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Sales Engineer

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More and more people are flocking to live near the beautiful Florida seaside. More people need more houses, which will all need more power.

As a sales engineer specializing in power supply, you've been monitoring the situation closely. Pretty soon, you expect a certain town power supply company to call. And you will be ready for them.

"Our work doesn't start when the power supply company calls and needs a new plant," says Jackie Karastamatis. She is an advanced marketing engineer for a power products supply company in Florida.

"We do our research. We note deficiencies in the power system. We note population increases. And so, when our customer calls, we're there and we're ready. We have to be ahead of the competition."

Working with customers and coming up with a product or design that suits their needs is essential in the business. She says finding out just what the customer needs is an interesting part of the job.

"The customer focus is enjoyable," she says. "You get to talk to the customers, find out what they need and figure out how to get the design to them quickly.

"Sales is considered the front lines," she adds. "There's lots of exposure to customers."

Karastamatis says this proximity to the purchasers can also be stressful. "You have to treat every customer as though they're the only one. But, of course, they're not. You get pushed and pulled and you have to adapt constantly to changing situations."

Carrie Spicer is a network sales engineer for a telecommunications products company in Birmingham, Alabama. She agrees. "Every day this work has a new flavor," she says. "You learn something new every day, and you do something different every day."

Spicer works with clients in the federal government, supplying them with telecommunications equipment. She says she loves meeting so many new people. "I like talking with different customers and meeting with people."

Sales engineering combines the talent of meeting and conversing with new people with a strong technical aptitude.

"It's for outgoing, technically inclined and highly motivated people," says Walter Linck, a sales engineer.

"A good salesman has both an ego drive (to win the order) and high empathetic skills (to understand the customer)."

More often than not, sales engineers earn their living by commission, rather than having a base salary. That means that they earn what they sell. They have the potential to earn a good living, but they must work for it.

"A professor at college drew a graph on the chalkboard in my final year of engineering studies that showed what a typical salesman made versus time, and what a typical engineer made versus time," says Linck.

"He then drew a third graph showing what a typical sales engineer made versus time. The third graph was the addition of the previous two. Believe me, it got my attention."

Spicer started as a sales engineer, but now works with the sales representatives rather than directly with the customer. She says this relieves some of the pressure of working solely on commission. "I like the security of that," she says.

In essence, she works as a go-between for the customer and the design team of engineers at her company. "I help with technical support on proposals, and give input on any kind of design work that is needed," she says.

Spicer enjoys the technical side of her work, but is grateful for the sales side too. Karastamatis agrees. "I have a mechanical engineering background, but I didn't want to focus on just that when I graduated," she says.

"I didn't want to be tied to a desk, and I was a bit more outgoing. When I heard about recruitment in technical sales, I knew it was in line with what I was thinking about."

"Sales engineers are interested in engineering," says Warren Viessman, professor of engineering at the University of Florida. "But they are also people persons. They can't be introverts."

Sales engineers must be capable of assessing a client's needs. They must be problem solvers. They must be innovators. They must be able to propose efficient and cost-effective solutions. And they must be able to sell.

"This is a challenging kind of job," says Viessman. "You have to have a strong technical background, and be able to relate that knowledge to others. If you can do this, it can be a very enjoyable, rewarding career."

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