Introduction

Securing a position as a Sales Engineer requires a blend of technical expertise and sales proficiency. This guide intends to equip aspiring Sales Engineers with a robust set of potential interview questions, offering a valuable resource for mastering the interview process.

Job Level:

Mid-Level (at least 1.5 - 3 years of experience)

Total Average Compensation:

$121,000 (per Glassdoor)

A little bit about me:

I’m a 3x President’s Club award winner for Sales Engineering and currently lead a team of Sales Engineers, having interviewed hundreds of SEs during my career.

Balancing Technical & Sales Skills

As a Sales Engineer, your technical knowledge should be somewhere between a software engineer and a support analyst. You don’t necessarily need to be a coding whiz as long as you understand architecture (from a high-level) pretty well. Be prepared to address questions like:

• “What technical workaround/solution have you built for a prospective client and why?”
• “Describe a situation where you successfully communicated a complex technical solution to a non-technical client.”
• “What’s your familiarity with [XYZ technologies or tech stacks] and how have you leveraged these in the past?”

As an example of how to answer the first question, I’d say something along the lines of the following:

“I recently built a band aid solution that allowed [customer X] to integrate with [Tool Y] leveraging our webhooks along with Tool Y’s APIs. This allowed for the customer to send the necessary data over to Tool Y. There were a few reasons why I needed to build this workaround. For one, this was a key requirement for the prospect in-order to sign with us as they heavily relied on Tool Y for [XYZ] reasons. However this was something that our product didn’t integrate with outside of the box. On top of that, our engineering bandwidth was limited which also put this deal in jeopardy.”

I’d also follow-up with the interviewer and ask a question like so:

“Out of curiosity, how often do y’all need to provide technical workarounds for your prospective clients today? What do those look like?”

Pro Tip: Ensure that your responses underscore your technical capabilities through real-world examples.

Sales-Centric Approach

Your ability to understand and influence prospects is vital. Anticipate questions like:

• “How would you approach a situation where a prospective client’s needs do not perfectly align with our product offerings?”
• “Describe a time you turned a dissatisfied prospect into a satisfied one.”
  

As an example of how to answer the first question, I’d say something along the lines of the following:

“In this scenario, I’d want to drill down and understand exactly how they’re currently doing things today and why they’re doing it that way. Just because our product may not perfectly align to what they were expecting, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a solution that could solve the same problem. Based on the problem, I’d try to work with the prospect to see if an alternative solution we could provide would be viable, inherently influencing their requirements. If not and if it’s something that’s a must-have, I’d try to understand the timing of when they’d be looking to get their ideal solution in place and how that would/could impact the deal. From there, I’d go back internally to work with our product team to give them as much information as possible to decide from there if this is something worth investing resources in or not. Assuming this is something I couldn’t build myself if it was a product feature request.”

As recommended before, always ask a follow-up question:

“What are some examples of requirements y’all usually have to influence prior to the official POC (proof of concept)?"

Pro Tip: Illustrate your ability to navigate through challenging customer scenarios with strategic solutions. The best SEs are the ones who are capable of drilling down to the why.

Collaborating with Sales

Sales Engineers are an Account Executive’s right-hand man/woman. Expect questions such as:

• “How would you go about building technical champions?”
• “How do you like to operate with Account Executives today?”
• “How would you approach a disagreement with your Account Executive on if the deal is qualified or not?”
  

As an example of how to answer the first question, I’d say something along the lines of the following:

“First, I’d try to identify which of the power users have “champ-like” potential in the sense of “do they have influence” and “would they sell on our behalf”. Finding a technical champ that also has access to the EB would be nice but not a must-have for me as that’d be something our main champ would have. Once I have that person identified, I’d really go out of my way to ensure I understand what’s in it for them, and how I can help make their life easier when it comes to configuring our product. Whether that’s trying to grab 1:1 times, sending over documentation, or validating that we’re meeting certain requirements, I'd try to get as many touch points with them as I can to make them feel heard and understood. This has usually set me up for success by providing a lot of value for them, which in return allowed me to ask them questions about the state of the current deal.”

Pro Tip: Demonstrate your capability to collaborate and build relationships with prospects and internal teams alike.

Demoing

Demoing products are at the heart of what Sales Engineers do. For a given interview, you will most likely have to demo a product of your choosing to a panel of interviewers. In short, I’d recommend always sticking to the “what” and the “why” of what you’re demonstrating. As long as you follow that principle for anything you demo, it’ll help guide you as far as showing what’s most important to the audience. For in-depth tips on acing this interview, I’ve written an article here.

Pro Tip: If you start with the “what” and “why” for any feature you demonstrate, you’ll be better than 50% of the Sales Engineers out there.

Conclusion

Navigating through the Sales Engineer interview process demands a strategic balance of showcasing technical expertise and sales prowess. Through a meticulous understanding of potential interview questions and curating well-constructed, experience-backed responses, you can confidently demonstrate your aptitude to potential employers. Utilize this guide as a foundation in your preparation, ensuring that your skills and experiences shine brightly in your upcoming interviews.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

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Links:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/sales-engineer-salary-SRCH_KO0,14.htm