---
name: sales-engineer
description: Expert sales engineering covering technical demos, solution design, RFP responses, POC management, and technical objection handling.
version: 1.0.0
author: Claude Skills
category: sales-success
tags: [sales, technical, demos, rfp, poc, solutions]
---

# Sales Engineer

Expert-level technical sales support.

## Core Competencies

- Technical demonstrations
- Solution architecture
- RFP/RFI responses
- POC management
- Technical objection handling
- Competitive positioning
- Customer requirements analysis
- Cross-functional collaboration

## Discovery Process

### Technical Discovery Questions

**Environment:**
- What systems do you currently use?
- How are they integrated?
- What's your tech stack?
- What security/compliance requirements?

**Requirements:**
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- What does success look like?
- What are your must-haves vs nice-to-haves?
- What's your timeline?

**Decision Process:**
- Who else is involved in this decision?
- What's your evaluation process?
- What other solutions are you considering?
- What would make this a no-brainer?

### Discovery Template

```markdown
# Technical Discovery: [Company Name]

## Company Overview
- Industry: [Industry]
- Size: [Employees]
- Tech maturity: [Low/Medium/High]

## Current State
- Systems: [List]
- Pain points: [List]
- Workflows: [Description]

## Requirements

### Must Have
1. [Requirement]
2. [Requirement]

### Nice to Have
1. [Requirement]

## Technical Environment
- Cloud: [AWS/GCP/Azure/On-prem]
- Languages: [Languages]
- Integrations needed: [Systems]

## Success Criteria
- [Metric 1]: [Target]
- [Metric 2]: [Target]

## Timeline
- Decision: [Date]
- Implementation: [Date]
- Go-live: [Date]

## Next Steps
- [ ] [Action item]
```

## Demo Excellence

### Demo Preparation

```markdown
# Demo Plan: [Company Name]

## Attendees
| Name | Role | Priorities |
|------|------|------------|
| [Name] | [Role] | [What they care about] |

## Agenda (60 min)
1. Discovery recap (5 min)
2. Solution overview (10 min)
3. Use case demo (30 min)
4. Q&A (10 min)
5. Next steps (5 min)

## Use Cases to Demo
1. [Use case]: [Pain point it addresses]
2. [Use case]: [Pain point it addresses]
3. [Use case]: [Pain point it addresses]

## Competitive Differentiators
- vs [Competitor]: [Our advantage]

## Potential Objections
| Objection | Response |
|-----------|----------|
| [Objection] | [Response] |

## Demo Environment
- Instance: [URL]
- Data: [Test data to use]
- Features to show: [List]

## Success =
[What does a successful demo look like?]
```

### Demo Structure

```
1. CONNECT (5 min)
   - Recap discovery
   - Confirm priorities
   - Set agenda

2. CONTEXT (5 min)
   - "Based on what you shared..."
   - Frame the solution

3. SHOW (30 min)
   - Start with the "wow"
   - Tell a story, don't feature dump
   - Match to their use cases
   - Involve the audience

4. SUMMARIZE (5 min)
   - Recap value
   - Address concerns
   - Trial/POC discussion

5. CLOSE (5 min)
   - Clear next steps
   - Timeline alignment
   - Owner assignment
```

### Demo Best Practices

**Do:**
- Start with their problem
- Use their terminology
- Show the "aha" moment early
- Involve the audience
- Handle questions gracefully

**Don't:**
- Feature dump
- Rush through
- Ignore questions
- Over-promise
- Bad-mouth competitors

## POC Management

### POC Framework

```markdown
# POC Plan: [Company Name]

## Objectives
- Primary: [Objective]
- Secondary: [Objective]

## Success Criteria
| Criteria | Target | Measurement |
|----------|--------|-------------|
| [Criteria] | [Target] | [How to measure] |

## Scope
### In Scope
- [Item]
- [Item]

### Out of Scope
- [Item]

## Timeline
| Phase | Duration | Dates |
|-------|----------|-------|
| Setup | 1 week | [Dates] |
| Testing | 2 weeks | [Dates] |
| Evaluation | 1 week | [Dates] |

## Resources
- Customer: [Names/roles]
- Our team: [Names/roles]

## Technical Setup
- Environment: [Details]
- Data: [What data to use]
- Integrations: [What to connect]

## Check-in Schedule
- Kickoff: [Date]
- Weekly sync: [Day/Time]
- Final review: [Date]

## Risks
| Risk | Mitigation |
|------|------------|
| [Risk] | [Plan] |
```

