The collection of tools available to Sales Engineers historically has been pretty limited. Improvising is a core skill of SEs; we tend to make do with what we have. However, we now know buyers complete most of the research before speaking to Sales and ultimately, Sales Engineering. Because of this, we need to perform at our very best, maximising the opportunity to understand our buyer and add value throughout the limited engagement. To help achieve this, SEs need a complete toolkit that helps us run better discoveries, demos and solution designs.

In this article, I’ll list the tools available to SEs that can add value to our roles as individual contributors. Note: I will continue to update this article as I research and test more tools. If you don’t see a tool you’d expect, let me know!

Glean

Glean is a consolidated search platform for all your company’s data. Think Google search, but for all your internal documents, articles, slack channels and more. There are pretty advanced use cases for Glean that I’ve yet to explore but even the basic functionality of an omnisearch is incredibly valuable. If it means I don’t need to manually search Jira/Confluence: I’m happy.

What Sales Engineers use Glean for:

Finding answers to complicated questions without knowing where the answer is.

Slack

Slack is a potent tool for SEs in multiple ways. The obvious is communication with peers and organising messages by channels. Less obvious is using Slack as an SE onboarding tool. It’s a good idea to have an open “Ask an SE” channel that allows our cross-functional partners to ask questions to SEs. This is providing a primary benefit to them by crowdsourcing information but the secondary benefit is that for a new SE, you’re getting a glimpse of the type of questions customers are asking. These are the questions that will ultimately fall on your plate when you’re live. I always encourage new SEs to monitor this channel and try to answer the questions, even privately, to build their confidence.

What Sales Engineers use Slack for:

Building an onboarding database of customer questions.

Demo Persona

Demo Persona is a Chrome extension that allows you to visually signpost throughout live demos. Oftentimes, I’m demoing a product to multiple stakeholders/roles at the same time. Before Demo Persona, I was relying on my talk track to bring someone’s attention back, but if they missed my audio cue that it’s relevant to them, I’ve lost them. Considering that most people retain visual information, Demo Persona allows me to provide another signpost to get their attention back. Once you have their attention, it’s an easier sell.

What Sales Engineers use Demo Persona for: 

Placing visual signposts throughout my demos.

Gong

Gong was a game-changer for me. Typically, it’s not the first use case you think of for Gong to help SEs. Everything from onboarding, call preparation, and deal management are used by SEs. I wrote a pretty in-depth post about my experience with Gong after only three months of using it here. Perhaps my post is due for an update after a year as the platform hasn’t stopped progressing. The coolest thing for SEs right now is the ‘Ask Anything’ feature. 

What Sales Engineers use Gong for: 

Onboarding, call preparation, deal management, coaching, product requests, feature requests…

Loom

Loom has become my “go-to” for recording mini demos and explainer videos. Our time is limited and Loom allows me to avoid having to jump on a call with customers to explain a straightforward concept. It also allows the AE and I to track engagement and the customer to watch it in their own time. One of the better features Loom released is the “script” functionality that’s hidden from the viewer when recording.

What Sales Engineers use Loom for: 

Recording short videos to avoid customer calls.

Eye Dropper

Eye Dropper is a simple tool with a simple purpose, copy the exact colours your customers use from their website. If you need to build custom demos often and have branding customisation within the product you sell, Eye Dropper is extremely effective and quick at grabbing the hex values.

What Sales Engineers use Eye Dropper for:

Customising demos with a customer’s colour scheme.

Demo Monkey

Demo Monkey allows you to manipulate the data within your demo environments to tell a different story, without having to build something from scratch. You create the variables for the data and corresponding templates. Once done, you can switch use cases or stories easily before demos. I wouldn’t use Demo Monkey often, but for large customers, it’s very handy if you don’t fully control your environment. 

What Sales Engineers use Demo Monkey for:

Customising demos with different data.

Remarkable

Remarkable is an E-Ink writing tablet, think of a Kindle but for note taking. While the same job can be done on physical paper, Remarkable does a great job at organising your notes. I create a new notebook per client, allowing me to jot quick notes down and reference them later. It’s also a great way for me to remember participants’ names and job titles during a demo.

What Sales Engineers use Remarkable for:

Organising notes and remembering names during demos.

WhatRuns

WhatRuns tells you what technology your customers are using on their website. Knowing what tools your customers are using can be extremely valuable when preparing for your sessions and identifying if you’re product has any integrations. I’ve used this to ask very directed questions during discovery or plant integration seeds during a demo.

