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The primary role of any people manager is to set their team up for success and help them achieve their true potential. This involves consistent focus on nurturing and upskilling the team. Development for a Sales Engineer is unique in that it encompasses a diverse range of skill sets:
- Storytelling
- Value selling
- Objection handling
- Customer engagement
- Communication
- Stakeholder management
- Product knowledge
It’s an ongoing process — and does not stop once skills are achieved. The way the SE team develops directly reflects on positive customer engagement, which in turn helps the business grow.
Team development is on every SE manager’s list. Unfortunately, the reality is that day-to-day operations occupy most mental space and time, and your development plan takes the back seat as a result.
Taking learnings from my experience as an IC and leader, this article will discuss how to get started with your SE development initiative.
Setting Expectations With the Team
Start by building a story: a vision for who the team is now and who, collectively, you want to be.
When it comes to development, the challenge is that it takes commitment and motivation. As a leader, you should be ready to invest time and effort and provide opportunities. But even more importantly, the individual SEs need the drive to grow. Not all your team members will be ready for it. We must accept this reality and work with it accordingly.
When you create a team development plan, it’s never one size fits all. Of course, you can set an overarching theme, but you will also need to make sure that you build specific roadmaps for every individual. When every team member grows, your whole team grows.
How to Develop Your SEs
First, make sure you’ve got a system in place for tracking team performance over time — and set goals for what you want them to achieve.
Use one-on-one time with members of your team to guide SEs in the right direction, get feedback on ways to improve your development strategy, and recognize when they are displaying growth.
Here is a list (not exhaustive, of course) of action items that you can get started with:
- Give SEs what they need to be successful on their own. A team should always be able to function independently and not require hand-holding from their managers. Ensure the team has access to available resources and support and hold them accountable for their responsibilities. Encourage them to execute, succeed, fail, and learn along the way.
Give them the freedom and empower them to make their own decisions in their day-to-day work, whether it’s internally or with prospects or customers. Always back your team during this journey; this will give them the confidence that you are there to help them grow.
- Embolden your team to think outside the box. Inspire SEs to tap into their creativity and work on side projects that positively impact the organisation. This will not only expand their horizons, but also break the monotony and give them room to experiment. These projects could be anything from small innovations that help the team work more efficiently to more significant changes that streamline processes.
- Help them see the bigger picture. As SEs, we can get stuck in a loop of demos and technical closures, but the members of your team shouldn’t remain siloed. They should recognize how their work affects the larger process and translates to business outcomes — which requires an understanding of how your organization runs at a macro level.
It’s the responsibility of SE leaders to ensure that your understanding of the business and overall picture is always cascaded to the team. So that when certain things are asked of your team, they find it easier to step up. - Provide ongoing opportunities to learn. “Continuous learning is the path to ceaseless growth.” Promote active learning and knowledge sharing to facilitate growth. People learn the most when they teach. If possible, always setup dedicated learning and knowledge-sharing sessions.
Every Sales Engineering leader wants their team to be a high-functioning team excelling in multiple areas. The growth of the SE team benefits both customers and the organization alike.
The primary role of any people manager is to set their team up for success and help them achieve their true potential. This involves consistent focus on nurturing and upskilling the team. Development for a Sales Engineer is unique in that it encompasses a diverse range of skill sets:
- Storytelling
- Value selling
- Objection handling
- Customer engagement
- Communication
- Stakeholder management
- Product knowledge
It’s an ongoing process — and does not stop once skills are achieved. The way the SE team develops directly reflects on positive customer engagement, which in turn helps the business grow.
Team development is on every SE manager’s list. Unfortunately, the reality is that day-to-day operations occupy most mental space and time, and your development plan takes the back seat as a result.
Taking learnings from my experience as an IC and leader, this article will discuss how to get started with your SE development initiative.
Setting Expectations With the Team
Start by building a story: a vision for who the team is now and who, collectively, you want to be.
When it comes to development, the challenge is that it takes commitment and motivation. As a leader, you should be ready to invest time and effort and provide opportunities. But even more importantly, the individual SEs need the drive to grow. Not all your team members will be ready for it. We must accept this reality and work with it accordingly.
When you create a team development plan, it’s never one size fits all. Of course, you can set an overarching theme, but you will also need to make sure that you build specific roadmaps for every individual. When every team member grows, your whole team grows.
How to Develop Your SEs
First, make sure you’ve got a system in place for tracking team performance over time — and set goals for what you want them to achieve.
Use one-on-one time with members of your team to guide SEs in the right direction, get feedback on ways to improve your development strategy, and recognize when they are displaying growth.
