Explore every episode of the podcast We The Sales Engineers: A Resource for Sales Engineers, by Sales Engineers

Behind every "professional journey" is a human being dealing with doubt, growth, and reinvention. Rick also offers candid insights into what people don't see behind the scenes of SE management: politics, career development, and the emotional intelligence needed to truly lead.

In this episode, host Ramzi Marjaba sits down with Raphael Joseph, a former software engineer who became a sales engineering leader and is now the founder of his own specialist recruitment firm for SEs. Raphael shares how he stumbled into sales engineering from banking, scaled a global SE team from 1 to 40, and later built a recruitment business tailored to the unique challenges of hiring pre-sales professionals.

Shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show332

Sometimes you just have to quit your job to start your own thing. And sometimes this job is a Leadership Role at a very well-respected organization such as Salesforce. And sometimes the job is the Global Enablement Leader. That's what our guest Guillaume Huynh-Ba does. Guillaume shares how his sales engineering foundation shaped his career, why he transitioned into enablement, and what he learned while scaling training programs across different regions and teams at Salesforce. 

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show331

Whether you're an SE considering management, a leader looking to motivate your team, or someone curious about the intersection of sales and technical expertise, this episode is packed with insights on resilience, leadership, and continuous improvement. shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show330

You can be a good solution engineer but still suck at different aspects of the job. That's because there are too many skills that Solution Engineers need to work on, it's almost impossible to be great at all of them. Even if we break them down, technical skills versus soft skills, there are still many that SEs might not be good at. Examples of soft skills include listening, storytelling, demoing, de-escalating, handling objections, and many more.

 It isn't easy to be great at all of them. And yet, even if you're not great at something, it doesn't mean you cannot work on it. It doesn't mean you cannot turn your weakness into a strength. And that is what Evgeni did. He turned his perceived weakness, speaking, into one of his better strengths and used it to get better at building relationships with his customers.

For every sport, some people do it professionally, and others are amateurs. One of the bigger differences is that professionals get paid, amateurs don't. When it comes to solution engineering, there are also some professionals and others who work like amateurs, even though they both get paid. We discuss this specific topic with Bill Balnave. We explore the key differences between professionals and amateurs within the industry. Bill shares insights from his extensive career in presales and customer success, while emphasizing the significance of having the right team and environment to stay motivated.

AI is all around us these days. We either use it to get more productive, or we fall behind. That is what we will discuss with Phillip Swan

Procurement is a black box for the majority of Solution Engineers and even Salespeople. Many salespeople treat Procurement as the enemy thinking that their only job is to beat them up on price, so today I have Mike Lander on. Mike is a former head of Procurement but is now helping Sales understand procurement better so they can close deals faster. shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show326

Ron Whitson joins us to discuss how we as Solution Engineers can build better relationships with customers and how we can help them make better decisions.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show325

I'm always asked, "What does a great SE look like?" The problem is there isn't one way to SE. Great SEs look like. The role is complex, and people do it differently. 

So, let's delve into the role's complexity and break it down through an evaluation form I created. I cover various aspects such as working with account managers, discovery, demos, proof of value, and technical know-how. I also emphasize the importance of customer relations and leadership skills.

Finally, I have some news…

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show324

Join us as we welcome Harman Bamra, who shares his unique journey from studying literature and international affairs to becoming a Solution Engineer (SE). Harman discusses his initial plans of becoming a diplomat, his background in literature, and how his passion for tech led him to digitize his family pharmacy business. Learn about his overlapping interests in tech and literature, the challenges he faced, and the strategies he used to transition into the corporate world of sales engineering. Harman also highlights the importance of understanding the 'why' behind customer needs and how his martial arts training influences his professional approach. Don't miss this insightful episode packed with practical advice for anyone looking to pursue a career in Solution Engineering

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show323

The episode features an experienced sales trainer Richard Harris, discussing the intersection of sales and sales engineering. Richard shares insights on earning the right to ask questions, building trust with clients, and the concept of economic impact. He emphasizes the importance of proper communication and collaboration between salespeople and sales engineers (SEs), addressing common challenges and misconceptions. The conversation also touches on leadership accountability, the value of practice, and personal growth. Richard highlights the significance of self-awareness, mental health, and balancing personal and professional life. The episode provides tips and strategies for salespeople and SEs to enhance their effectiveness and cooperation.

Shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show322

Our guest today is Devon Montgomery, a Lead Solution Engineer at Collibra. Devon's path to Solution Engineering is interesting. It's not just that he was an SDR who got into Solution Engineering; what he was before and how he got there are also interesting. 

