Having searched in many of the wrong places I found an excellent article on Frank Hecker's site, telling the world what a Sales Engineer (SE) does.
Fundamentally, it is the job of the SE to support the sales process, to the point of selling the product, until the customer has paid the money. By that time, a full transition of the account should pass it on to a long-term implementation or support based team, whose job it is to keep the customer happy.
You often hear of customer's complaining that the consultant who got things working disappeared after the customer paid up, but that is basically their job. They are also called Pre sales consultants...
The basic tasks that exist before the sale are:
SEs are also in an excellent place to feed back to the company any customer requirements that are not satisfied by the current product, and see if it is possible to find solutions. Often the ability to think outside the box will be of great assistance.
Fundamentally, it is the job of the SE to support the sales process, to the point of selling the product, until the customer has paid the money. By that time, a full transition of the account should pass it on to a long-term implementation or support based team, whose job it is to keep the customer happy.
You often hear of customer's complaining that the consultant who got things working disappeared after the customer paid up, but that is basically their job. They are also called Pre sales consultants...
The basic tasks that exist before the sale are:
- Getting technical requirements from customers
- Web and Live Product demonstrations
- Advising customers which products they need for a proposed solution
- Writing more formal documents such as proposals, and answering RFIs
- Managing the relationship with the customer at a technical level - including support questions, evaluation requirements, proof of concept, architecture
- Assisting salespeople with sales strategy for an account
SEs are also in an excellent place to feed back to the company any customer requirements that are not satisfied by the current product, and see if it is possible to find solutions. Often the ability to think outside the box will be of great assistance.
Comments
I just got a job offer where the commission is 1% on systems that will sell for $100K. Am I being ripped off - at a base of $75K? What's the typical commission that should be expected? How much can that be renegotiated to in a year? Thanks.
I have a similar question. What is the typical (if any) commission or "upside" for an SE? I have heard and seen other firms allowing the SE team to participate in the revenue generated by the sales team they support. Is there an over-lay commission standard?
-JB
Its a tough question for any given sale saying what your commission rate is. You should think of it more in terms of overall compensation, how much do they expect you to sell, and therefore what rate to give you the expected OTE. Of course there are all sorts of ways of structuring it with accelerators, gates, or even just flat percentages.
The alter
If it's all self-gen, you need a far higher commission than if the company provides all or most leads and they are genuine enquiries.
My bf is from france and his degree is in business/ sales engineering. He wants to come to the USA. Where should he look for jobs in Charlettesville, VA or Pensacola, FL for a job? I just need some help, because I don't know how to help him look for a job. He has a masters. Please help me!