Mastering Technical Sales - Sales Engineer Guidebook

Learning about Mastering Technical Sales? If yes, then this book is a must read!!! Mastering Technical Sales by John Care and Aron Bohlig covers the full spectrum of what Sales Engineers need to know in order to be successful in their technical deals. It starts by covering fundamental concepts around:

-Qualifying Leads
-Determining Go/No Go strategies for RFPs
-Needs Analysis Tactics
-Delivering the Perfect Pitch
-How to Avoid 'Dash to Demo'
-Remote Demonstration Tips
-Objection Handling
-Branding
-Channel Selling with Partners
-Hiring SE Talent
-Time Management & Metrics

This book is a must-have in any Sales Engineer or SE Managers collection!!!

Sales Engineers and Researching

When researching your prospect and trying to figure out what they do, which industry they are in, who is their competition, researching their financials etc...etc...etc...I usually need to open up a bunch of browser windows/tabs and I am constantly switching between one another. So here is a good site that helps out the multi-tasker in all SEs. Check out: http://www.googlegooglegooglegoogle.com/
It will allow you to perform multiple searches and see the results all in one window.

SEs - Video Tape Your Dry Runs

All Sales Engineers every 3 to 6 months should always go under the microscope, for a self-humbling experience of being video taped during a dry run of their demonstration. I know...I know...Everyone is thinking, I have been doing this for the last 15 years, I know it all, why should I tape myself when I already know it all and have done it all. Seasoned Sales Engineers sometimes form bad habits, often unknown to them, which may hind a deal in the future. It was not until I saw myself demo'ing on video earlier on in my career, that I realized how often I would finish my prospects questions without letting them finish their train of thought...Video has no hidden agendas, so it always provides you with a different perspective and always you to fine tune small imperfections in your game.
Remember, Sales Engineers are a unique breed, many are often defensive about there skills being critiqued by others , so this is an easy way for an IMPARTIAL assessment on your demo delivery. Remember, it will only help you in the long run and the pocketbook!!!

SEs Gathering Non Functional Requirements

So you have your prospect's business process flows captured, test data uploaded, key business drivers documented...So you should be ready to go into demo prep phase, RIGHT?...Well, almost...don't forget asking your prospect about the non-functional side of the business. Most software Sales Engineers know that we should be asking all of the 'ability' questions, but often we forget, and sometimes these areas tie back tighter to the executive's key business requirements.

You know the ones I am talking about, like: availability, scalability, reliability, security, etc...

Knowing your companies strengthens in these areas can allow you to plant effective traps for your competition, even if they have a stronger point-solution than yours!!! The SE who you are competiting with at the well-known competitor will probably forget to do so. Give it a shot!!!

Web Based Diagramming Tool

For most Sales Engineers (both Software and Hardware based), currently mapping out current architectures/infrastructures can be a challenging task...Now add on top of that not having the ability to easily map out these environments while you are on the phone with the prospect makes it that much more difficult..For those of you with HUGE budgets to buy the latest and greatests to assist in your SEs sales cycles, this post may not be so useful for you.

But for the rest of us, if you want an easy to use, web based (I love the SAAS model) tool, that allows you to map out environments, do straight forward Flow Chart, E/R, Network, UML, BPM flows, and sequence diagrams to name a few, then it is worth a shot to testdrive Gliffy (http://www.gliffy.com/). This drag and drop tool allows you to version your diagrams, snap to grid, full formatting, image upload, web image searching and a bunch of other great features. Setup a free test account and play around with it...If you like it, the price is very affordable for what you get and it will enable your Sales Engineer to better capture their prospect's requirements...Give it a try!

Sales Engineer Tips has lift off...

Here it goes...The kickoff has happened...The ball has dropped...Sales Engineer Tips is off the ground. Now is when the real work begins...

I have been involved in Sales Engineering for over the past decade, so I have a come across a bunch of the good, the bad and the ugly around Sales Engineering (or for those who prefer Sales Consulting or Systems Engineering). I am truly passionate about the Sales Engineer role, and could not imagine a better role for myself or for many of the SEs on my teams. Sales Engineering is one of the greatest hidden occupations with some of the greatest benefits and upside potential without the heartache of carrying the quota…and dealing with forecast calls…and committing questionable deals…you know the deal

In kicking off this blog, I have googled many related terms in the past in our space with limited success. I will be adding oher useful sites and resources in this blog. I have had difficulty finding useful /current information that I could apply to my team's sales cycles. Often the resources I found were focused more to the sales rep role or promoting some sales toolkit…The SE was always left on their own to craft their own methology on how to approach each or every sales cycle, to an effort to hopefully increase the probability of converting a prospect into a customer. Thus, the reason why I wanted to setup this blog, was to provide givefeed and knowledge to the Sales Engineer community.

I want and appreciate the feedback…Send me any tips and tricks on what works for you and what doesn’t...Our goal is build out an Sales Engineer network of resources, tools, ideas to help differentiate you and the solution you are positioning over your competition.

Good Selling!!!