Job description - Sales engineer (IC)

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Sales engineer: the definition

What is the role of a Sales Engineer?

A sales engineer seeks to develop turnover of a company through the sale of its products and/or services.

Withina commercial team, the sales engineer Analyze the market in order to constantly adapt its offer and uses the levers of price negotiation or deadlines. Under the aegis of their sales manager, he or she is often responsible for a specific geographic sector. The technical baggage that he brings to his customers allows him to position himself as an expert in his sector of activity, and to provide a real added value during the exchanges.

For example, he will have developed expertise in cloud solutions, energy, logistics, e-commerce, etc.

What does a Sales Engineer do?

The sales engineer has several activities under customer relationship. A large part of his time is dedicated to prospecting and meeting with customers. He also writes commercial proposals as well as the specifications which indicates any changes applied to the products.

He is often required to have a role of advisor with customers, so that they make the right choices (technological, during implementation, etc.).

In what sectors does a Sales Engineer work?

Sales engineers are present in all sectors of activity. Nevertheless, industry, software or even mass distribution especially need their services. Present in large groups as well as in SMEs, the sales engineer is at the base of the growth of a company - with the help of the entire sales team.

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Main missions of the Sales Engineer

Identify new customers

The main mission of the sales engineer is to identify new customers in order to make them aware of the company's offer. To accomplish his mission, he uses various methods: telephone prospecting or on LinkedIn, face-to-face meetings at trade shows. A work of segmentation and targeting is done prior to the presentation of the company.

Selling and developing new business

The sales engineer takes ownership of the various commercial proposals of his company. He must know his business like the back of his hand and know how to represent it in the best possible way. To succeed in this mission, the sales engineer must fully know his market, the players and its competition. It has the necessary tools to sell: sales techniques of all kinds (CRAC, BANT, CAB, etc.), prospecting tools and business CRM. Over time, it develops human and commercial skills which will enable it to improve its approach and move up the ladder.

Follow up on current contracts

After concluding a sale, the sales engineer follows up on the contracts and its customers. It verifies that everything is in order and that the contractual characteristics are respected.

Innovate and raise customer requests

In the perspective of constant progress, the sales engineer tries to best understand the expectations of his customers and to transmit them to the company in order to adapt the offer. In this perspective, the engineer must use active listening and be particularly open to criticism.

Manage the administrative

Part of a sales engineer's work is focused on managing the data he collects: customer files, contracts and any other document useful to the company. He must keep his hierarchy informed, update the company's CRM, respond to numerous emails from his customers and follow up with his prospects.

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What are the qualities of a good Sales Engineer?

Technical knowledge

In order to be efficient and optimize its results, a sales engineer must use a precise methodology. Knowledge of the various sales methods and the advice of his colleagues will enable him to know, test and adopt his own mechanism. Sales engineers from the same company may have a different approach depending on their personality and their ability to transmit emotions, create relationships and convince.

The right temperament

From the point of view of temperament, the professional must be autonomous and rigorous. He must have a developed sense of relationships, a keen persuasiveness as well as a certain ability to be flexible and adaptable. Patience and empathy will also be assets.

Know-how

The sales engineer must adopt a professional attitude, in accordance with his function. He must be polite and attentive to customers, able to negotiate and open to discussion. The sales engineer represents his company, so he must have an irreproachable behavior.

What is a good sales engineer?

To be a good sales engineer, resilience and autonomy are assets. For make decisions quickly and achieve clear goals, a good stress resistance is necessary. Likewise, a good Spirit of synthesis And editorial skills will also be useful when preparing letters or drawing up estimates and invoices. The good sales engineer must be ready to train continuously to face changes in legislation, the arrival of new tools or even a change in the company's commercial policy.

He must also be attentive to businesses and customers in order to maximize commercial strategies and thus optimize the possibilities of closing sales. Joining a company as a sales engineer requires great motivation and ability to adapt. During prospecting or customer management, the engineer may find himself in an impasse. He must be responsive and creative.

The advantages and disadvantages of being a sales engineer

The job of sales engineer has many advantages:

Great autonomy 

A sales engineer is free, he manages his schedule, his appointment and all his administrative tasks. He often appears as a leader within his company.

Important prospects for development

With a dynamic, entrepreneurial and human profile, sales engineers are highly sought after and know how to attract sympathy and trust. They often move up the ladder more quickly than their colleagues. They become among others Sales Manager or Business Development Manager.

Varied tasks

Becoming a sales engineer means diving into the heart of sales and the sales process. Like the Business Developer 360, he sees the sales cycle as a whole. He then became a real Swiss Army knife for his sales team.

Depending on the profiles and needs of each person, some disadvantages can also be reported. This position requires a particularly significant amount of personal involvement: regular trips, fluctuating schedules, etc. You are looking for office hours, go your own way!

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How do I become a sales engineer?

Skills needed to become a sales engineer

Recruiters expect candidates for the position of sales engineer, certain skills, in particular relational skills. He must mobilize all or a large part of his general skills (soft skills), namely:

• creativity,
• taking initiatives and a spirit of conquest
• Adaptability
• Determination
• Good organization, time and stress management
• Sense of listening
• Commercial fiber
• Critical thinking
• Mastery of commercial negotiation
• Mastery of sales and prospecting techniques
• Relational ease
• Mastery of office automation tools and social networks
• Ability to learn and challenge
• Demonstrate resilience

Participation in the drafting of responses to calls for tenders requires a good knowledge of the market and the stakeholders, as well as a complete technical mastery of a technology. Most tenders are written in English.

