually a 40-45 minute exercise that allows the interviewers to accurately gauge presentation effectiveness, delivery of unique business value, solution crafting, objective handling and thinking outside-of-the-box.

Try it in your next Sales Engineer interview process, and I am sure you will make it an important step as part of your SE evaluation process...Good Luck!

Improve Your Sales Demos

2010-03-29T08:54:00.000-04:00

Looking to Improve Your Sales Demos?? Effective sales demonstrations are one of the most important pieces to progressing your opportunity forward in the sales cycle. Software vendors who already have an in-house demo environment for their Sales Engineers may feel that they have all of the bases covered.... Wait, you may also want to consider that you software solution may be a point solution in the grande scale of all of the business applications required by an organization. In economic times that are much more difficult to sell in, it is even that much more important to show off much more compelling demos. SO..... a great hosted service for companies looking to demonstrate their software solution integrating to other systems is Skytap.

Skytap offers web based access to vmware images and data centers so that your Sales Engineers can book configure a custom environment for their demonstrations. Take a look at your Sales Engineering organization and spend some time looking at Skytap to help improve your sales demos!

Sales Engineer T-Shirt

2010-02-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

This one has zero to do with any sales engineer tips and tricks that you can use in your sales cycles, but I got a kick out of it when I saw it... Zazzle's official "kiss me I am a Sales Engineer' t-shirt

Here is the Link to the item...

Managing Remote Employees For SE Managers

2010-01-29T10:20:00.000-05:00

Are you managing remote Sales Engineers? Do you know if your Sales Engineers are as productive as they can be since they are thousands of miles away, and many timezones apart...Many Sales Engineer managers struggle with this. There are many tips and tricks that allow you as a manager to bridge the gap, and below are a couple to get you started.

First consider communication frequency and communication methods...The default reaction of a rookie manager is to call and ping their remote employees simply to check in on them...The typically 'yt?' (you there?) message over instant message software provokes feelings of distrust. Instead schedule regular meeting, probably more frequently than if they were sitting in the same location, but try to leverage webcams to maintain the personal aspect itself. Secondly, many of the IM solution have webcam functions built in over IM for quicker response for urgent issues/questions and this quickly validates if your SEs are as productive as they can be. Give it a shot.

Mastering Technical Sales - Sales Engineer Guidebook

2009-12-18T11:33:00.002-05:00

Learning about Mastering Technical Sales? If yes, then this book is a must read!!! Mastering Technical Sales by John Care and Aron Bohlig covers the full spectrum of what Sales Engineers need to know in order to be successful in their technical deals. It starts by covering fundamental concepts around:

-Qualifying Leads
-Determining Go/No Go strategies for RFPs
-Needs Analysis Tactics
-Delivering the Perfect Pitch
-How to Avoid 'Dash to Demo'
-Remote Demonstration Tips
-Objection Handling
-Branding
-Channel Selling with Partners
-Hiring SE Talent
-Time Management & Metrics

This book is a must-have in any Sales Engineer or SE Managers collection!!!

The Evolving Sales Engineer - Sales Engineer Manager Book

2009-12-03T09:07:00.006-05:00

For Sales Engineer Managers, who are looking to expand their knowledge on new techniques and tactics to bring their Sales Engineers to the next level, then I would suggest the following book, The Evolving Sales Engineer. Key Concepts include:

-How to pick talented SEs
-Coaching Tactics
-Managing Office Politics between Account Managers/SEs

The author Edward Levine has a great grasp of the challenging world of Sales Engineering.
I would suggest this book to both SE Managers and SEs alike
Good reading!!!

Sales Engineer Resume Tips

2009-11-26T14:25:00.006-05:00

Sales Engineer resumes should allow highlight a Sales Engineer's most significant deal accomplishments. For example, ensure that you highlight your top 3 deals with associated dollar amounts. Your resume should also include quota attainment for the team that you have supported, assuming it is greater than 85%+. You probably want to highlight your largest win that was a competitive takeaway, and ideally use a competitive marketshare leader or well known vendor. Highlight in your resume an example of a win with a creative solution that was non-conventional. Ensure that you include a hobbiessection in your resume, as many good SE Managers are looking for well-rounded SEs. It also helps to list out any competitive sports you have played or competitions that you many have participated in. Everyone is looking for an SE who has a successful track record of winning

Sales Engineers and Researching

2009-11-26T14:14:00.003-05:00

When researching your prospect and trying to figure out what they do, which industry they are in, who is their competition, researching their financials etc...etc...etc...I usually need to open up a bunch of browser windows/tabs and I am constantly switching between one another. So here is a good site that helps out the multi-tasker in all SEs. Check out: http://www.googlegooglegooglegoogle.com/
It will allow you to perform multiple searches and see the results all in one window.

