Sales reps can pitch, sell, reach clients, and close deals. However, reps might lag behind in is the product or a service’s technicalities.
That’s what a Sales Engineer is for.
A Sales Engineer supports the sales process with their technologically advanced knowledge and scientific inputs, enabling quicker sales closure, no matter how complex the deal.
But what if your regular Sales Engineer could take the shape of a virtual assistant with AI?
This article shows how an AI sales assistant tool like Docket could be your next Virtual Sales Engineer.
Recap: what is a Sales Engineer?
A Sales Engineer specializes in closing complex deals, such as deals with high-value prospects, technically advanced products, and enterprise-level customers.
A Sales Engineer undertakes the following responsibilities:
Consulting with current and potential customers to understand their requirements in and out
Preparing presentations that explain the scientific and technical aspects of selling a particular product or service
Working with the sales reps and managers to understand the current sales process and help solve customer problems or provide alternative solutions
Assisting customers with product or software installation
On a regular day, sales engineers can be found between meetings with potential customers and helping their sales rep colleagues better understand the many aspects of the product or service.
Qualities of a Good Sales Engineer
Here are some top qualifying factors that make up a good and helpful Sales Engineer:
1. Has technical and soft skills
To succeed in closing complex deals, a sales engineer must have technical, interpersonal, and soft skills.
These can be:
Q&A skills: Answering prospects’ questions on time and asking them the right ones to personalize their experience with the brand
Technical knowledge: A Sales Engineer must know their way around using sales tools in their tech stack, fix any problems customers may have during installation, and be able to break complex concepts into easily digestible formats
Writing and presentation skills: Sales Engineers are expected to create documents and presentations to explain the product or service clearly
Problem-solving skills: Solve customer pain points, handle prospects’ objections, and address any technical issues or concerns that may arise
So, for example, if a Sales Engineer works with a non-tech-savvy sales rep and prospect, the engineer must be able to communicate the product functionality in an engaging and comprehensible way.
2. Works well with others and is a strong team player
The Sales Engineer must be a supportive team member and partner well with their sales rep colleagues throughout the sales cycle.
For example, a Sales Engineer can pop in to add their technical insights if a sales rep is stuck on handling a prospect’s objection during a sales call.
Also, since they are expected to work closely with customers and prospects with different personality traits, their people and communication skills can also have a huge impact on successful sales.
3. Is a problem solver
A good Sales Engineer is an exceptional problem solver. They are familiar with the technicalities of a product or service, have a keen eye for detecting problems, and offer solutions for unrestricted deal progression.
For example, suppose a Sales Engineer works for a SaaS company. In that case, they should understand the SaaS' limitations and suggest a better or more tailored solution for the prospect’s use case, such as integrating with a third-party tool or platform.
4. Can communicate complex information into bite-sized pieces
Sales Engineers often deal with non-tech-savvy customers, prospects, and sales reps during sales pitches. So it’s best if they can communicate complicated technical aspects more clearly in an easy-to-understand manner.
For example, using bullet points, forming illustrations, and creating handy guides.
5. Hands-on experience working in sales
Apart from technical and soft skills, every Sales Engineer must have adequate sales experience. That’s because they must understand the urgency of a typical sales process and know where to pitch in their technical skills to move deals further down the pipeline.
For example, an experienced Sales Engineer who knows the ins and outs of their company’s sales process can find the ideal point to contact the sales rep and guide deal closure by attending to complex technical queries.
How can Docket become your next Sales Engineer?
A Sales Engineer’s average salary in the U.S. is around $100k in 2024, and more experienced engineers can even quote up to $150k per annum.
Evidently, hiring a well-trained Sales Engineer can cost you heavily.
Enter Docket. A Virtual Sales Engineer and assistant that learns from tribal knowledge by integrating with your disparate knowledge sources. It uses multiple AI models to retrieve, verify, and deliver answers to help sales reps close deals faster.
Here’s how it works:
Docket integrates with an approved Slack channel, a meeting assistant like Zoom, or a web browser. Your sales, GTM, or support agent can ping a customer/prospect query to Docket within the channel and get a verified response in 5 to 10 seconds 24/7, like so:
Docket - the Virtual Sales Engineer’s unique capabilities that don’t require you to hire a seasoned Sales Engineer:
Minimal set-up time - Docket needs under an hour to set up and kickstart messaging
On-demand, sales-ready responses - Docket learns from multiple knowledge sources, such as Slack conversations, Google Drive, meeting transcripts, PDFs, URLs, CRMs, and other sales enablement platforms like Highspot, Showpad, and Seismic.
- A powerful analytics dashboard - Access reports on the top questions asked by prospects or sales reps to expose knowledge gaps, top contributors, etc.
A unified source of truth - Docket builds and maintains a single source of truth by integrating with disparate knowledge sources
Fills out RFPs and RFIs automatically - Executing RFPs/RFIs can take sales teams up to six weeks. Meanwhile, Docket reads your RFPs and RFIs instantly and drafts answers with your SMEs’ help and past references
A great interface between sales and sales tools – Docket provides specific competitive data, user testimonials, and accurate sales-specific answers
Data protection and security - Docket follows ethical AI principles and data security standards like ISO and GDPR. It uses AWS as its cloud service, which meets the highest standards of data privacy and compliance
Improve sales productivity - Get your sales rep up to speed quickly. Also, if you have an internal Sales Engineer, Docket can be their virtual assistant and free them from answering one-off questions time and again
Uncover trends - Docket lets you pinpoint common prospect objections, trends and topics of discussion, deal blockers, and most-occurring pain points through customer feedback. These insights guide prioritizing support efforts and training sales or GTM teams to stay on track.
These capabilities and more lead to a shortened sales cycle and an around-the-clock Virtual Sales Engineer who does all the heavy lifting for your sales and support teams.
Wrapping up
With the ever-fluctuating B2B buying behavior, Sales Engineers are expected to constantly be on their toes to keep the sales cycle optimized throughout.
Docket leverages AI to do the same at a much lower cost and in less time.
Let your sales teams focus on selling and let Docket be their personal Sales Engineer.
