Coffee with Sales Engineers From Account Executive to Sales Engineer: Katherine Giroux's Inspiring Journey
Sep 7, 2024
Katherine Giroux, an experienced pre-sales professional and solution architect at Stripe, shares her inspiring journey from account executive at Oracle to sales engineer. She discusses the importance of empathy and communication in building effective AE/SE relationships. Katherine highlights her passion for technology and how her background in biopsychology fuels her curiosity in the tech world. She offers insightful advice for AEs on collaboration and balancing competitiveness, emphasizing the significance of understanding team dynamics and setting clear boundaries.
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From Oracle Trainee To Sales Engineer
- Katherine recounts joining Oracle after college and completing a 10-week intensive sales training program that exposed her to sales processes and discovery calls.
- After four years she moved into product SME and won an internal demo competition that led to a role on the SE team, which she has held for six years.
Science Curiosity Maps To Tech Thinking
- Katherine links her biopsychology background to sales engineering through curiosity about how systems work and how parts interact.
- She treats tech stacks like biological systems, mapping objects and data flows similarly to neurotransmitters and receptors.
Tough Feedback Sparked A Presentation Breakthrough
- Katherine describes demoing to skeptical SEs and receiving blunt feedback that she didn't sound like she cared, which prompted changes to her presentation style.
- She reduced over-preparation, practiced speaking more naturally, and took on public demos and moderating panels to improve confidence.