Sales Engineer Interview Questions

2009-11-08T07:32:00.002-05:00

Looking for sales engineer interview questions to help you prep for an interview? Well, here are somes of the ones that I like to use for SE candidates.

-Describe your biggest opportunity that you ever worked on that closed? What was your role and how did you positively impact the decision?
-Describe your biggest opportunity that you have lost to the competition? What would have you done differently (if anything) during the sales cycle?
-Describe your pre-qualification checklist that you ask your sales rep for prior to demo'ing?
-Describe how Sales Engineers get engaged from a process standpoint at your organization?
-Describe an opportunity that you won which required you to quarterback and orchestrate resources from many cross-departmental groups to help progress a deal to closed status?
-Describe your greatest competitive win

Now, after screening and interviewing a candidate for product/industry knowledge and fit, I ALWAYS have them come in person and do a demo to me in role play as a prospect. I have them present something that they are comfortable demo'ing. This a where you see exactly how much value props and traps they inject into their presentation, not to mention how effectively they are able to handle objections. Look over for my next update of useful Sales Engineer interview questions.

Sample Test Data for Sales Engineers

2009-10-30T08:26:00.005-04:00

Gathering sample test data for SEs has been difficult as there is not much sample test data available out on the internet for your specific prospect within a certain industry without significant costs or timely manual data manipulation involved. In performing some research, I have come across a great product (SAAS based also) that may help Sales Engineers build out a more realistic dataset for a demonstration by extracting selective prospect information that can be used in building out a realistic dataset for a delivering a prospect's solution demo. So, you are probably wondering, what type of tool is this, since it will significantly cut down my demo prep time and improve the quality of my demo solution, and thus increase my conversion ratio...which means more $$$ in your pocket...

SO, here it is...Check out a product called Mozenda (http://www.mozenda.com/), it allows you to call a website and then run an agent against a category page parsing out relavant details as well as drilling into individual item pages to parse out key attributes such as title, description, price etc...

It is a great tool for building out item/SKU lists that can be easily exported out into standard formats, such as .csv. Great tool! Give it a shot as they have a free 14 day trial.

* Remember, always check with the prospect first to confirm it is ok to use extract sample data from their website for your demonstration and respect appropriate copyright laws..Good Luck!

SE Tips - Lose The Techno Talk

2009-09-29T17:38:00.004-04:00

Most Sales Engineers are proud of the technical knowledge, that they love to interject it into their sales opportunities whenever possible...The risk here is that the SE maybe the only one who understands the techno talk, leaving the key decision makers at a prospect feeling isolated and for lack of a better word, dumb. The SE leaves the demo feeling that they nailed the demo by throwing in technology terms and acronyms...BUT the key decision maker is left feeling this solution is much too technical for them and typically decides to opt for another vendor's solution...So remember the KISS principle even when selling technology solutions as the decision always comes back to which solution better solves our business pains and process inefficiences...

Sales Engineering Selling Books

2009-08-31T11:34:00.002-04:00

Often most Sales Engineers do a great job learning their product/solution, and can articulate the importance of a feature from a benefit perspective, and most attempt to lay down some competitive traps...But why is it that some SEs are not looking to work on improving their raw sales skillsets. For instance, Sales Engineers need to know multiple techniques to handle functionality objections in a non-defensive manner... Remember, the word sales comes before engineering in Sales Engineer :)

So for those of you looking to sharpen your sales skills, I would like to recommend a good read, SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham offers techniques to probe by asking additional questions around the situation, problems, implications and needs. It is a great reference book for any newer SE or a seasoned veteran SE...Enjoy

Sales Engineer Interview Prep

2009-07-31T13:10:00.003-04:00

With tougher economic times, getting an interview for a Sales Engineer position is becoming more scarce, so to make sure you are multi-threaded, consider the following suggestions to make the most our of your opportunity.

