Sales Engineering is a fence, I've always said it. On the one side, you have the sales side of the job... The other obviously engineering. Every SE I've ever worked with falls on one side or the other, but never all the way in one direction, and that's the way it's supposed to be. Inherent in being a SE is you can't be a Tea or Green Party candidate, you have to fall somewhere in the middle (otherwise you' d just be a sales person or an engineer).
The good news is there's no right or wrong way to be a SE. Some of the best SEs I've known are more backend-focused and fall very far on the engineering side of the spectrum. Others, (like many of my mentors) love being on the phone with customers and are more on the sales side. It all depends on what you want in your career. I find that that most of the "architect" level SEs are further on the engineering side and a majority of the "evangelist" type SEs are more on the sales side. The key is to figure out what you want and start making decisions to help you head further in that direction. Most of you that are younger in the game probably aren't quite sure what you want yet. I can tell you that early in my career I flip-flopped quite a bit with my decision.
Many of you know my first gig was in a vulnerability assessment company, which in the beginning gave me topical access to network infrastructure data and I could do basic scans and tell network engineers what patches they needed to apply. It wasn't exactly lighsaber duels, but as I learned the SE craft it was the perfect amount of technical for me to practice my technique and build confidence. Then one day that company bought an open-source penetration testing tool, and I was gobsmacked. All of a sudden I had access to something that could do really cool shit. Rather than telling someone they needed a Microsoft hotfix or something, I could break into vulnerable machines and screenshot their desktop! Huzzah!
I became so enamored with this tool, I decided I wanted to make it my core competency. I studied it, developed an entire demo and trial process for it, I even designed marketing material and a presentation cadence for trade shows. It was awesome... Until I got my paycheck. In my exuberance for this new product I had completely overlooked the fact that the average sale price of my new toy was $16k a pop, vs close to $100k for the VA solution. Don't get me wrong, the time I spent was definitely worth it. Because of the time I spent with the new product I increased my technical chops 10-fold, got face-time with some far more technical folks, and was able to attend some far more interesting conferences.
I was at an inflection point with my career. I could continue down the technical path and potentially get really good with the new product and enjoy the new and interesting world that came with it... Or I could go back to the other side and help out my bank account. I spoke with my friends and colleagues about it, and my mentor at the time gave me some advice that impacts my career decisions to this day. He told me:
"Ask yourself, what it is about this new product that has you so enamored? Is it the new product and technology, or is it learning something new and developing a new process around it?"
It was then I realized I had my first point of reference on the SE spectrum... And it was on the sales side of the divide. I thought the new product was cool, but what I really enjoyed was the ability to analyze the market, figure out the audience, and develop a new way to engineer the sale. The big divining rod I gained from this experience was:
Don't let any one product dictate your direction as a SE.
We all work for labels, and unless you plan on staying at one company for the rest of your life, it bodes well not to focus all of your energies on one particular product. Widgets will come and go... Figure out your relative place on the spectrum and hone your craft.
No comments:
Post a Comment