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Hey all! I am representing Totango, a fast growing SaaS company building tools for the Customer Success industry.
Coming off their $100M raise last fall, they are looking to hire an Enterprise SE -- please reach out to me directly if interested!
You can find me easiest on linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/michael-seiler/
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Quota attainment. Creativity. Bringing a WOW factor to demonstrations. Industry knowledge.
Stand out internally: be open about what you’re doing well, no one will know unless you tell people. Hitting quota, big wins, what you’re doing well, what you’re doing differently to others, how you’re helping sales hit their numbers, team enablement sessions or sales sessions to help give them some guidance around solutions, do something unique as part of your demos
Stand out externally to customers: unique demos (every customer experiences the same format demos from every vendor), industry expertise, I like to use anecdotes and they work really well, be the customers voice and support their vision. My best engagements and stand out projects have been when I’ve always put the customers needs before the quota - doing the right thing by the customer will mean more revenue down the road as they’ll have more trust and keep returning
Good demos and opportunity wins are table stakes for SEs unless they are truly marking making for the company or of an outstanding size / complexity. Do your SE role well, and then spend time on strategic initiatives that helps the SE organisation scale, think about coaching and developing junior SEs. How do you elevate the value of the SE organisation and what projects can you get involved with that help the company achieve its financial goals.
I agree with Salesforce 3 that high performance on deals are table stakes. I would go further and say that working on projects and processes that boost your team's effectiveness are also not enough to stand out.
As someone else noted, blowing your own horn is important, but you need something to blow about, and cross-functional initiatives are an important way to stand out. Being involved in these requires *relentless networking* outside of your immediate area. And it's not enough to merely be involved.
When I look at promoting an SE to a very senior level, I'm looking at their effectiveness in *driving* projects that are important to the company, not just the org. It's about internal and external impact. Yes, crush deals and have your prospects love you, but also crush the CEO's pet projects. When higher-ups think of the project, your name should bubble up.
This will give you exposure, which (if you succeed!) will give you opportunity.
I would talk about my accounts and how much I’ve been able to grow them. Also how much new business I’ve brought onboard.
Working on projects that benefit the entire SE team. Ex. Building a tool/process/etc that will improve demos for the entire team
Have a manager that likes you, highlight anything that gets you attention despite not adding any value to the business, and get lucky by working on big deals that close
What are you trying to do ultimately? What's the end goal and current challenges your organization is facing?
Winning Trust by the way of demos and sharing experience rather than cookie cutter scripts go a long way.
Most buyers look at the product but would make decisions based on how likely they may get promoted or fired :)
And also, ability to say NO when relevant. There is no way your product can do everything that the client will dream of, no matter what you sell.
Agreed, scripts are like a rough draft. I write a script and then I delete the words that dont matter until I have only key words. Than I try to tell a story that goes through the key words. I find it lowers stress, gives personality and creates more dialogue opportunities. My goal is to talk with people, not speak at people.
Objection handling. Once you master this dance routine, the rest is derivative work.
John Care has this great article which explains what it takes to be a top performing SE: https://masteringtechnicalsales.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Super-Senior-Sales-Engineer.pdf
Know your product! You’re not going to get anywhere if you don’t know the ins and outs and how to navigate/demonstrate your company’s offering.
Build trust with the sales reps you support. You gotta figure out what works best with each rep. Stay consistent. Be reliable.
Build trust with your customers. Don’t pretend to know everything. Be responsive, creative, empathetic, and genuine.
Share knowledge with your SE team mates and sales reps.