The 3 P's of Sales Engineering

Preparation, Presentation, and Persuasion are the 3 most important attributes I have observed of some of the best Sales Engineers. The combination of these 3 is sure to help increase the win rate of any opportunity. This formula can be generically applied to any "interaction" within the sales cycle - including demo presentation, discovery call, solution discussion, tech workshop, POC, or any other SE-led activity.

Preparation + Presentation + Persuasion = Increased Win Rate

Preparation

Even though preparation is a behind-the-scenes activity, its result is always apparent to the audience. Better prepared SEs naturally have more confidence, empathy, curiosity, context, and they come armed with ideas and recommendations. Top performing SEs would rather delay a meeting than participate insufficiently prepared. "Let's just wing it" should be avoided at all costs. Even preparation can take many forms, but the most common guidelines I have observed include:

Review: Read all the documentation, context, history, and notes related to the prospect. Parse through any email threads that might offer insights into what's most important vs table stakes to the prospect.

Research: Spend time on the prospect's website, the most recent LinkedIn updates, and the latest Google news. Research the background of the audience members on LinkedIn to better understand the source of their point-of-view.

Rehearse: Given everything you have reviewed and researched, anticipate objections and rehearse your response. Coming up with solutions on the fly is an art that SEs possess but reserve that energy for any surprises that come up during the interaction.

Presentation

How you present is often more impactful than what you present. The best SE presenters are continuously evaluating what aspects of their solution makes sense to present and when, while they are also strategically choosing what NOT to present. Each presentation is agile and easily adapts to the environment including signals such as who is asking what question, when, how, and why.

The order of the presentation matters as well. There are many SE books and articles published about the best ways to start and end a presentation. There is proven science and best practices around when/how to hit the winning points or WOWs during each delivery. Sales Engineers, who bring their A+ game with each presentation, are natural at knowing how to control the entire flow of the interaction while making the audience feel otherwise.

The importance of presentation goes beyond the obvious "presenting in front of an audience". The same principles apply when "presenting" a response via email, over the phone, in a chat message, or even in an RFP response.

Persuasion

The official definition of persuasion is to cause (someone) to do something through reasoning or argument; cause (someone) to believe something, especially after a sustained effort; provide a sound reason for (someone) to do something. In every aspect of an SE interaction, persuasion is the core purpose. As a trusted advisor to the audience and an advocate for the company's offerings, an SE can deliver tremendous value by persuading the audience of the value and the potential ROI.

The focus on persuasion is what differentiates a solution-led from a feature-led interaction. SE's passion and conviction for the proposed solution(s) are what propels the prospect's understanding, belief and eventually trust. It requires above-and-beyond effort to persuade an audience towards your solution than simply "educate" them about what you have to offer. Top performing SEs are naturally charismatic and possess the art of innate persuasion. They gain their prospect's trust through demonstrating expertise and thought leadership.

If you have personally experienced or delivered excellent Sales Engineering, I am confident it involved all three elements of preparation, presentation, and persuasion in action!