Job description - Pre-sales engineer

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What is a pre-sales engineer?

Among the Sales & Business Development jobs, the pre-sales engineer acts as an intermediary between a company and its customers. He is a commercial agent responsible for presenting new technologies to prospects or customers. Mechanical, medical, electronic or other, the pre-sales engineer markets various types of products.

He is a field professional whose field of activity includes prospecting, market research and negotiation. For the success of his operations, the pre-sales engineer must master the products whose distribution the company entrusts to him. With customers, he takes note of orders and is responsible for drawing up the sales contract for the desired product.

Assimilating a sale to a project that unites the company and the customer, the pre-sales engineer ensures that both parties respect the commitments made. It is also present during the installation of the equipment to ensure that the equipment is working and that the buyer is satisfied. In the event of a malfunction, it informs the company which will have to find a solution.

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What are the main missions of a pre-sales engineer?

Throughout a sales project, the pre-sales engineer ensures the link between the customer and the company's departments. As much as he is a privileged interlocutor for customers, he is also an informant for the company.

In other words, it monitors the technological and economic market in order to enable the company to stand out from its competitors. This professional performs various tasks, namely:

• The translation of specifications in accordance with the technical specifications;
• The development of a commercial proposal with the sales engineer;
• The analysis of problems that arose during the sales project and the application of adapted resolutions;
• Assign the problems to the competent departments of the company (the production chain, the design office, the marketing department, the sales unit, etc.);
• The search for opportunities for error and technical solutions;
• Training technical teams and users to maintain the installed solution.

In view of all the missions incumbent on him, the pre-sales engineer is referred to by other names. As a customer needs analyst, this technician is called a pre-sales consultant.

Since he ensures the operation of the equipment during and after the transaction, we also speak of a technical sales engineer. Several other surnames are used to designate this profession. Among others, these include:

• The pre-sales consultant;
• The pre-sales engineer;
• Pre-sales support.

What are the technical skills of a pre-sales engineer?

Whether working for a telecommunications operator, a computer manufacturer, or another company, the pre-sales engineer must have certain commercial and technical skills. It must have:

• A strong ability to adapt to different work environments;
• A broad knowledge of the products marketed by the company;
• A good understanding of the company's overall business strategy;
• Solid expertise in digital technologies;
• Good communication skills in English;
• Good writing skills for contracts.

Since they are required to travel most of the time, the pre-sales engineer must be able to converse appropriately with customers. Besides English, he may need to learn new languages. All these technical skills are certainly essential for the exercise of this profession, but they are not enough.

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What personal qualities are essential to succeed in this profession?

In addition to the technical skills he has, the pre-sales engineer must also be a curious person. Curiosity allows him to better contribute to the company's development strategies.

The pre-sales consultant is a technician with great commercial sense, because he will have to convince prospects to place an order with the company he represents.

As with any argument, persuasiveness and perseverance are essential. Because of the multiple encounters he is called upon to make in his job, the pre-sales engineer can work in a team. He must know how to organize work with his collaborators and sometimes be a little more personally involved.

Whether he is in this leadership position or not, his professional activity involves carrying out multiple tasks. It is therefore necessary for him to know how to manage stress.

This job seems suitable for a salesperson, a business developer, or a sales manager who already has a few years of experience and wants to retrain. These profiles have developed the commercial spirit, the critical eye and the strategic vision that is needed to occupy this position.

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What is the salary for a pre-sales engineer?

The salary of this sales technician is determined according to the products he sells, the experience acquired in the profession and his skills. On average, an entry-level pre-sales engineer touches €3,500 gross per month i.e. 42 K€ per year.

By justifying a professional experience of ten years, he can work between €60K and 84 K€ gross annual salary.

In addition to seniority and field of intervention, the salary of a pre-sales engineer also depends on the localization of the company. There is a certain wage advantage to working in a big city. Moreover, the pre-sales consultant receives premiums according to the company's commercial balance sheet.

What training courses are required to work as a pre-sales engineer?

Before working as a pre-sales engineer, commercial and technical skills are required. That said, you have to graduate from a business school or an engineering school. To study this dual competence, it is possible to follow a work-study program during the basic academic career.

With regard toEngineering school, it can be a generalist course or a specialization in telecommunications or computer science. It is interesting to get a Bac + 4.

An aspirant to the profession of pre-sales engineer can enroll in a Business school after obtaining a computer DEA/DESS. Note that pre-sales engineers are called upon to work on large-scale projects.

Thus, production engineers, technical engineers, and product engineers have the ideal profile to fill this position. Beyond these confirmed frameworks, young graduates can also access this function, but they must demonstrate their experiences and skills.

The BAC +3 level is the minimum required by employers. Depending on the products to be marketed, they have preferences when recruiting. For this reason, it is better to have a Master's degree in business or engineering.

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What are the career prospects for a pre-sales engineer?

As a pre-sales engineer, it is possible to progress and evolve from one position to another over time. In general, a technical sales engineer can become a project manager. Working in a company, he can gain experience in order to be appointed to the position of sales manager or sales manager.

With his new responsibilities, he will have to conduct tough negotiations and lead the company towards the achievement of development goals. Alternatively, he may specialize in a particular field.

The latter may concern the marketing of agri-food products, high-tech products, civil engineering, etc. In addition, as this profession is focused on customer relationships, the pre-sales engineer may in the future discover new missions and branches of activity.

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