• Many products and services, especially those purchased by large companies and institutions, are highly complex.
• Sales engineers—also called technical sales support workers—determine how products and services could be designed or modified to suit customers' needs.
• They also may advise customers on how best to use the products or services provided.
• They possess extensive knowledge of these products, including knowledge about their components, functions, and the scientific processes that make them work.
• They use their technical skills to explain the benefits of their products to potential customers and to demonstrate how their products are better than the products of their competitors.
• Often, they modify and adjust products to meet customers’ specific needs.
• Some sales engineers work for the companies that design and build technical products, while others work for independent sales firms.
• Many of the duties of sales engineers are similar to those of other salespersons.
• They must interest the client in purchasing their products, negotiate a price, and complete the sale. Some sales engineers, however, are teamed with other salespersons who concentrate on marketing and selling the product, enabling the sales engineer to concentrate on the technical aspects of the job.
• By working on a sales team, each member is able to focus on his or her strengths and expertise.
• Sales engineers tend to employ selling techniques that are different from those used by most other sales workers.
• They generally use a “consultative” style; that is, they focus on the client's problem and show how it can be solved or mitigated with their product or service.
• This selling style differs from the “benefits and features” method, whereby the salesperson describes the product and leaves the customer to decide how it would be useful.
• In addition to retaining current clients and attracting new ones, sales engineers help clients solve any problems that arise when the product is installed.
• Afterward, they may continue to serve as a liaison between the client and their company.
• Increasingly, sales engineers are asked to undertake additional tasks related to sales, such as market research, because of their familiarity with clients' purchasing needs.
• Drawing on this same familiarity, sales engineers may help identify and develop new products.

• Job growth will stem from the increasing variety and technical nature of the goods and services to be sold.
• Competitive pressures and advancing technology will force companies to improve and update product designs more frequently and to optimize their manufacturing, sales processes, and general business processes, thus requiring the services of sales engineers.
• Growth will be fastest in technology companies, such as software publishers and computer systems design firms.
• Increasing demand for the latest, most sophisticated technological products will spur demand for sales engineers with expertise in the field.
• Conversely, as manufacturing organizations continue to outsource their sales functions to independent companies, employment in the manufacturing industry will fall.
• Competition for jobs is expected because the relatively high earnings potential of this occupation creates significant interest in sales engineer positions.
• Prospects will be best for those with the personal traits necessary for successful sales work.
• In addition to new positions created as companies expand their sales forces, some openings will arise each year from the need to replace sales engineers who transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force.

Other occupations that perform technical duties or sell products and services include Advertising sales agents; Engineers; Insurance sales Agents; Purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents; Sales representatives, wholesales and manufacturing; Sales worker supervisors; Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents; Real estate brokers and sales agents; Retail salesperson.

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering