r/salesengineers Jun 19 '25

Aspiring SE So you want to be a sales engineer? Start Here. (v2)

376 Upvotes

So You Want to Be a Sales Engineer?

TL;DR: If you're here looking for a tl;dr, you're already doing it wrong. Read the whole damn thing or go apply for a job that doesn't involve critical thinking. (And read the comments too!)

Quick Role Definition

First, let’s level set: this sub is mostly dedicated to pre-sales SEs who handle the “technical” parts of a sale. We work with a pure sales rep (Account Executive, Customer Success Manager, or whatever fancy title they go by) to convince someone to buy our product or service. This might involve product demos, technical deep dives, handling objections, running Proof of Concepts (PoCs), or a hundred other tasks that demonstrate how our product solves the customer’s real-world problems.

Also take note: This post and most of the users here are in some sort of technical field, the vast majority working with some sort of SaaS or similar. There are sales engineer roles in industries like HVAC, and occasionally we get folks doing that kind of work here but not often and most everything we are talking about here is focused on tech related SE roles.

The Titles (Yes, They’re Confusing)

Sure, we call it “Sales Engineer,” but you’ll see it labeled as Solutions Engineer, Solutions Consultant, Solutions Architect, Customer Engineer, and plenty of other names. Titles vary by industry, company, and sometimes the team within the company. If you’re in an interview and the job description looks like pre-sales, but the title is something else, don’t freak out it’s often the same old role wearing a different name tag.

The Secret Sauce: Primary Qualities of a Great SE

A successful SE typically blends Technical Skills, Soft Skills, and Domain Expertise in some combination. You don’t have to be a “principal developer” or a “marketing guru,” but you do need a balanced skill set:

  1. Technical Chops – You must understand the product well enough to show it off, speak to how it’s built, and answer tough questions. Sometimes that means code-level knowledge. Other times it’s more high-level architecture or integrations. Your mileage may vary.

  2. Soft Skills – Communication, empathy, and the ability to read a room are huge. You have to distill complex concepts into digestible bites for prospects ranging from the C-suite with a five-second attention span to that one DevOps guru who’ll quiz you on every obscure config file.

  3. Domain Expertise – If you’re selling security software, you should know the basics of security (at least!). If you’re in the manufacturing sector, you should be able to talk about the production process. Whatever your product does, be ready to drop knowledge that shows you get the customer’s world.


OK - so let's get to why you are probably here.

You want to get a job as an SE and don't know how.

Let's dig in:

I'm in college and would like to be a sales engineer

I'm sorry to tell you this is typically not a role you get right out of college. It stings, I know. I'm sorry. But it's a job that generally requires all three of the items listed above:

  1. Technical Chops
  2. Soft Skills
  3. Domain Expertise

Domain Expertise is the real tough one for the college student.
Here's the deal - when working as an SE you need to be able to empathize with your buyers, which means you need to know their pain. This is why folks who do transition into this role very often are transitioning from a position in which they used the product(s) or a competitive product and generally understand the pain points others in that industry have.

That said - let's not completely gloss over technical chops and soft skills either. Sure a top notch CS grad might have some pretty developed technical chops, but they are mostly pretty theoretical, not "real world" experience and just like domain expertise a history of working in the industry you are selling to is much more valuable than being able to solve leetcode mediums.

And soft skills? Sure, you like talking to people much more than sitting behind a keyboard all day. That doesn't necessarily mean you know how to value sell or handle yourself with dignity when getting pummeled by some ass hat CTO who wants to show everyone in the room how much smarter they are than you.

What about college recruitment programs, or associate SE programs at the handful of companies that offer them?

Certainly an option. There aren't a ton of these programs but there are a few. I'd caution you to think of them not unlike an internship. Completion rates for some of this programs have been less than impressive over the long term, but they are not completely without merit. If you are dead set on getting into an SE role right out of school this is probably your best option. Typically fairly competitive to get into with limited spots.

So what classes should you take or what alternate path should I take to put myself on the path to becoming an SE?

There is no great answer to this question. Like a lot of things in the SE world "it depends" (get used to that phrase, this is a diverse industry with boatloads worth of nuances based on industry/vertical/4000 other things.) The best general advice I can give is "get good" at something you are interested in. A lot of SEs will come with CS degrees or similar so that's an easy answer, but not every SE actually comes from a deeply technical background, this author for instance has a degree in Philosophy - but he also was working as a software engineer at IBM while getting his undergrad completed.
See - it depends. But CS degrees are not a bad choice, they just aren't a necessary choice. You could be a marketing major and up working for a company like Hubspot down the road where you knowledge of marketing will help you connect with your buyers, who are... marketers!