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show321

Many of us let our careers happen to us. Imagine if a CEO of a company just LET whatever happens to his or her company happen. They would be fired immediately from their role. But we can go through our lives and careers without being intentional in how we want to live our lives. 

Instead, if we look at our lives like a startup and we are the CEOs, we can then look at our salary as revenue, our skills as the products that we provide, and our time as the service, then we can look differently at our lives. We can make decisions on what to improve and how. 

This is how I teach my #SolutionEngineers to prepare for their customer demos or their Interview demos.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show319

Last week I mentioned the 10 mistakes that #SolutionEngineers make that drive Salespeople crazy. This week Wesley comes to the defense of these SEs. Wes and I discuss the dynamics and challenges faced by SEs and account managers in tech sales. Wes shares his experiences and disagreements with certain points raised in a previous podcast episode about common mistakes SEs make, such as hijacking meetings and not following up. The discussion touches on the importance of good communication, trust, and feedback between SEs and sales reps, highlighting how effective management and understanding can prevent many issues. 

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show318

So I've been in sales for a while. A few years now, and I've worked with several SE either as a sales person, a mentor, or a coach. And we love to joke around and talk crap about salespeople. I mentioned this before but on my first week on the job, I traveled to a quarterly training for both SEs and Sales. We had a common training session (marketing slides) and when that session was over and we were about to split up, my manager (SE manager) stood up and said "SEs stay here, those who have a lobotomy go to the other room."

That's how I was introduced to sales. It was a joke, and everyone laughed, but since then I knew I could make fun of salespeople because they do things that drive us crazy. 

On the other hand, since I've been in sales there are things that SEs do that also drive me personally nuts. In the last couple of weeks, I've seen things that have made me so angry, I can see why AEs don't want to bring SEs into meetings. Here are 12 things SEs do that drive salespeople crazy. 

I caught up with Chris White on his Linkedin Live show a bit ago. This time he interviews me and we dig into what happens behind the scenes, or at least what should happen behind the scenes to make sure that SEs are successful in front of the customer. 

Everyone loves what we do on the front end, working directly with the customer, performing, and getting the Aha moment. However, we can not do any of that if we don't prepare, if we don't generate leads (even as SEs), or prepare for discovery, demos, and POV.  We barely scratch the surface. But it's a start. 

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show316

AI is coming for us all. According to our guest, Anthony Palmoze, he's heard many SEs talk about BDR being the first to become obsolete.

So we jump on a call to dig into what BDR is and see if it will be obsolete, or more specifically, what parts will be taken over by AI.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show315

I have my own opinions of what sales engineers should do, and how they should be involved in the sales process. My opinion is that they should be involved, early and often.

But I sell in the enterprise market, with a small number of customers. My SE is tied only to me, and the main decision-makers are the users who use the product. So it would make sense that my SE is heavily involved, follows up post-demo, and maintains relationships. 

But when your product is being sold to other Salespeople, and the goal is to show them how easy it is to use, and the SE that supports your opportunities supports the opportunities of a few other salespeople, then the process and expectations are different. Adam Weekes is an AE Leader within Big Tin Can. He drops by the show to explain his views.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show314

Over the many years that I've been doing this podcast, we've talked about the skills required, how to manage the team, communication, relationship building. But we've never discussed the SE Big picture, how external factors like the economy can affect the role, and what moves can be made internally to save money. 

So I invited John Simpson on this show to discuss that. John is the former head of Solution Engineering for EMEA at Qualtrics do discuss this in more detail.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show313

Solution Engineers have a lot on their plate, and I have the pleasure of adding one more thing to that plate...marketing

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show312

There are so many different selling techniques. I've personally been trained in Solution Selling and Challenger Selling. Full disclosure, I love Solution Selling, but hate challenger selling. I've also read SPIN Selling and then I noticed that a lot of them are similar, but they are all geared towards salespeople. 

 But Solution Selling was introduced a long time ago. Some say in the 70s, but I don't have a source for that. Since then, solution selling evolved into Value Selling, and now the latest iteration is Insight Selling. 

My guest, Sherri Mazza, is writing a book on. Most books are geared towards Sales, but Sherri is focusing on Solutions Engineers. Will will dig into her history, and present and the book itself. 

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show311

At the ground level, we all put our heads down and work. We demo, discover, and manage support calls. How we do all that is the tactical work. But what about the strategy? How do we move an entire organization from reactive to proactive? How does the organization incentivize people, or in other words, how do they line up their interests with their employee's interests?

