Podcast Episodes

In this episode of “Altar of the Demo Gods,” hosts Keith and John discuss the challenges of being sales engineers on the road, including the confusion of forgetting what day it is or what state they’re in. They also briefly touch on the topic of career paths for SEs, followed by a longer discussion on the core competencies an SE should have. Tune in to hear their experiences and insights on the life of a traveling SE.

What You’ll Learn
The listener will learn about the core competencies and traits that are important for sales engineers, including communication skills, active listening, and the ability to articulate complex ideas simply. They will also learn about the importance of understanding the sales process, conducting research, and setting objectives. Additionally, the episode touches on the value of public speaking skills and the benefits of role-playing and practice in various scenarios. The episode also briefly mentions upcoming topics such as demystifying the cloud and different cloud services.

In this episode of “Altar of the Demo Gods,” hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton dive into the topic of exploring career paths and opportunities in sales engineering. They start off by recapping their previous episode, where they discussed the evolution of sales engineering and what it entails. They also introduce the concept of OKR (Objectives, Key Results, and Initiatives) as a framework for success. Building on this, they suggest using OTE (On-Target Earnings) as the acronym for this episode, reflecting the importance of career growth. Tune in to gain insights into the diverse paths available in the sales engineering field.

What You’ll Learn
The listener will learn about exploring career paths and opportunities in sales engineering, the structure of compensation in software sales, the transition into a sales engineering role, different aspects of software sales, the speaker’s transition from a cybersecurity practitioner to a sales engineer, different roles and responsibilities within the sales engineering field, the role of a POC specialist, the importance of finding a specialty within sales engineering, the challenges and responsibilities of managing a team of SEs, the importance of empathy and communication skills in sales engineering, and the importance of working with AI in shaping career paths.