Succeeding as a Sales Engineer

The vast majority of my career has been spent as a prospect and customer facing engineering resource. All the way from Zenith to Accuvant (in that order due to my career progression, not because I dislike alphabetical order) and beyond, I made my living by being the "technical guy" in the sales and support conversations. Times have changed a bit over the decades of my career (please, no snide remarks, I know how old I am), but I think there are still some essentials that are key to the success of any Sales Engineer/Solutions Architect, and I'd like to share them with you in the hopes they'll help your career.

You're Not There To Be the Smartest Person In the Room

Trust that you got the job - in part, at least - because of your technical acumen. Your title already says it: you're the "Engineer" or "Architect." You're really there to be a knowledgeable technical resource on the domain that you and your company support. However, acting like you know more than your audience is usually off-putting, and you've really got a slim chance of really being the smartest person in the room.

But I get it, it's hard to feel like you're doing your job if you're not imparting knowledge. And it can be hard to impart knowledge without sort of defaulting into acting like you're the smartest person in the room. Here are a few tips that I've used to help me with these things:

• "Before we begin, I'd like to baseline where we're all at on this topic" - This, or a similar phrase, is a great way of saying "I know you may well already know this, but I want to make sure we're all speaking from a common reference point." This gives you a chance to set the foundation not in terms of "I know this and you don't," but in terms of "let's all use the same language to facilitate the conversation." That also helps you pivot from background level setting to the heart of the matter if the audience gives you feedback that you've gone too basic. It makes it a conversation instead of a lecture on stuff they already know.
• Ask questions, listen to the answers. - You may have done your LinkedIn stalking before the meeting. Your salesperson peer may have given you all the background they have on the topic. They may even tell you "I already asked them all the questions, you just need to do the demo" or similar. Ask questions anyway. Not "what keeps you up at night," sort of stale, stereotypical questions, but questions that will help you solve the issue they're facing: "what other solutions have you tried to solve for this and why haven't they met your needs?" "What would signal success to you if we came in and tried to solve this issue for you?" "What internal issues are preventing you from moving forward the way you'd like to?" Believe it or not your audience will love that you're asking important questions, even if your account manager didn't want you to.
• Couch recommendations and solutions as "What I've seen other companies have success with is..." - You're subtly changing the conversation from "I'm the expert, here's what you should do" to "the evidence in the marketplace is that this solution works." Now you're sharing an evidence based answer, not your personal opinion.
• Be comfortable saying "I don't know the answer to that, let me get back to you." - Some customers will want to play "stump the chump" with you. Others are earnestly asking really thorny or specific questions that you may not have the full answer for. The worst thing you can do in either situation is make up the wrong answer. Your credibility will be shot, and if you assume you're not the smartest person in the room that means you're going to have to assume someone else in the room knows the "right" answer to that question.

Establish Responsibilities With Your Sales Peers

Part of your credibility is built on staying within your swimlane. Prospects and customers can be prejudiced: many don't trust a salesperson to give them a technical discourse, and they don't trust an SE/SA who quotes prices off the top of their heads. There's a reason that both of you are involved in the process, and you need to play to each other's strengths, both the implied ones from your job titles and the real ones you both bring to the table. Some key suggestions and examples that will help keep harmony and best make use of both of your skills:

• Defer pricing and quoting statements to your salesperson peer. - This one should be pretty self explanatory, they're the ones who have to hit an individual number at the end of the quarter, not you. But let's broaden that to making sure you're letting them take lead on the "sales" aspects and you take lead on the "engineer" aspects. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be up to date on the sales side of things, but just like actors in a play, you both have your parts to play, at least until you've built a relationship with the prospect/customer and then you have more leeway.
• Take lead on asking technical discovery and scoping questions. - Sure, the salesperson is best positioned to ask "business discovery" questions, (what's your timeframe, what's your budget, who are your key stakeholders, etc.) but you need to be front and center asking the "how" and "why" questions about the problem and their desired solution.
• Own making delivery date/time commitments for SOWs and other content you have to develop. - Don't let your salesperson dictate those to you, or even speak for you on them if possible. Make sure you commit to dates you can make work, and then keep your commitments.

Build Your Own Brand

I cannot understate the amount of credibility you create for yourself by being seen outside of the confines of selling whatever it is you're an SE/SA for. Your knowledge, experience, and viewpoint are part of why you're in the role you're in - you're an authoritative resource on an important technical topic. Lean into that and make yourself known. Share informed opinions on social media. Blog. Podcast. Speak at local (or even national and international) conferences.

