How To: Become a Sales Engineer / Solutions Engineer

Summary

This article outlines effective ways to best prepare for the interview process to become a pre-sales solutions engineer. Additionally, we will discuss what to expect during the interview. The experience you have can vary greatly based on several circumstances, such as the companies you apply to and interview for, and their position in the business lifecycle. They could either be very mature with multiple levels and business units, or they could be a company that recently secured funding six months ago and has the potential for hockey stick-type growth in the future.

At a high level, the expectation is for you to be the go-to technical expert on the solution and, at the same time, articulate a vision that aligns with the customer’s needs (hopefully with your solution). However, your interview process may vary greatly depending on the path you take and how the company is structured.

This article gathers information from multiple tenured pre-sales solutions engineers and solutions architects. 

Where are you now?

In the ideal scenario, you would of already been a seasoned solutions engineer, one that has a vast network and have been asked multiple times throughout the year about all these awesome new opportunities to make some money at the hot new company called Viva or Contoso! However, that’s probably not you if you found this article and are reading it now. So where do we begin? This depends on if you just finished school or you are still in school, or you have been a technical architect/systems engineer or software developer for 10+ years. The salary you can command and type of position you should be applying will be different. I only say this because the salary you could expect in a lower pre sales engineering position might not live up to your expectations if you’re making the transition to a sales engineer. Having said this one has no experience and one has partial experience with neither likely having experience in a pre-sales technical role. So the options are to work with what you have.

Be Prepared

The best thing you can do is be prepared especially if you do not have any experience at all. That means  learning how to interview for these positions and actually being able to get the interview which is not covered here but think about having a proper resume that is tailored to this type of position. I strongly recommend looking into a career coach with experience in this field, they can help you a lot and it’s worth every penny.

Tips For The Interview Process:

1. You will likely be asked to do a presentation through the interview process. Make sure you have prepared prior to your interview, practicing the elevator pitch of said companies solution. Sometimes they will give you a deck or ask you to whiteboard virtually or in person. Confidently present on the topic and make it conversational and less like you are educating the people on the other side. (although a lot of this position will be like this).

2. Do your research on the current Go To Market strategy.

3. They will want to see how well you can stay on topic and not let the prospect attempt to derail the conversation.

4. Have a list of GREAT questions. It is so important in life to know the right questions to ask.  It shows them a deep commitment and understanding of the current position and business.

5. Another important thing that most people get hung up on is the ability to focus on the solution and business value. It’s easy to lead with features and product as a technical person. There is a time and place for this with this role but not in the interview. You want to stay on track on how this solution drives value for the business.

6.  Make sure to smile and bring excitement and confidence. 

Interview Process Expectations

Expect this to be lengthy process, especially in larger companies. It can vary wildly depending on the company but in general this is what to expect.

1. Interview by the recruiter. The recruiter will decide if he wants to put you through to the hiring manager.

2. Interview with the hiring manager.

3. Interview with multiple peers.

4. Interview with sales reginal director / manager.

5. Interview with a sales counterpart.

6. Presentation to a panel.

7. Interview with Vice President (hiring manager’s boss)

Some of these steps may be removed or done in a different order. It’s more likley to not be as interview heavy if you have prior experience or know someone. At the end of the day this is a human experience and people tend to be more comfortable with less risk. It’s less riskier if you have the experience or know someone. As we all know sometimes that isn’t the best case either.

Examples of Great Pre-Sales Engineer Questions for Interview

Questions for the interview team:

1. If I were to knock it out of the park with this posistion. What would I be doing 6 months to a year down the road.

This allows them to envision how you might fit into what they are looking for. You can also expound on how you could fit into those plans.

2. Why is this role open, are you replacing someone who left or is this a new team.

3. What are you looking for in an Solutions Engineer to acomplish in the first 30/60/90 days.

You can get a better idea of how they onboard new solution engineers and what the proccess looks like. Addtionally it is always a good idea to understand at a better level of what the roles and responsibilties of this posistion are in more detail. 

5. How does the compenation structure work?

Many companies will have different compentation structures it’s important for you to understand how you will be paid.

6. What are some of the biggest challanges you face in your role?

Learn more about the interviewer’s perspective

6. What are some of the current challanges you are facing in your terriortory.

Perhaps you can give examples of past experience relevent to the challange and how you solved them.

Questions during the mock demo.

Make sure to ask open ended questions. If you are looking for more detail on virtual selling you can check out our other article Level Up Your Presence: Top Virtual Selling Tips for Sales Engineers

Current State:

Could you walk me through how you currently handle xyz? What tools are you using? How has the process been going so far? Also, could you share insights into the most significant challenge you face when dealing with xyz

Negative Impacts:

Could you unpack the xyz challenge for me a little more? How is it affecting you, the team, and the business? What is happening within the business that is making this a priority now? Which metric is being impacted the most as a result of this?

Future State:

What solutions are you seeking to address this problem? I’d appreciate the opportunity to guide you through resolving insert challenge they mentioned that you solve and gather your feedback.

Positive Business Outcomes:

What motivates you to solve these issues now rather than later? How would it impact the business if we could eliminate the challenge you mentioned for you?

Closing Thoughts

Landing your first SE role is one of the hardest things to do. Most places won’t take chances on people who have never been an Solutions Engineer. Most people get the role by knowing someone or perhaps they plucked from one of their customers. This is an example of how important it is to build your brand and create a network. If you are looking to get a better idea on how to prepare for this role and master your technical sales I suggest giving Mastering Technical Sales: The Sales Engineer’s Handbook