What is Presales, Sales Engineering, or Solution Consultant, and Is It Right For You?

[@1anre]

Man, thanks a bunch for bringing back down such a scary “Salesly” role to earth for us to grasp. Have just recently picked interest in this role & have been considering taking up my next Tech Opportunity in Solutions/Sale Engineering, and I think with the material you shared here & the rest of stuff this channel offers, I think I should be in good hands. I really don’t know why Tech Folks disdain anything involving sales especially even when they stand to earn a commission on each successfully completed sale - I guess we just like our peace & wouldn’t want that traded away just to have a fancy suit & pants + an overbearing customer.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Thanks for the comment Lanre, and the linkedin connection. Sales has a very bad rep due to the actions of a few. I know I had disdain for anyone in sales since I felt like they were lying to me to get my money. After being an SE for several years now, I know there are some like that, but the majority really wants to help. Sales Engineers are always there to help and often lose deals because they tell the truth. The thing that tech people miss is that their companies usually have salespeople, and there is a co-dependent relationship there. If it was not for tech people, there would be no product. If it wasn't for sales, tech people would not have jobs to make tech products.

[@TonyMoze]

The Sales Engineer is the CTO to the CEO The SE is like Steve Wozniak, the AE is Steve Jobs. Love the analogies!

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Thanks Tony!

[@TheDimanoid999]

MAN, best description of the jobs! Thank you for your time and so much insight!

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Glad it was helpful!

[@khquah5637]

Thanking you for sharing your experiences as a sales engineer by creating this video. 👍

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

It's my pleasure!

[@wmatrose]

Thanks WeTheSalesEngineers, this was very helpful.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Glad to hear!

[@learnonline4830]

I am a hard core Sales Engineers since 15 Years and it is relatable.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

I appreciate your comment

[@РустамДавлетяров-ш9о]

In the work of SE, I often had a misunderstanding from technicians, they did not understand why we have second "Sales manager" at project team. I usually answered that I was in this project so that you could spend less time chatting and concentrate on the technical solution

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

I'm not sure how I feel about this statement. 1- Yes, I agree. Many SEs think they can do a salesperson's job better than the sales person. 2- SEs are much more than technicians. 3- Part of an SE's job is to chat with customers. That how we get to understand what the technical solution should be. 4- The salesperson offloads the SEs when it comes to negotiation, closing deals and finding new ones. Most SEs don't want to do that.

[@Jodie514]

love this! just made me want to go into this career route even more.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

I'm happy to hear that Jodie!

[@levernfitzpatrickjr.3969]

Hey fam how’s this going for you? I’ve been considering it

[@mahikris9625]

Ramzi .. the first 1-2 mins was so hilarious that I can totally relate to that -MK

[@djdavidjustinify]

You said it amazing Bro!!! I'm considering jumping into the Role or applying for it and I think I would be perfect for this. I'm am extremely sociable and I've practically done this with my current sales team for YEARS. I just never had that "title"

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Thanks David, I appreciate that, and I'm glad you are looking into applying for the role. If you need any help, let me know

[@talseren7776]

I'm transitioning into the SE world right now. that was great!! and very funny XD

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Thanks Tal. good luck and let me know if you need help.

[@PaspiAsr]

Thanks for the breakdown! A bit off-topic, but I wanted to ask: My OKX wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (behave today finger ski upon boy assault summer exhaust beauty stereo over). Could you explain how to move them to Binance?

[@zenmaster3702]

So much information - thanks a lot for this video!

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

It's my pleasure

[@shreyasr3552]

Love the content. Is there a reason you didn't choose to call the channel We Sales Engineers Together? Would love to be a part of the West family

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

I'm glad you do! As for the name, I had a hard time coming up with any, but once We The SEs popped in my head, never looked back :)

[@rimjhimparashar3301]

Explained so beautifully! ❤️

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Thanks a lot 😊!