How do you train to become a sales engineer?

Sales engineers generally come from business schools. They sometimes followed a technical specialization. A degree from engineering schools with commercial experience in the field or additional training is also often recognized. After a technological baccalaureate, either STI2D or STMG or general with scientific specialties, bachelors can join a scientific preparatory class, a technical BTS for 2 years, before joining an engineering or business school for 3 years.

Akimbo offers training courses (Bootcamps) to become a Business Developer. A new generation sales engineer. These two positions have a different name but a similar role: generate growth and turnover by becoming an expert in the sales process.

You will have the chance to choose between various customizable training programs. The topics covered during this training will cover prospecting techniques, improving sales posture, managing customer appointments or even managing customer accounts.

What career developments are there for this position?

After an experience as a sales engineer and depending on your results, several possibilities may be available to you.

• Take charge of a team and pass on your knowledge to them by becoming a Sales Manager.
• Integrate a start-up by becoming a Business Developer, Sales Development Representative, Business Development Representative or Account Executive.
• Becoming an international sales engineer

International sales engineer

The international sales engineer is a kind of relay between international customers (major accounts, SMEs, associations) and his company. He leads all the marketing stages, starting with the identification of customer needs and expectations and ending with the adoption of adapted techniques.

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What is the salary of a Sales Engineer?

How much does a Sales Engineer earn?

The Salary of a sales engineer Is on average €32K to €50K net per year, i.e. a net monthly salary of between 2,700 and 3,300 euros. Commissions can be added to this.

Junior Sales Engineer Salary

If the junior sales engineer is specially trained for this profession and masters all the requirements, he can be paid between €32K to €36K net per year. Obviously, benefits can be added to this payroll, such as a company vehicle or even the reimbursement of a telephone package by the company.

Senior Sales Engineer Salary

A senior sales engineer may have a salary that can exceed €60K net per year.

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The different jobs in Business Development

Jobs associated with sales engineers

The profession of sales engineer is particularly broad and includes extremely diverse aspects. However, certain specificities need to be added. It is true that this profession is available under various other titles and many specialties. Some job titles take over the basic functions of a sales engineer but work in specific areas. These positions include business developer, business engineer, business engineer, business manager, account executive, sales development representative or even business development representative.

What is a Business Developer?

The Business Developer (Bizdev or BD) is working to find and evaluate new commercial agreements that are beneficial to the company, particularly in the context of the launch of a company. The business developer carries out the same tasks as a sales engineer but often in a start-up. It is much more versatile.

What is a Business Engineer?

The business engineer is at the heart of the commercial relationship between the client and the employer. Indeed, he is the interlocutor of management in the company and regularly informs the sales director about the progress of projects that concern him. It is present in companies where it is precisely necessary to monitor projects that take place over time.

What is a Business Manager?

The business manager manages and develops a client portfolio. It is the essential link between a company and its customers, to whom it offers new services and products that would be of interest to them.

Our advice for entering the right job offer

Adapt your application to the characteristics of the position and the company, highlighting your past experiences. Experience in connection with the services and products offered in the company where you are applying will be an asset. Sales engineers are in demand in various structures. Apply in fields that you master or that you want to know.

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How do I recruit a sales engineer?

You are looking for a sales engineer and you have many applications. Make sure he has these few qualities and skills:

Autonomy and organization.

He must be able to work independently and in an organized manner. Indeed, he will have to ensure the smooth running of the commercial process and ensure that the negotiations go well. In another context, with the recent health events, many facets of the profession have changed. The Covid-19 crisis has forced sales engineers to work from home, increasing the importance of autonomy and organization.

Relational sense

A true head of operations, the sales engineer must therefore have a very good relationship. Communication should not be a barrier for the candidate. You have to make sure that he knows how to communicate both in writing and orally and that the social aspect of the job does not frighten him.

Mobility

To prospect, the sales engineer will have to spend a large part of his time traveling. A good candidate must have the means to get around (B license, vehicle...) and we must ensure that this does not interfere with him in any way.

Finally, you can read its recommendations and try to find out about its references. In this way, it will be easier to visualize the attitude and personality of the candidate and you will be able to identify the right profile more easily.

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FAQ: Becoming a Sales Engineer

Degrees to become a sales engineer?

A BAC +5 business school or engineering school diploma is recommended to become a commercial engineer.

What training courses to become a Sales Engineer?

A bachelor's degree such as STMG or STI2D or with scientific specialties is recommended. Then a passage through an economic or scientific preparatory class, a BTS or a BUT are the keys to entering business or engineering school. In general, training in sales and negotiation techniques is a plus.

What baccalaureate to be a sales engineer?

You need either a Bac type STMG/STI2D or a general Bac focused on scientific education.

What is the BTS to become a sales engineer?

A BTS Negotiation and Digitization of Customer Relations or a BTS Consulting and Marketing of Technical Solutions are sought after and lead to the profession of sales engineer.

What are the appropriate retraining profiles?

A former business manager or a sales assistant are suitable profiles to retrain as a sales engineer.

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