Solutions Engineer

In a country like ours, people don’t understand what a Solutions/ Presales/ Sales Engineer is.

In the past, couple of individuals reached out to me, asking — how they can make a switch into an SE role

Or folks wanting to start SE as a function in their companies, asking me the nuances of this role

Today, for simplicity and benefit for all,

I will demo to you .. what is an SE :)

with an example :)

I gifted (re-gifted) my house help, a bath and body works small hamper set

(My US based friend is never going to gift me one, ever again.. you know I’m a Tomboy :P )

Tai, my house help was astonished, happy and confused all at the same time, was hesitant to accept a expensive free gift at first and then asked what is the purpose/ use of it

It was a fair ask but as I was busy, I kind of avoided her

I mean for me, it was pretty simple — a hand sanitizer, a lotion, a perfume

but as the brand was not known to her, she was unsure of what was been given to her as a free gift.

Truth be told, even I had to read the labels to understand what was what

So by evening, when I got free, I was guilty, that Tai asked me a right question and I didn’t help her and just gave her something for the heck of it.

I called her, asked if she can do a video call and I will explain

Or take screenshot and WhatsApp and I will explain tomorrow when she comes home again

She said she will again carry the actual set and I should explain the use to her

and I did

Now, analogy….

in my efforts to explain something simply to the world :)

You might give a prospect a free trial of your product

and they might not find it useful or worth their time or money

or you might not answer their genuine asks, concerns or questions

(missed opportunity, is what I call that — in sales terms)

This is where a Technical Subject Matter Expert or a Solutions Engineer, comes into picture

This expert should know the product in and out to be called an expert, so as to help others

Answer the client questions

Understand user requirements, let them know, where the product fits

Does hand holding about integrating the product you want to sell

And all the above conversations can happen over a video call/ screen share or an Email or In -person

This is a typical role of a Solutions Engineer

I hope my demo was effective and that it helps :)