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20Sales: What is Sales Engineering? When and How to Hire Them? How They Should Work With AE's? How to Measure Their Success? How They Change Close Rates and Sales Comp Plans with Zach Lawryk, Head of Solutions Consulting @ Rippling

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Feb 20, 2023

Zach Lawryk, Head of Solutions Consulting at Rippling and former VP at Slack, shares his insights on the pivotal role of solutions engineers. He discusses their importance in sales, guiding companies on when and who to hire for these positions. Zach elaborates on effective hiring processes, questions to identify talent, and the significance of empathy in sales. The conversation delves into how solutions engineers can optimize teamwork, enhance customer engagement, and ultimately drive revenue, making their integration crucial in today’s buyer-centric landscape.

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INSIGHT

Broken Sales Processes

Most sales organizations still operate with a seller-centric approach, controlling information and the sales process.
This is ineffective because buyers now control the process and prefer buyer enablement.

INSIGHT

Buyer Enablement and Sense-Making

Buyers now control the sales process and prefer self-service options like PLG.
However, buyers still need guidance, making the seller's role about sense-making in a complex world.

ADVICE

Modern Outbound

Use multi-channel outbound strategies, including short-form content like TikTok-style videos.
Capture attention where buyers are, adapting to their reduced attention spans.

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Zach Lawryk is Head of Solutions Consulting @ Rippling, what is solutions consulting? They are the product expert in the solution that ties a business value to help support the sales rep in the execution of their quota. And there is no one better than Zach, prior to leading the solutions consulting team at Rippling, Zach was VP of Solutions Consulting at Slack where he scaled the SE team from 10 to 200. Before Slack, Zach was Head of Solutions Engineering @ Optimizely and before that was Director of Sales Engineering at Box.

In Today's Episode with Zach Lawryk We Discuss:

1. ) WTF is Solutions Engineering:

What is Solutions engineering and why is it important?
How does a software developer turned lawyer become one of the OGs of Solutions Engineering?
What is the single biggest piece of advice Zach gives to graduates entering the workforce today?

2.) When and Who: Building the Foundations:

When is the right time to hire your first solutions engineer?
Should this be a senior hire or a more junior hire? What experience is ideal?
Would Zach rather have someone who has sold to the same customer segment or sold to the same deal size? What are the challenges with each?

3.) Making the First Hire: The Process:

What is the right hiring process for solutions engineers?
Which members of your existing team should be involved in the process?
What are some of Zach's favourite questions on the candidates past to determine quality?
What are the best case studies and tests to give potential hires to test their aptitude?
What are the biggest red flags in the hiring process for solutions engineers?

4.) Integrating into the Team: Making it Work:

What is the optimal onboarding process for solutions engineers?
Why does Zach think it is important they spend time with customer success in their first month?
What is the right way to measure the effectiveness of SE's?
How should the entrance of SE's impact the close rate and comp structure for AE's?
How can sales leaders prevent division and friction between AEs and SEs?