(aka Solution Consultant)
Sales Engineer Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD)
- Pre-Sale
- Configure & deliver product demonstrations
- RFP responses
- PoC/PoV management
- Proposal development
- Requirement gathering
- Solution design / architecture
- ROI modeling
- Technical advisory & support during the sales process
- Coordination with Product & Engineering teams to address custom requirements
- Creating implementation / migration plans to mitigate risk
- Technical documentation: Creating or contributing to product documentation and user guides.
- Competitive analysis
- Post-Sale (often called a Technical Account Manager or TAM)
- Implementation / onboarding support:
- Training
- Configuration and integration
- Monitoring & driving usage
- In part via period technical training
- Preparing & presenting technical aspects of customer QBRs
- Technical consultations with users & admins
- Advocating for customers with Product, Engineering, and Support
- Coordinate cross-functional issue resolution (when beyond the scope of Support)
- Identifying growth opportunities within accounts
- Implementation / onboarding support:
Sales Engineer to AE Ratios
| AE:SE (by ACV) | Median |
| Transactional (< $25K) | 4.9 |
| Solution ($25K to $75K) | 3.0 |
| Consultative (> $75K) | 2.9 |
| AE:SE (by ARR) | Median |
| $0 to $10M ARR | 3.0 |
| $10M to $20M | 3.5 |
| $20M to $50M | 3.2 |
| $50M to $100M | 3.4 |
| Over $100M | 5.2 |
Compensation Plans for Sales Engineers
According to RepVue as of February 2023, the median OTE for sales engineers is $175,000 with a base/variable split of 70/30. The 25th percentile is $125K and the 75th percentile is $225K.
Based on data from Insight Partners, the ratio of AE:SE quota is 1.44:1.
Quotas for sales engineers align with the broadest group of sellers they support. For example, if a sales engineer is paired 1:1 with an AE, then the SE has the same quota as the AE. In contrast, if an SE can support any AE in the company, then the SEs quota is the company new business quota.
To keep things simple, I recommend SE comp plans mirror those of AEs, including payout curves and accelerators. Hence, just like AEs, SEs should have accelerators for exceeding quota in the range of 1.5x to 2.0.
| Median Total Pay | New York | Austin | San Francisco |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Engineer | $159K | $169K | $189K |
| Senior Sales Engineer | $235K | $240K | $255K |
| Manager, Sales Engineering | $214K | $237K | $252K |
| Director, Sales Engineering | $256K | $267K | $284K |
| Sr. Director, Sales Engineering | $312K | $345K | $360K |
| Vice President, Sales Engineering | $429K | $403K | $442K |
AE-SE RASCI for a Complex Sale
| Task / Activity | R | A | S | C | I | NA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prospecting (1) | AE | AE | SE | |||
| Discovery / Qualification | AE | AE | SE | |||
| Product Demonstration | SE | SE | ||||
| PoC/PoV management | SE | SE | ||||
| Needs Analysis | AE | AE | SE | |||
| Pre-sale technical advisory & support | SE | SE | AE | |||
| Solution Design and Customization (2) | SE | SE | ||||
| Proposal Delivery (3) | AE | AE | SE | |||
| RFP response | SE | SE | ||||
| Negotiation and Closing | AE | AE | SE | |||
| Creating implementation plans | SE | |||||
| Contract Signing | AE | AE | SE | |||
| Onboarding Handover | AE | AE | SE | |||
| Implementation | PS/CS | PS/CS | AE, SE | |||
| Account Management and Upselling | AE | AE | SE | |||
| Feedback and Product Improvement | AE, SE |
- RASCI
- R – Responsible: Performs the task
- A – Accountable / Approver: Ultimately answerable for task completion
- S – Support: Provide direct assistanc
- C – Consulted: Offers expertis
- I – Informed: Kept informed about progress & completion
- Notes:
- Prospecting includes account prioritization, contact identification, and engagement/outreach
- Solution Design and Customization Solution Design and Customization
- Proposal Delivery includes requirements gathering; solution design; ROI modeling