Student Research Spotlight: What Makes Sales Engineers Successful?

Imagine being a sales engineer, confidently explaining a complex product to a room full of engineers, finance experts, and operations managers, each with unique concerns. You tailor your pitch to speak to their specific needs, combining technical knowledge with a clear business case. As a senior at Purdue University, I am exploring the key traits that make sales engineers successful in balancing these demands and want to understand what experiences shape their skills.

As a current student studying Integrated Business and Engineering at Purdue University, my senior year includes a capstone project. This class allows my classmates and me to explore numerous topics, especially those in fields we are interested in. This brand-new major at Purdue translates technical knowledge from engineering courses into cost-effective business plans through the business school degree. With an interest in project management, data analytics, and sales, my team has landed on studying character traits and behaviors of sales engineers. We aim to discover if there are similarities among sales engineers, as much research on sales has not focused specifically on this technical position. 

Since our major emphasizes this idea, we brainstormed what we believe makes sales engineers successful.

• Clear Communication: Sales engineers must confidently explain complex products in a way that anyone can understand.
• Tailored Pitch: They need to adapt their sales pitch to fit different audiences, addressing each customer’s unique problems and needs.
• Listening Skills: Being a great listener is essential to understanding the pain points of the companies they are selling to.
• Adaptability: Sales engineers must be able to adjust their approach depending on the specific needs of each client.
• Discipline: Success in this hybrid profession requires a high level of discipline to manage both technical and sales responsibilities effectively.

For our project, we wanted to explore if there were signs that someone would be a good sales engineer before they got into this position. This is where we are asking for help. We have created a Google Form that allows sales engineers to write about their experiences in the field. Understanding the backgrounds professionals come from can help us find common traits. If there is a formative experience many successful sales engineers have gone through, we may find they gained key skills from it. We also may identify innate character traits that enable these professionals to excel in the field. The survey is linked below—please share your experiences as a sales engineer. 

The survey takes approximately two minutes to fill out, and our team would greatly appreciate your participation. None of the questions are mandatory, so if you do not feel comfortable sharing something, feel free to skip it and move on. Thank you!

Take the survey here: Sales Engineers Survey

About the Author

Senior Alyssa Younker is from Michigan, studying for a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Business and Engineering at the Mitch Daniels School of Business. She is also pursuing a Certificate of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and has a concentration in Hospitality and Tourism Management.