[@jkmukuna]

I love SE work, my dad is one and is the reason I became a mechanical engineer. However I am having a tough time breaking into the industry. I know where I want to break in (Manufacturing/Industrial) but can’t find an in. Is there anyway you can cover forums or platforms you need to break into the line of work?

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hi Jonathan, most of the forums I know it's software or IT, however even mechanical or industrial engineers need software. You can join SENY or PSC. dm me if you need some help

[@jkmukuna]

@@WeTheSalesEngineers yeah most definitely. I would love to pick your brain. Are you on Instagram? I can DM you there

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

@@jkmukuna I'm on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/ramzimarjaba

[@TonyMoze]

Man, love your response on here!

[@OmenValorant10]

Thank you friend for this video it was very useful for me since they offered me this vacancy and I did not understand very well what is done but the information helped me

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

It's my pleasure! And congrats on the role. If you need any additional help, connect with me on linkedin.com/in/ramzimarjaba or check out WeTheSalesEngineers.com

[@1ducky101]

For someone looking to get their first job in sales engineering -- what roles would we be applying for? are there such things as "junior" sales engineer roles, or what titles should we be searching for? Thanks!

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hey Ashley, there are Associate Sales Engineer or Junior Sales Engineer. They could have different levels assigned as well, such as Sales Engineer (Entry Leve). You would also need to look at other titles like Solutions Consultant, Solutions Engineer. I wrote a blog for vivun on the different titles: vivun.com/blog/presales-professionals-titles-matter-they-mean-a-lot-and-imply-more Also, don't limit yourself to Associate of Junior. Look for a regular sales engineering job and apply. The first job I applied to was for a Senior SE with 5 years of customer facing experience, I didn't have any, but I ticked all the other boxes. Connect with me on LinkedIn if you have any additional questions. I'm happy to help. linkedin.com/in/ramzimarjaba

[@1ducky101]

@@WeTheSalesEngineers Wow thanks so much! Definitely going to check out the article you wrote, and I'll send a connect on LinkedIn 😁 thanks again!!

[@ashaydeshmukh2791]

Thank you so much... It very much clear where am I going to be...

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Glad to have helped

[@steelsteez6118]

7:11 "we're definitely not sales.... We're in sales, but we are not sales..." 🤔 I think I see where the confusion comes from and I can't say I blame them.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Yep

[@ijs8548]

what is the diffrence between techincal support engineer and sales engineer (as i understand SE is more in sales but could you give me details )

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

The technical support engineer works with existing customers. A ticket is usually opened by a customer and assigned to a support engineer. The support engineer helps the customer resolve the issue as fast as possible while collecting as mush info as possible. Then they debugs, looks at the logs, and try to reproduce the issue. Once that is done, if it's a bug, the ticket gets escalated to the R&D team to fix the bug. Usually the support engineer is specialized in a product or tech. Sales Engineering on the other hand is developing relationships and trying to understand the business problem. Then their job is to offer the customer a solution using one or many of their products working together. More importantly, they are highlight the value and how it could solve the problem. I hope this helps, Ramzi

[@ijs8548]

@@WeTheSalesEngineers yes it helped alot thank you

[@emmab7734]

❤❤❤❤❤❤ this video!!!! I’m forging the way as an SE and hopefully building the department within the year. Have you had experience trying to inform other startup departments including sales that you’re not a threat? If so what were some points that resonated?

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hey Emma, I'm glad you like the video, and I'm glad your having an impact on your organization. Your question is hard to answer through KZbin comments. Feel free to email me at [e-mail] and we can set up a time to chat.

[@sergiocristianmedinabautis9334]

Hi! Thanks for share your experiences, it was was quite enriching. I'll take some interviews for a pre-sales internship, could you give me some advice on how to shine in them?

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hi Sergio, I have a course all about this. Check out wethesalesengineers.com/r2se That being said, I can tell you that you need to practice your answers, think what's in it for them and why should they hire you, not someone else, and have a conversation with the interviewers. It's your chance to figure out if you want to work for that company as well.

