Sales Engineer & Tech Sales Roles Explained 

Easily the BEST video on the sales engineer role that I've seen so far. I love the way you break everything down so clearly!!! Thank you for the amazing content man.

I'm an SE for one of the biggest tech companies in the world and I personally do not know anyone who got in easy as this channel describes. To anyone watching this, please take it with a grain of salt. Just because the path he took worked for him does not mean it will work for you. It may work for small or startup companies but I can't think of any organizations that are willing to pay high dollar and put non experienced sellers in front of their prospects/customers. Usually that only happens when the the org already has a strong team and have an open req where they can afford to take a chance on a candidate and even then they look for some type of experience. SE is a tech industry so you will need to know how to be technical to have credibility on the calls with customers who don't know you so you have to earn their trust on the fly. An SE requires the perfect balance of being technical personable, and has sales skills. You don't just demonstrate a companies product, you have to know the in's and out's of the product to answer those type of questions to a prospect. I'm not here to debate with this channel. I respect the help this channel is doing and spreading awareness but I'm seeing way too many channels talk about taking a bootcamp and you're in. Many bootcamp services usually don't give a shit what happens to you whether you pass or fail they are paid. Did you all know that ADRs\SDR's have the highest turnover rate out of the three positions? Next up being the AE's? They have to hit there number or the company will look for someone else who can very quickly. Many day in the life video's glamorize tech sales and SE's but they never show the grind it takes to make it and stay. SE's may be the most valuable out of the three, but you aren't safe either. An SE can make or break the deal. Ultimately you have to perform and yes you have to sell it! SE's are technical sellers who's role is to get the technical win. If you're a customer who is interested in a product, you would be annoyed and walk away from the deal if that company is just there to show what the product does. They are not there for you to show up and throw up all the features your product does, they don't give a shit about that. Customers want to know how your product fits into their needs/goals. In a addition to having to know the product, you also have to know at least have knowledge and hands on work for the competitors products. We meet weekly with developers for technical product issues, updates, road map, etc, and sometimes even collaborate with dev for product tech issues or updates. Everyone's role is different. Mine requires extensive knowledge in the security portfolio and I hold over 15 certifications in the tech industry (multiple in Microsoft AD and multiple in Microsoft AAD , multiple in VMware, and multiple in Cisco). Not all meetings are remote, I travel at an average of 2-3 times a quarter onsite and perform in front of an audience where all eyes are on me. Most of the time when someone says their SE role is easy and they don't have to do much, well that's usually because the product sells itself not because of the SE who demo'd it and I personally would not want to have such an easy role where you are easily replaceable. Our quotas are different than AE's, at least for my org. We have full team quota so the AE's have to hit their numbers in order for us to be comped. If they miss their number, you only get your base pay for the month and not commission so as an SE, you are a partner to the AE and you both have to build a strong dynamic relationship. The AE relies very heavily on their SE's to be successful. AE's are not technical at all so they work with you all day everyday, (email, instant messaging, calls, weekly 1:1 sync ups, product insight of what works, what doesn't, roadmap). SE's are their to backup the AE's on the call and find how our solution can fit in for the customer and within the customers budget. You are also EXPECTED to be part of company trainings and self paced trainings for industry knowledge. Everything I am explaining is more complicated than it sounds. SE's are the perfect balance between tech and personality skills and it is one of the most unique positions in the industry because it's so hard to find an SE who can do both. Usually SE's are strong in one or the other and the ones who are stronger in the sales side but not tech side are the ones who who don't make it at their company. I'm from Oak Cliff America and made it out with no college degree all thanks to the tech industry. I started in help desk back in 2013, Systems/Networking Engineering by 2014, and now living the dream as an SE since late 2021 so I really want to see everyone succeed. No matter which path you choose, AE or SE, the life is very lucrative but I also wanted to share awareness that the path is not as easy as explained by those who are already doing it. Above everything, you have to be passionate and believe in the product you sell. If you're not personable, don't like sales, and just in it for the money, you will NOT make it no matter which role.

Thank you! I’m in tech and this was so helpful understanding Sales Engineering.

Bruh…. Cyrus breakdown of these two roles is excellent. I love that part when he says, we are not looking for a customer who barely wants the product, we are looking for the customer who really wants it bad. That my fiend translates in my eyes as having belief and faith and knowing you have the best product on the market . So basically he cleared up that mindset of being thirsty and salesy.

