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The Value of Packaging

May 30, 2008 By

Never underestimate the value of packaging.

Consider these two different experiences with two competing products. In order for a company to purchase one of these products meant they were shelling out at least 6 figures for the deal. For the most part competition is fierce enough that the majority of the time one of the vendors (usually the one in poor position) would drive a bake off—or on site evaluation.

Product A would be shipped to the customer and arrive at least a week in advance. As part of the package, there would be printed manuals on nicer stock, a binder of forms where a customer could record their information, support contact sheet with temporary access code for use during the evaluation, etc. All in all we’re talking a very professional appearance, even if the collateral was used only a fraction of the time.

Product B would arrive in a lightweight cardboard box with only a CD in a vanilla white sleeve. Even worse would be if the product wasn’t shipped at all and the SE had to leave behind a burned copy of the product.

Now put yourself in the shoes of the customer. Even before you ever get around to installing the product, for which one are you going to be willing to shell out that kind of cash?

This experience is still ripe in my mind because I was responsible for supporting Product B. Sure I was able to overcome first impressions some of the time; but, considering the dollars at risk, why was marketing putting me in the hole on day one.

Sometimes we don’t have control over those situations and we have to make do with the tools we are given. Metaphorically though, have you considered your personal packaging or the impression you are making with the customer? I’ve written before about the need to create a sustainable and repeatable SE engagement process. As part of that process, are you taking every opportunity to market yourself and company above the competition? Take a step back and think about your presentations, demonstrations, and collateral you leave behind. If anything customer facing is feeling more like a flimsy cardboard box it would be time well spent create a more polished and professional image. Don’t put yourself behind from the start.

Filed Under: Marketing

Economic Velocity and Sales

May 23, 2008 By

The current state of the economy is on a lot of peoples’ minds. I personally spend quite a bit of time attempting to identify and understand macroeconomic trends. I do this despite the overwhelming good cases made against doing so for the average person. See A Random Walk Down Wall Street as a prime example. I’ll likely continue to do so as long as I enjoy it and as long as, well, my ideas have a successful track record.

One trend of particular interest to me, especially because I make a living from technology, is the velocity of change in economic cycles caused by the increased volume and timeliness of economic data. My theory is that we’ll be experiencing increasingly exaggerated and compacted cycles from 2005 forward. In geek speak a higher frequency and amplitude.

I’m not going to cover what that means to your portfolio, even though it’s a great conversation over a beer. But, what does this mean to Sales Engineers and the companies we work for and sell to?

A good starting point comes from a very applicable book titled The Well-Timed Strategy by Peter Navarro. To paraphrase a great deal, you need to monitor business cycles because, as a professional, you should be changing jobs close to the top in order to progress faster in your career. If you think about it, talented people are most in demand during an economic boom when business investment (read: expansion) is at its height and unemployment is at its lowest. When the economy has been expanding rapidly is precisely the right time to move on if you were already planning on doing so (I’m definitely not advocating moving on just because of this fact). You’re likely to have the most negotiating power and be able to secure a higher salary and perks than you otherwise would. Keep that in mind next time you’re thinking about changing companies.

What about the companies you sell to? Depending on the size of company you work for, you may have a wide variety in the types of opportunities you pursue. Extremely mature companies have more refined territories which make it more difficult. During recessions or stagnant economies, the companies hit hardest are those reliant on growth to survive. Technology companies, many small to medium businesses, retail, etc. all qualify. Companies in these areas will be far more reticent to make investment if they are in a position of having to plow all profits into growth. Large companies and those in mature industries (and government), can be impacted quite differently. The smartest strategy for a company in a downed economy is actually to expand, assuming resources have been allocated that way. Labor and raw materials are cheaper. The competition is in retreat and less likely to exploit new markets. Companies adept at managing the business cycle will be more likely to buy from you during this time as they may count on being able to get better discounts from vendors. Knowing this in sales can help you understand these buying patterns and may even allow you to score some points with your customers’ executives if you can illustrate how this knowledge may be able to help them make the best use of budget dollars.

