Job Description and Requirements Sales Engineer.
Sales engineers sell complex scientific and technological products or services to businesses. They must have extensive knowledge of the products' parts and functions and must understand the scientific processes that make these products work.
As a sales engineer, you'll combine technical knowledge with sales skills. The balance depends on the level of technical knowledge and understanding you'll need to sell the product you're offering and to respond to clients' queries.
You clients will usually be technical staff from non-retail organisations, such as factories, public utilities, local authorities and hospitals. You ensure your clients' and your own company's needs are met, you'll liaise regularly with other sales personnel, and colleagues from other departments such as research and development, design, purchasing and production, and senior company managers.
Duties Sales engineers typically do the following:
Searching for new clients who could benefit from your products in a designated region
Travelling to visit potential clients
Establishing new, and maintaining existing, relationships with customers
Managing and interpreting customer requirements
Persuading clients that a product or service will best satisfy their needs
Calculating client quotations
Negotiating tender and contract terms
Negotiating and closing sales by agreeing terms and conditions
Offering after-sales support services
Administering client accounts
Analysing costs and sales
Preparing reports for head office
Meeting regular sales targets
Recording and maintaining client contact data
Co-ordinating sales projects
Supporting marketing by attending trade shows, conferences and other marketing events
Making technical presentations and demonstrating how a product will meet client needs
Providing pre-sales technical assistance and product education
Liaising with other members of the sales team and other technical experts
Solving client problems
Helping in the design of custom-made products
Providing training and producing support material for the sales team
Prepare and deliver technical presentations explaining products or services to customers and prospective customers
Confer with customers and engineers to assess equipment needs and to determine system requirements
Collaborate with sales teams to understand customer requirements and provide sales support
Secure and renew orders and arrange delivery
Plan and modify products to meet customer needs
Help clients solve problems with installed equipment
Recommend improved materials or machinery to customers, showing how changes will lower costs or increase production
Help in researching and developing new products
Sales engineers specialize in technologically and scientifically advanced products.
They use their technical skills to explain the benefits of their products or services to potential customers and to show how their products or services are better than their competitors' products. Some sales engineers work for the companies that design and build technical products. Others work for independent sales firms.
Many of the duties of sales engineers are similar to those of other salespersons. They must interest the client in buying their products or services, negotiate a price, and complete the sale. To do this, sales engineers give technical presentations during which they explain the technical aspects of the product and how it will solve a specific customer problem.
Some sales engineers, however, team with salespersons who concentrate on marketing and selling the product, which lets the sales engineer concentrate on the technical aspects of the job. By working as part of a sales team, each member is able to focus on his or her strengths and expertise. For more information on other sales occupations, see the profile on wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives.
In addition to giving technical presentations, sales engineers are increasingly doing other tasks related to sales, such as market research. They also may ask for technical requirements from customers and modify and adjust products to meet customers' specific needs. Some sales engineers work with research and development (R&D) departments to help identify and develop new products.