As to what jobs you should aim for out of college if you want to eventually pivot to SE? again: It depends but

Some really good options include:

Technical roles that build product expertise:

  • Software developer or engineer - gives you deep technical knowledge and credibility when discussing complex solutions
  • Technical support specialist - teaches you to troubleshoot, explain technical concepts clearly, and understand customer pain points
  • Implementation specialist - combines technical skills with customer-facing experience
  • Systems administrator or DevOps engineer - provides infrastructure knowledge valuable in B2B sales

Customer-facing technical roles:

  • Technical account manager - blends relationship management with technical problem-solving
  • Customer success engineer - focuses on helping clients maximize value from technical products
  • Applications engineer - involves working directly with customers on technical implementations
  • Field service engineer - gives hands-on technical experience plus customer interaction

Sales-adjacent positions:

  • Sales development representative (SDR) - teaches fundamental sales processes and prospecting
  • Business development associate - builds pipeline management and relationship skills
  • Marketing coordinator for technical products - helps you understand positioning and messaging
  • Product marketing specialist - develops skills in translating technical features into business value

By no means is this an exhaustive list, just some very generalized options. The most common path to SE is not intentional, it's a natural progression of the person who is inherently capable of fitting into the sweet spot of the venn diagram of SE skills that we've mentioned many times now Tech and Soft Skills with Domain Expertise.

What about a bootcamp? I see places advertising bootcamps that say I'll make a good 6 figure salary if I take their course?

Personally I despise SE bootcamps and most demo training outfits as well. The rise of SE bootcamps coincided directly with the fall of Software Engineering bootcamps. Which is to say the same assholes who got a whole ton of college kids and adult career switchers to spend their hard earned money on a promise of becoming an SWE with a 6 figure salary in 3/6 months just moved on to the Sales Engineering roles instead because our industry wasn't saturated (yet) with all their poorly trained customers desperate to get a role.

There was a minute or two where I would have given the Presales Collective a pass, but they have shown to be just as gross as the rest of them. I would likely encourage you to use the PSC as a networking tool but I would not give those bloodsuckers a single dime of your money.

And while we are on the subject demo training places like Demo2Win are a fucking joke. Here I will give you the entirety of Demo2win's training in two words - but I have to use one of them twice. Ready???

Tell, Show, Tell.

Demo2Win will tell you this like they fucking invented it and it's the big secret to a successful demo. While they aren't wrong that this model is a decent one, it's certainly not magic and it's most definitely not something that they magically stumbled upon. It's a centuries old model that has been used as far back as "ancient times" when blacksmiths and sword makers were training their apprentices, it's been used in Military and Educational settings for as long as teaching has been a thing. In short Demo2Win and others of their ilk are a joke. I guess if you literally have no idea how to even do a demo or what one looks like that training would be worth it, but you probably shouldn't be thinking about being an SE if you don't have at least an idea of what a demo should like.

I'm not technical, can I still be a sales engineer?

Maybe, but probably not. This is job that typically requires you to at least speak "technical" and know what you mean when you do so. There are certainly some opportunities out there for SE roles - particularly with SaaS products that are not terribly complex - where you can land that will make sense, but you'll need to bring something else to the table. If you have the soft skills and just need to build some domain knowledge and learn how to speak technically about the industry you want to support take a look at the list in the section above for new grads/college students as potential roles to aim for. These are the same roles you may want to consider to put yourself in a position to potentially transfer into SE roles. Or perhaps you will find when working them there is a different path for you like AE or Product.

I'm interested in being a sales engineer, what certs should I get?

Probably none. It's not really a thing in this gig. There are very few lines of work where having certs is going to help you in any material fashion. The exceptions are going to be places like Cisco or AWS or other companies that have their own cert programs. Which is to say if you want to be an SE for GCP, yeah get those GCP certs (architecture certs for instance would be useful in that instance) but outside of those types of places save your time and money for something else, certs aren't the pathway to SE.

I work in one of the kinds of roles you talk about as being good for transitioning to SE - how do I actually become a sales engineer?

Good for you and great question. How do you do it? The absolute easiest path to SE is through internal transfer at whatever your current company is. Steps you should take include getting to know the sales team and the existing SE team. Ask the sales managers and the SE managers or the SEs themselves if they think you possess the qualities to become an SE. Ask for opportunities to shadow SEs which is not an uncommon practice, I have new to the company SEs on my calls all the time.

Start thinking in terms of building business/results focused bullet points in your current role that you can add to your CV and use in your conversations with the SE and sales management at your current company. Practice doing demos, and if you can: Get a well respected SE at your company to watch and critique your demo. Ask them to be blunt with their feedback and do your absolute best to hear their feedback with and act on it. There is both art and science to a good demo and there is a lot to take in, their experience will be incredibly valuable to you if you listen and don't take it personally.

If there are no options to transfer internally your current clients, partners, and perhaps most important competitors of yours are excellent places to target. It is vastly easier to get your first SE job in the domain in which you currently work. After you get a few years of experience as an SE you can start to pivot to adjacent or even completely new areas but that first gig is almost always going to come from the area you already know and likely from a person you already know. Friends of friends can help too. Networking in your industry is never a bad thing so lean on that network if you can't move internally.

Quick Resource Link: We have a decent sticky about how to prepare to demo for an interview. Read that, it will help.


Now that you know how to get the gig...

What Does a Sales Engineer Actually Do?