### POC Success Metrics

```
TECHNICAL SUCCESS
- Feature requirements met: X/Y
- Performance benchmarks: Pass/Fail
- Integration completed: Yes/No

BUSINESS SUCCESS
- Time savings demonstrated: X%
- Ease of use rating: X/5
- Stakeholder approval: Yes/No

RELATIONSHIP SUCCESS
- Engagement level: High/Medium/Low
- Champion identified: Yes/No
- Decision maker engaged: Yes/No
```

## RFP Response

### RFP Response Template

```markdown
# RFP Response: [Company Name]

## Executive Summary
[2-3 paragraphs summarizing fit]

## Company Overview
[About your company]

## Solution Overview
[How you address their needs]

## Requirements Response

| ID | Requirement | Response | Notes |
|----|-------------|----------|-------|
| R1 | [Req] | Full/Partial/Roadmap | [Details] |
| R2 | [Req] | Full/Partial/Roadmap | [Details] |

## Implementation Approach
[How you'll implement]

## Support & Services
[What support you provide]

## Pricing
[Pricing summary]

## References
[Customer references]

## Appendix
[Additional materials]
```

### Response Categories

```
FULL: We fully meet this requirement today
PARTIAL: We partially meet this, with [explanation]
ROADMAP: This is on our roadmap for [timeframe]
PARTNER: We address this via [partner]
N/A: Not applicable to our solution
```

## Objection Handling

### Common Objections

| Objection | Response Framework |
|-----------|-------------------|
| "Too expensive" | Value justification + ROI |
| "Missing feature X" | Workaround + roadmap |
| "We use competitor Y" | Differentiation + migration ease |
| "Security concerns" | Certifications + architecture |
| "Implementation risk" | Success stories + support |

### LAER Framework

```
L - Listen
  - Let them finish
  - Take notes
  - Show empathy

A - Acknowledge
  - "I understand your concern"
  - Validate the point

E - Explore
  - "Can you tell me more?"
  - Understand root cause

R - Respond
  - Address specifically
  - Provide evidence
  - Offer alternatives
```

## Technical Content

### Competitive Battle Card

```markdown
# Competitive Battle Card: [Competitor]

## Quick Facts
- Founded: [Year]
- Employees: [Number]
- Funding: [Amount]
- Customers: [Number]

## Their Strengths
- [Strength 1]
- [Strength 2]

## Their Weaknesses
- [Weakness 1]
- [Weakness 2]

## Our Differentiators
| Area | Us | Them |
|------|-----|------|
| [Area] | [Our approach] | [Their approach] |

## Common Objections
| Objection | Response |
|-----------|----------|
| "[Objection]" | "[Response]" |

## Landmines to Set
- "[Question to ask prospect]"

## Reference Customers
- [Customer] who switched from [Competitor]
```

## Reference Materials

- `references/demo_playbook.md` - Demo best practices
- `references/objections.md` - Objection handling guide
- `references/competitive.md` - Competitive intelligence
- `references/rfp_templates.md` - RFP response templates

## Scripts

```bash
# Demo environment setup
python scripts/demo_setup.py --customer "Customer Name" --use-cases uc1,uc2

# RFP analyzer
python scripts/rfp_analyzer.py --rfp rfp.pdf --output requirements.csv

# POC tracker
python scripts/poc_tracker.py --customer "Customer Name" --status update

# Competitive comparison
python scripts/competitive_compare.py --competitor "Competitor Name"
```