If You Build It, They Won’t Care “If you build it, he will come” is probably the most famous line from the 1989 movie Field of Dreams. The movie stars Kevin Kostner as a farmer who is in financial trouble. He has a history with the American game of baseball…

I was a last-minute homework-doer in school. Homework was what you did to get a grade. It wasn’t about learning. That served me just fine all through my required schooling and into the first two years of university. Then, in my third year, s*it got real. At university, my homework…

Let me open first by confessing that I typically detest any article or blog post entitled The N Things You Need To Do Whatever. However, I realize that such titles typically grab people’s attention — me included. And, a title like this makes me realize that I can probably consume…

“That was an amazing demo! Well done!” If you’re a sales engineer, you’ve probably heard this or something similar and felt that surge of pride. The prospect was positive, and the sales rep with whom you worked is very pleased. She’s sure this will move the sales cycle forward. You…

This is for real and not hyperbole intended to draw you in. There is a lot of advice floating around LinkedIn and the Internet about how to deliver a great solution demonstration. Make sure you tell a story. Start with what your audience thinks is most important. Always talk about…

It is said that the best solution demonstrations tell a story that touches the audience. If done right, the demo convinces and inspires that audience to examine the solution further and hopefully decide to buy it. Sales engineers, to be effective, need to know how to tell good stories. And…

Activity Tracking is a controversial subject in sales engineering. I have to confess that I’m not sure why. SE Managers that I’ve worked with in the past have said to me that they believe that activity tracking is too much to ask a team to do. The SEs are so…

If the solution demonstration is the crown jewel in the sales engineering treasure box, technical sales discovery is the gold crown it sits in. Most SEs will tell you that a good demo starts with good discovery. Some will even insist that they will not perform a demo if they…

Sales Engineers have long suffered from that dreaded disease known as Imposter Syndrome. They picture themselves as the wizard in the story the Wizard of Oz. From the outside, they appear all-knowing and all-powerful and refer to themselves as the Great Oz. They are a giant floating head shooting flames…