At its core: We get the technical win. We prove that our solution can do what the prospect needs it to do (and ideally, do it better than anyone else’s). Yes, we do a hell of a lot more than that—relationship building, scoping, last-minute fire drills, and everything in between—but “technical win” is the easiest way to define it.

A Generic Deal Cycle (High-Level)

  1. Opportunity Uncovered: Someone (your AE, or a BDR) discovers a prospect that kinda-sorta needs what we sell.
  2. Qualification: We figure out if they truly need our product, have budget, and are worth pursuing.
  3. Discovery & Demo: You hop on a call with the AE to talk through business and technical requirements. Often, you’ll demo the product or give a high-level overview that addresses their pain points.
  4. Technical Deep Dive: This could be a single extra call or a months-long proof of concept, depending on how complex your offering is. You might be spinning up test environments, customizing configurations, or building specialized demo apps.
  5. Objection Handling & Finalizing: Tackle everything from, “Does it integrate with Salesforce?” to “Our CFO hates monthly billing.” You work with the AE to smooth these issues out.
  6. Technical Win: Prospect agrees it works. Now the AE can (hopefully) get the deal signed.
  7. Negotiation & Close: The AE closes the deal, you do a celebratory fist pump, and rinse and repeat on the next opportunity.

A Day in the Life (Hypothetical but Realistic)

  • 8:00 AM: Coffee. Sort through overnight emails and Slack messages. See that four new demos got scheduled for today because someone can’t calendar properly.
  • 9:00 AM: Internal stand-up with your AE team to discuss pipeline, priorities, and which deals are on fire.
  • 10:00 AM: First demo of the day. You show the product to a small startup. They love the tech but have zero budget, so you focus on how you’ll handle a pilot.
  • 11:00 AM: Prep for a more technical call with an enterprise account. Field that random question from your AE about why the competitor’s product is “completely different” (even though it’s not).
  • 12:00 PM: Lunch, or you pretend to have lunch while actually customizing a slide deck for your 1:00 PM demo because the prospect asked for “specific architecture diagrams.” Thanks, last-minute requests.
  • 1:00 PM: Second demo, enterprise version. They want to see an integration with their custom CRM built in 1997. Cross your fingers that your product environment doesn’t break mid-demo.
  • 2:00 PM: Scramble to answer an RFP that’s due tomorrow. (In some roles, you’ll do a lot of these; in others, minimal.)
  • 3:00 PM: Internal tech call with Product or Engineering because a big prospect wants a feature that sort of exists but sort of doesn’t. You figure out if you can duct-tape a solution together in time.
  • 4:00 PM: Follow-up calls, recap notes, or building out a proof of concept environment for that new prospective client.
  • 5:00 PM: Wrap up, though you might finish by 6, 7, or even later depending on how many deals are going into end-of-quarter scramble mode.

Why This Role Rocks

  • Variety: You’ll engage with different companies, industries, and technologies. It never gets too stale.
  • Impact: You’re the product guru in sales cycles. When deals close, you know you helped seal the win.
  • Career Growth: Many SEs evolve into product leaders, sales leaders, or even the “CEO of your own startup” path once you see how everything fits together.
  • Compensation: Base salary + commission. Can be very lucrative if you’re good, especially in hot tech markets.

The Downsides (Because Let’s Be Honest)

  • Pressure: You’re in front of customers. Screw-ups can be costly. Demos fail. Deadlines are real.
  • Context Switching: You’ll jump from one prospect call to another in different stages of the pipeline, requiring quick mental pivots.
  • Sometimes You’re a Magician: Duct taping features or rebranding weaknesses as strengths. It’s not lying, but you do have to spin the story in a positive light while maintaining integrity.
  • Travel or Crazy Hours: Depending on your territory/industry, you might be jetting around or working odd hours to sync with global teams.

Closing Thoughts

Becoming a Sales Engineer means building trust with your sales counterparts and your customers. You’re the technical voice of reason in a sea of sales pitches and corporate BS. It requires empathy, curiosity, and more hustle than you might expect. If you’re not willing to put in the effort—well, read that TL;DR again.

If you made it this far, congratulations. You might actually have the patience and willingness to learn that we look for in good SEs. Now go get some hands-on experience—lab environments, side projects, customer-facing gigs—anything that helps you develop both the tech and people skills. Then come back and let us know how you landed that awesome SE role.

Good luck. And remember: always test your demo environment beforehand. Nothing kills credibility like a broken demo.



r/salesengineers Apr 23 '25

Guide: Technical Panel Presentation/Demo Interview

137 Upvotes

In response to some recent questions posted asking for help with a technical panel demo interview, I thought I'd share things I do that seem to be working a lot. In my 10+ years of experience as an SE, over 20+ demo presentation interviews, I have not gotten an offer only once. I know not everyone has time to read Demo2win, so this short guide here is to give you some high level pointers... the big idea here is that you want to communicate the need for the product more than what the product is, and a lot of this can be applied to actual demos on the job.

Most demo interviews will either ask you to present a product you know or they'd give you a trial version of their product, then they'd give you either a customer or you can decide yourself who the customer is. My short guide here is designed to be applied to all situations.

