Does the Word “Sales” Keep Good Engineers Out of Sales Engineering?

Many technical professionals are shifting careers and becoming sales engineers. In this article, we will use the title “sales engineer,” although the name and role come in many versions and derivatives.

Product managers, product engineers, software developers, mechanical engineers, and others are among the key personnel in the funnel of potential/future sales engineers. Most of these people have likely never had an actual “sales” job in their lifetime, aside from possibly a part-time retail job at some point.

For many folks, the terms “sales” and “salesperson” carry an incredibly poor reputation and negative stereotypes. It is these assumptions that often undermine a person’s interest in and efforts toward becoming a sales engineer.

Yes, part of being a sales engineer involves active participation in sales and the sales process and sales cycle. You, sometimes alone but often as part of a small team, are trying to achieve a sale. An order, a contract, a subscription. That is the goal, and for some people, that is off-putting and perhaps even considered “beneath” them.

This attitude and preconception toward a “sales” role has a couple of big problems.

First, sales roles can offer substantial earning potential, regardless of industry. That’s why a product manager making $110k per year may choose to become a sales engineer and possibly earn $180k per year. That is a strong personal motivator. (I am making up these dollar figures, but you understand my broader point.)

But I think the larger item to rethink is: Why do you have such a poor perception of a salesperson? There are stereotypes out there like the “used car salesman” or, going back a decade or more, the door-to-door salesman. Most of those roles involved high-pressure sales tactics aimed at closing the prospect literally in 1-2 hours, and nearly always on the very same day.

But that is not what we are talking about here with sales engineers. In B2B technical sales, we generally don’t expect to close someone and get an order or deposit on the day of the first demo, presentation, or proposal review. Ask an account representative at a firm how many touches it takes to actually close with their average client. Sales cycles in many B2B efforts can take many months (or longer), with a lot of back-and-forth discussions and revisions.

Instead, consider yourself, the sales engineer, a “trusted advisor.” Or…a business consultant. Yes, you are giving technical and business advice and are trying to match your firm’s offerings with the client’s business problems. Your goal is to get a sale, but one that is a win-win for both you and the client/prospect.

It is that mentality that is the critical difference between today’s sales engineer and the “snake oil salesman” of yesteryear.

Do these stereotypical roles and high-pressure salespeople still exist today? Yes, they do. But don’t let that stop you from considering and learning a new role that may bring about the greatest satisfaction of your career thus far.