When you're building your own brand lean into what you know and what you're interested in. Informed opinions are extremely important. Simply regurgitating talking points, or just reposting other people's content isn't enough. Your voice, your experience, your knowledge have to show through. I'll also warn you against letting AI build your posts for you - your voice is important and is a huge part of your identity. It is difficult (if not impossible) to have a voice that stands out if you're letting AI use its voice, you just sound like everyone else "phoning it in."

Sound daunting? It doesn't have to be. Start by sharing other people's content with your own comments. What did you agree with? Why did this resonate with you? How have you experienced what this person is talking about? Eventually you'll feel more comfortable putting together your own content from scratch.

Even when you're out there speaking on behalf of your company, you still need to inject your own brand into the presentation. Just parroting the power-point you were handed and told to memorize isn't the end of that process, it is the beginning.

Learn Sales

I know, you're an engineer. You're technical. But you're also in sales. So learn it. Learn about the metrics your sales peers are being measured by. Understand the pipeline from lead generation to deal close. Understand the sales goals set out for the company. Keep track of how your company is meeting those goals, and especially how your team is.

Learn to qualify deals. Tools like MEDDPIC (or the various iterations with more D's and P's and C's), SPICED, BANT, and others aren't just cliches, they help organize your ability to qualify a deal and identify the likelihood of actually closing.

I will argue that there's no better single indicator of whether a deal is a lost cause than what MEDDPIC calls "Identified Pain." Basically, if the prospect doesn't think they have a significant problem they aren't going to be motivated to solve for it. If the problem is insignificant, if they do solve for it the decision will be heavily cost influenced.

As an SA/SE, you should know how to identify these signs. You should understand what they mean. Why? Three reasons:

• Budgeting - Your comp plan will undoubtedly have a level of variable compensation that is built on how well the company and/or your specific team are meeting sales goals. Don't spend that theoretical money if you're not having the success you need to earn it.
• Time Management - Don't pretend that you give equal support to all of your assigned sales reps. You know you don't. You get along better with some than others. You see more success with some than others. If you're able to apply some sales knowledge to your day you can help identify deals that deserve more of your time and effort, based on both the qualification of the deal and the rep's track record. Conversely you'll identify the opportunities that deserve less of your time, even if they're the ones screaming loudest for it. (Work with your management on how to gracefully handle those situations) Your time isn't infinite, you need to guard it to be both effective and healthy, so this will help.
• Partnership - Building rapport with your selling peers is a goal I hope you're pursuing. Being able to discuss opportunities with them in ways they are familiar with, providing your unique insights into that as the SE/SA, will go a long way towards cementing that partnership. It also helps you respect the hard work that goes into being a good seller, and identify when someone isn't putting in the effort necessary as well.

I'm in no way saying you should start acting like a salesperson/account manager, but you need to know what's going on, what's motivating them, and what's ultimately rewarding you as well. Don't go all Glengarry Glen Ross on me.

Finally, Leave It On the Field

An SE/SA role is probably different from what you've done before. On the one hand, you're not really "on call" in the middle of the night like you might have been when you were in an operations role. On the other hand, you're going to be expected to drive to dinners, fly to meetings, work from the hotel and airport. You're going to find that your hours are expanded some days, and other days it will feel like you're being paid to attend a party - because you actually are.

That can make it harder to "switch off" and recognize when your work day has ended. Especially if you're ending that day in a hotel room, and the only people you know in town are your work peers and the customer. Heck, it's even difficult when you've been on web-meetings all day long from your home office. Your significant other, friends, and family will appreciate that when they're with you, you're "you" and not "work you." You'll appreciate it as well. So set your boundaries. Learn to ignore work notifications on your off hours. Ween yourself off of the work computer (and phone) when you're not really working. Set expectations with your boss and selling peers. Heck, they'll appreciate the consistency and predictability. If not, perhaps it's time to rejigger the old resume.

Being an SE/SA can be an extremely rewarding career, there's a sense of accomplishment when you see a prospect become a customer, and you know that you're solving their problem with what you've sold them. But it is different. It takes a combination of dissimilar skills that mean you'll be good at some and less so at others. It requires effort to do some of those things that feel unnatural, and they may never feel natural to you. But with a little effort and some focus, you can find and maintain success in this space.