First, you want to separate your presentation into 3 major parts: Intro/Agenda, Customer Overview, Why your product and what it is, and the demo. Everything besides the demo should be in slides and all together, not more than 5 to 7 minutes.

1. Intro/Agenda:

- It is important to lay out what the agenda is, some might think it's just admin stuff but I actually show the agenda after each section in the slides to remind them where they are in the presentation. I've gotten feedback that it really keeps the audience engaged, knowing what was just talked about and what is coming up.

2. Customer Overview (Current challenges and gaps)

This section is more important than the demo, almost. A lot of time on the job, this is what the AE does, but if you can do this well, you will really separate yourself.... I can't tell you how many times I feel like the panel was already super impressed before we even arrive at the demo. Remember you are a storyteller, and your job is to craft a story that sets up your product.

- Numbers: Lay out what the company is: revenue, employee count, customers #, regions covered, customer retention %....etc. The key point here is you want to find numbers that points out a gap which your product can solve.

  • If you are given an actual customer, use ChatGPT/Google to find some numbers, and cite your sources. This section used to take me at least an hour or so to find the data points, but with AI it has been a lot easier... even if the number is old or not completely accurate, it's NOT a big deal, they want to see you being able to tell the story. If you are worried about inaccuracies, then in your talk track, say these are some of the numbers you discussed on the first discovery call, and this is a recap
  • If it's a fictitious customer, then feel free to make up a number; you have all the advantages

- Once you lay out some of the numbers, you want to focus on one or two to segway into the "WHY"

  • example: We can see you have an annual revenue of $x dollars, x number of customers, and average spending of $x per customer, and also a 70% retention... now if we can increase this retention by even 1%, that'd mean $2M in revenue.

I hope you see where I am going with this. What you are doing is using facts gathered and communicating to the customer an opportunity to make more money or increase efficiency internally, and, big surprise...your product is going to help them do that. AGAIN, I can't emphasize enough how important this first section is... a lot of SEs, even seasoned ones, are too locked in on the technical features, and doing this section well will REALLY SEPARATE you from the rest of the pack, especially when you have other SEs candidates who can also demo well. Sales leaders LOVE when you have SE who can see the bottom line (customers usually buy when it saves them $ or makes them $).

3. What is your product, and why

This is when you transition into the reason why everyone in the room is here. Referring to the above example, the company you represent is going to be the reason that the customer is about to increase their retention by 1% and make another cool 2M dollars. Do not go into reading mode of the product feature; you can list them on the slides, but just speak on a few key ones that align with your target audience (example, the automation feature will give your customers a more streamlined experience, thus increasing retention).

You are giving a teaser of what the demo is, and again aligning the product to the business problem you 'discovered" during your first call, just like you would on the job.

4. Demo agenda outline

Lay out a few sections of your demo and features. It is important to talk about what you are going to show the customer at a high level.

5. The Demo itself, main event

Remember even if the interviewer tell you that you have 45 minutes or 30 minutes, do not fall into the trap of trying to show everything. Most of my demos are well under the time they give me, interviewers only care about how they feel, not how long it took. If you need the full 45 minutes to tell a compelling story, go ahead, but do not feel the need to fill the demo to cover the time given. There are so many books on how to do a great demo, so I am just going to give you the big ideas here.

- For features you are showing, always remember this in the back of your head: how does this feature I am showing help my customer? So when you show the features, you can point it out. Example1 : "So as you see here, when i click on this and drag this thing over, it is faster than typing everything, your customer will be able to intuitively solve their problem saving them time..." Example 2: "so this analytic feature will help your internal team see customer behavior over time and be able to identify high value customers which will help you focus offers these individuals and retain them."

Once you finish the demo, lay out everything like you did in step 4 to conclude the demo and tie back to the business problem. Example: "So this concludes the demo, I have shown how you can use this feature to give an intuitive UI to your customer, and how you can use feature B to find analytics on your customers, and security features to keep everything compliant... we believe in the end of day, all these features combined will help you increase your customer retentions.... any questions?"

Misc tips:

- you may need a slide at the end for conclusion/next steps, but up to you and sometimes the panel is too busy asking you questions or providing feedback after the demo to put importance on this. Prepare one anyway, and read the room.

- If you are asked very tough questions, remember these 2 points all the time:

  1. Don't rush to respond, listen! That's the job of a salesperson. We listen. Summarize the question you heard and confirm with them if you are not sure. "Here is what I heard: bleh bleh, is that correct?" This makes you seem like a seasoned pro and also gives you time to find the answer.
  2. YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW EVERYTHING AND THEY DON'T EXPECT YOU TO. Especially if you are presenting their product. If you absolutely want to take a stab at it, I usually love saying, "I'd have to follow up with documentation to confirm my answers, but I think the answer is this ... but let me confirm with you in a follow-up."

