Sales engineering
Encyclopedia
Sales engineering, often called field applications engineering, is a hybrid of engineering
and sales
that provides technical support to the customers of a manufacturer of products, of a distributor
that sells or represents the products, or of a provider of services, such as an engineering consultancy
.
(COI), because it is always possible that the ideal solutions and troubleshooting could involve recommending a competitor's products or services, yet the sales engineer is under pressure not to steer the customer in that direction. Thus, customers weigh the advice of sales engineers with a predisposition of "caveat emptor
". Nevertheless, sales engineers do usually provide real value
to customers, which is why the relationship endures despite the perennial taking of a "grain of salt
".
system) and causing them to adopt a new approach using that product is what puts the "applications" in "applications engineering" or "application development" (not to be confused with another common sense of that term, which refers to software development
and programming). The task is to seek out and develop new applications for the product, in order to increase sales. The customer's only motivation for adopting it is "what it can do for me", such as same-output-lower-costs, more-output-same-cost, etc. Thus, when things work out correctly, both firms profit from the application development.
This result also has broader economic implications, as it is a mechanism by which economic efficiency increases, productivity
grows, and economic growth
is encouraged. Inventors and R&D
people create new tools and processes; but they don't disseminate into the business world (to do any economic good) without some amount of applications development, teaching, and sales.
(such as telecommunications, or databases and their dependent applications for purposes such as logistics
or customer relationship management
). Sales engineers advise customers on how best to use the products or services provided.
departments of their companies to determine how products and services could be made or modified to suit customers' needs. This aspect of sales engineering is important, because it is what allows the sales engineer to feel that he (or she) can maintain his personal integrity (ethically speaking) in the face of the inherent COI of the job (explained earlier). The sales engineer does not have to lie (ignore or negatively misrepresent the competitor's products or services) if he (or she) can reasonably tell the customer that his employer can tailor its solutions to the customer's particular requirements. Doing that may not be easy or cheap, which means that there is always a line to be walked to avoid overpromising-and/or-underdelivering.
, web conferencing
, and telepresence
(e.g., GoToMeeting
, WebEx
, Live Meeting, Fuze Meeting) are put to good use both on and off the road.
Sales engineers, like their sales
representative counterparts, are hired based on their geographic location rather than their proximity to the corporate, or even regional, office. Working in another part of the country, or even outside the country, where the corporate offices are, a sales engineer may only make it to corporate headquarters once or twice each year.
A key differentiator between sales engineers and other roles within the organization is that a sales engineer is usually compensated by salary plus commission, as most sales representatives are. This commission is usually paid out when the sales representative is paid. Far less common is the case where a sales engineer is compensated with a base salary plus bonus. The bonus can be based upon the revenue generated within an assigned territory, set up as a Management By Objective
(MBO) bonus, or a combination of the two. In both cases a sales engineer will make a base salary that is proportionally higher than their sales representative counterparts, and significantly more than the traditional engineers in an organization.
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and sales
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
that provides technical support to the customers of a manufacturer of products, of a distributor
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
that sells or represents the products, or of a provider of services, such as an engineering consultancy
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
.
Sales and consultancy
The purpose of the job is to help potential customers understand, compare, and contrast the solutions that are available for buying (the pre-sales role); to troubleshoot problems with their implementations—that is, to help ensure that the solutions work successfully once the buying decision has been made (the post-sales role); and to maximize sales for the sales engineer's employer by providing such help to the customers (the aspect of the job that puts the "sales" in the title sales engineer). It is understood in the market that the latter purpose inherently involves competition of interestConflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
(COI), because it is always possible that the ideal solutions and troubleshooting could involve recommending a competitor's products or services, yet the sales engineer is under pressure not to steer the customer in that direction. Thus, customers weigh the advice of sales engineers with a predisposition of "caveat emptor
Caveat emptor
Caveat emptor is Latin for "Let the buyer beware". Generally, caveat emptor is the property law doctrine that controls the sale of real property after the date of closing.- Explanation :...
". Nevertheless, sales engineers do usually provide real value
Value (economics)
An economic value is the worth of a good or service as determined by the market.The economic value of a good or service has puzzled economists since the beginning of the discipline. First, economists tried to estimate the value of a good to an individual alone, and extend that definition to goods...
to customers, which is why the relationship endures despite the perennial taking of a "grain of salt
Grain of salt
a grain of salt, in modern English, is an idiom which means to view something with skepticism, or to not take it literally. It derives from the Latin phrase, grano salis....
