#246 My Thoughtful Answers to 15 Most Commonly Asked Questions

#246 My Thoughtful Answers to 15 Most Commonly Asked Questions

Notes:

We kick off 2023 with a bang through an episode that answers 15 frequently asked questions from clients, podcast listeners, and YouTube viewers. Questions like these often lead to new content on the website, in the YouTube channel, and in the podcast. I encourage you to reach out to me for any questions related to sales engineering like these. I’ll be more than happy to respond.

In this episode, I discuss various topics—from relationship-building and boot camps to leadership and essential books to read.

Key Takeaways:

  • Question 1: Is sales engineering the same as tech sales?
  • Question 2: How many hours on average do you work?
  • Question 3: I don’t have any tech experience, can I become a sales engineer?
  • Question 4: What are your views on boot camps?
  • Question 5: I’m an introvert. I have a hard time building relationship with people. Should I get into sales engineering?
  • Question 6: Here, I answer a very specific question from a sender who finds it difficult to build relationships with existing customers.
  • Question 7: When should I start applying for jobs?
  • Question 8: How do you become an SE?
  • Question 9: Should I get certified? If so, with what?
  • Question 10: I want to be seen as a leader in my industry. How do I do that?
  • Question 11: Got feedback that my demo sucks. And I’m not sure why.
  • Question 12: Do you need to travel as a sales engineer?
  • Question 13: I have a hard time saying no to my salesperson. What can I do?
  • Question 14: What book should I read?
  • Question 15: What is the most important skill to have as a sales engineer?

Quotes:

Generally speaking, you need three things to break into an industry. You need industry knowledge, customer knowledge, or technical knowledge. — Ramzi Marjaba

My biggest pet peeve with boot camps isn’t necessarily the boot camps. It’s more: Prove to yourself that you will put in the effort afterward. Because it’s not automatic. You’re not gonna go through boot camp and get a job. You’re gonna go through a boot camp, you got to learn about something, and then you’re gonna have to put in the effort to get the job anyways. Ramzi Marjaba

Generally speaking, the best way to build relationships is to ask questions…. The thing about relationships is that you don’t have to say much. You can ask questions. You can be curious.  Ramzi Marjaba

When you’re curious enough, when you want to know, when you’re interested in knowing, you can build relationships one on one easily. Ramzi Marjaba

“One thing that annoys me about salespeople is when they seek people out to lunch, they immediately start talking about work. As sales engineers, we don’t have to. We can just, again going back to the bar type of relationships, ask questions about them, about their lives. Get to know them. And at some point, they might just give you information on their own.” Ramzi Marjaba“Leaders lift other people up to do their job better.”  Ramzi Marjaba

Links from the show:

Music on the show: Watchmaker’s Daughter by Reeder