What Sales Engineers use WhatRuns for:

Asking directed questions during discovery or planting integration seeds during a demo.

Grammarly

Grammarly is your always-on spell checker. Because Sales Engineers are typically short on time, Grammarly helps me craft better emails when multitasking. Basic grammatical errors can negatively impact the perception of being a trusted advisor – I try to avoid this with Grammarly.

What Sales Engineers use Grammarly for:

Checking the spelling and grammar of my emails (and this blog post).

Chili Piper

Chili Piper is a collaborative calendar tool that allows customers to book time directly on your calendar. The main benefit for SEs is that you’re in control of the time that’s offered. This avoids the back-and-forth email chain trying to find a suitable time. 

What Sales Engineers use Chili Piper for:

Offering available meeting times to customers.

Crossbeam

Crossbeam is a platform that allows partners to share key customer data. If you have a strong partner network, Crossbeam will be key for you to identify any integration possibilities during your customer engagement. This will also help set you apart from the competition by trying to integrate into their wider tech stack without relying on the customer bringing it up first.

What Sales Engineers use Crossbeam for:

Identifying any integration options for customers.

The post Best Tools for Sales Engineers (SEs) appeared first on Demo Persona.

In the world of complex B2B sales, the term “Sales Engineering” often surfaces, but it can be somewhat elusive to many. If you’ve ever wondered about the role, significance, and strategies behind sales engineering, you’ve come to the right place. In this comprehensive guide, we will unravel the mysteries of what Sales Engineers do, highlighting their importance in today’s competitive business landscape and providing valuable insights for both professionals and businesses looking to enter this field.

Table of Contents (Click to jump)

1. What is Sales Engineering?
2. Variations of Titles for Sales Engineering
3. The Role of a Sales Engineer
4. Why Sales Engineering Matters
5. The Skills Required
6. Sales Engineering Responsibilities
7. Sales Engineering in Action
8. The Future of Sales Engineering
9. Conclusion

What is Sales Engineering?

Sales Engineering is a strategic and technical role that sits at the intersection of sales and engineering. It involves providing technical expertise and support to sales teams to help them sell complex products or services effectively. In essence, sales engineers act as the bridge between the customer’s technical needs and the solutions offered by their company.

Variations of Titles for Sales Engineering

In the realm of Sales Engineering, job titles can vary significantly depending on the organization, industry, and the specific responsibilities of the role. These variations often reflect the unique blend of technical expertise and sales acumen that Sales Engineers possess. Here are some common titles and variations you might encounter:

Most Common:

1. Sales Engineer: The most straightforward and common title, it directly reflects the core role of professionals who bridge the gap between sales and technical expertise.
2. Pre-Sales Engineer: This title emphasizes the proactive role of Sales Engineers in the pre-sales phase, where they engage with potential customers to understand their needs and demonstrate how the product or service can meet those needs.
3. Solution Consultant: While this title is not exclusive to Sales Engineering, it reflects the consultative nature of the role, where Sales Engineers provide guidance and expertise to help clients make informed decisions.
4. Solutions Engineer: Solutions Engineers focus on crafting customized solutions for clients by leveraging their technical knowledge. This title highlights their role in delivering tailored solutions.
5. Solutions Architect: In larger organizations, Sales Engineers with a deep technical understanding may take on this title, focusing on architecting complex solutions for enterprise clients.

Less Common

1. Technical Sales Engineer: This variation emphasizes the technical aspect of the role, emphasizing the Sales Engineer’s responsibility for translating technical information to potential customers.
2. Product Specialist: This title is often used when Sales Engineers specialize in a particular product or product line, becoming experts in the features and applications of that offering.
3. Customer Engineer: Customer Engineers focus on providing technical support and assistance to existing customers, ensuring they have a positive experience with the product or service.
4. Field Engineer: Field Engineers work primarily in the field, engaging directly with customers and providing on-site technical support and demonstrations.
5. Client Solutions Engineer: Emphasizing the client-centric aspect of the role, Client Solutions Engineers focus on understanding client needs and tailoring solutions accordingly.
6. Technical Account Manager (TAM): In some organizations, Sales Engineers may take on the title of TAM, where they not only support sales efforts but also manage ongoing relationships with key clients, ensuring their technical needs are met.

It’s important to note that these titles can overlap, and their specific meanings may vary between companies.

