One of the advantages of working for a company highly specialized around one or two products is that it is easier to stay on top of product knowledge. When your portfolio of products grows and begins to touch a lot of other technology is when the issue of training takes center stage.
So how much time should you be spending on training as an SE?
If you ask a rep or sales manager the answer will be astonishingly low. If you ask product managers the answer may be quite high. In reality there are many factors that influence this and will vary from company to company. My criteria include:
- How many products are there in the portfolio?
- How vertical in nature is the SE position? Does it include implementation and support or is it strictly presales?
- How intricate is the technology (desktop apps or ERP for example)?
- How many other technologies do the products interact with?
- Who is the primary buyer, influencer, etc. in the account? The higher up it goes the less technical the SE needs to be.
- How often does the portfolio turn (i.e. new versions released)?
As each of these goes up, the training requirements increase. This is because the SE is increasingly responsible for knowing information that is in flux. That aspect can be part of the allure of being an SE, but without adequate allowance for training it is a huge morale killer. Regardless of the position, people that do not have the necessary tools/information to perform their job feel disempowered and overwhelmed. This makes training a very important consideration for the company and SE manager.
My general rule of thumb is 4-6 hours every week (or 10-15% of a theoretical 40 hour work week). Depending on the answers to the questions above, the slider may move up or down by 5% or so. In a separate post I’ll go into the benefit of scheduling a full lab day every week. Part of that purpose is to allow for necessary training.
So what can each of us do to maximize the value of training?
The Sales Engineer
- Know your learning style
- Take advantage of down time by always having education resources available on your laptop, Kindle, iPod, etc.
- Put yourself in situations to learn from other SEs. No one knows better the key information you need than a fellow SE. The lab day is great for this.
- Never rely on others to provide all the training you need to maximize your effectiveness. Don’t be afraid to dive in to product manuals, go through real installs, and test scenarios out for yourself. Good or bad, your ability to learn on your own has to be a skill you hone if you want to be considered one of the best.
- Always push yourself to acquire knowledge beyond any narrow confines of your current position. Learn about supporting technologies, business strategy, soft skills, etc.
The Company
- Develop and religiously fight for consistent training programs.
- Publish everything in multiple formats to support various learning methods.
- Subscribe to books online services that allow your folks to go right to the best sources of 3rd party information.
- Celebrate learning and ensure all employees have access to the best training possible. A Learning Organization may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.
SE Managers
- Zealously support your team’s right to take an adequate amount of time out of the field to focus on training.
- Give your team a training allowance and let them go crazy on Amazon or attend seminars.
- Encourage your people to seek self improvement beyond the confines of their current job. This can include books but also formal education and certification as well.
I consider myself to be a voracious reader/learner and I can’t say enough good things about the personal value I feel I have received by continually pushing this envelope.
Good luck in your own studies!
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