[@muks]

This was very informative. This is what I expected. The job description also said the same and I also did exactly what you said in your video. I just had an interview for Pre Sales position. I already work as Technical Solutions Architect. The feedback I got was "you bring extremely strong technical skills. you were lacking some in the ability to drive home the "technical meat" during the presentation. team wanted more from a business value perspective as well." 1. What do make of it? 2. Do you have any presentation that I can learn from? Please suggest, Thanks

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hi Mukul, it's hard to say from the above. It seems that they wanted more technical info from you. At the same time, you would have had to relate that technical info to the business problems that they were having. How deep you go technically is dependent on the audience. If this misses the mark, please provide more details and I will attempt to assist.

[@TonyMoze]

@@WeTheSalesEngineers I'm looking forward to Mukul's response :)

[@SamAndrew27]

Great info here, thank you!

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Thanks!

[@TonyMoze]

I love these videos. Thank you for distinguishing them. I appreciate it!

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

My pleasure

[@rolandorodriguez421]

Hello! Great content. I have a big doubt. Does the presales or sales engineer need to be specialist at the deployment level? I mean, to become a good presales engineer is it necessary to have had a implementation or deployment engineer? Or maybe it is enough to have certificates of main technologies tools and study the main IT architectures to understand the business of the customers ? Obviously, I think it is important to have good communication skills. Thanks!

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hi Ronaldo, having actual engineering skills are very helpful, but they are not the only thing that is looked at. Just having certificates on their own, without actual experience is not enough in general. You either have to have technical knowledge or customer knowledge, preferably both. It is all dependent on the hiring company

[@featheredserpent57]

Thank you, great content! Is SE the same as tech sales?

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Tech Sales in general includes SDRs/BDRs, Account Management and Sales Engineering. However for some reason the term seems to be high jacked by some and are using it to mean SDR/BDR, especially in bootcamps.

[@prachi_trivedi]

After presales analyst, what are the next roles after promotion??

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hi Prachi, presales analyst is a new one for me. Can you elaborate more on the role?

[@asinsodojrn]

Ouch, that BEEP was a little harsh on the ears with headphones on 😬 Still love ya, Ramsey!!!

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Sorry about that. Need to add a warning somehow. I appreciate it Asin!

[@vaishnaviayyar8199]

So useful thank you

[@mohammadasadejaz3359]

Have my interview with Mitsubishi electric, they send me 3 basic question to solve so they can discuss during the interview. Not sure how the rest of the interview will be like.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hi Mohammed, each company has a different process. For IT/SaaS/Networking, the process is usually recruiter -> Hiring Manager (bahvioral and a bit technical-> Fellow SEs (technical) and AEs (sales oriented) -> Panel Interview (presentation or demo) -> VPs potentially. It can change from company to company. Best thing to do is ask the recruiter or hiring manager about their process. Check out the SE Hotline if more help is needed.

[@steelsteez6118]

0:19 damn bro, blew out my god damn ears

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Opsies - hope everything is ok. I appreciate you going through the videos

[@bugsy74]

I enjoy a good drink, therefor this job is perfect for me

[@marcelhuswe5765]

yo, thanks for the video. i am also looking to find a job as a SE. I've worked in a client-facing role for 1 year and was hired from an automotive supplier to globally rollout a microsoft cloud product and to drive the adoption. problem here is that it is not really quota driven and even though i am meeting with a lot of internal people to kinda "sell" the platform so they use it, i am not sure if tech companies will take me serious if I'm gonna apply. I'm also not a Computer Science Guy, I've studied Mechanical Engineering and mostly worked with business application and now with low-code stuff. but always in Corporate IT. What do you think? Do you think this is enough? almost 3yrs working experience?

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hi Marcel, since you're working with Microsoft Cloud products, did you consider getting certified in that area? If you have, I believe that and your experience would be more important than what you studied at university. With a few tweaks on your resume to highlight the client facing role, your accomplishments and your drive, you should be good to go. If you need additional help, check out the SE hotline at WeTheSalesEngineers.com. I'd be happy to help.

