A SaaS sales team usually starts with a founder who sells. Then a salesperson or two. Maybe some SDRs. Then a director or VP. Then more reps. Then sales operations. And at some point, most B2B SaaS sales leaders find themselves wondering, “Do we need a sales engineer?” 

Hiring my first sales engineer was one of the best decisions I ever made

I am a big believer of the impact a fantastic sales engineer can have on a small, growing SaaS company.

At the time, it was a scary decision though. I was at the point where I knew if I invested X in a sales hire, I could expect about Y in revenue/bookings. But, how would I know if a sales engineer was additive? Would there be a way to calculate the impact? What if this was an expense that didn’t pay off?  

Turns out, when you have a strong sales engineer all of those questions go away. You don’t need to measure the impact, you can feel the impact—it’s palpable. A sales engineer helps you grow, and a sales engineer helps your sales people sell. 

So, if you are wondering what a sales engineer is, what they actually do, and if you need one…here are some thoughts to get you going. 

First, what is a sales engineer? 

You know I love a good Wikipedia quote, so let’s start with a definition.

Sales engineering is a hybrid of sales and engineering that exists in industrial and commercial markets. Buying decisions in these markets are made differently than those in many consumer contexts, being based more on technical information and rational analysis and less on style, fashion, or impulse…A sales engineer is thus both “a salesperson that understands and can apply engineering” and “an engineer that understands how to sell engineered systems”. They thus not only sell but also provide advice and support.”Wikipedia

I also like this definition a lot:

“The role of technical sales engineers essentially involves translating and explaining highly complex technical information to customers and clients, focusing on revealing how a product or piece of equipment can solve specific problems. They therefore play an important role in the modern sales process.”Grade Ireland

But it’s not always technical

The role of a sales engineer sounds pretty technical, but even SaaS companies who sell to non-technical buyers, with a relatively simple product often still use a sales engineer.

A sales engineer is more than someone who translates technical concepts to a layman or speaks tech to a technical buyer. A sales engineer translates use cases into reality, business needs into functional examples, custom requirements into feasible outcomes. In some ways, they become the human face of your product and what it’s capable of.  

So, what does a sales engineer actually do?

Here are a list of primary duties that sales engineers are usually responsible for in a SaaS selling environment:

* Product demos that are specific to the prospect’s needs, goals and unique scenario.* Providing a deep level of product knowledge and skillfully answering product-related questi...