As a Sales Engineer your like a content creator for the company? Showing off their product? If so sounds like the perfect job.

I start class next week at Careerist bootcamp for QA Manual. I'm going to be honest. I have no experience in the tech field but i believe i can do it and I'm passionate enough to learn what it takes to be in this field. Pray for me bro 🙏

Hey Cyrus! Love your gems and Christian sense of duty. Quick question: I'm thinking about staring out with Course Careers, landing a sales job, and using that money to pay for Careerist. What are your thoughts? Also, what is the average salary range for the type of jobs that CourseCareers prepares your for? Thanks in advance bro. You are changing generations and bloodlines out here!

Thank you for your content. Greatly appreciate it!

Appreciate the videos man. Going to check our careerist for sure

Thanks for this brother

Great break down 👊🏿

this is a great explanation

I can do this!! I work as an admissions advisor for a tech cert company. I have a MBA in Marketing and BA in English. I currently make 70k. I want to break into six figures. I would like to be referred by you Cyrus. Can you help me?

Do you believe once you start a career in tech sales that’s it’s possible or smart to then transition into a sales engineer role?

I work as an applications engineer it’s very similar to sales engineer

Hey what’s good bro I stumbled across your videos and love what you’re doing. I have a question I’m currently in the Military and stationed in Spain but have a US resident on the initial contract if I were to take the course would I be able to apply for jobs in the US that are home base in the US all while being stationed here in Spain?

Does your position require travel,flying especially? If so what percentage of time are you traveling?

What are you selling ?

Here are the 2 bootcamps we most recommend! 1. Careerist (the bootcamp I chose) These courses are 6 weeks long, virtual and are 8pm - 10:30pm Sun- Thur (Eastern). They record their classes In case you miss any. They are not partnered with tech companies, but they fix your resume & LinkedIn to industry standards and they assist you with finding jobs to apply to - in order to help set you up on interviews. They also do interview coaching & provide really good interview cheat sheets. They’re about $4k, but I have a $300 discount link that you use with their sales too! The discount Is attached to the link automatically. Careerist Discount Link: crst.co/techisthenewblack 2. CourseCareers is self paced. You can finish it in 3 weeks or 3 months. They offer tech sales roles only & are partnered with tech companies, so they’re usually able to get you a tech career quickly or a paid internship (up to $21/hr) while you wait to get hired on. They only offer courses for people in North America. They’re just $449 with my discount code that gives you $50 off! Discount Code: Cyrus50 CourseCareers Website Here: coursecareers.com/cyrusharbin

Do you need the tech expertise to create the demo? Or can you outsource that?

What schools do you recommend? See some of these tech boot camps don’t except financial aid

What's the harm of selling to a semi-interested client? Couldn't you, as seller, just make some quick money and move on? Please educate me.

Hey Cyrus I’m interested in getting into SE space. Do you have Any advice For any particular SE companies I should be apply with or training courses I should take to make my self more appealing to Recruiters

awesome explanation of this.

Signing up tomorrow also do you offer mentorship’s I’m located in Sandy Springs ..

Can u start tech sales and then go into sales engineering?

Is it possible to be a tech engineer without any knowledge of the IT field? I would be new to the tech industry.

Sales engineer sounds interesting---can parlay Course Careers into a sales engineer position?

Hey I had a question. I wanted to become a sales engineer, but it shows courseCareers doesn’t offer that. If I were to do courseCareers would I have to go through the SDR route or I can become sales engineer right away. I also have a lot of experience in front end web development as I love to code. I don’t want to go to careerist, their reviews aren’t pleasing.

Would you say what you do is more like a consultant than a tech sales rep?

Hi Cyrus, can one possible start as a Tech Sales Rep and be prompted to Sales Engineer? Is this possible route or something that can happen?

i really wanna do something different. i want a better career how can i get into a boot camp?

Is this job stressful? What is your quota?

Hi, is Cyrus a sales engineer for careerist or course careers?

Are you a sales engineer or tech sales

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Hey I had a question. I wanted to become a sales engineer, but it shows courseCareers doesn’t offer that. If I were to do courseCareers would I have to go through the SDR route or I can become sales engineer right away. I also have a lot of experience in front end web development as I love to code. I don’t want to go to careerist, their reviews aren’t pleasing.