[@marcelhuswe5765]

@@WeTheSalesEngineers okay, thanks for the quick response! I have some certifications in that field but ofc I don't want to constrain myself to Microsoft itself I'm more than open to learn new platforms and skills :) To showcase accomplishments, is it necessary to work with numbers? such as "exceeded quota by 200%" because that was never the case in my career path so far.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hi Marcel, been out with covid, hence the late replay. You've inspired me to create a video about this, but here's a snippet of what I tell my clients: 1- Think about what you are proud off. Is there something you've done that you are extremely happy with and don't think anyone else has done for your organization. For example, been called in for an urgent issue that people have been working on for hours and you resolved it much quicker? Or being the go to guy on your team for specific questions, etc. 2- Have you received positive feedback from colleagues and management about specific performance? 3- Have you received positive feedback from clients that not many people have. If you have exact numbers to share, for example implemented a new process which increased efficiency by x%, then use those numbers. Accomplishments don't have to be based on quota. The bottom line is the hiring managers are trying to find what you bring to the table beyond simply doing what's in the job description. If you want to chat some more, check out the SE hotline and book some with me there for free. wethesalesengineers.com/learn-more-about-ramzi/

[@HGsoul4ever]

How do you meet with customers? Do you source them?

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Depends on the industry and the size of the company. For Software, SaaS, cyber, it, networking,etc it's usually the account manager (salesperson) who has to find opportunities and get the SE involved. In civil, manufacturing and other similar industries, the Sales Engineer is actually the salesperson who would have to find opportunities and source meetings. Also, some larger organizations have inside sales teams that find leads for the sales teams

[@daljeetsingh2496]

Hi thanks for the video.. o have a third round of presales on mon which they will ask the use case i have to crack this any suggestion

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hey Daljeet, I'm not sure I understand. Are they going to ask you to do a demo tomorrow or solve a problem they have? Ping me on linkedin as I'm more active there and I can help

[@AhmedHussein_2010]

Thanks for sharing experience

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

My pleasure! Thank you for watching

[@AhmedHussein_2010]

@@WeTheSalesEngineers I am not only watching... I am learning from you thanks again

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Glad to hear that. If you are looking for additional help, check out the SE Hotline on WetheSalesEngineers.com

[@HGsoul4ever]

How much technological experience do you need for this?

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Unless your out of university, you usually need a few years

[@smartbinit2]

This help bro ❤

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

I'm glad it is!

[@frabriziovelazquez22]

How many hours a week on average do you work?

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Changes from week to week and org to org. I usually work regular working hours, mainly because I know how to protect my calendar.

[@AdityaKumar-mq2xm]

hello loved your video, I am getting a job as a role of Software Developer Presales. Is it a good one. Do tell.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hey Aditya, any presales job is a great job. It could be negatively affected by the managers and sales people. Connect with me on linkedin if you have specific questions

[@AdityaKumar-mq2xm]

@@WeTheSalesEngineers What is your linkedin?

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

@@AdityaKumar-mq2xm linkedin.com/in/ramzimarjaba

[@HGsoul4ever]

Subscribing because I want to know more about this.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Happy to have you!

[@flyindanskmen7317]

This is a good video. I'm having a hard time with the audio.

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hi, do you mean the music or something else? Your feedback can help me improve my upcoming videos

[@flyindanskmen7317]

@@WeTheSalesEngineers You can hear it at like 4:20 for a minute. The mic sound dampens a lot. It's almost like it defaulted to your webcam mic or something. It happens again later It sounds like.

[@FaizanKhan-jn6fi]

Got me to hit the like button lol

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

I'm glad you did :)

[@TowDow3]

this sounds like what i do daily except i get paid shit for it. hmmmm

[@WeTheSalesEngineers]

Hey, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you know what folks in your industry doing the same role get paid?

[@stringsaction]

Background music is so annoying

[@fabricepestel734]

0:20, just lost one eardrum...