inflearn logo

How Sales Engineers (SEs) Work

"Simply knowing technology well does not make you a good sales engineer." Understanding customers’ problems, connecting technology to business value, and exerting influence between sales and development are the core responsibilities of a sales engineer. In this course, drawing on more than 20 years of B2B software presales experience, I will systematically share practical know-how on customer meetings, requirements analysis, demos, PoCs, proposal strategies, and internal collaboration. Learn the work frameworks and mindset of a sales engineer that you can apply immediately in practice.

1 learners are taking this course

Level Basic

Course period Unlimited

presentation PT
presentation PT
personal branding
personal branding
Tech Interview
Tech Interview
Business Problem Solving
Business Problem Solving
Communication
Communication
presentation PT
presentation PT
personal branding
personal branding
Tech Interview
Tech Interview
Business Problem Solving
Business Problem Solving
Communication
Communication

What you will gain after the course

  • You will learn how to identify the customer’s decision-making structure and key stakeholders.

  • You will understand what role a sales engineer should play according to the customer’s buying journey.

  • You will learn a practical framework for carrying out core tasks such as customer meetings, demos, PoCs, and proposal writing.

  • You will learn how to connect customer requirements to business value and persuade others accordingly.



How Sales Engineers (SEs) Work


"We did the PoC well, so why can't we close the deal?"

"How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?"

"How can I give effective presentations and persuade C-level executives?"

"I want to systematically learn what sales engineers do..."


The demo was smooth, and the product was ahead of the competition. Yet the results aren’t there. It’s a moment everyone encounters at least once when working as a sales engineer, presales professional, or solution consultant. In times like these, the real problem isn’t technical capability—it’s that you’ve overlooked “how the customer thinks and what they base their decisions on.”




This course is suitable for those who:

  • For those with around 1–5 years of hands-on experience as a sales engineer or presales professional who can respond based on intuition but want a systematic understanding of “why this approach works while that one doesn’t”

  • Those who want to systematically organize “what else we need to prepare” before meetings with clients.

  • Those who have experienced several deals and vaguely sensed patterns but lacked a structured framework.


This may not be suitable for those who...

  • Complete beginners who are unfamiliar with the SE role itself and want to learn the basic concepts first

  • Those who want light, introductory learning at the level of a job overview rather than applying it immediately to their work.




This course centers on the BSA (Buyer-Seller Alignment) framework, which I have refined through hands-on experience, and covers—with practical templates—what SEs should prepare, ask, and create at each of the four stages of the customer’s buying journey (awareness → consideration → evaluation → purchase).


Curriculum

  1. Understanding Sales Engineering — 5 Core Competencies, Career Paths, and Assessing Whether It’s Right for Me

  2. Customer Buying Journey and Decision-Making Structure — The BSA Framework and How to Derive JTBD

  3. Key Strategies for Each Stage of the Buyer’s Journey — Practical Strategies for the Awareness, Consideration, Evaluation, and Purchase Stages

  4. Technical Communication — How to Communicate Persuasively

  5. (Bonus) 4 Principles SEs Should Follow in the AI Era


After completing the course, you will also receive six Excel practice templates that you can use right away in your work (problem statement, implementation plan, TAP/technology canvas, battle card, evaluation criteria, and project success plan).



Practical experience proven in the field

Practical know-how gained through working with global AI companies, data platform companies, cloud companies, and SaaS startups

  • Conducting solution consulting and technical sales workshops for global AI and data companies

  • Running the technical sales and presales professional community, PreSales Lab

  • Advising startups on Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy and organizational operations

  • Lectures on Value Selling, technical communication, and solution demonstrations at universities and educational institutions

  • Publication of 『Presales』 (2024, the first specialized book on presales roles in Korea)


Recommended for
these people

Who is this course right for?

  • A sales engineer with 1–3 years of experience who works hard on demos but is frustrated because they can’t figure out why the deals keep dying.

  • An SE who fails to understand the customer’s decision-making structure and ends up spending all their time persuading the wrong people.

  • A sales engineer with 4–5 years of experience who knows the technology well but doesn’t know what to do or when to do it within the sales process, so they just hang back and take their cues from others.

  • A presales engineer who proceeds with proposals and PoC designs based on gut feeling, only to overhaul everything at the last minute every time.

  • Those who want to transition into a sales engineering role

Need to know before starting?

  • Understanding is quicker with at least one year of experience in a B2B technical sales (SE/pre-sales) role.

  • No specialized development or coding knowledge is required.

Hello
This is presales

Career Verified

Hello, I am Jong-il Choi.

I am an IT professional with 27 years of experience at various software companies, including Red Hat, Oracle, and TmaxSoft, where I have helped businesses grow. Throughout my diverse roles as a system engineer, developer, project manager, solution architect, and pre-sales team leader, I have focused on solving the complex challenges that enterprises face.

Throughout this process, I have led the latest technology trends and supported the digital transformation and business optimization of numerous companies by building and managing efficient systems and introducing innovative solutions. Currently, I am helping software companies and IT professionals grow through various writing, lecturing, and consulting activities.

Email : choijongil@gmail.com

LinkedIn : www.linkedin.com/in/choijongil

More

Curriculum

All

34 lectures ∙ (4hr 46min)

Course Materials:

Lecture resources
Published: 
Last updated: 

Reviews

Not enough reviews.
Please write a valuable review that helps everyone!

Similar courses

Explore other courses in the same field!

Limited time deal

$165,000.00

25%

$169.40