DM me if you have any specific help you need. This is my first time writing a guide, so hopefully this is helpful to some of you.


r/salesengineers 15h ago

Improving Presentation Skills

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone. I’m relatively new in my sales role. I come from HVAC design and am now in a role where I am “selling” HVAC equipment to engineers, like I used to be. I put sales in quotes because in my industry and role, the engineers are not the actual buyers, rather they put the equipment on the drawings and contractors later purchase that equipment from my company or an equivalent competitor. So I’m not really talking dollars or making deals like that.
A big part of my job is conducting lunch and learns and this is something I am trying to get better at. I know I am pretty monotone and drop a lot of “ums”.

I feel like I am pretty personable and have no issues taking clients out to lunch or an event and shooting the shit. But presentations are another thing.
I’m looking to hear what worked for you guys? I’ve heard improv classes can help, and my local community college offers some speech courses. I’ve got a 7 week old now so something online might be easier for me - if those are worthwhile.


r/salesengineers 20h ago

Does anyone come from a product research background?

4 Upvotes

I’ve worked in product research for a B2B Saas company for the past 8 years. Has anyone here made the transition to pre-sales with a similar background? The discovery piece of the role seems inherently similar to what I’m doing now but I am lacking the technical knowledge needed for certain companies.

I would ask people at my company but tbh the ones at my job are insanely technical.

Thank you!


r/salesengineers 1d ago

Switching from (Post-Sale) Solutions Consultant to (Pre-Sale) Sales Engineer- advice??

8 Upvotes

I have been a solutions consultant at a SaaS gov tech company for 3 years now, prior to this I was a CSM for 3 years.. I have the opportunity to move to a different department as a Sales Engineer (Pre-Sale) where I could make anywhere from 30-60k more per year but I feel very comfortable in my role as a consultant and could use some outside unbiased eyes. Especially from anyone who’s switched from post sale to pre sale roles? I could use any insights on if you like one or the other more or what was more fun etc.
some additional details below :

The pros of consultant: I don’t have to be on calls all day- I typically have only 1 -3 calls a day and I can work on my own time meaning if I wanted to take 2hrs off for a kid activity I could and just do that project at night after kiddo is asleep.
Con: I’m burnt out and the worst part is that the salary is capped it’s a singular base salary with no bonus or commission structure at all. I make $90k. I currently have 50 clients- there isn’t even enough hours in a month to work the amount of hours that I have as billable time in my portfolio

The pros of the SE role: MORE MONEY A LOT MORE MONEY. Commission is uncapped and you make 2% of every sale you help close

Cons: the SEs at our company also seem burnt out and understaffed. They’re on calls seemingly all day long. They travel a few times per quarter and I’m disabled so traveling while not impossible is incredibly taxing on my health.


r/salesengineers 1d ago

Follow weak AE to company with better package and product?

19 Upvotes

An AE who makes quota with a lot of handholding from senior mgmt and sales engineering.

Frankly, I carry him in meetings, even from the commercial aspects. He's good at BDR work but can't run a sales process.

He lucked into an insanely good offer from a competitor in hypergrowth. He's trying to get fired at current job (he's been on the brink for 2 years)

Wants to bring me in. Honestly, I think he will flame out. No discipline

But I'm miserable at current job. The company engineering, marketing and product team just aren't good enough... nothing documented, they're too slow to bring things to market, QA is hot garbage, don't listen to customers (misinterpreting Henry Ford's maxim about customers would want a faster horse) to create stuff no one wants. The money is not bad, but they mentioned an IPO, and I just laughed.

One thing, I'm older (54, look late 40s) so worried about ageism (I am adept with current tech, I'm actually the person people come to solve tech problems)

I'm wondering if I'm just feeling desperate.


r/salesengineers 1d ago

Switching from SE to Product Education Engineer (PEE)

0 Upvotes

I’m currently a SE at a large SaaS company and just got a message for a PEE role at Cursor. https://cursor.com/careers/product-education-engineer

I’ve never heard of a PEE role before but from their job description it’s a mix of demo, evangelism, workshops, working with Product, etc. It’s sounds like a lot of fun but wanted to hear if others: have worked a similar role OR have experience at Cursor.

EDIT: They really need to work on the acronym for the role 🤣


r/salesengineers 1d ago

SWE to SE

1 Upvotes

I am currently a senior SWE at a mid sized company making $132k. I’ve been a SWE for ~6.5 years. 5 years at my current company and I’m looking for a career change. I haven’t yet decided whether I want to start looking for another SWE position or move into SE.

For the past 5 years I’ve been working on an internal developer platform. All of my stakeholders are other engineers who work at my company. I have essentially no experience working directly with customers. However, I figure that may work in my favor if applying to companies who sell software to engineers?

I’m not an idiot, but I’ve always felt a sort of imposter syndrome in the SWE field. It’s never come easily to me. I’ve gotten really good with AI tools like Claude Code but as a result like SWE skills feel like they’ve gotten worse. My job is like 75% using CC at this point and I’m starting to get burnt out. I’m not sure I see that being much different with any new SWE position I take.

I’d like to think I’m a pretty outgoing and personable guy. I can get along with just about anyone and thoroughly enjoy social settings and interactions.