These are some topics I discussed with Fadi Bassil, the VP of Support at Incorta. Fadi is a fellow Lebanese, but that's not what's important. What's important is what he has been able to achieve in such a short period since moving to the UK. Taking a step back, humbled himself, so he could move forward to where had a big impact on his organization and his company.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show310

Many of us go to university, wondering what we are supposed to study. Those of us who complete it then graduate, wondering what the job would entail. Once we get the job that we may or may not have thought we wanted, we find that we are bored out of our minds. 

Some people stick with it and learn to love it, or simply stick with it. Others try to find a solution. That's what today's guest did. Sameer Kausar found himself in a job he was not excited about. So he looked within, and looked around, and identified Sales Engineering as a potential dream job. Since he got the job, he has not looked back since.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show309

My guest for today is Chris Beaumont and he is a recruiter. We discuss how people should approach the job hunt, and what they can do to increase their chances to secure a job. We also talk about what employers are doing wrong while they are trying to fill the few recs they have open. 

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show308

 Life does not exist without stress. There's also added stress when you're in the sales world. So I wanted to share the causes of stress as I see it, and how I handle it. 

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show307

Engineers are not usually known as creative types. This is a strange notion for me as I think engineers are some of the most creative people. We might not be creating art (although some engineers are artists), but we are being creative in solving a set of problems. 

The problem is it doesn't show to the outside world. 

But there are ways to do so, and Melanie Flores, my guest for this week found out that she can do it through Solution Engineering. It's not just about solving a problem creatively. It's about telling stories and asking questions where creativity can shine while being in an Engineering field. 

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show306

A big piece of Sales Engineering is Sales. Most engineers don't like the sales part of Sales Engineering, but it's what SEs have to excel at to be good at their jobs. Taking it a step further, SEs have to excel at knowing their customers and that will make every aspect of sales easier. 

These are all topics of conversation that Alvaro Tuscano and I get deep into, in addition to the challenges of presales in Spain specifically, and how he overcame them to become a great SE and a trainer for other SEs. 

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show305

In this engaging conversation, Jason Zeikowitz discusses his experience as a Salesforce Technical Trainer. From handling an array of situations from training salespeople to construction workers who are initially resistant to using new technology, Jason shares the importance of combining questioning and communication to engineer buy-in.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show304

Mohamed, an experienced Solutions Architect, shares valuable insights about the hiring process and career progression at Amazon Web Services (AWS). He discusses various cloud roles, including Cloud Consultants, Cloud Providers, and Cloud Partners, emphasizing that there are opportunities beyond the 'big three' (Amazon, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud). He also provides a detailed view of the interview process at Amazon, including a discussion about the unique expectation of understanding Amazon's Leadership Principles and the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) interview technique.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show303

Moving from India to the US takes some adjustment. Even if you know the technology, the people change, the requirements change and the way you interact with people changes too.

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show302

Sales Engineering is a transferable skill. Just because you're in one industry today, does not mean you cannot move. Case in point Faraz who is today's guest.

Faraz started off in networking and IT, then moved into several different industries and remained successful throughout. 

We will discuss his journey and what he did to learn and be successful in these different industries as a Sales Engineer.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show3301

After 300 episodes, I bring the original cohost back. Binayak Kanungo, aka Bini, comes to join me again on the podcast to give us an update on his career.

Bini started off his SE career at a company called Assent, and although he was happy with the work there, the thought of wanting more pushed him to move on which turned out not to be a great move. That's when Bini started facing some challenges. That's what we will focus on today.

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show300

Were you ever asked, "Where do you want to be in 5 years?" I believe I've been asked once, in an interview, and I had no idea what I wanted to do now, let alone in 5 years. I have not been asked since. 

John Simpson on the other hand talks to his SEs about career action planning. Not only where you want to be, but how to get there too. 

And for sales engineers, there are many options for what to do next, including staying put. We cover that in this podcast.

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show299

Many Sales Engineers are getting hit with layoffs, especially when there's a new acquisition. This happened to our guest before he knew what Sales Engineering was, Jeff Dryall. But it did not happen once or twice. It's happened multiple times, and Jeff used it as an opportunity to identify a new challenge and go after them, including becoming a Sales Engineer.

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show298

Most SEs have an aversion to sales, which is why many have been very hesitant to enter the SE world. But as soon as we learn more about it, we understand that SEing is about solving problems which as techies, is what we want.

The same goes for our guest today. Chris Snyder is the first SE within his organization and he's been thriving at it due to the support that he has, and the ability to get creative.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show297

Having someone who worked on the procurement side, the vendor side, and the value-added reseller side in a condensed period allows us to ask many questions and get a holistic view of these different roles. 

