4/1/1: 4 Random Thoughts from me, 1 tools to help Sales Engineers, 1 quote for motivation
4/1/1 Partnering to get Great Feedback
- March 31, 2022
By Ramzi Marjaba
4/1/1 Weekly
4 Random Thoughts, 1 Tool, and 1 Quote
The greatest SEs I’ve talked to respect what salespeople have to do to find and close deals. And many of the greatest salespeople I’ve talked to respect what SEs have to do to help them do that. Only the newest SEs or the weakest salespeople think that the other one is dispensable and they can do their job better.
That’s why I enjoyed talking to 2 veterans in the Sales and SE world to see their perspectives about their partnerships.
Let’s dig into this a bit with the 4/1/1
4 Random Thoughts From Me:
1- A Salesperson who gives feedback is a salesperson who cares
2- Mike Griego talks about a nuanced Salesperson, as in he can adapt to his SE’s strengths and weaknesses. Sales Engineers also have to be nuanced and adapt to their salespeople’s strengths and weaknesses
3- Nip things in the bud. I once received a complaint from my manager who received it from a Specialist Salesperson who received it from his SE. By the time it got to me it felt like I dropped the ball on so many things. Instead of letting it fester, I called the SE directly, and his complaint was so insignificant in comparison to what I ended up receiving, we had a laugh about it and it didn’t fester into something else.
4- Having a great partner, whether that’s an SE or a Salesperson, makes your job much easier. It will take work to develop that relationship, so don’t be shy to put in that effort and try to understand their wants and needs.
st builder. I’ve been working with one customer who has been asking for a specific feature. Lots of back and forth and they were holding up deciding until they hear about the feature. I jumped on a call with them and informed them that the product they are using doesn’t have new features coming in often. So it’s highly likely that the feature they are asking for will not come in, and they should make a decision based on that. You can feel the immediate trust built on the phone. I was thanked for my honesty and it felt strange to them. We got one of 2 orders from them, although the second order’s status is still unknown
1 Tool:
It’s webinar season I guess. This week I was with Dan Caffarey talking about keeping the customer engaged (check it out here), and next week I will be with Dan Hellerman talking about Discovery. Register at the link below!
1 Quote:
“It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” – Charles Darwin
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