Sales engineers bridge the gap between critical business needs and deep technical capabilities of products. It's a fantastic job that balances three critical pillars: product knowledge, technology expertise, and communication skills. Despite that amazing balance of responsibilities, no matter how far into the business side of sales I get, I'm constantly being reminded that technical excellence is critical for being a successful sales engineer.
Technical Depth Meets Communication
No matter what background a sales engineer comes from, the best SEs should lean technical.
- This means being the true "technical expert" in a sales cycle and being able to answer questions while minimizing the need for second-level support.
Every "I'll get back to you" or "I'm not sure, let me check with the team" takes away a tiny bit of technical credibility when you show up as the technical expert. It's a careful balancing act to get right.
Tips For Technical Excellence
How can a sales engineer ensure they stay relevant and technically minded? Like any skill, it requires a continuous, deliberate effort of practicing what you preach. Here are a few things I do to stay sharp:
Be a product master (via enablement): This is the non-negotiable baseline. While sometimes difficult due to my busy schedule, I find time to stay current on product updates. I don't just read the release notes; I use new features as they are released; I break them; I provide feedback. I attend every enablement session, read documentation, and know product roadmap as much as possible (or at least how to get to it quickly).
Get in the code: Reading about technology doesn't make you an expert; doing it does. Don't be a "talking head" who only repeats marketing slides. This means getting dirty with code; building demoes is great and all, but I get dirtier with side projects that are adjacent to my day job, ensuring I'm keeping up with the basics of software engineering that I love so much.
- To keep my code-hungry brain happy, I invest time into personal dev proejcts. For example, right now I'm building: a Chrome extension, a SQLite library, a .NET 8 blog engine, and a bunch of JavaScript demoes.
Be curious: Because technology moves so fast, new tech can feel a little threatening when it's moving faster than I can keep up with. I embrace threats as opportunities to step outside of my comfort zone and learn something new (like that AI thing everyone's always talking about).
Never sit still: "Learn from your mistakes" is one of life's greatest lessons - but so is learning from your successes. What worked? What didn't? Even after a successful engagement / project / presentation, what could be improved? I'm always driving to better myself, and this includes my technical work. Have you ever met a developer who was happy with their past code? Exactly. I always strive to do my best, but know there will always be a better future me trying even harder.
Thoughts? Questions? Find me on LinkedIn.