Our guest, Wesley Bellman has that exact experience in addition to a few more, so we get to see the similarities of working in procurement and how they interacted with VARs. 

shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show296

We all have different paths into sales engineering. Some fell into it, and some fought for it. And once we get there, we find that not all sales engineering roles are created equal. Some require SEs to simply demo all day, and others have SEs on sight working to help an end user debug an issue they ran into. But all of them will have the SE deal with a salesperson.

Our guest today is Ryan Krueger who will tell us about his path to sales engineering and the challenges he faced to get there, and once he was an SE.

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show295

As I watch my kids in their activities, I can tell what they are good at, great at, and what needs work. For professionals, who don't have their parents watching their every move, every technique and reaction, we have to figure that out for ourselves.

My conversation with Jeff Perry is all about that. Jeff is a leadership and engineering coach. He takes me through some exercises to find my genius zone and uncover some self-limiting beliefs that I may have.

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show294

A few weeks ago a discussion started on LinkedIn about vendors providing pricing on their web page. Damian Tomasino was for (with nuance), and John Care was against (also with nuance). 

So I thought it would be best to jump on a call with Damian and John to discuss their initial thoughts and the nuances of it. 

In this chat, we dig into their insightful opinions on this "controversial" topic, the evolution of the sales engineer's role, and the need for improved collaboration amongst sales engineers, account executives, and marketing teams. 

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show293

All sales engineers watching this show have been through the recruiting process in the past. Some have had great experiences, and some have been ghosted. It is hard. But looking through the other end of the process, SE Managers and Directors have to recruit and make decisions that can either greatly improve the SE team, or bad behavior can permeate throughout.

Along with my guest Co-host, John Hodgson, we interview Jeff Margolese and David Schultz, both great SE leaders with different backgrounds and experiences as we discuss the best process to recruit SEs. 

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show292

We've talked about moving into sales in the past. How to prepare for it, and what to do once we get there. The discussion with Mike today is similar, but he shares his own experiences. Why he wanted to move? What it was like once he was in that role and what did he learn?

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show291

Mohamad has an interesting story where he had to solve multiple problems in his life from leaving Egypt to the Gulf and then coming to the USA. From finding jobs that suit him, to learning on the job to do it.

Shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show290

Account Planning is something that Salespeople are responsible for. Many Sales Engineers try to stay away from that as it's boring and many salespeople don't come up with a good plan. However, in this video, I make the case why some Sales Engineers should be involved.

Here are the questions that we will answer today:

What is an Account Plan?

Who is responsible for the account plan?

Why should SEs care about having a good account plan?

Who would not participate in creating one?

And finally, how to Account Plan?

Show Notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show289

Are there any more secrets in this world? Actually, I'm sure there is, so let's narrow it down to what we do. Are there any more secrets to Sales Engineering? There are many out there posting, teaching, and sharing their information.

Fortunately, yes there are still some secrets. Some are hiding in plain sight, and some that we actually need to dig and research to highlight them. Today's guest Aileen McNabb helps with that today!

Aileen has been on the podcast before (show 155), but if you don't know here, she is a former SE Leader, and now she is a coach and author who just published her first of what hopefully be many books, one of which she will discuss here today.

shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show288

This week I chatted with Nate Broome from CaptivateIQ to discuss his career, his challenges, and what he is doing today at CaptivateIQ to build a great sales team.

Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show287

Technology changes on what seems like to be a daily basis. How we sell has not changed in ages. Sure, they slap a new name and tweak a couple of terms, but the process of selling remains the same. SPIN Selling, Solution Selling, Challenge Sale, etc. But after covid, the PreSales role specifically has had to change. Those who see it coming can prepare, others will be left as Sales Support.

Today's guest is Paul Harris, Principle Solution Architect at Loftware. We talked about his interesting journey, where he had to make tough decisions, after being pushed into things he had to get out of. We also talked about the evolution of sales engineering, what it was like before the pandemic vs now, and where Paul thinks it will be in the coming years. 

Many individuals are looking for a job, and there are many common complaints. "No one is responding to me", "I'm being ghosted" etc.

In this episode, Ramzi discussed his thoughts about the job search, some rules, and how you can go about securing your next job. This is true whether you're looking to break into Sales Engineering, or you've been doing this for many years.

As Sales Engineers, our job is complex, but it's very hard to do if we don't stay on top of our learning. Therefore a great skill that we need to develop is continuous learning. Or even more importantly the skill to set time aside to do continuous learning or to learn on the fly! 

Today's podcast is an interview with Max Van Burke, Director of pre-sales at Pluralsight for EMEA. EMEA stands for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. We will cover the topic of continuous learning, how Max tackles it, and what he expects his team to do as well.

And If you're not familiar with Pluralsight, it is a learning website that owns Cloud Guru that I've been using on my AWS journey!

show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show284