Skip to content
Sign inOpen the app
Artwork for We The Sales Engineers: A Resource for Sales Engineers, by Sales Engineers
Business

We The Sales Engineers: A Resource for Sales Engineers, by Sales Engineers

Ramzi Marjaba

Lots of resources are available for sales people, and a lot more for technical people, but not enough for Sales Engineers. This resource is available for Sales Engineers who are interested in learning from other Sales Engineers as many will be interviewed on this platform.

SubscribeListen in podnodRSS feedShow website
  • 20 episodes
  • Updated Oct 27, 2025

Episodes20

Newest first
  • Oct 27, 2025 · 48 min

    The Truth about Leadership Growth, Grit, and Resilience

    Behind every "professional journey" is a human being dealing with doubt, growth, and reinvention. Rick also offers candid insights into what people don't see behind the scenes of SE management: politics, career development, and the emotional intelligence needed to truly lead.

  • Oct 20, 2025 · 41 min

    Why Now Is the Best Time to Start a Business, Even in a Down Market

    In this episode, host Ramzi Marjaba sits down with Raphael Joseph, a former software engineer who became a sales engineering leader and is now the founder of his own specialist recruitment firm for SEs. Raphael shares how he stumbled into sales engineering from banking, scaled a global SE team from 1 to 40, and later built a recruitment business tailored to the unique challenges of hiring pre-sales professionals. Shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show332

  • Oct 13, 2025 · 51 min

    Risking Your Strong Leadership Role To Plunge into the Startup World

    Sometimes you just have to quit your job to start your own thing. And sometimes this job is a Leadership Role at a very well-respected organization such as Salesforce. And sometimes the job is the Global Enablement Leader. That's what our guest Guillaume Huynh-Ba does. Guillaume shares how his sales engineering foundation shaped his career, why he transitioned into enablement, and what he learned while scaling training programs across different regions and teams at Salesforce. Show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show331

  • Oct 6, 2025 · 1 hr 3 min

    Building Professional Success On A Foundation Of Devastating Failure

    Whether you're an SE considering management, a leader looking to motivate your team, or someone curious about the intersection of sales and technical expertise, this episode is packed with insights on resilience, leadership, and continuous improvement. shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show330

  • Sep 29, 2025 · 48 min

    Build a Genuine Connection By Having Interesting Communication

    You can be a good solution engineer but still suck at different aspects of the job. That's because there are too many skills that Solution Engineers need to work on, it's almost impossible to be great at all of them. Even if we break them down, technical skills versus soft skills, there are still many that SEs might not be good at. Examples of soft skills include listening, storytelling, demoing, de-escalating, handling objections, and many more. It isn't easy to be great at all of them. And yet, even if you're not great at something, it doesn't mean you cannot work on it. It doesn't mean you cannot turn your weakness into a strength. And that is what Evgeni did. He turned his perceived weakness, speaking, into one of his better strengths and used it to get better at building relationships with his customers.

  • Sep 22, 2025 · 51 min

    Stop Being an Amateur Solution Engineer, Join the Professionals

    For every sport, some people do it professionally, and others are amateurs. One of the bigger differences is that professionals get paid, amateurs don't. When it comes to solution engineering, there are also some professionals and others who work like amateurs, even though they both get paid. We discuss this specific topic with Bill Balnave. We explore the key differences between professionals and amateurs within the industry. Bill shares insights from his extensive career in presales and customer success, while emphasizing the significance of having the right team and environment to stay motivated.

  • Sep 8, 2025 · 49 min

    Unlock The Mystery That Is Procurement with Mike Lander

    Procurement is a black box for the majority of Solution Engineers and even Salespeople. Many salespeople treat Procurement as the enemy thinking that their only job is to beat them up on price, so today I have Mike Lander on. Mike is a former head of Procurement but is now helping Sales understand procurement better so they can close deals faster. shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show326

  • Sep 1, 2025 · 50 min

    7 Proven Behaviors to Drive Success in Technical Sales

    Ron Whitson joins us to discuss how we as Solution Engineers can build better relationships with customers and how we can help them make better decisions. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show325

  • Jul 1, 2024 · 30 min

    What Does a Great Solution Engineer Look Like?

    I'm always asked, "What does a great SE look like?" The problem is there isn't one way to SE. Great SEs look like. The role is complex, and people do it differently. So, let's delve into the role's complexity and break it down through an evaluation form I created. I cover various aspects such as working with account managers, discovery, demos, proof of value, and technical know-how. I also emphasize the importance of customer relations and leadership skills. Finally, I have some news… show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show324

  • Jun 24, 2024 · 54 min

    Learning To Sell Better From Being Sold Badly

    Join us as we welcome Harman Bamra, who shares his unique journey from studying literature and international affairs to becoming a Solution Engineer (SE). Harman discusses his initial plans of becoming a diplomat, his background in literature, and how his passion for tech led him to digitize his family pharmacy business. Learn about his overlapping interests in tech and literature, the challenges he faced, and the strategies he used to transition into the corporate world of sales engineering. Harman also highlights the importance of understanding the 'why' behind customer needs and how his martial arts training influences his professional approach. Don't miss this insightful episode packed with practical advice for anyone looking to pursue a career in Solution Engineering show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show323