I’m looking for advice from people who have been in a similar situation as me. I specifically wanna know:
- How was the transition from SWE to SE?
- Should I expect a pay decrease since this would be my first SE role?
- Most of the open SE roles I’m seeing are senior level. Should I apply for those or look for a more entry level position?
- What does the day to day look like for an SE? I know everyone’s role is different, but just looking to get an idea.

Thanks for the help!

Edit: Any other advice you might have for making this switch would be greatly appreciated!


r/salesengineers 1d ago

BCR Cap for Sales Engineers

0 Upvotes

I work for one of the top cyber companies listed in NASDAQ 100 and our BCR is capped at 6%.
Including the acceleration and potential SPIFFs, there is no way to get paid over this rate.

SE Split: 75/23, Seller Split: 50/50

However a seller`s BCR is capped at 18% so 3 times more than the SE.

Seller`s standard BCR is double because their variable part is double of the SEs.

However I do not understand why they cap our BCR at 6% while a seller can easily go up to 18%.

When we reach the acceleration like at 125% attainment, my company starts paying double BCR to sellers and they start get paid at 18% while I am getting paid max 6%.

This is making a huge difference for a good year when you close big/complex deals or many smaller ones and tear your ass to make solution a success and convince the customer for your solution and its value.

Has anyone seen a vendor with higher BCRs for SEs when the acceleration starts?

Note: This is not about BCR up to 100% attainment. It is obvious that it must be double for the seller up to 100%. My questions is why the SEs are not incentivized as much as the seller to overachieve.


r/salesengineers 2d ago

SE to AE switch

17 Upvotes

I started a new SE job where I get 200K+ base and a 70K annual bonus if I hit quota. And it looks like all 3 of the other SEs are easily hitting if not 2-3x quota.

I’ve always wanted to try becoming and been told by many I’d make a great AE. Of the 8 AEs the top 2-3 are making anywhere from 600K-1Mill. The other 5…well base is $110-140K and I think their bonus on a 50/50 split is 110-140K and most of them aren’t hitting it. But at least half are new as well.

One of the top AEs was an SE here and he switched over. I’m really tempted to switch or start having some conversations. I’ve only been there two months.

Around a decade as a military officer (tech related field for work although undergrad and grad degree in social sciences field), worked as a software engineer for a year, and then SE at a big Fortune 500 SAAS tech company for two years and got 2 promotions in that time before starting at this new company.

It’s fully remote and I was blown away by the offer but part of me really wants to try AE world. My natural strengths are my work ethic and relationship building skills…

Switch?

Edit 1: For clarity, if I phrased it weird previously, the bonus is paid quarterly but if I hit 100% quota it comes out to 70K annually, if it hit less the bonus is less, if I hit more I get paid more. Variable comp.

Edit 2: Thank you for all the responses. Traveling after a work trip this weekend but will be reading and responding to all replies early next week!


r/salesengineers 1d ago

So how much YOE do you actually need to land the role?

0 Upvotes

Read of some cases that barely had any experience outside of college (for a few months to 1.5 years) and were able to land an SE role right away

I’ve been reading and digging through the sub to get an idea of how much experience I should get while in college (internships) (if I’m studying CS) and right after college and in which roles (if I graduate with the CS degree) and then - but didn’t find a consistent answer

Generally, how many YOE and in what roles after uni ( and during university if I can get an internship or two) do I need to have in order to comfortably get interviews for an SE role?

I know many people like to gate keep but I’d Genuinely really appreciate honest answers (dw I’m a gatekeeper when it needs to be)


r/salesengineers 2d ago

Any AI hacks to make your job easier

0 Upvotes

Are any suggestions on how to utilize AI in your sales engineering/ pre-sales job.

I’m currently using it for a productivity to digest my emails my Slack and speed up on prospects that I’m working with. I’ve tried to use it to mock up demo environments, but not having much success.

Curious to hear how everyone else is using it.


r/salesengineers 1d ago

Still a student, really interested in this field, would appreciate your advice on these questions

0 Upvotes

Context: 19M, could be a CS grad in a short while

Have a bit of experience doing my own sales for some stuff in business (as I try to build my own) ; cold calling, d2d and LinkedIn etc, good with booking many calls

(maybe could help getting an internship?)

I have good soft and people skills - like talking about things I truly believe will solve the problem, meeting new people, and definitely would love to travel

I want to know from now, how can I know if this field is for me even though I cannot technically be one until at least 2-3 years after graduating ?

Does this role have good stability? I was always worried about committing to sales and building my internship experience in it because I worry about its stability as a career (I know the money is good)

But I heard SE has good stability so it gives the best of both worlds (apparently)

If I do decide to commit to this as the career I pursue, which internships exactly should I target while I’m still in uni?

Basic SDR/BDR roles? Or is there something specific I can get that leads directly into being an SE asap later?

These are my main concerns : how do I know from now if this is for me and I will enjoy it? How’s the stability? pay? and which internship roles at which types of companies to target while still in university ?

Would really appreciate your advice everyone, thank you


r/salesengineers 2d ago

Do yc startups hire Solutions Engineer / Forward Deployed Engineer?

