The Value of Sales Engineers in the Sales Process with John Care

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Feb 1, 2024

Former world-class Sales Engineering leader and published author, John Care, joins hosts to discuss the role of technical sales, importance of relationships and storytelling, partnership between SEs and AEs, and value of qualification and preparation before demos and POCs.

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ADVICE

Qualities of a Good SE

Good sales engineers (SEs) require technical understanding and business acumen.
They should explain technology's relevance to business through storytelling and build relationships.

INSIGHT

Value and Trust of SEs

Customers find SEs most valuable in the sales process due to their technical expertise and willingness to share critical information.
The most effective SEs focus on providing value, which naturally builds trust with customers.

ADVICE

Storytelling for SEs

SEs must be good storytellers to bring their products to life.
They should craft stories to help customers remember the product and its benefits, making it more relatable.

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John Care spent numerous years building world-class Sales Engineering organizations at Oracle, Sybase, Vantive, Clarify, CA, Business Objects, and HP Software. He has a BSc with Honours in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, London, and is a former contributing member of the MBA Advisory Council for the Fox Business School of Temple University, Philadelphia. He has been published in such diverse media as CIO, InfoWorld, Touchline, and The Wall Street Journal. He now serves on the Advisory Boards of several hi-tech startups dedicated to the Sales Engineering community.

In this episode, John Care, co-author of "Mastering Technical Sales," joins hosts John McMahon and John Kaplan to discuss the role of technical sales and how sales leaders can effectively utilize sales engineers (SEs) to demonstrate customer value and differentiate their solutions. They emphasize the importance of building relationships, storytelling, and slowing down to go fast in the sales process. The conversation also covers the partnership between SEs and account executives (AEs), the value SEs bring to the sales team, and the significance of qualification and preparation before demos and proof of concepts (POCs)

Tune in to this conversation with John McMahon and John Kaplan on the Revenue Builders podcast.

HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT
[00:03:19] Discussion on what makes a good SE
[00:05:49] Data on the value provided by SEs
[00:07:01] Importance of storytelling for SEs
[00:11:08] The attribute of patience in SEs
[00:20:30] Sales engineers should be seen as partners in the sales cycle
[00:23:55] Constant communication with the sales engineer is key for success
[00:28:55] The importance of debriefing after sales calls
[00:35:38] The pros and cons of dashing to the demo
[00:42:03] The importance of qualification before a demo
[00:54:01] The role of SEs in post-sales and consumption-based models

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Learn more about John Care and their company.
john@masteringtechnicalsales.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncare/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/up-2-speed/

Download our Sales Transformation Guide for Leaders:
https://forc.mx/3sdtEZJ

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:57:19] "The SE knows more people, that knows where the bodies are buried, as we like to say, and can actually be the guide for, a new rep as they come in or a new strategy."
[01:01:26] "If you're an SE who wants to go over into sales, normally it's better if you go over either into an overlay position or into a pharma type position, as opposed to, hunter killers, new logos type accounts."