Inside your own company this knowledge can be immensely helpful as well. If you’re in a senior management position in the sales organization, the absolute best time to look at expanding your sales force or retooling is now when other companies are looking to pause or cut back. Not only will you be able to expand more quickly but the quality of talent you can acquire will go up as the economy goes down. Other capital investments like lab resources, educational material, laptops, etc. may be easier to come by as demand goes down across the board and vendors still have quotas to meet—not to mention the deals to be had because of business selloffs. If you can use this situation to your advantage, just think about how prepared you will be when business does pick up again. You’ll be in a clear leadership position compared to that of your competition.

It’s not just a cute catch phrase. Those that can avoid the pack and invest in contrarian fashion will outperform the rest. The biggest gains are always to be had at inflection points, and this one will be no different.

What does this mean if the business cycle becomes permanently more prone to boom and bust and moves from one to the other more quickly? Aside from it being a little scarier, it means that knowledge of this process will become even more important as more opportunities to get out in front will present themselves. As an SE or SE manager/executive, you can use this understanding to better your (and your company’s) situation. I definitely recommend you do what you can to start researching the signals of these inflection points to get a leg up on the competition. I’m sure I’ll get around to sharing what I use soon enough too ;)

Filed Under: Career Growth, Roles & Responsibilities

Value of Certification for SEs

May 21, 2008 By

Almost all of us at one point have had to get certified in a particular product. In some industries it is job critical and others it can be seen as nice to have. I’ve run into very few certifications that have actually been a detriment to advertise—though 8-10 years ago my Microsoft certifications got me uninvited to a couple UNIX shops.

Some SEs live and die by their certifications, even though it is not a job requirement. I know some that would rather schedule a visit to the dentist than Prometric. As with most things there is not a clear answer to the debate. Here is my take.

In the workplace, everyday, big decisions are made, deals are won and lost, and events take place that hinge on the slimmest of margins. An associate of mine likes to call them tie breakers.

You can not afford to be losing the tie breakers.

There are many different types of tie breakers: your dress, your speech, your likability, reputation, trust, credibility, etc. If you take a look at ways you could influence some of these (especially the last 3), I think certification definitely plays a positive role.

There are several situations to consider. If you walk into an account right after an SE from a different company pitching the same type of solution, who might a customer believe is more credible? Someone with no industry certifications or someone with 6 acronyms after their name. If you’re vying for a promotion and it comes down between you and someone with similar credentials, the certification may be the tie breaker. The same thing will play out in a job interview. These are some big factors in your life and is why I take every opportunity to stack the deck in my favor.

Having said that, this doesn’t necessarily come down to a yes or no discussion. You can draw the line in different spots. 1 certification or 5 or 17. Here are some things to consider:

- Are you a good test taker?
- Can you breeze through technical manuals?
- Are you still early in your career?
- Are there highly respected or coveted certifications in your field?
- Will your existing company pay for classes and/or tests?

The more yeses you have the more beneficial certification will be for you and the more of them you should seek. If you’re late in your career, like where you are, and have difficulty passing tests, you’re better off just obtaining 1. The sweet spot for most people is between 3-5. Holding too many certifications might make some people think you are compensating for other weaknesses. Of course hold as many as you like, just be more particular about which ones you publicize on your business card, email signature, and resume.

One other factor I’d like you to consider is interindustry certification. What I mean by that is pursuing a certification that is well respected and recognizable but falls outside your day-to-day job function. If you’re a desktop/server guy seek some network experience and certification. I would even go so far as to recommend certifications outside technology. You’d be amazed at what happens when you can put a CPA, CFP, Esq, etc. on your card. Not only is it a conversation starter, but invariably you’ll find others now in technology who once worked in these other fields as well. This practice works best when you already posses this knowledge from school or former profession or is a hobby of yours—otherwise it’s not worth the time investment.

