This bestselling book -- now in its Fourth Edition – has become the gold standard for Sales Engineers, who engage on the technical side of the sales and buying process and are the people who know how everything works. It helps you navigate a complex and ever-changing technical sales environment and become an effective bridge-builder between the business/commercial interests and the technical details that support the sale.
Written by one of the foremost experts in this field, the handbook presents everything you need to improve your skills and increase your value to the sales team. Chapters are written in a modular fashion so that you can choose topics most relevant to you at the moment – or follow them in order as they build upon each other and give you the complete A to Z on your role. Each chapter is short enough so that you can read through it in 10-15 minutes and apply the learning the next day. You’ll find actionable hints, case studies, and anecdotes illustrating the topics with lessons learned, both positive and negative.
The book helps you: understand the unique role of the Sales Engineer, from the broad picture to the nuances of the job; develop skills needed to become a valuable consultant to your team and the customer team; utilize best practices for creating and completing winning RFPs; effectively integrate global practices into your day-to-day activities; increase your ability think on a more strategic level; become a trusted advisor to executive customers.
With this completely updated and expanded edition of Mastering Technical Sales in hand, you will achieve a better win rate, experience higher customer satisfaction, hit revenue targets, and feel greater job satisfaction. Newly added and revised chapters guide you through today’s challenges, including the impact of the cloud and everything-as-a-service, new sales models (monthly vs. annual revenue commits), and the virtualization and automation that is now part of the Sales Engineer’s world.
This book is a must-have resource for both new and seasoned Sales Engineers within tech software, hardware, mechanical, and civil engineering vendors, along with management and leadership in those organizations, and anyone who must present, demonstrate or sell hi-tech items for a living.
Introduction, What Is A Sales Engineer?, An Overview Of The Sales Process, Lead Qualification, The RFP Process, Technical Discovery, Business Value Discovery I – Pains and Gains, Business Value Discovery 2 – Time, Money and People, The FABulous Sales Engineer, Successful Customer Engagement, The Perfect Pitch: Structure, The Perfect Pitch: Delivery, The Dash To Demo, Building The Demo, Remote Demonstrations And Presentations, Whiteboarding and Visual Selling, Storytelling, Evaluation Strategies, Answering Questions, The Trusted Advisor Sales Engineer, The Executive Connection, Doing The Math and Proving Business Value, The New SE: Getting Started, Creating Your Personal Brand, Selling With And Through Partners, Competitive Tactics, Using The CRM System, Compensation (Show Me The Money), Moving Into Sales, Career Progression, Becoming An Effective Subject Matter Expert/SE Specialist, The Hiring And Interview Process, Time Management For The Sales Engineer, Managing Yourself By The Metrics, and Final Words.