Sales Engineer

As a rule, most Engineers design things. Architectural Engineers, for instance, design buildings while Civil Engineers design roads and bridges.

If you’re a Sales Engineer, you’re an exception to the rule. Although you’ve got an engineering degree, you don’t design things. Instead, you sell them.

Still, the education of a Sales Engineer is essential. Because you’re paid to sell highly scientific and technical products, you’ve got to understand what you’re selling, how it works, and why it’s necessary. In other words, you’ve got to think like an Engineer.

At the same time, you’ve got to sell like a Sales Representative. That makes you part Engineer, part Salesperson, equipped simultaneously with scientific knowledge and marketing savvy, both of which are required to sell sophisticated products to very large customers. In service of those customers — many of which are large corporations and major institutions — you use your engineering expertise to explain the technical components, functions, and benefits of your product, and your sales skills to persuade purchases.

Because your sales side understands customer needs, and your engineering side product design, you’re uniquely qualified to help your company modify and customize its products to suit customers’ individual needs. In addition to selling high-tech products, therefore, your job as a Sales Engineer is to consult on their design from the customer point of view.

Naturally, you have many of the same duties as a traditional Sales Representative, including finding prospects, making cold calls, presenting to customers, negotiating prices, and closing deals. Ultimately, though, you’re there to sell products by way of “problem solving” versus “pitching,” using science instead of slogans.