The Role of a Sales Engineer

Transitioning to the role of a Sales Engineer, we find a multi-faceted position that plays a pivotal role in the sales process. Here are some key responsibilities:

• Product Expertise: Sales engineers have an in-depth knowledge of their company’s products or services, allowing them to explain technical features to potential customers.
• Solution Customization: They tailor solutions to meet the unique needs of each client, demonstrating how their product can address specific challenges.
• Technical Support: Sales engineers provide technical support during the sales process, addressing customer inquiries, and resolving technical issues.
• Relationship Building: Transitioning smoothly, they build trust with customers by demonstrating their expertise and acting as a reliable resource.
• Competitive Analysis: Furthermore, Sales engineers often assess competitors’ offerings, highlighting their product’s advantages.
• Sales Training: They may provide training to the sales team on technical aspects to improve their product knowledge.

Why Sales Engineering Matters

Why does Sales Engineering matter in the first place? There are several compelling reasons:

• Effective Communication: First and foremost, sales engineers bridge the gap between technical jargon and customer understanding, facilitating smoother communication.
• Improved Sales Efficiency: Moreover, their technical knowledge helps sales teams close deals faster and with higher success rates.
• Customer Satisfaction: Beyond that, tailored solutions lead to happier customers who feel their unique needs are met.
• Revenue Growth: Notably, sales engineers contribute significantly to revenue growth by converting prospects into customers.

The Skills Required

Transitioning to the skills required for this role, it becomes evident that to excel in Sales Engineering, professionals need a diverse skill set, including:

• Technical Aptitude: An understanding of the product or service is paramount.
• Communication Skills: In addition, the ability to explain complex concepts clearly is essential.
• Problem-Solving: Sales engineers must find creative solutions to customer challenges.
• Empathy: Understanding the customer’s perspective is key to building trust.
• Sales Acumen: Finally, they need to understand the sales process and how to support it effectively.

Sales Engineer Responsibilities

Effective Sales Engineering responsibilities include:

• Discovery: The process begins with a thorough understanding of the customer’s pain points and requirements.
• Customization: Subsequently, tailoring solutions to meet specific customer needs becomes essential.
• Demonstration: Prospects need to “see” how your solution operates. Often this includes a narrative drawing on your discovery.
• Proof of Concept/Pilot: Demonstrating the product’s value through real-world scenarios further strengthens the sales pitch.
• Technical Documentation: In addition, providing detailed technical information to support the sales process is crucial.
• Feedback Loop: Lastly, constantly gathering feedback from both customers and the sales team to improve the process is an ongoing effort.

Sales Engineer in Action

To illustrate Sales Engineering in action, let’s consider a scenario in the software industry. A software company wants to sell a complex data analytics platform to a prospective client. A sales engineer is assigned to the case and works closely with the sales team. They assess the client’s data needs, provide a customized demo showcasing how the platform can address those needs, and answer technical questions. As a result of these efforts, the client is impressed with the tailored solution and decides to purchase the platform.

The Future of Sales Engineering

Looking ahead to the future of Sales Engineering, it’s clear that the role continues to evolve as technology advances. With the increasing complexity of products and services, the need for skilled sales engineers is growing. Additionally, digital tools (*cough*, Demo Persona) and AI-driven insights are likely to play a more prominent role in sales engineering processes. Gong has been a game changer for me and I discussed it in more detail here.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Sales Engineering is a vital and dynamic field that plays a crucial role in helping businesses sell complex products and services effectively. As the business landscape evolves, the demand for skilled sales engineers is expected to rise. By understanding the role, strategies, and skills required in Sales Engineering, professionals and businesses can position themselves for success in this ever-changing field.

If you made it this far and stumbled on this blog, I’ve created an extension to help you give better live demonstrations.

The post What is a Sales Engineer? appeared first on Demo Persona.

Here are 3 ways I’m personally benefiting from using Gong as a Sales Engineer. And no, this wasn’t written by ChatGPT. 

Rapid onboarding for Sales Engineers

SEs need to know the ins and outs of the product we’re selling and probably most importantly, how to break it. This knowledge building takes time and there’s only so much you can learn from reading. A lot of the learning takes place by shadowing calls and 1:1s with experienced SEs. This presents 3 challenges:

1. This puts a lot of pressure on the experienced SEs. They’re likely already busy running deals and this will further stretch them to ensure they’re actively including and sharing knowledge with the newer SE. 
2. Deals aren’t won/lost in 1 call. It’s likely impossible for the new SE to shadow a deal start to finish and ensure they understand the right context of a call. 
3. Picking the right call to shadow is sometimes a roll of the dice. It could be an outlier discussion or even a train wreck.

