We The Sales Engineers: A Resource for Sales Engineers, by Sales Engineers

AI is coming for us all. According to our guest, Anthony Palmoze, he’s heard many SEs talk about BDR being the first to become obsolete. So we jump on a call to dig into what BDR is and see if it will be obsolete, or more specifically, what parts will be taken over by AI. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show315

I have my own opinions of what sales engineers should do, and how they should be involved in the sales process. My opinion is that they should be involved, early and often. But I sell in the enterprise market, with a small number of customers. My SE is tied only to me, and the main decision-makers are the users who use the product. So it would make sense that my SE is heavily involved, follows up post-demo, and maintains relationships. But when your product is being sold to other Salespeople, and the goal is to show them how easy it is to use, and the SE that supports your opportunities supports the opportunities of a few other salespeople, then the process and expectations are different. Adam Weekes is an AE Leader within Big Tin Can. He drops by the show to explain his views. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show314

Over the many years that I’ve been doing this podcast, we’ve talked about the skills required, how to manage the team, communication, relationship building. But we’ve never discussed the SE Big picture, how external factors like the economy can affect the role, and what moves can be made internally to save money. So I invited John Simpson on this show to discuss that. John is the former head of Solution Engineering for EMEA at Qualtrics do discuss this in more detail. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show313

Solution Engineers have a lot on their plate, and I have the pleasure of adding one more thing to that plate...marketing show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show312

There are so many different selling techniques. I’ve personally been trained in Solution Selling and Challenger Selling. Full disclosure, I love Solution Selling, but hate challenger selling. I’ve also read SPIN Selling and then I noticed that a lot of them are similar, but they are all geared towards salespeople. But Solution Selling was introduced a long time ago. Some say in the 70s, but I don’t have a source for that. Since then, solution selling evolved into Value Selling, and now the latest iteration is Insight Selling. My guest, Sherri Mazza, is writing a book on. Most books are geared towards Sales, but Sherri is focusing on Solutions Engineers. Will will dig into her history, and present and the book itself. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show311

At the ground level, we all put our heads down and work. We demo, discover, and manage support calls. How we do all that is the tactical work. But what about the strategy? How do we move an entire organization from reactive to proactive? How does the organization incentivize people, or in other words, how do they line up their interests with their employee’s interests? These are some topics I discussed with Fadi Bassil, the VP of Support at Incorta. Fadi is a fellow Lebanese, but that’s not what’s important. What’s important is what he has been able to achieve in such a short period since moving to the UK. Taking a step back, humbled himself, so he could move forward to where had a big impact on his organization and his company. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show310

Many of us go to university, wondering what we are supposed to study. Those of us who complete it then graduate, wondering what the job would entail. Once we get the job that we may or may not have thought we wanted, we find that we are bored out of our minds. Some people stick with it and learn to love it, or simply stick with it. Others try to find a solution. That’s what today’s guest did. Sameer Kausar found himself in a job he was not excited about. So he looked within, and looked around, and identified Sales Engineering as a potential dream job. Since he got the job, he has not looked back since. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show309

My guest for today is Chris Beaumont and he is a recruiter. We discuss how people should approach the job hunt, and what they can do to increase their chances to secure a job. We also talk about what employers are doing wrong while they are trying to fill the few recs they have open. Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show308

Life does not exist without stress. There’s also added stress when you’re in the sales world. So I wanted to share the causes of stress as I see it, and how I handle it. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show307

Engineers are not usually known as creative types. This is a strange notion for me as I think engineers are some of the most creative people. We might not be creating art (although some engineers are artists), but we are being creative in solving a set of problems. The problem is it doesn’t show to the outside world. But there are ways to do so, and Melanie Flores, my guest for this week found out that she can do it through Solution Engineering. It’s not just about solving a problem creatively. It’s about telling stories and asking questions where creativity can shine while being in an Engineering field. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show306

A big piece of Sales Engineering is Sales. Most engineers don’t like the sales part of Sales Engineering, but it’s what SEs have to excel at to be good at their jobs. Taking it a step further, SEs have to excel at knowing their customers and that will make every aspect of sales easier. These are all topics of conversation that Alvaro Tuscano and I get deep into, in addition to the challenges of presales in Spain specifically, and how he overcame them to become a great SE and a trainer for other SEs. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show305

In this engaging conversation, Jason Zeikowitz discusses his experience as a Salesforce Technical Trainer. From handling an array of situations from training salespeople to construction workers who are initially resistant to using new technology, Jason shares the importance of combining questioning and communication to engineer buy-in. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show304

Mohamed, an experienced Solutions Architect, shares valuable insights about the hiring process and career progression at Amazon Web Services (AWS). He discusses various cloud roles, including Cloud Consultants, Cloud Providers, and Cloud Partners, emphasizing that there are opportunities beyond the 'big three' (Amazon, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud). He also provides a detailed view of the interview process at Amazon, including a discussion about the unique expectation of understanding Amazon's Leadership Principles and the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) interview technique. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show303

Moving from India to the US takes some adjustment. Even if you know the technology, the people change, the requirements change and the way you interact with people changes too. Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show302

Sales Engineering is a transferable skill. Just because you’re in one industry today, does not mean you cannot move. Case in point Faraz who is today’s guest. Faraz started off in networking and IT, then moved into several different industries and remained successful throughout. We will discuss his journey and what he did to learn and be successful in these different industries as a Sales Engineer. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show3301

After 300 episodes, I bring the original cohost back. Binayak Kanungo, aka Bini, comes to join me again on the podcast to give us an update on his career. Bini started off his SE career at a company called Assent, and although he was happy with the work there, the thought of wanting more pushed him to move on which turned out not to be a great move. That’s when Bini started facing some challenges. That’s what we will focus on today. Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show300

Were you ever asked, “Where do you want to be in 5 years?” I believe I’ve been asked once, in an interview, and I had no idea what I wanted to do now, let alone in 5 years. I have not been asked since. John Simpson on the other hand talks to his SEs about career action planning. Not only where you want to be, but how to get there too. And for sales engineers, there are many options for what to do next, including staying put. We cover that in this podcast. Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show299

Many Sales Engineers are getting hit with layoffs, especially when there’s a new acquisition. This happened to our guest before he knew what Sales Engineering was, Jeff Dryall. But it did not happen once or twice. It's happened multiple times, and Jeff used it as an opportunity to identify a new challenge and go after them, including becoming a Sales Engineer. Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show298

Most SEs have an aversion to sales, which is why many have been very hesitant to enter the SE world. But as soon as we learn more about it, we understand that SEing is about solving problems which as techies, is what we want. The same goes for our guest today. Chris Snyder is the first SE within his organization and he’s been thriving at it due to the support that he has, and the ability to get creative. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show297

Having someone who worked on the procurement side, the vendor side, and the value-added reseller side in a condensed period allows us to ask many questions and get a holistic view of these different roles. Our guest, Wesley Bellman has that exact experience in addition to a few more, so we get to see the similarities of working in procurement and how they interacted with VARs. shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show296