Yeah they are under the new name. Nothings changed except the name. I've seen Tommy get busted for altering custy checks before so the complaint below isn't a surprise to me. Tommy is in a Virginia prison btw.
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Anyone here have experience with sales engineering?
- Thread starter Sir Hobbleton Scotch
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Who Replied?Yeah they are under the new name. Nothings changed except the name. I've seen Tommy get busted for altering custy checks before so the complaint below isn't a surprise to me. Tommy is in a Virginia prison btw.
It trucking/transportation, those are the people who figure out how much equipment is needed etc. Example: Home Depot has 100 stores needing x amounts of deliveries of lumber per week. It can be done with, option A) 100 trucks, trailers, and drivers, B) 50 Trucks, 100 trailers, and 100 drivers. C) 15 Trucks, 20 Drivers, and 50 Trailers.
Elvis Hitler
Veteran XX
Von Braun was consulted for big decisions at NASA in the late 60's but during the time of his career he made the most, 1 million+ a year, was as sales role in Washington.
You are a fucking moron.
Sales Engineer, Solution Consultant, Technical Sales. These titles are interchangeable, but the required education is vastly different depending on the product/service you are working with. ie: You need to know your shit if you are dealing with complex banking systems. Most of our "Technical Sales" have engineering or CS degrees.
It is a pre-sales role. Meaning you speak with a client and help address technical questions they need answered to feel more comfortable with buying your companies product. Product demonstrations, proof of technologies, proof of concepts etc. In my company, they are 70% salary, 30% commission based. As opposed to sales which is 50/50. In other words, there is less risk, but less of the pie if you land a big deal.
Despite what people are saying here, not everyone is capable of succeeding in a pre-sales position. You need to be able to understand the client's pain points and communicate how the product/service can fix that. You need to have excellent communication skills, and be able to convey a technical message in a very clear and consumable manner. From there, you need to be able to answer most high level technical questions to convince the client that the product/service you are selling is capable of fixing their problems or achieving their goals.
I come from a pure R&D technical background and find myself transitioning more and more to client facing positions. I excel at these roles because it takes a combination of soft skills and hard skills to do these jobs well. Obviously as you move across the spectrum, R&D > Sales, soft skills become more important and hard skills become less. If a solution consultant can't answer the question, they simply pull in the hired guns to do so.
At my company, the technical hired guns are a dime a dozen. A person that can wow the customer and convince them we are the company for the job are the superstars.
Hope that helps. If you have more questions feel free to PM me. I'm the director of my companies post-sales services for the country which is tightly coupled with pre-sales.
It is a pre-sales role. Meaning you speak with a client and help address technical questions they need answered to feel more comfortable with buying your companies product. Product demonstrations, proof of technologies, proof of concepts etc. In my company, they are 70% salary, 30% commission based. As opposed to sales which is 50/50. In other words, there is less risk, but less of the pie if you land a big deal.
Despite what people are saying here, not everyone is capable of succeeding in a pre-sales position. You need to be able to understand the client's pain points and communicate how the product/service can fix that. You need to have excellent communication skills, and be able to convey a technical message in a very clear and consumable manner. From there, you need to be able to answer most high level technical questions to convince the client that the product/service you are selling is capable of fixing their problems or achieving their goals.
I come from a pure R&D technical background and find myself transitioning more and more to client facing positions. I excel at these roles because it takes a combination of soft skills and hard skills to do these jobs well. Obviously as you move across the spectrum, R&D > Sales, soft skills become more important and hard skills become less. If a solution consultant can't answer the question, they simply pull in the hired guns to do so.
At my company, the technical hired guns are a dime a dozen. A person that can wow the customer and convince them we are the company for the job are the superstars.
Hope that helps. If you have more questions feel free to PM me. I'm the director of my companies post-sales services for the country which is tightly coupled with pre-sales.
Esteban_Villa
Veteran XV
Sales Engineer
Just below Cock Mongoler in prestige.
Just below Cock Mongoler in prestige.
I find TW more heavily favouring the back office engineer and the prestige of being a recognized subject matter expert, probably due to our technical audience. The general idea that salesmen are sleezy etc. And although it is extremely difficult to be the back office technical engineer superstar, it is very easy to be mediocre and blend in like NGFM. When you are client facing, your deficiencies are highly visible.
From my experience in R&D, very few people in the back office are suitable to put in front of a client. This is not something the nerdy crowd would ever admit. They think they could do the sales job, but just remind yourself how fucking awkward the average poster on here is.