Onboarding doesn’t end after a set period, but I felt ‘onboarded’ after little over a month. I’d see that as being consciously aware of what I don’t know and confident to run customer calls without further support. A lot of that comes down to our star Enablement Manager, Jen Silvestri, and my esteemed mentor, Craig Ellis. Here’s what stood out:

• I had a clear path to success from them and it heavily involved the use of Gong.
• There were curated folders of best practice calls with customers, calls that involved integrations, calls that showed the curveballs – the stuff that scares us.
• I could see firsthand how the best navigated calls and compared many different styles.
• I even followed historical deals all the way from Qualification to Closed Won. 

In three months, I’ve listened to 229 calls. That’s the equivalent of being exposed to 229 deals. GPT-3 ingested the internet, I ingest Gong’s deals. 

Clear handovers from AEs

An SE relies on the information an AE provides to best prepare for the next discovery/demo/Q&A call. Without this information, we’re going in blind and that rarely works well. In the past, I’ve gotten this information from either the CRM or a 1:1 with the AE before the call. This presents 2 challenges:

1. The information within the CRM is highly filtered. The data shows that if around 6000 words are spoken on a qualification call, around 30 words (0.5%) make it into the CRM. An AE and SE, naturally, has a different perspective on a call. Those 30 words in the CRM are highly subjective and are potentially missing crucial aspects that we need to know. 
2. To make up the gaps, I’ve often scheduled 1:1s with AEs before a call. This time is mainly used for the AE to recap what they’ve heard and less about strategy for the next call. This is an inefficient use of time for an AE and SE and often the recap is based on those 30 words from the CRM.

With Gong, I’ve been able to view every unfiltered interaction that took place before I got involved. I can see key pieces of information that have been extracted automatically from the conversation, identifying things like: tech stack, questions asked, challenges, objections, key needs, etc. I can quickly see what an AE showed or discussed already, so I can be laser-focused on what I need to show next to the prospect. And if I really want to, I can listen to the conversation at 1.5x speed, while walking the dogs (yep, there’s two doggos now). The best part in all of this is that I’ve now got full control over my prep work.

Effective feedback for Sales Engineers

I’ve always been an advocate for effective feedback. I have to thank Ciaran Cushley for his avoidance of the term ‘constructive feedback’. He does a better job of explaining the reasoning behind it than me. Effective feedback needs to be many things but fundamentally, it needs to be specific, impactful and timely. My experience before Gong meant that you had to shadow calls to get/give feedback. As you can likely guess, I had 3 main challenges with that approach:

1. Being specific is tough, especially when you’re listening to a conversation live. When you’re taking notes, your active listening takes a hit. Remembering exactly how an SE/prospect phrases things can make a big difference. We also all suffer from recency bias. 
2. When you’ve gotten the specific piece of feedback, you need to ensure it’s impactful to mention it to the SE. It could be a small thing that has little influence on the deal. Or vice-versa. This leads to the experienced SE being subjective on what they decide is impactful or not. A lot of it comes down to experience, but we’re oftentimes basing our judgment on subjective experience, maybe it’s impactful in your eyes, but the data proves otherwise.
3. We’ve likely just spent 1-hour shadowing the call and now have a back-to-back meeting or another to prep for after the call. This means the opportunity to actually give the feedback to the SE gets pushed. Specifics get murky, recency bias increases and when you eventually get around to the feedback session, it’s a subjective, feedback sandwich, mess.

We’re lucky to have a genuine feedback culture at Gong and thankfully with the Gong Platform, it’s easy to give effective feedback. Each conversation is automatically transcribed and indexed, allowing anyone to provide insight, without the need to shadow. Colleagues leave comments at specific time stamped locations on the conversation, allowing them to draw my attention back in time. Because Gong’s AI has analysed over 1 billion Sales conversations, we know what elements have impact on deal closing. If I’m speaking too much, going on a long monologue or being impatient, each piece of feedback is directly supported by clear evidence of it having impact on revenue. Lastly, because the conversation is evergreen, we no longer need to have those dedicated ‘feedback sessions’, it happens whenever either party is free. 

Closing thoughts

I’ve developed a lot as an SE over these months and it hasn’t stopped. As I uncover new aspects of Gong’s impact, I’ll continue to share them with you all. Let me know if you can relate to any of the challenges I’ve faced!

If you made it this far and stumbled on this blog, I’ve created an extension to help you give better live demonstrations.

The post How the Gong Platform is transforming my approach as a Sales Engineer appeared first on Demo Persona.