All good Sales Engineers know their YTD attainment for the sales team they were supporting as well as their revenue influence or revenue assisted metrics...Ensure you know where you stack rank vs your colleagues...Also, ensure that you have a collection of top 3 deals that you worked on that you can leverage to answer common questions around thinking outside of the box, biggest competitive win, going above and beyond to getting a deal done etc..etc..etc..

You also need to have some situational examples of deals you have won by using non-conventional methods, for example: setting up wired up, establishing a trust advisor role to gain access to the selection committee criteria etc..etc... Most SE just demo, but the SE who thinks outside the box improves their conversion ratio by setting up an effective plan of attack prior to demoing...Good luck on prepping for your interview...

Importance of Good SE Discovery

2009-06-30T09:25:00.004-04:00

Most Sales Engineers are great at demoing, but the execution of effective discovery sessions is an area that Sales Engineers should ensure they are always fine tuning...The equation is simple the more that you know up front that you are able to collect during discovery session, the more effective the actual demo event will be, due to unique differentiation of your solution vs your competition...I compare it to a lawyer...The amount of time a good lawyer spends researching, asking questions, validating assumptions, and coming up with an effective game plan, significantly out-weights the time spent that the lawyer actually states his case in front of the judge in the courtroom... The battle many times is won or lost even before the actual demo event happens...Try to spend more time in the discovery phase, and you will see that you will often reduce the amount of time you spend in the demo phase...Good luck!

Sales Engineer Selling Skills

2009-05-27T13:59:00.003-04:00

Many Sales Engineers feel that their responsibility is to only cover off the functional/technical requirements for a prospect's solution. True, but the buck does not stop here, it is important for Sales Engineers to also work on their sales skillset as well. Some of the best Sales Engineers that I have worked with are not the most technical in nature, but they can really spin challenging prospects questions or traps into 'non-No' answers. Tactics like pausing, paraphrasing, probing, spinning all are good strategies that need to be practiced by Sales Engineers to address difficult questions. We have even assembled a list of difficult questions that SEs need to learn to master. Often Sales Engineers maybe presenting/demo'ing 80%-90% of the time during a presentation, that means that the actual sales rep is only 'selling' approximately 10% of time, so have your SEs working prepping their demos and their selling skills

SEs and References

2009-04-30T15:44:00.002-04:00

Many Sales Engineers believe references are the responsibility of the sales rep, so having a variety of reference stories is considering overkill by many sales engineers... I disagree, it is extremely important to be able to tell a RELEVANT reference story to your prospect.

You should have your success stories segmented by: 1) Industry/Vertical 2) Functionality/Scope 3) Company Size 4) Geographic Location and 5) Competitive Wins. I have seen savvy prospect in the prospect specifically ask for a reference during a demo, it was something to the effect of "Who else is using your software in our industry segment, will an employee count equal to or larger than use within 100 miles of our headquarters?" And of course, the questions was directed to the Sales Engineer...Ugh!...What a great way to kill a good demo, ah yes, and turn on the music as the Sales Engineer begins to dance to the Reference Dance Shuffle. Spend a few minutes, learning your competitive wins/success stories and you will see your conversion ratios increase!!!!

Handling Traps for Sales Engineers

2009-04-28T09:12:00.007-04:00

So, you like to plant competitive sales traps against your competition, sure...most good Sales Engineers do! Next question....so, do you like it when your competition plants traps for you??? Most SEs HATE it when it happens, BUT great Sales Engineers love competitive traps against them..... Say that again?!? YES, great Sales Engineers luv it when the competition tries to launch a competitive trap for them...

Why you ask? Simple....Think of this sports analogy, take an NFL cornerback who's sole responsibility is making sure that the quarterback and wide receiver don't connect for a pass completion. So all cornerbacks try to stop this from happening, BUT great cornerbacks ANTICIPATE the quarterback's pass ('trap' in the sales world), so when the pass is delivered a great cornerback is so well prepared to counter that they usually are there to pick off the pass and transition to an offensive threat in which the other team is not usually prepared for.

So ensure you work on your responses to common traps, so that you are prepared to transition from a defensive position with confidence, your prospect will appreciate your knowledge and increase your trust advisor status with them. So, use competitive trap defense in conjunction with offensive trap positioning, and your conversion rate will increase...Guaranteed!

