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.

Bill Balnave, an experienced leader in solution engineering and customer success, shares invaluable insights into the divide between amateur and professional solution engineers. He highlights the importance of continual skill development and the need for the right environment to thrive. The conversation dives into essential competencies like demos and soft skills, the significance of personal motivation, and the role of team dynamics. Bill emphasizes self-education and setting high standards, illustrating how professionalism can dramatically enhance career success.

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

What does a great Solution Engineer look like? The discussion unpacks the complexities of the SE role, highlighting that there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Key topics include effective collaboration with account managers, the nuances of discovery, and the importance of engaging demos. Techniques for building customer relations and leadership skills are also explored. The conversation wraps with the call for well-rounded SEs who excel both technically and interpersonally, emphasizing growth through self-evaluation and team diversity.