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Your go-to source for insights, strategies, and real-world perspectives on the evolving role of Sales Engineers.
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Sales Leadership Development: Building Programs That Stick
Build a sales leadership development program with coaching systems, leadership competencies, mastermind formats and metrics that prove results.
14 min read >
Proof of Concept Plan Template: Steps, Timeline and KPIs
Use this proof of concept plan template to set scope, timeline, roles, success criteria and KPIs, plus steps for filling it out before your POC starts.
17 min read >
8 POC Examples Every Solution Engineer Should Know
8 real-world POC examples for Solution Engineers, with goals, artifacts, outcomes and lessons you can apply to your next technical win.
15 min read >
Sales Enablement Content Explained for PreSales Teams
Sales Enablement Content explained for SEs and PreSales leaders: asset types, deal use, measurement and a program that lasts.
17 min read >
Thank You for the Great Time: 8 Templates for SEs
Thank you for the great time earns a reply only when the follow-up carries a next step. Eight SE templates for discovery, demos, and POC kickoffs.
13 min read >
Business Term Delta: What It Means and How to Use It
Business term delta explained: how delta differs from variance, KPIs and sensitivity, and how SEs translate it into value business leaders trust.
13 min read >
Symptom vs Cause in Discovery and POCs
Symptom vs cause for Solution Engineers: classify the deal signal, choose a diagnostic method, and test that the fix stops recurrence.
13 min read >
Build vs. Buy in the AI Era: How SEs Should Handle the "We'll Just Vibe-Code It" Objection
AI made the first version of software almost free. It didn't make running it cheap — and that gap decides whether you win or lose the build-or-buy conversation.
8 min read >
Whats a Good Story? a B2B Sales Engineer's Framework
Learn whats a good story in B2B sales: a repeatable structure, audience fit, and adaptable examples for SEs running discovery, demos and briefings.
15 min read >
10 Sales Discovery Questions for Solution Engineers
Ten sales discovery questions for Solution Engineers, grouped by business impact, architecture, risk, and success, with phrasing for your next call.
15 min read >
8 Sales and Marketing Alignment Statistics for 2026
Eight sales and marketing alignment statistics from Gartner, Salesforce, and Forrester, plus what each means for SE discovery and technical wins.
15 min read >
Product Discovery Frameworks: Which One Your SE Team Needs
Compare JTBD, Opportunity Solution Trees, Design Sprints and Lean discovery, and learn which product discovery frameworks fit PreSales deal qualification.
16 min read >
How to Get a Demo That Earns a Technical Win
Learn how to get a demo that qualifies the deal, proves the workflow, and ends in a technical win. A PreSales playbook for Solution Engineers.
12 min read >
Demonstrate to Win with Buyer-Specific Proof
Demonstrate to win by tying demos to buyer outcomes, clear choreography, and KPIs that move a B2B deal toward a technical win.
11 min read >
How to Give a Killer Presentation as a Solution Engineer
Learn how to give a killer presentation in PreSales: structure slides, tell the story, rehearse, and handle Q&A with confidence.
13 min read >
Skill vs. Will, Usage Pricing and AI Adoption: What SE Leaders Brought Home from London
Close to 40 SE leaders in the Royal Exchange and 601 people at DEMOFEST London. We came home with five ideas any SE leader can use, starting with a story about surgeons washing their hands.
10 min read >
Solution Engineer Certification: A Practical Buyer's Guide
Solution engineer certification options compared honestly. Vendor, vendor-neutral, and internal tracks — with real ROI criteria and a decision framework
13 min read >
Laggards Early Adopters
Laggards early adopters. Learn how laggards and early adopters shape B2B PreSales. Practical strategies to adapt discovery, demos, and proofs
11 min read >
Discovery Call Framework: A PreSales Playbook
Learn the discovery call framework to structure pre-sales conversations, uncover customer pain points, and qualify opportunities effectively.
14 min read >
Need Base Selling
Need base selling. Need based selling for Solution Engineers: a practitioner's guide to uncovering needs, qualifying opportunities, and tailoring technical
13 min read >
Solutions Selling Methodology: An SE Field Guide
A practitioner's guide to solutions selling methodology for SEs — principles, process stages, and how PreSales teams run discovery, demo, and POC.