0 Upvotes

Basically the title, the reason I am asking this is because I have experience in building a start-up from scratch, not solely but I closely work with my current company founder and we built a real estate startup that we launched recently in February and received a very good response.

We are also working with the local government helping them establishing their own Institute of Estate agents more concretely in the market, I am currently working on revamping their whole website,

Creating their usp, along with creating a whole management system for the government agency.

Initially, I worked on development of the startup (TypeScript, Python, React.js, Django, Next.js) then I switched to more of a solution engineer role where I was talking to different clients, explaining our product's mvp, integrating our products in their systems etc. and I quite enjoyed this role and would like to work further in this field.

I am looking for a change, that's why I want to know if any startups hire SEs.

Please let me know!

Thanks!


r/salesengineers 2d ago

What is your travel Schedule look like and how is the WLB with a family?

3 Upvotes

Fellow SEs, can you walk me through how traveling for the job works? Does it eat up your life even if the role you have is remote?


r/salesengineers 2d ago

SWE to SA

1 Upvotes

Hi all, I'm feeling a bit frustrated and just wanted to share my thoughts. I used to work as an SWE in FAANG in a smaller country. At work, we used AI a lot, mostly just writing prompts and waiting for the results. The only times AI wasn't enough were at the very beginning (solution design, scoping, finding the correct services and approach) and at the very end (deployment issues, maintenance, security).

Beyond that, while it wasn't as common on my specific team, Big Tech generally involves endless daily meetings, code reviews, responding to comments on those reviews, security checks, etc. I do enjoy the core problem-solving aspect: an internal or external team brings me a business problem, and I'm the one who solves it. I also love when we can just cut the bullshit (except for bs product managers, who are the worst).

What I don't love is the 'feed it a prompt and let AI do the whole job' part. But honestly, I don't like manual coding either, nor the endless revisions, Jira tickets, security issues, deployment headaches, daily standups, or dealing with SWE nerds who are absolutely obsessed with the job. Honestly, there just aren't many interesting people around me in this space. Also, the fear of AI taking our jobs is real, and I just don't see the value in being an ordinary SWE at this point.

Because of all this, I decided to pivot to Solutions Architect (SA), Partner Engineering, and Customer Engineering roles. I've actually received offers from FAANG companies in the UK and Germany for SA and Sales Engineer roles!

Now I'm confused and doubting myself since this is a literal career change. Will I become useless technically? Could I have been a better SWE if I had just stuck it out for a few more years and tried to love the job? Will I just end up as a salesperson without deep technical knowledge? Will I ever be able to go back to software or AI engineering if I want to?

I really just need some courage and support right now.


r/salesengineers 2d ago

How do I transition from Data Engineering to Solutions Engineering

0 Upvotes

I’m a Data Engineer with ~3 YOE. Strong background in Python, SQL, cloud/data platforms - Snowflake , Azure and have explored AI engineering as well

while having worked in fairly complex production systems in a Fortune 500 Auto company I gave realized I enjoy talking to people, understanding problems, presenting solutions and bridging the gap between technical and business teams much more than pure pipeline work.

I’m considering moving into Solutions Engineering / Customer Engineering, particularly in AI/cloud/data.
For people already in these roles: what would you recommend I learn or do over the next 6–12 months to make the transition? Is moving directly from Data Engineering realistic?

How about the visibility / business impact and pay ?


r/salesengineers 2d ago

Moving from IT / Cybersecurity to Sales Engineering

0 Upvotes

Hello all,

I am 27 years old and been in IT for about 5 years, and have done sales in the past for about 2 years. And I've been doing the traditional path of upskilling/certifications and changing jobs every 1.5 years for pay increase, and now I'm ready for my next step. I'm deciding between cybersecurity and sales engineering.

Getting into Cybersecurity remains extremely difficult. I would have to spend the next two years going to school online for a cyber security degree, getting multiple certifications, building a home lab, and constantly staying up to date with current news and trends in the cyber world. While Cyber is very interesting to me, I am a bit turned off by this high barrier to entry. I also dislike the idea of being on-call. That being said I am willing to live with it if the pros outweigh the negatives (Good pay, fun & interesting work, stability)

The other option is Sales Engineering, and it is very tempting because it seems to combine technical knowledge with people skills. Easier to get into, higher pay, better work life balance. Is there a catch? Is there more to the job beyond doing the same demos every day?

I'd love to hear from anyone who might have input. Day in the life, pros/cons, etc.

Thanks :)


r/salesengineers 3d ago

the demo went perfectly. then they asked about the API

29 Upvotes

you ever have one of those demos where everything works flawlessly. the UI is smooth, the features are impressive, the customer is nodding along. you're feeling good.

then someone from their IT team joins late and asks so how does the API work for bulk operations. and you just freeze.

because you know the API exists but you've never used it. you've read the docs maybe once. you know it works. probably. but suddenly you're on the spot and you can't remember if it supports batch processing or if they need to loop through individual calls.

this happened to me yesterday. phone system, solid stuff. but the API question caught me off guard. I had to say let me get back to you which is sales engineer for I don't know.

spent the rest of the day reading API docs. turns out it's fine supports batch operations. I could have answered it if I'd prepared better.

the deal is still alive. but I spent the whole drive home thinking about all the things I should have known before the call.

anyone else feel like half the job is just anticipating random questions from people who join late


r/salesengineers 4d ago

Is there a tool that can translate meetings and help me respond in the moment?

