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I always wanted to shift to a sales engineer position from my current position (IT Manager which i have been doing for 10 years). I’ve never been a sales engineer but i do have a small online business i’ve been running from home so i am familiar with working with customers and thinking $$$.
I find the combination of sales+people really fun but yet, i have a zero experience selling tech. The principle however is very obvious to me: just like with any goods and services, try showing how your good/service brings the extra benefit to the table.
I have both BS and MA in business.
Other than obviously learning and understanding what the company does and sells, and be dressed to kill, what are other tips you guys can think about for this specific position?

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Remove 10 Points from Strength and Add them to Charisma. Honestly if you can charm people and make them feel comfortable you’re as good as you can get. If you’re overbearing and pushy they will alienate you. Make sure your customer service skills are impeccable no more grumpy IT tech attitude.

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  1. Be comfortable at the white board. You should be able to map out a network diagram or solution to fully explain it and be real good at it.

  2. Don’t talk too much and don’t get too far into the technical weeds.

  3. Understand that you are also a salesman. Do not be afraid to learn how to: ask what their budget is, who makes the decision / can sign, What are the deciding factors, and what is driving this.

  4. Be able to present.

  5. No is the second best answer you can get. You will spend hours and hours working on a solution just to have the prospect go dark after you present.

  6. This is a numbers game. The more prospects you interact with the higher your closing ratio will be.

  7. It’s ok to not be the smartest person in the room.
    A sales engineer it one of the most challenging and rewarding roles. The thrill of getting the win is awesome! Be ready to able to deal with several A type personalities. We have a saying here at Peak 10. That saying is “Be more than an engineer.” You are selling to fix a problem. Find out what that PAIN or problem is, fix it with a solution, and you will be golden.

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one more thing, don’t ever assume.

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Thanks for all your great tips. Can you say more about this one? ^^^

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Sure. 9 months ago we had a meeting with a customer that only spent 1.5K/month with us. They were interested in cloud. It was hundreds of VMs and it would cost 10’s of thousands of dollars a month. Well fast forward to today and they are now spending 18K/month with us. I could have gone into the meeting thinking: “These guys only spend 1.5k/month, there is no way they can afford or have the budget for this” But I didn’t and it led to a huge up sale. Don’t ever assume until you know what their budget is.

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Gotcha. Good story. Yeah like i said, i never interviewed to such a position and i never been in such a position. I would love however to do the shifting from my current to this one! i feel like it is a better fit for me

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It is important to make a difference in what you are trying to sell. It is not the same selling a product than selling a service. And even if you want to make your way selling a service, there are some that are tangible and others that are not.

What is it that you are interested in ?