Do you know the occupations of pre-sales and sales engineers? Some people may have heard of it, but are not familiar with the meaning of the word or what they do. It’s sometimes said to be a boring job, but it’s not as fun as coding, so it’s important to think about aptitude. I will explain what kind of work a pre-sales engineer is.
table of contents
- 1. What is a pre-sales engineer?
- 2. Skills and appropriateness required for pre-sales engineers
- 3. Is the pre-sales engineer boring? A non-creative job?
- 4. Estimated salary for pre-sales engineers
- 5. To become a pre-sales engineer
- 6. Summary
1. What is a pre-sales engineer?
ven if you’ve heard the term pre-sales engineer, many people may not be able to imagine what a pre-sales engineer really is.
Here, we will explain the definition of pre-sales engineer and the content of work, as well as how it differs from sales and sales.
1.1 Definition of pre-sales engineer
A pre-sales engineer is a job that works with a sales representative to hear technical issues, consult, and propose in-house products to clients . In other words, it is a job type that supports the work of the sales position as a technical expert.
In addition to communication skills as a sales position, technical skills and programming knowledge are required to properly estimate customer technical issues and propose solutions.
It is also a job type that engineers with experience in system development are often selected when choosing a work style that is closer to sales, management, and consulting as one of their career paths.
Depending on the company, they may be called by job titles such as “solution architect” and “service engineer” , but it is safe to think that they are synonymous with presales engineers.
1.2 Pre-sales engineer’s job
What kind of work is a pre-sales engineer?
We will explain the specific work contents of the pre-sales engineer and what kind of person is the pre-sales engineer who can satisfy customers and lead to contracts.
1.2.1 Hearing customer technical issues
The first job of a pre-sales engineer is to hear about the technical issues of client companies.
When a pre-sales engineer accompanies a sales representative to conduct a hearing, the person in charge is often an engineer, and proposals that lead to improved productivity and operational efficiency are also required from a technical point of view.
While it may be trusted to be able to propose a package from the presentation of the solution to the introduction support, the hearing by the pre-sales engineer is based on the wrong technical knowledge, and the satisfaction to the other party is low. It is less likely to lead to a contract.
1.2.2 Product / Service Presentation-Contract
The pre-sales engineer not only conducts hearings, but also gives presentations on their products and services based on the contents of the hearings.
One of the most frequently asked questions after a presentation is ” What is different from similar open source and cheaper services from competitors?”
Customers introduce products and services that cannot be implemented by open source, or that can be implemented but require a lot of man-hours.
Unless it can be implemented in open source and the development man-hours are enormous, in-house engineers will code it in-house.
Furthermore, it is also important whether the products and services directly lead to operational efficiency.
Therefore, pre-sales engineers are required to verbalize the points that the presented products cannot be implemented in open source and how they lead to operational efficiency from a technical point of view, and convince the client companies .
In order to play an active role as a pre-sales engineer, you should not only know about your company’s products, but also research the services of competitors and open source libraries, and have the research ability to accurately estimate the development man-hours . It is necessary to have the presentation ability to show that it is easier and more cost effective to introduce the product .
1.2.3 Introduction support
Pre-sales engineers also support the introduction of their products. Specifically, I have jobs such as supporting the construction of an environment and going to the customer’s office to give a lecture on how to use and use it.
In addition, the pre-sales engineer may be the answerer when technical questions are asked during the contract period, not just when the service is introduced.
It can be said that the job of a presales engineer is not only to provide products and services, but also to support client companies to master them .
1.3 Difference between pre-sales engineer and sales / sales
A pre-sales engineer is similar to sales or sales in that it makes suggestions to client companies and sells their products.
So what’s the difference between a presales engineer and sales or sales?
I will explain in detail.
1.3.1 Pre-sales engineers focus on “customer technical issues” to find solutions
The biggest difference is that sales focus on the customer’s overall management issues and make proposals, while presales engineers focus on the customer’s technical issues and make proposals .
If the technical estimate is small or unnecessary, such as customer attraction support and recruitment support, the sales staff can handle it, but if the technical knowledge possessed by the sales staff cannot handle it, support by a pre-sales engineer is required. increase.
For example, there are many technical estimates such as “migration from on-premises to the cloud”, “introduction of EAI tools”, and “construction of big data analysis infrastructure”, and clients are also considering in-house support. is.
In the case of such a project, hearings, presentations, and introduction support for technical issues by pre-sales engineers will be the decisive factor in concluding a contract, saying, “It is faster, higher work quality, and more secure to leave it to this company than to introduce it in-house.” There are many things.
1.3.2 Pre-sales engineer may provide technical introduction support and answer questions
In addition to hearing and presentations to client companies, it is also the job of the pre-sales engineer to provide technical support when introducing products and answer questions when using services.
Engineers are a type of job that has a chronic shortage of human resources, so if the client company has a small number of in-house SEs, it may be possible to conclude a contract in anticipation of such support.
1.3.3 It is rare to move hands directly, but technical skills are required
Presales engineers do not code themselves to develop their own products.
However, technical skills are required at the proposal stage to customers and the question and answer stage after the contract .
For example, when it is necessary to compare open source and our own products and explain, we can estimate the man-hours when we actually introduce the open source to be compared, build the environment and develop with the corresponding library. When a bug is reported, it is necessary to try to reproduce the bug in your own environment.
2. Skills and appropriateness required for pre-sales engineers
Pre-sales engineers have a lot of necessary skills, including communication skills.
We will explain in detail the appropriateness required when thinking about changing jobs to a pre-sales engineer and what skills should be acquired.
2.1 Programming skills
Although pre-sales engineers have few opportunities to code directly, programming skills are essential for an accurate technical understanding of their products and for comparison and verification with similar open source software .