12 min read >
Heuristics and Biases in PreSales: A Practical Guide
How heuristics and biases quietly shape PreSales decisions, and what Solution Engineers and SE leaders can do to improve discovery, demos, and technical wins.
14 min read >
Customer Centric Selling for SEs That Wins Deals
Customer centric selling explained for SEs. Learn discovery, demo, and validation tactics that earn the technical win.
11 min read >
Entry Exit Criteria for Presales: A Practical Guide
Entry Exit Criteria. Learn how to use entry and exit criteria in presales to qualify discovery, demos, POCs, and pilots. Stop wasting time
9 min read >
8 Trust Building Exercise Ideas for SE Calls and Demos
Eight trust building exercise ideas for SEs in calls, demos, and stakeholder meetings, each with steps, pitfalls, and a clear first move.
12 min read >
POC Success Criteria Template for PreSales Deals
A practitioner-ready poc success criteria template plus step-by-step instructions to define, align, and measure POC exit criteria on active PreSales deals.
13 min read >
Technical Sales Enablement for Solution Engineers
Practical technical sales enablement playbook for Solution Engineers. Build skills, tools, and habits that lift technical win rate.
13 min read >
Sales Coaching for Managers That Drives Real Results
Sales coaching for managers who lead PreSales teams. Frameworks, rhythms, observation templates, and KPIs that change behavior, not just call reviews.
13 min read >
Forward Deployed Engineers vs. Solutions Engineers: Five Real Differences, One Shared Core
OpenAI, Anthropic and Databricks are hiring FDEs by the dozen. Here's where the role differs from yours and where it's the same job, plus why FDE engagements fail.
12 min read >
8 KPI Reporting Examples for PreSales Teams
Explore 8 KPI reporting examples for PreSales and sales teams, with sample metrics, interpretation guidance, presentation tips, and practical takeaways.
19 min read >
Pre Call Planning: A Technical Win Guide for SEs
Master pre call planning with a structured checklist and templates for SEs and AEs. Drive discovery, align roles, and secure the technical win.
14 min read >
Software Sales Demo: How to Influence Deals
A practical guide to software sales demos for Solution Engineers. Learn demo types, discovery-first preparation, and patterns that drive technical wins.
13 min read >
What Is Sales Enablement and Why It Matters for SEs
What is sales enablement? A clear, practitioner-level guide for Solution Engineers covering definition, scope, KPIs, and how it shapes PreSales performance.
15 min read >
B2B Sales Coaching for PreSales Teams
Run effective b2b sales coaching for Solution Engineers. Learn how to structure cadence, coach discovery and demos, and measure the technical win.
14 min read >
10 Essential B2B Sales Skills Every SE Needs in 2026
Master the 10 b2b sales skills Solution Engineers need—from structured discovery to negotiation—and find top learning resources for each.
19 min read >
Sales Engineer Career: The Complete Guide for 2026
Build a sales engineer career in B2B SaaS. Learn progression paths, skills to master, certifications, and how to move from IC to leadership.
12 min read >
Hours Saved Aren't Money Saved: Why Admin-Time ROI Math Fails in PreSales
Multiplying admin hours by an hourly rate makes a big number on a slide and falls apart the moment a CFO asks where the money actually goes. Here's what to put there instead.
9 min read >
Value Selling Training: A Practical Guide for SEs
Value selling training for Solution Engineers: what it covers, the curriculum that sticks, and how to embed value-based selling in demos and discovery.
15 min read >
7 Best Sales Training Programs for PreSales Teams
Compare 7 best sales training programs for PreSales teams by focus, format, strengths, trade-offs, and fit for your next enablement decision.
16 min read >
Technical Sales Training for PreSales Teams
Technical sales training built for B2B SaaS PreSales teams. Learn what it covers, who needs it, and how to run blended enablement that drives the technical win.
14 min read >
Spaced Repetition Schedule for Sales Enablement
Build a spaced repetition schedule that actually sticks. Practical cadence, intervals, and KPIs for sales engineering teams and ongoing PreSales enablement.
