There are a lot of ways to become a solid sales engineer especially with how critical this role is becoming in technology sales.  However, I have seen few that are able to cross the chasm to become an indispensable partner to the sales team.   I mentioned in my previous post, "Five ways Sales Engineers can make an impact at the end of a quarter” that to make an impact of a deal you will need to be a trusted advisor to the sales team by taking ownership of the deal as well as helping them identify risk early.  However, these were deal specific tasks that will help you align with the AE.  Looking at the role more holistically there are a few qualities that when worked on, can help differentiate you and take you from being a good sales engineer to a great sales engineer.  Below I break down four key qualities that I have worked on that have helped make me a crucial part of the sales support team.

Qualities of a Solid Sales Engineer

• Does a demo showcasing the product’s feature and function

• Use generic, templated product marketing materials

• Develops relationships within the presales organization

• Waits for the sales team to reach out when needed

Qualities of an indispensable Sales Engineer 

• Does a demo that creates a story, describing the customer challenges and aligning the product as the solution

• Understands the messaging from product marketing and tailors the presentations for each customer meeting

• Develops relationships within the presales organization as well as partner teams of presales (e.g. Product, Information Security etc)

• Is proactive and partners with sales (maybe with reoccurring sync up meetings), communicates regularly with them and shares value add articles, ideas or news when they come across it that aligns to a client opportunity

 What qualities have you seen that makes a sales engineer indispensable?