Finally, as a manager, I think it is good practice to encourage your people to seek certification—and pay for it within reason. Not only are you contributing to their knowledgebase, you’re also contributing to general career growth and development. You’re also likely benefitting from a confidence booster as tests are passed. Most companies recognize this benefit and subsidize certification. If you’re not you may be taking a hit for it that you don’t realize.

So as an individual or company, don’t miss out on the tie breakers. You’ll find time/money here is well spent even if not immediately quantifiable.

Filed Under: Career Growth, Certification, Compensation, Management

Sales Engineering Specialization

May 14, 2008 By

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how Sales Engineers pick the positions they occupy. Depending on the company you work for, the SE role can involve very different day-to-day tasks. There are some obvious and more obscure reasons to choose one company (or type of company) over the other. I don’t know that I need to cover basic aspects such as salary, benefits, culture, travel, etc. While they are important, I’m sure they have been covered elsewhere. What I’m more interested in is what aspects of being an SE draw certain people to certain roles.

To begin with some type of logical progression, let’s start with a startup. Certain products are so complex companies need to begin hiring SEs at the same time/pace as reps. In this environment the SE is able to deeply specialize in one product. The SE will probably even be a key determinant of product direction and will have a close working relationship with the developer. At the same time the SE will also be spread very thin between accounts and will be acting in a sales capacity a large portion of the time. New companies have poor territory coverage and therefore reps and SEs are not always at the same account at the same time. This situation is what I refer to as product specialized; business generalist. The SE intimately knows the product, but covers many business angles between engineering, sales, support, services, etc. From past experience (and only a slight psychology education) I am positing that this SE either 1) really enjoys or gets comfort from understanding all aspects of a product, or 2) really likes being involved in all parts of the business, or seeing the product all the way through the lifecycle as it were.

As you move in to medium size businesses, the product mix is likely still such that it is easy for the SE to maintain deep expertise across the entire product line of maybe 1-4 products, especially since there is almost always a dominant product. There is, however, much more clearly defined infrastructure to support the sale and accompanying process. The SE would be spending much more time tied to the rep and the majority of work is within a stricter definition of the SE role. To me this is product specialized; business specialized. This SE would enjoy or be more comfortable within the confines of the job description and still be able to have ultimate mastery of the technology. It also likely provides additional stability not found in startups.

When you get to large business, it gets more interesting because there is likely a continuum of responsibilities inside the SE organization. You can “specialize” as a generalist meaning you are the big picture guy/gal. You can work channel, SMB, top tier accounts, product specialist, industry verticals, etc. In that sense you can define your career (or market) as anywhere from product generalist/specialist to business generalist/specialist. If you’re at a large company you are probably there for a reason: job stability, great benefits, variety in positions available, etc., but the interesting questions to me are 1) Does the average SE understand this continuum and market themselves purposely? and 2) On what basis are they making decisions (i.e. why choose one over the other)?

Again, going back to experience to try and answer these questions, my belief is that most SEs do understand this facet, though mostly at a subconscious level. This means that for question 2, the answer is mostly instinct and not a result of careful/thoughtful planning. If you’ve never thought specifically about this concept before, it would be very beneficial for you to understand your current and desired path to see if they align. If I had my eyes set on a product manager position, it might behoove me to seek SE roles that allow me to specialize in a product line but give me wide berth in terms of business areas I touch. If your goal is try out being a rep, you’ll need wide business exposure along with a broad understanding of the portfolio, competition, marketplace, etc.

This process isn’t only about complementary skills but also about setting yourself up to meet the right people and build the right network. For example, being seen as a technology leader inside your company for a product is sure to get noticed by the product manager.

As you gain rapport with the right people and build the right skills, doors mysteriously find a way of opening.

The implications for SE managers should be clear. I think it is our duty to have these conversations with our people. Once we understand (or get our people to understand) what path they would like to take, we gain deeper insight into personality types. We can point people to roles that will set them up for success and greater satisfaction. Even if you don’t do it for the right reason, do it because your competition (internal and external) will.

Filed Under: Career Growth, Management