12 min read >
The Solution Consultant Role in B2B SaaS
Solution Consultant Role. Learn what a solution consultant does, how it differs from SE and AE, the skills it requires, and the value it brings
13 min read >
Sales Onboarding Program: The SE Playbook
Design a scalable sales onboarding program for Solution Engineers. A practitioner playbook covering ramp timelines, role-based paths, and reinforcement
13 min read >
8 Sales Engineer KPI Metrics That Prove Impact
Track sales engineer kpi metrics with definitions, calculation examples, benchmarks, and reporting tactics that connect PreSales work to technical wins.
16 min read >
Demo Skills Training That Drives Technical Wins
Learn how to design demo skills training that sticks — curriculum, roleplays, feedback loops and assessment to help SEs earn the technical win.
14 min read >
What a Good Head of Solution Engineering Job Ad Looks Like
We took apart a real Head of Solution Engineering posting — published pay bands, a build-something-first challenge, and a scope that quietly contains three jobs — and pulled out what to copy.
9 min read >
Sales Training for B2B That Actually Changes Behavior
Sales training for B2B fails without reinforcement. Learn how to design, deliver and sustain programs that build technical wins and quota impact.
12 min read >
B2B Sales Training: Components, Tracks, and Outcomes
A practitioner guide to b2b sales training for SEs and AEs, covering core components, role tracks, delivery models, and the outcomes you should expect.
13 min read >
How to Build a PreSales Career When There Is No Path to Follow
Nobody hands out a degree in Solution Engineering — so what actually moves a PreSales career? One path from Germany's lowest school track to VP, back to IC, and out the other side.
12 min read >
How to Build a PreSales Career When There Is No Career Path
Nobody certifies Solution Engineers. There's no degree, no apprenticeship, no ladder — so here's the loop that actually produces a PreSales career, and the parts of it you can copy.
10 min read >
Why PreSales Leaders Need a Peer Group — and How to Build One That Works
An SE leader at a 2,000-person software company might have two or three real peers. A developer in the same building has 400. Here's how we closed that gap for 250 leaders — and what you can copy.
8 min read >
Lies in PreSales? The Uncomfortable Truth About Sales, Cost Centers and the Technical Win
A CRO with 30 years on the other side of the PreSales budget takes apart five provocations — from strategic silence in front of the customer to why your AE-to-SE ratio is really a qualification problem.
10 min read >
Macro, Micro, AI: What CROs Actually Want From PreSales Now
Geopolitics, frozen budgets and agentic AI all land on the same desk — and the only filter that turns that noise into decisions is a brutally honest Ideal Customer Profile.
11 min read >
AI in B2B Sales Is a Leadership Job, Not a PreSales Side Project
One seller organizes a used-car purchase with agents while another is banned from transcribing calls — and the gap between them is a leadership decision, not a tooling problem.
10 min read >
From Top Performer to First-Line Leader: What Companies Get Wrong About the Most Important Promotion in B2B Software
The best AE or SE on your team is usually the worst-prepared first-line manager you can hire — and the bill for finding that out the hard way runs into seven figures.
12 min read >
Should Solution Engineers Talk About Price?
Quoting a number to the customer is the AE's job. Knowing what the deal is worth is yours — and most SE organizations have the two backwards.
9 min read >
Do LLMs Give Good Demo Advice? Context Is the Whole Answer
A one-line prompt got a decent demo tip out of Claude — and started a fight in the comments. The real lesson isn't about AI at all: it's about how much you dare to leave out.
9 min read >
PreSales From the Partner Side: What Solution Engineers Can Learn From Life Beyond the Vendor
Most SE playbooks assume you work for the software vendor. Working at an implementation partner flips the incentives — and reveals what being a trusted advisor actually costs and what AI is about to change.
9 min read >
How to Orchestrate a PreSales Team: A Leader's Playbook for Direction, Rhythm, and Coverage
Great SE team management isn't about handing out tasks and running meetings — it's about creating identification, clarity, and a rhythm that turns a group of individuals into a team that wins together.
8 min read >
The Problem With MEDDICC: Why PreSales Is the Missing Piece in Value Selling
MEDDICC isn't broken — but the way most sales organizations roll it out is. Here's how to turn empty CRM fields into real value discovery, and why Solution Engineers are the ones to do it.