Organization for Sales Engineers

2009-03-31T16:22:00.002-04:00

So you are a Sales Engineer, and 40 hours a week doesn't give you nearly enough time between detailed discovery calls, demo prep, demos, whiteboarding, RFPs, SOW, updating notes etc.... But wait, if you remove the time spent on entering notes into your CRM system, then SE life would be perfect....well maybe not perfect, BUT you would regain a couple hours a week.

So if this sounds interesting to you as a Sales Engineer interested in improving your organizational skills and time management skills, then you too should look into Jott. Yes, Jott.com allows you to call a number and summarize your demo notes, follow-ups and or key informational just by talking out loud. Jott does the rest and transposes your message into an text and send an email... Voila...You're done and no forgeting or rekeying in your notes into your CRM system. Jott away!!!

Setting Effective Sales Traps

2009-03-27T09:12:00.004-04:00

To set an effective sales trap, often the sales rep replies on the sales engineer to do so, and the sales engineer believes that is the responsibility of the rep...So sadly enough, the net result is that no one plants any effective traps. Now, I am not talking about Mud Slinging (although that has it's place only in very specific situations), I am referring setting effective sales traps.

I will call out one of the more successful traps that I have used numerous times with high success. This is only one of many effective methods, but it is the simplest to implement without many steps. The process is very easy, yet elegant and is delivered in a discreet way. When delivered correctly, your prospect will feel that you have genuine interest in their needs first and at the same time you are laying down your trap framework.

Here it goes:
Assumption: Your company is first to demo over your competition. The approach is different when your company is responding to traps set by your competiton who have already demo'ed
Step 1: When you have a significant competitive feature that trumps your competition, as a sales engineer you can Set The Landscape for the trap...This must be done in a POSITIVE 3rd perspective for the need for the feature. For example, Gartner/Forrester/IDS say that by 2011 the need for feature x will have grown by 200%.
Step 2: Next, compliment your competitor on how they have chosen to implement this feature...Yes, I did say COMPLIMENT, BUT spin it with a comment, something like Vendor A has a pretty good Feature X for certain situations, but there approach varies from our we architected ours...
Step 3: Now, list our why your company has selected their approach to how they designed that feature which is unique AND more relevant to prospects key business requirements and business pains
Step 4: This is where the call-to-action for the TRAP comes into play...Proactively invite them to do further research on it, perhaps suggest they reach out to the other vendors they are considering to bring it up as a point of discussion.

This easy to apply sales tactic for setting traps is highly effective when you have the delivery down pat. The genuine interest in looking out for the prospects best interest is paramount, as it will help to solidify you role as a trusted advisor in their solution making process...Good luck!

SEs - Video Tape Your Dry Runs

2009-03-10T21:25:00.004-04:00

All Sales Engineers every 3 to 6 months should always go under the microscope, for a self-humbling experience of being video taped during a dry run of their demonstration. I know...I know...Everyone is thinking, I have been doing this for the last 15 years, I know it all, why should I tape myself when I already know it all and have done it all. Seasoned Sales Engineers sometimes form bad habits, often unknown to them, which may hind a deal in the future. It was not until I saw myself demo'ing on video earlier on in my career, that I realized how often I would finish my prospects questions without letting them finish their train of thought...Video has no hidden agendas, so it always provides you with a different perspective and always you to fine tune small imperfections in your game.
Remember, Sales Engineers are a unique breed, many are often defensive about there skills being critiqued by others , so this is an easy way for an IMPARTIAL assessment on your demo delivery. Remember, it will only help you in the long run and the pocketbook!!!

Inside Based Software Sales Engineers

2009-03-06T10:49:00.005-05:00

If you are an inside software Sales Engineer, and are looking to get an edge over your competition, below are 2 quick tips to outsmart your competition's SEs.

Firstly, since inside Sales Engineers lose the benefit of seeing their prospects reactions, it is EXTREMELY important, to make use of frequent Named Open Probes...What do I mean?? Hopefully this sounds familar, "John, tell me more if you feel that Feature X that I have just demonstrated does not address your business requirement Y..." This keeps your prospect engaged, attentive, and does not allow them to mentally go to 'another place' during your demo.

Secondly, you must be able to effectively utilize a variety of Web Based Tools for capturing screenshots, mapping out process flows/systems architecture, communicating with your sales team real time, whiteboarding etc...Check out my Tools Category on this blog for more info... Without the use of these tools, your competition will already be a step ahead of you...