Similar to how the best back office engineer would be brought in on the most complex technical development/architectural discussion, the best sales/technical sales person will be brought in to close a huge deal for your company.
You should pursue the position that allows your own personal characteristics to shine through. Do you like coding/solving deep technical problems? Or do you like talking to people about their business problems and helping them understand how a technology can help them reach their goals?
PS. Both types of jobs come with their fair share of political bullshit. Clients are an absolute bitch to deal with. If you have no backbone, you will get eaten alive. Back office can be heads-down and extremely frustrating "cog in wheel". I'm not trying to suggest one is better than the other. You should pursue the job you love. Passion will drive you to do it better which should lead to a more successful career.
From my experience in R&D, very few people in the back office are suitable to put in front of a client. This is not something the nerdy crowd would ever admit. They think they could do the sales job, but just remind yourself how fucking awkward the average poster on here is.
Similar to how the best back office engineer would be brought in on the most complex technical development/architectural discussion, the best sales/technical sales person will be brought in to close a huge deal for your company.
You should pursue the position that allows your own personal characteristics to shine through. Do you like coding/solving deep technical problems? Or do you like talking to people about their business problems and helping them understand how a technology can help them reach their goals?
PS. Both types of jobs come with their fair share of political bullshit. Clients are an absolute bitch to deal with. If you have no backbone, you will get eaten alive. Back office can be heads-down and extremely frustrating "cog in wheel". I'm not trying to suggest one is better than the other. You should pursue the job you love. Passion will drive you to do it better which should lead to a more successful career.
Hazee Daze
Veteran XV
Glytch know his shit. A lot of our PMs double as sales support. Bates I'm guessing now that you are in Cali, you are looking into sw jobs. The cash is there fer sure. Start at a shit job, transition into more lucrative companies...It's a good path.
Sir Hobbleton Scotch
Veteran-5
I find TW more heavily favouring the back office engineer and the prestige of being a recognized subject matter expert, probably due to our technical audience. The general idea that salesmen are sleezy etc. And although it is extremely difficult to be the back office technical engineer superstar, it is very easy to be mediocre and blend in like NGFM. When you are client facing, your deficiencies are highly visible.
From my experience in R&D, very few people in the back office are suitable to put in front of a client. This is not something the nerdy crowd would ever admit. They think they could do the sales job, but just remind yourself how fucking awkward the average poster on here is.
Similar to how the best back office engineer would be brought in on the most complex technical development/architectural discussion, the best sales/technical sales person will be brought in to close a huge deal for your company.
You should pursue the position that allows your own personal characteristics to shine through. Do you like coding/solving deep technical problems? Or do you like talking to people about their business problems and helping them understand how a technology can help them reach their goals?
PS. Both types of jobs come with their fair share of political bullshit. Clients are an absolute bitch to deal with. If you have no backbone, you will get eaten alive. Back office can be heads-down and extremely frustrating "cog in wheel". I'm not trying to suggest one is better than the other. You should pursue the job you love. Passion will drive you to do it better which should lead to a more successful career.
Glytch, I am going to post in this thread because it may invite other knowledgeable people to comment.
I will soon have my mechanical engineering degree and I am seeking employment. A few months ago I applied to a position for international sales engineer, and I have recently heard from that company. I will not say what the company does, exactly, but they basically sell large power system solutions (think power plant). The issue I am having is that while I may get an offer soon, I'm not sure if this is the right path, because:
-Very few people I know of go down this road, so makes it difficult to get some "real" feedback.
-I'm not doing actual engineering work, so not getting my hours as an engineer in training (need 4 to apply for PEng)
-Unsure of how the career path works (what do you do other than be a sales engineer?)
-If I wish to transition to another career path (maybe I want to try consulting), it seems transitioning is difficult
I don't care too much for the technical engineering jobs. The bulk of my experience is management/leadership roles, and I'm interested in project management and/or consulting. Sales engineering is something I had never even though of before, but now that this door may be opening, I am finding myself hesitant as to whether I should go for it.
In terms of personality, I know I can handle it. Meeting clients, and trying to sell my idea/project is something I really enjoy doing, but it's one thing to do it as a career, especially after all the time I've invested in earning an engineering degree.
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tehvul u ever consider applyin to the university of miami
That would be counter productive.
. High context people tend to make fantastic sales reps, while low context people tend to be highly technical and productive.
Wtf does context mean in this context?