Snapshot: Sales Engineers
Careervoyages.gov
February 15, 2008
Tasks
• Plan and modify product configurations to meet customer needs.
• Confer with customers and engineers to assess equipment needs, and to determine system requirements.
• Collaborate with sales teams to understand customer requirements, to promote the sale of company products, and to provide sales support.
• Secure and renew orders and arrange delivery.
• Develop, present, or respond to proposals for specific customer requirements, including request for proposal responses and industry-specific solutions.
• Sell products requiring extensive technical expertise and support for installation and use, such as material handling equipment, numerical-control machinery, and computer systems.
• Diagnose problems with installed equipment.
Knowledge
• Customer and Personal Service – Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sales and Marketing – Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Engineering and Technology – Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Design – Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• English Language -Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Skills
• Active Listening – Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Persuasion – Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
• Operations Analysis – Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
• Reading Comprehension – Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Social Perceptiveness – Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Abilities
• Oral Expression – The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension – The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Recognition – The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Comprehension – The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Clarity – The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Interests
• Enterprising – Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
• Realistic – Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
• Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
• Social – Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
• Conventional – Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Work Styles
• Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
• Initiative – Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Independence – Job requires developing one’s own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
• Persistence – Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
• Achievement/Effort – Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Tools and Technology
Tools used in this occupation:
• Desktop computers – Desktop computers
• Mainframe computers – Mainframe computers
• Notebook computers – Laptop computers
• Personal computers – Personal computers
Technology used in this occupation:
• Data base reporting software – Business Objects Crystal Reports
• Data base user interface and query software – Data entry software; Database management software; IBM DB2; Microsoft SQL Server; Oracle DBMS
• Electronic mail software – Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software – Ab Initio software; Business Objects BusinessObjects XI; Cognos 8 Business Intelligence; Hyperion Solutions Hyperion System 9 Bi+; Informatica Corporation PowerCenter
• Presentation software – Microsoft PowerPoint; WebEx Sales Center
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