9 min read >
How Are Solution Engineering Leaders Actually Using AI?
Everyone has the AI tools — so why don't most SE teams actually get better? Ten enterprise SaaS SE leaders on the real unlocks: solving the context problem, building a bottom-up operating model, and using AI to go deeper, not just faster.
8 min read >
What Skills Will Solution Engineers Need in the Age of AI?
AI is absorbing the technical and domain work solution engineers were hired for. A dozen enterprise SE leaders on the human skills that become the real moat — sharp discovery, business acumen, stakeholder management, value translation, and leading change.
8 min read >
From Measurement to Mastery: Rolling Out a PreSales KPI System
A pragmatic 90-day rollout for a PreSales KPI system: start narrow, sequence Adoption to Behaviour to Impact, and make enablement the engine.
10 min read >
Scaling KPIs Without Scaling Admin
Stop measuring CRM discipline. Instrument the workflow — capture KPI signal as a by-product of real work with conversation intelligence.
10 min read >
KPI Pairing & Integrity: Don't Let One Number Wreck the System
Andy Grove's pairing rule for PreSales: every KPI needs a counter-metric, or the team optimizes the number and hurts the business.
8 min read >
Qualitative Metrics: Making Discovery & Demo Quality Coachable
How to make discovery and demo quality observable and coachable — with rubrics, AE-to-SE NPS, and handoff completeness.
9 min read >
Advanced & Future-State Metrics: Value Realization & Beyond
Future-state PreSales metrics — time to first value, early-stage churn, the value realization gap, and AI signals — that connect SE work to life after signature.
8 min read >
Operational Metrics: Capacity, Coverage & the AE:SE Ratio
Utilization, attach rate, the AE:SE ratio and demo deflection — the operational signals that keep an SE team's capacity healthy.
9 min read >
Leading Indicators: Predicting Wins Before They Happen
The leading indicators — Compelling Event quality, MEDDPICC, multi-threading, POC criteria — that let SE leaders predict the quarter before it's lost.
9 min read >
Lagging Indicators: Proving PreSales Revenue Impact
The lagging indicators that prove PreSales impact and win budget: SE-attached win rate and revenue, deal-size lift, and cycle velocity.
8 min read >
The North Star: SE-Attached & Technical Win Rate
SE-Attached Win Rate and Technical Win Rate are the North Star metrics for PreSales — why you must separate what the SE owns from what they don't.
8 min read >
The Metrics Gap: Why Most PreSales Teams Are Measured Wrong
Most PreSales teams are measured on the wrong things — raw activity or a commercial win rate they don't control. Here's the metrics gap, and the four-lens system that closes it.
8 min read >
The GUI Is Dead. Long Live the API. — A Reality Check on the State of SaaS Innovation
Most SaaS vendors are still shipping like it's 2019 — while a non-coder with Claude Code can spin up a working app in two hours. Tim and Jan unpack what the widening innovation gap means for SEs, which half of the job is about to disappear, and the two buying criteria that should worry every vendor.
12 min read >
Consultant or Salesperson? How Sybit Reinvented PreSales and Why They'd Never Go Back
SAP partner Sybit split PreSales from Solution Consulting and gave the team no sales quota. PreSales lead Saskia Cempel breaks down why, how they did it, and why she'd never go back.
9 min read >
Scaling a Sales Engineering Team from 3 to 30: A PreSales Leader's Playbook
Lucanet's Tobias Stölkler scaled PreSales from 3 to 30 SEs in two years — by hiring controllers instead of sales engineers, fighting internally for team leads at 13 direct reports, and building a quality system that doesn't need him in the room. Here's the playbook, plus what he sees differently now that he's running Sales.
15 min read >
Demo Training for Solution Engineers: Who Should You Actually Pay?
Demo2Win!, Great Demo!, Six Habits — and us. Five parameters, four providers, one honest comparison. Including where the competition wins.
10 min read >
When the GUI Disappears: How the Solution Consultant Role Changes in an Agentic AI World
The GUI was always a crutch. Agentic AI is removing it. What happens to the Solution Consultant when there's nothing left to demo?
7 min read >
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