#183 From Expert to Novice

Notes:

Are you thinking of giving presales a try? Whether you’re considering switching careers or wondering if there is potential for growth and longevity in this position, this show is for you. Joel Duffield will share how he transitioned from already being in a leadership role in his former company to becoming a rookie in the field of sales engineering and why he made that switch.

Joel Duffield is the Lead Solutions Consultant at Vidyard and has been a listener of We the Sales Engineers podcast since its humble beginnings in 2018. In our interview with Joel, he shares what got him hooked on pursuing a career in presales, how he uses his gifts and strengths in his job today, and the biggest AHA moments being a team lead that has allowed him to get better at his role as a sales engineer.

Key Takeaways:

Where Joel first started as a lead expert in IT
How small companies purchased products without vendors
What led Joel towards the sales engineering pipeline or career
How Joel came to know We the Sales Engineers podcast
What got Joel hooked into sales engineering
His experience as a sales engineer for the past 2 years
Pursuing a role where he is able to talk and still have a technical component to it
Is sales engineering a role for extroverts or introverts?
Transitioning from being a team leader in an IT Department to a brand-new role as Sales Engineer
How Joel had to figure out a lot of things by himself and had to learn on the spot
Dealing with anxiety and a lot of concerns before jumping into the role
Why Joel finds his role in sales engineering very exciting
The reason Joel decided to go back into leadership and the nuances in leading an SE team from his past experience leading a product-led team
Joel’s biggest aha moments within the past year in the context of sales engineering

Quotes:

“I enjoy building relationships, one on one, right, versus in a group of 100 people where everything is going to be shallow, you’re not even going into getting into a deep conversation, you’re just going to, at some point, you find out that this has been a waste of time.” – Ramzi Marjaba

“Coming from a very technical background, it’s a lot of just banging on stuff, not being worried to break things, and just figuring it out. And then you have that last little bit that is breaking things in front of customers and learning that I’m not going to say that thing again because that’s actually not how it works.” – Joel Duffield

“There’s a lot that happens outside of the demo. But I think it was more of the mundane things that don’t get talked about so much. That honestly can be you a big-time sink because they’re the normal day-to-day stuff, not the big flashy, we’re standing in front of an audience, doing our little song and dance.” – Joel Duffield

“Everybody loves the demos, right? And you become an engineer because you get to design stuff. But no one tells you that you have to write reports about the things that you’re designing.” – Ramzi Marjaba

“If you want to go in a certain direction, raise your hand, make that clear, keep talking about it, obviously not in an annoying way, but know where you want to go. And put that out there.” – Joel Duffield

“Having a manager that seems closer to your job, and more in the day to day with you I think also has its benefits. It’s kind of cool to have both, you can have the one that has really great insight into the big picture where the company is going where they want to take it, and then also having more of the boots on the ground.” – Joel Duffield

“The sooner you answer questions, the sooner you can close deals” – Ramzi Marjaba

“I love the fast-paced, but it definitely takes some getting used to have, it’s a different way, you have to manage your time to be able to have that flex space in there, while also getting the bigger projects that you need done.” – Joel Duffield