In this episode, we're joined by John Patton, senior Director of Solutions Engineering at Salesforce. John is a tech industry veteran with varied experiences and perspectives, having worked in distinct roles from co-founding and mobile platforms for nonprofits, to sales distribution, to pre-sales, to configuration, and now engineering.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Into
01:00 What Solutions Engineering is and its function within a company.
02:03 The day-to-day work of a Solutions Engineer, particularly leading up to a pitch or first engagement with a client.
04:10 Breakdown of technical work versus sales work in Solutions Engineering.
05:59 The compulsion to show technical work and how asking questions can be more useful than providing answers.
08:25 The typical background of a Solutions Engineer and how to teach people to strike the right balance between showing technical work and asking questions.
10:56 The importance of domain knowledge in Solutions Engineering
12:22 How to improve soft skills such as communication
14:29 The wall between engineering and business and how engineers can expand their scope to understand the why behind their work.
17:06 He asks for advice on how to become proficient in translating between different layers within a company.
20:32 The value of being vulnerable and asking questions to facilitate translation and provide value.
25:20 The different types of solutions engineering jobs, including pre-sales, post-sales, and deployment.
29:10 The biggest misconception about solutions engineering
31:02 The importance of building credibility and partnerships with sales counterparts
35:46 The most common question he gets from people looking to transition into solutions engineering
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