When I cofounded my first startup, I had to participate in the sales calls (most of them). It was a very illuminating experience. Now, in my second one, I often lead the charge.
As an engineer, you start to understand why sales people overcommit, oversell, and overpromise. Why they can't produce a sale. It's not always their fault. But the good ones normally know what works and what doesn't. A good sales person:
* knows or takes time to learn the product to the point of a junior techie
* tries hard to work in tandem with the techies
* is NOT a frat boy / girl, but knows to talk to people of all walks of life, and in today's globalised world, of all backgrounds
* has the character to say "no" when it's better to walk away
* is at least in their late 30s or older
* a great listener trying to solve the customer's problem, not push a new shiny toy
* mature enough to lead a company.
While over-selling, "make-a-buck-now-lose-everything-later" idiots prevail, sales jobs are tough. It is hard for us engineers to grasp sometimes what is means to have your compensation ALWAYS be tied to some figures - so-called "performance", which is a combination of your ability to convince, the market, and the products you are selling. Imagine that, as an engineer, you'd get a deduction for every bug the customer discovers; feels different, doesn't it?
For a great fictional portrayal of a (pre-tech but enterprise) sales person's life, watch "The Big Kahuna".
As an engineer, you start to understand why sales people overcommit, oversell, and overpromise. Why they can't produce a sale. It's not always their fault. But the good ones normally know what works and what doesn't. A good sales person:
* knows or takes time to learn the product to the point of a junior techie
* tries hard to work in tandem with the techies
* is NOT a frat boy / girl, but knows to talk to people of all walks of life, and in today's globalised world, of all backgrounds
* has the character to say "no" when it's better to walk away
* is at least in their late 30s or older
* a great listener trying to solve the customer's problem, not push a new shiny toy
* mature enough to lead a company.
While over-selling, "make-a-buck-now-lose-everything-later" idiots prevail, sales jobs are tough. It is hard for us engineers to grasp sometimes what is means to have your compensation ALWAYS be tied to some figures - so-called "performance", which is a combination of your ability to convince, the market, and the products you are selling. Imagine that, as an engineer, you'd get a deduction for every bug the customer discovers; feels different, doesn't it?
For a great fictional portrayal of a (pre-tech but enterprise) sales person's life, watch "The Big Kahuna".