In addition, programming skills are required to estimate customer technical issues and support implementation.
For example, if you are a pre-sales engineer of a company that handles infrastructure services, you will have knowledge and skills related to Linux in addition to various major clouds such as AWS, GCP, and Azure, and if you place importance on DevOps , you will understand methods such as CI / CD .・ Experience is required.
2.2 Consulting skills
Pre-sales engineers need consulting skills to accurately hear customer issues and requirements, organize the content, design and propose what kind of product to use or what kind of customization is required.
It is also an important skill for pre-sales engineers to be able to present concrete and direct solutions to customer issues .
2.3 Presentation skills
Since it is the job of a pre-sales engineer to let customers choose their products, we also need presentation skills that can appeal our products attractively . It is also a job that has many opportunities to demonstrate in
front of customers its own products that have been customized according to the customer’s market and needs . It would be nice if you had the skills to handle the customization for the demonstration.
3. Is the pre-sales engineer boring? A non-creative job?
Presales engineers are often referred to as boring or non-creative work.
But is it true that presales engineers are a boring job?
I will explain the actual situation of the pre-sales engineer.
3.1 Often treated as one of the career paths of IT engineers
Pre-sales engineers are treated as one of the career paths of IT engineers, and are often required to have 3 to 5 years of development experience and practical experience, especially in markets such as mid-career hires.
In addition to the technical skills cultivated as an IT engineer, a wide variety of abilities such as communication skills, consulting skills, and presentation skills are required as business persons.
In addition, although we do not develop directly, it is also necessary to constantly learn the technology in order to propose the optimum products and services.
As an engineer, it is not a job that “masters one path”, but it is a rare job that requires technical skills in all directions from aspects other than development, and it has fun and creativity that is different from coding .
3.2 Recommended as a career path for engineers interested in management and consulting
Engineers who like programming but don’t necessarily want to make programming a lifelong job may consider going into management or consulting as a career path.
In such cases, it is recommended that you experience a pre-sales engineer and cultivate the abilities required for management, such as consulting skills and presentation skills.
In addition, although pre-sales engineers have little coding practice, they also have a lot of work such as development estimation and research.
If you feel that the development site is more suitable for you, you may be able to utilize the requirements definition and consulting skills that you have cultivated after returning to the site as a person in charge of the upstream process.
In this way, it can be said that the pre-sales engineer is a job that makes it easy to acquire versatile skills in all directions, so it is one of the recommended jobs.
3.3 Can be “boring” for engineers who want to keep coding at the forefront
While the job of a pre-sales engineer is easy to acquire various skills, it is also a job with few opportunities to be involved in coding.
The job of a pre-sales engineer can be boring for engineers who want to keep coding at the forefront and learn cutting-edge technology one after another, and who aren’t interested in consulting, management, or sales.
Pre-sales engineers are also jobs that have many opportunities to go out to meet many people.
Again, this may seem “something different” to the type of person who wants to work in the office while facing the challenges.
When considering a pre-sales engineer as a career path, it ‘s a good idea to consider whether you’re a specialist or a generalist.
4. Estimated salary for pre-sales engineers
The standard salary for pre-sales engineers ranges from 4 million yen to 8 million yen .
This is because the range of skills required is wide, and the annual income tends to differ depending on the skills possessed and the work experience up to that point.
Specific examples of required skills include problem analysis ability, proposal creation ability, presentation ability, demonstration ability, and practical experience in building and operating various types of servers, cloud services, networks, and Web applications.
In addition, in the case of foreign-affiliated companies, there are some sites where English proficiency is required in addition to those skills.
5. To become a pre-sales engineer
What should I do when I want to be a pre-sales engineer?
We will explain separately when a person with sales and consulting experience aims to become a pre-sales engineer and when a programmer aims to become a pre-sales engineer.
5.1 When a person with sales / consulting experience aims to become a pre-sales engineer
If you are an experienced sales or consulting person and want to become a pre-sales engineer, learn programming first .
It doesn’t matter if you copy or copy, so at least one Web application is defined, implemented, and deployed.
As a guideline for the study period, assume at least 3 to 6 months.
After completing all the learning, we will consider changing jobs to SMEs and venture companies .
In many small and medium-sized enterprises, positions such as “presales” and “solution architect” are not prepared as names, but in reality, there are cases where sales and consultants also have programming skills, so it is a practical technical issue. In many cases, we are entrusted with the same duties as a pre-sales engineer, such as hearing and introduction support.
After gaining close experience in pre-sales at these companies, it is recommended that you change jobs to a company that is officially recruiting pre-sales.
5.2 If a programmer wants to be a pre-sales engineer
When a programmer aims to become a pre-sales engineer, he / she first aims to be in charge of requirement definition and hearing from clients in the upstream process, not in the downstream process .
Also, when you need to bridge with non-engineer departments, other departments, or other teams, be aware that you will take on that role positively so that you can get a position close to tech lead .
On top of that, if you need a position as a pre-sales engineer or solution architect in-house, we will offer you a role.
Even if there are no job titles such as “pre-sales engineer” or “solution architect”, the actual work content is often close to them.
In this case, it is a good idea to gain experience in-house and then change jobs to another company that is officially recruiting those positions once you have acquired the skills.
6. Summary
A pre-sales engineer is a job that provides interviews with customers, presentations for proposing in-house products, introduction support, etc., and requires technical knowledge as well as aptitude for sales and consultants.
While various skills are required, there are few opportunities to code directly, so it may seem like a boring job for engineers who want to keep coding at the forefront, but it feels creativity different from coding. It is also a job and is recommended for engineers who are interested in