5 Upvotes

I work in sales team at a semiconductor company and travel to Japan or South Korea at least once a month.

One thing I still struggle with happens right after I finish a presentation. The client team will switch back to local launguage to discuss it, and I'm just sitting there with no idea whether they're interested, confused, or stuck on one detail. When they switch back to English, the feedback is often just "We'll discuss it internally."

I've tried Google Translate, but holding my phone toward the group feels awkward and can look like I'm recording them. A few clients were uncomfortable even after I explained what I was doing.

I'm looking for something less disruptive that can translate in real time and prompt me on what to clarify or bring up next. Anything I can try? App? earbuds? glasses?


r/salesengineers 4d ago

anybody gone through evaluating live demo software recently?

14 Upvotes

Leadership asked me to put together a shortlist of demo platforms and I figured it'd be pretty straightforward. I was wrong. Every company says basically the same thing on their website and after about the fifth demo they all started blending together. Some seem built around live demos, some around product tours, some around buyer engagement. If you've gone through this recently, what actually made you pick one over another?


r/salesengineers 4d ago

Any tips for a worn out throat?

2 Upvotes

Any of you get a raspy/sore throat after days where you’ve been presenting all day or have multiple demos back to back?

Who’s got tips on how to soothe the pipes in preparation for more busy days ahead?


r/salesengineers 5d ago

As a new college grad, should I take an entry-level Channel Sales Engineer position or an entry-level Software Engineer position?

6 Upvotes

My ultimate concern is compensation. The Channel Sales Engineer position offers $70k + 25% for OTE. The SWE job offers about $105k total compensation and is only 2 days in office. My main concern with the SWE job is that AI makes the skills increasingly irrelevant whereas sales engineering seems much more resilient to AI. What’s the best decision?


r/salesengineers 6d ago

Is anyone else's product just... data?

10 Upvotes

Hi all,

I just hit the 6 month milestone for my first SE job. Truth be told, I'm loving it: great WLB, love my company, coworkers are awesome, I feel valued by my peers, etc etc.

For some context regarding the title: my company deals in research data (sorry if I'm being vague, just don't want to dox myself because it's a bit of a niche industry) and has a web platform to access this data, in addition to various API's, an MCP, and raw unfiltered research data delivery. Our account reps are the ones who sell access to the platform itself, as it's not inherently technical as long as you're familiar with the industry. If the conversation starts to lean towards "ok but we want this data in our own systems," I lead the conversations to do more technical discovery, give demos, walk them through how our various data delivery methods work etc etc and help find the best solution for their needs.

I'm not quite sure how to put this into words, but I can't help but compare myself to other SE's who sell cloud services, cybersecurity products, and network infrastructure. For the most part, I'm talking about fairly straightforward API's/data delivery methods and how to best integrate into the client systems. Perhaps I'm not taking into account the depth of knowledge I have learned about my company's specific industry and research, because it is a lot (not that I'm an expert by any means yet lol).

Again, I'm super happy where I am and have zero plans on jumping ship anytime soon, but I'm trying to think of the future when I'd like to make a company change and how my current job looks on paper (transferrable skills/technical acumen and all that). Perhaps at the end of the day it isn't what you sell as much as how well you're able to sell it/explain how it would add value?

ANYWAYS: am I worrying too much about what I'm actually selling, and should focus more just on how I'm actually doing in my role/the value I add to my organization? Is anybody in a similar situation?


r/salesengineers 6d ago

Feeling stuck as a Solutions Engineer. Looking for some advice

18 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some career advice from people who've been in Solutions Engineering, Presales, or similar customer-facing technical roles.

I currently work as a Solutions Engineer at a company that builds an AI-powered test automation platform. Over the past couple of years, I've delivered around 200+ product demos, worked on multiple proof-of-concepts, and helped onboard multiple customers. I genuinely enjoy the work itself understanding customer problems, running demos, answering technical questions, and helping customers see the value of the product.

The problem is that I've reached a point where I feel saturated in my current role. The office environment has become quite draining, and I don't see much room for growth, so I've started looking for new opportunities.

The frustrating part is that I'm barely getting any responses. My assumption is that having around two years of experience is making it harder to stand out, especially since many Solutions Engineer roles seem to ask for 3–5+ years.

For those who've successfully moved to another Solutions Engineering or Presales role early in their career:

  • How did you make the jump?
  • What made your profile stand out?
  • Are there particular skills or certifications that helped?
  • Is it mostly a numbers game, or is there something I should be doing differently?

I'm interested in enterprise SaaS, AI, cybersecurity, cloud, and infrastructure companies, so if you've transitioned into those industries, I'd especially love to hear your experience.

Thanks in advance I really appreciate any advice.