This is a little off topic in that it does’t have to do so much with a technology but how systems engineers and sales specialists present their technology as well as themselves in front of customers. After writing this up, I asked @ciscoservergeek to get his thoughts and he pointed me to @jonisick ‘s article on the Art of Pre-Sales, which may be relevant to this post. In fact, if you’re a pre-sales engineer, I recommend you read his article first and if you have time, finish this post.
For the two or three people that actually follow my blog, you know that I’m a pre-sales systems engineer for Cisco. The fun part of my job consists of visiting customers and perspective customers and consulting with them on their data center needs. This usually involves learning about their environment and what challenges they face. Its super fun.
A systems engineer is valuable in that they have a deep technical expertise of the customers environment as well as a deep technical understanding of their own product or services set and how they can fit into that organizations environment. We can also tell people what’s coming next as well as what other people in their similar situations are doing.
Typically, (at least in the two big tech vendors I’ve worked for IBM and Cisco) a systems engineer is paired with an account manager or a product sales specialist and the two of them are assigned to several customers in a vertical or a geography, or both. This can work very well, especially when both roles are good at what they do.
I’ve been fortunate that I’ve usually always worked with some of the best talent in the industry. Here at Cisco, I’ve been able to work with some amazing sales specialists and account managers.
So here’s the rant: When a sales person calls their engineer the “smart guy/gal”. This happens all the time. I see teams go in front of the customers and the sales specialist or partner sales specialist may say a few words and then introduces the engineer as “the smart guy”. Or, “We brought the smart guys here to talk with you”
Now don’t get me wrong, I am a smart guy. Thank you. But so are you. And by you saying that the engineer is the smart guy, you’re saying that you’re not as smart. And if I’m the customer, and I hear that, why do I even want you in the room? Why do I as the engineer even need you in the room? If all you are going to do is give a 2 minute introduction and then have the system engineer talk the rest of the meeting while you as the sales person play with your phone, you are not adding value. I can actually give a pretty good 2 minute introduction of myself. In fact, since I’m an engineer, I can do it efficiently, and do it in less than 30 seconds, cause I know most people don’t care that I like to take long walks on the beach and watch gladiators wrestle.
When I’m invited to a meeting, and it is introductory, then usually a product sales person will introduce the product and do the value walk through. For those meetings I consider it my job to be attentive and do what we in the industry call “Add Color”. That means, as the sales person is talking and I perceive something relevant to their situation, I will speak up and mention it. If I’m not talking, I’m not contributing. If I’m not contributing, then why am I there? (Hopefully, I don’t talk too much and what I say is relevant. There’s a fine line about adding too much color)
Similarly, if an engineer is talking, a good product sales person interjects comments related to the customers organizational environment and probing questions regarding business cycles and drivers. Or clarifying things that I should have said. Asking questions is also very welcomed. As an engineer, I really don’t mind being put on the spot. Don’t be afraid that I don’t know the answer to one of the questions you might ask. online casino . If I don’t, I’ll say so and I’ll figure out the answer. Also, by having others on the sales team ask questions of the engineer, it prompts more discussion from the customer. Participation is the best thing you can get in any consultative sales meeting. Good or bad. Cause the worst sales meetings are the ones you walk out of and you have no idea what the other party thinks about what you just heard/said.
Smart people like being with smart people. “A” players like being with “A” players. Good sales specialists, the kind that I’ve been fortunate enough to work for, are smart. These last 3 months have been a blast for me. Due to some staff shortage I’ve been able to work with 3 very good product sales people in California, Oregon, and Utah who I would call my smart guy/gal counterpart on any given opportunity.
They are total pros and its a total pleasure to work with them. My thoughts on this came from a meeting I had a few weeks ago. The sales team (my team) went in and spoke and the conversation shifted from technology, to business processes, to procurement cycles, etc then back to technology. I realized that this is what makes a formidable team. I could not have answered the purchasing questions nor could I have understood the cast of characters on the customers side. I had no relationship with any of them. Likewise, the sales person didn’t know some of the reasons lossless Ethernet is required for FCoE. But together, we could really help decision makers get all the information they need to chose a technology.
So next time a process question or ordering, or political issue comes up in a meeting, I’m going to say as I look toward the sales specialist: “Well, we brought the smart guy/gal here to help get those questions answered”.
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