Here is a list (not exhaustive, of course) of action items that you can get started with:
- Give SEs what they need to be successful on their own. A team should always be able to function independently and not require hand-holding from their managers. Ensure the team has access to available resources and support and hold them accountable for their responsibilities. Encourage them to execute, succeed, fail, and learn along the way.
Give them the freedom and empower them to make their own decisions in their day-to-day work, whether it’s internally or with prospects or customers. Always back your team during this journey; this will give them the confidence that you are there to help them grow.
- Embolden your team to think outside the box. Inspire SEs to tap into their creativity and work on side projects that positively impact the organisation. This will not only expand their horizons, but also break the monotony and give them room to experiment. These projects could be anything from small innovations that help the team work more efficiently to more significant changes that streamline processes.
- Help them see the bigger picture. As SEs, we can get stuck in a loop of demos and technical closures, but the members of your team shouldn’t remain siloed. They should recognize how their work affects the larger process and translates to business outcomes — which requires an understanding of how your organization runs at a macro level.
It’s the responsibility of SE leaders to ensure that your understanding of the business and overall picture is always cascaded to the team. So that when certain things are asked of your team, they find it easier to step up. - Provide ongoing opportunities to learn. “Continuous learning is the path to ceaseless growth.” Promote active learning and knowledge sharing to facilitate growth. People learn the most when they teach. If possible, always setup dedicated learning and knowledge-sharing sessions.
Every Sales Engineering leader wants their team to be a high-functioning team excelling in multiple areas. The growth of the SE team benefits both customers and the organization alike.
The primary role of any people manager is to set their team up for success and help them achieve their true potential. This involves consistent focus on nurturing and upskilling the team. Development for a Sales Engineer is unique in that it encompasses a diverse range of skill sets:
- Storytelling
- Value selling
- Objection handling
- Customer engagement
- Communication
- Stakeholder management
- Product knowledge
It’s an ongoing process — and does not stop once skills are achieved. The way the SE team develops directly reflects on positive customer engagement, which in turn helps the business grow.
Team development is on every SE manager’s list. Unfortunately, the reality is that day-to-day operations occupy most mental space and time, and your development plan takes the back seat as a result.
Taking learnings from my experience as an IC and leader, this article will discuss how to get started with your SE development initiative.
Setting Expectations With the Team
Start by building a story: a vision for who the team is now and who, collectively, you want to be.
When it comes to development, the challenge is that it takes commitment and motivation. As a leader, you should be ready to invest time and effort and provide opportunities. But even more importantly, the individual SEs need the drive to grow. Not all your team members will be ready for it. We must accept this reality and work with it accordingly.
When you create a team development plan, it’s never one size fits all. Of course, you can set an overarching theme, but you will also need to make sure that you build specific roadmaps for every individual. When every team member grows, your whole team grows.
How to Develop Your SEs
First, make sure you’ve got a system in place for tracking team performance over time — and set goals for what you want them to achieve.
Use one-on-one time with members of your team to guide SEs in the right direction, get feedback on ways to improve your development strategy, and recognize when they are displaying growth.
Here is a list (not exhaustive, of course) of action items that you can get started with:
- Give SEs what they need to be successful on their own. A team should always be able to function independently and not require hand-holding from their managers. Ensure the team has access to available resources and support and hold them accountable for their responsibilities. Encourage them to execute, succeed, fail, and learn along the way.
Give them the freedom and empower them to make their own decisions in their day-to-day work, whether it’s internally or with prospects or customers. Always back your team during this journey; this will give them the confidence that you are there to help them grow.
- Embolden your team to think outside the box. Inspire SEs to tap into their creativity and work on side projects that positively impact the organisation. This will not only expand their horizons, but also break the monotony and give them room to experiment. These projects could be anything from small innovations that help the team work more efficiently to more significant changes that streamline processes.
- Help them see the bigger picture. As SEs, we can get stuck in a loop of demos and technical closures, but the members of your team shouldn’t remain siloed. They should recognize how their work affects the larger process and translates to business outcomes — which requires an understanding of how your organization runs at a macro level.
It’s the responsibility of SE leaders to ensure that your understanding of the business and overall picture is always cascaded to the team. So that when certain things are asked of your team, they find it easier to step up. - Provide ongoing opportunities to learn. “Continuous learning is the path to ceaseless growth.” Promote active learning and knowledge sharing to facilitate growth. People learn the most when they teach. If possible, always setup dedicated learning and knowledge-sharing sessions.
Every Sales Engineering leader wants their team to be a high-functioning team excelling in multiple areas. The growth of the SE team benefits both customers and the organization alike.