  • Jun 17, 2024 · 1 hr

    Earning the Right to Ask Helpful Questions

    The episode features an experienced sales trainer Richard Harris, discussing the intersection of sales and sales engineering. Richard shares insights on earning the right to ask questions, building trust with clients, and the concept of economic impact. He emphasizes the importance of proper communication and collaboration between salespeople and sales engineers (SEs), addressing common challenges and misconceptions. The conversation also touches on leadership accountability, the value of practice, and personal growth. Richard highlights the significance of self-awareness, mental health, and balancing personal and professional life. The episode provides tips and strategies for salespeople and SEs to enhance their effectiveness and cooperation. Shownotes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show322

  • Jun 10, 2024 · 1 hr

    Forget How, Focus on The Why!

    Our guest today is Devon Montgomery, a Lead Solution Engineer at Collibra. Devon's path to Solution Engineering is interesting. It's not just that he was an SDR who got into Solution Engineering; what he was before and how he got there are also interesting. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show321

  • Jun 3, 2024 · 26 min

    Promote Yourself to The CEO of Your Life and Career

    Many of us let our careers happen to us. Imagine if a CEO of a company just LET whatever happens to his or her company happen. They would be fired immediately from their role. But we can go through our lives and careers without being intentional in how we want to live our lives. Instead, if we look at our lives like a startup and we are the CEOs, we can then look at our salary as revenue, our skills as the products that we provide, and our time as the service, then we can look differently at our lives. We can make decisions on what to improve and how.

  • May 20, 2024 · 34 min

    Challenging Perspectives and Learning from Professional Disagreements

    Last week I mentioned the 10 mistakes that #SolutionEngineers make that drive Salespeople crazy. This week Wesley comes to the defense of these SEs. Wes and I discuss the dynamics and challenges faced by SEs and account managers in tech sales. Wes shares his experiences and disagreements with certain points raised in a previous podcast episode about common mistakes SEs make, such as hijacking meetings and not following up. The discussion touches on the importance of good communication, trust, and feedback between SEs and sales reps, highlighting how effective management and understanding can prevent many issues. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show318

  • May 13, 2024 · 26 min

    Top 10 SE Mistakes that Drive AEs Crazy

    So I've been in sales for a while. A few years now, and I've worked with several SE either as a sales person, a mentor, or a coach. And we love to joke around and talk crap about salespeople. I mentioned this before but on my first week on the job, I traveled to a quarterly training for both SEs and Sales. We had a common training session (marketing slides) and when that session was over and we were about to split up, my manager (SE manager) stood up and said "SEs stay here, those who have a lobotomy go to the other room." That's how I was introduced to sales. It was a joke, and everyone laughed, but since then I knew I could make fun of salespeople because they do things that drive us crazy. On the other hand, since I've been in sales there are things that SEs do that also drive me personally nuts. In the last couple of weeks, I've seen things that have made me so angry, I can see why AEs don't want to bring SEs into meetings. Here are 12 things SEs do that drive salespeople crazy.

  • May 6, 2024 · 1 hr

    Work Behind The Curtin To Help Your Customers Better

    I caught up with Chris White on his Linkedin Live show a bit ago. This time he interviews me and we dig into what happens behind the scenes, or at least what should happen behind the scenes to make sure that SEs are successful in front of the customer. Everyone loves what we do on the front end, working directly with the customer, performing, and getting the Aha moment. However, we can not do any of that if we don't prepare, if we don't generate leads (even as SEs), or prepare for discovery, demos, and POV. We barely scratch the surface. But it's a start. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show316

  • Apr 29, 2024 · 44 min

    Craving Cold Calls is a Matter of Perspective

    AI is coming for us all. According to our guest, Anthony Palmoze, he's heard many SEs talk about BDR being the first to become obsolete. So we jump on a call to dig into what BDR is and see if it will be obsolete, or more specifically, what parts will be taken over by AI. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show315

  • Apr 22, 2024 · 59 min

    Selling to Sellers and How Solution Engineers Can Add Valu

    I have my own opinions of what sales engineers should do, and how they should be involved in the sales process. My opinion is that they should be involved, early and often. But I sell in the enterprise market, with a small number of customers. My SE is tied only to me, and the main decision-makers are the users who use the product. So it would make sense that my SE is heavily involved, follows up post-demo, and maintains relationships. But when your product is being sold to other Salespeople, and the goal is to show them how easy it is to use, and the SE that supports your opportunities supports the opportunities of a few other salespeople, then the process and expectations are different. Adam Weekes is an AE Leader within Big Tin Can. He drops by the show to explain his views. show notes: https://wethesalesengineers.com/show314