".
Application development
Another function of the sales engineer is to introduce modified, improved, and/or advanced technology to potential users who may have an application but who have not yet acquired knowledge of the material or technique in question. The sales engineer may conduct training sessions or demonstrations to accomplish this. The task of seeking out industries, firms, or business models that do not yet use a certain product (for example, a CAx system or a CRMCustomer relationship management
Customer relationship management is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing,...
system) and causing them to adopt a new approach using that product is what puts the "applications" in "applications engineering" or "application development" (not to be confused with another common sense of that term, which refers to software development
Software development
Software development is the development of a software product...
and programming). The task is to seek out and develop new applications for the product, in order to increase sales. The customer's only motivation for adopting it is "what it can do for me", such as same-output-lower-costs, more-output-same-cost, etc. Thus, when things work out correctly, both firms profit from the application development.
This result also has broader economic implications, as it is a mechanism by which economic efficiency increases, productivity
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...
grows, and economic growth
Economic growth
In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
is encouraged. Inventors and R&D
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
people create new tools and processes; but they don't disseminate into the business world (to do any economic good) without some amount of applications development, teaching, and sales.
Teaching customers
Many products and services purchased by large companies and institutions are highly complex. Examples include airliners, weapons systems, and IT systemsInformation technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
(such as telecommunications, or databases and their dependent applications for purposes such as logistics
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
or customer relationship management
Customer relationship management
Customer relationship management is a widely implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing,...
). Sales engineers advise customers on how best to use the products or services provided.
Tailoring solutions
Sales engineers also collaborate with the design, production, engineering, or R&DResearch and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
departments of their companies to determine how products and services could be made or modified to suit customers' needs. This aspect of sales engineering is important, because it is what allows the sales engineer to feel that he (or she) can maintain his personal integrity (ethically speaking) in the face of the inherent COI of the job (explained earlier). The sales engineer does not have to lie (ignore or negatively misrepresent the competitor's products or services) if he (or she) can reasonably tell the customer that his employer can tailor its solutions to the customer's particular requirements. Doing that may not be easy or cheap, which means that there is always a line to be walked to avoid overpromising-and/or-underdelivering.
Talents, skills, knowledge
The companies that employ sales engineers need to sell their products or services to generate income, but since engineers and scientists usually have substantially different personality traits than those required for sales work, there is a role for people with a combination of abilities. These individuals must have technical understanding of the complexities of what their company supplies together with sales skills. This combination of traits is not common.Travel, communications, telepresence, compensation
Sales engineers may spend 20% to 70% of their time traveling, and they may work a flexible schedule due to the needs of the sales organization they support. Most sales engineers telecommute or spend a limited amount of time in the office. Skills with IT that helps remote people communicate better, such as teleconferencing, videoconferencingVideoconferencing
Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...
, web conferencing
Web conferencing
Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. Most vendors also provide either a recorded copy of an event, or a means for a subscriber to record an event. The service allows information to be shared simultaneously, across geographically...
, and telepresence
Telepresence
Telepresence refers to a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present, to give the appearance of being present, or to have an effect, via telerobotics, at a place other than their true location....
(e.g., GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting
GoToMeeting is a Web-hosted service created and marketed by Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems. It is a remote meeting and desktop sharing software that enables the user to meet with other computer users, customers, clients or colleagues via the Internet in real-time.- Technology...
, WebEx
WebEx
WebEx Communications Inc. is a Cisco company that provides on-demand collaboration, online meeting, web conferencing and videoconferencing applications...
, Live Meeting, Fuze Meeting) are put to good use both on and off the road.
Sales engineers, like their sales
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
representative counterparts, are hired based on their geographic location rather than their proximity to the corporate, or even regional, office. Working in another part of the country, or even outside the country, where the corporate offices are, a sales engineer may only make it to corporate headquarters once or twice each year.
A key differentiator between sales engineers and other roles within the organization is that a sales engineer is usually compensated by salary plus commission, as most sales representatives are. This commission is usually paid out when the sales representative is paid. Far less common is the case where a sales engineer is compensated with a base salary plus bonus. The bonus can be based upon the revenue generated within an assigned territory, set up as a Management By Objective
Management by objectives
Management by Objectives is a process of defining objectives within an organization so that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what they need to do in the organization....
(MBO) bonus, or a combination of the two. In both cases a sales engineer will make a base salary that is proportionally higher than their sales representative counterparts, and significantly more than the traditional engineers in an organization.