You often hear our guests talk about how Sales Engineers should be more customer-centric and our presentations be more value-driven. In fact, in our previous episodes, you learned a little about what it takes to be able to give a seamless buying experience for the customer. We thought, what better way to get into the minds of customers than to ask them directly on the show? In this episode, that’s exactly what we did.
Meet Jeff Lewis, not a Sales Engineer, but a customer who works with Sales Engineers. Listen to our conversation with Jeff as he gives his insights on what he thinks Sales Engineers can do to serve their customers better and some things they should probably stop.
Key Takeaways:
During our conversation, Jeff shares:
- His role in the company and how he influences the buying decisions on the technical aspect
- What he loves about working with Sales Engineers
- His involvement with Sales Engineers throughout the whole sales process
- The #1 thing buyers are looking for in Sales Engineers in a demo
- What influences their buying decisions?
- Why it’s important for Sales Engineers to be able to really understand customers’ problems and how that can be an advantage in future deals with other customers
- What a discovery traceability matrix requirement is
- The qualities customers are looking for in a partnership with an SE
- His opinion on RFPs, PoCs, contracts
- A pet peeve he and Ramzi has with demo presentations
- What he would consider as a “perfect” demo
- Qualities that he loves and hates in a Sales Engineer
- Is asking a “stupid” question a realistic fear to have as a relatively new SE?
Quotes:
The one quality that Jeff would attribute to a good Sales Engineer or salesperson:
“Curiosity… Those Sales Engineers that really take the time to look into what it is that I need, they’re curious about how I work, how many hours I put in, how much work there those are the guys that will always have the best results because they have a natural curiosity to learn my business.”
Not So Fire Round
- What do you love about working with Sales engineers?
The companionship. If I have issues or if I need to get a question answered, I’m literally getting
corporate training by the other guys. Having somebody that I can go to that knows what I‘m going
through, who knows how my business works, and being able to bounce ideas off of.
- What are some things you wish Sales Engineers could do better when they’re selling to you?
I wish things could be a little bit faster sometimes. It’s no fault of the SE or of my own, it’s mostly
politics, but sometimes some of these deals take so long to go through.
- Are there any books you would recommend for Sales engineers and Salespeople?
Mastering Technical Sales: The Sales Engineer’s Handbook 3rd Edition by John Care
The Six Habits of Highly Effective Sales Engineers by Chris White
- What are the things that separate a great sales team from the rest?
Being human. Just treat us like humans, with common sense with decency. Those are the biggest things for me.
Connect with Jeff Lewis on Linkedin
Thanks for joining us in today’s episode!
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