AmbitiousTarnished profile picture
AmbitiousTarnished profile picture

AmbitiousTarnished

Technical Presales Consultant

Praised Answer
Contributor
Fire Starter
+1

SE to AE?

Hey all, I'm new here please be gentle.


Around this time last year I accepted my current position as an SE for an ERP company. I come from retail sales management, and this is my first tech role so it's been a big learning curve.


I'm good at my job, and I enjoy it enough but my skillset and heart have always been on an AE role.


Does anybody have experience transitioning from SE to AE, is SDR a necessary step between?


Any advice would be welcome

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Pachacuti
Politicker
5
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
Your current company will probably want you to remain an SE so they don’t have to hire and train someone else. So to love to being an AE you will have to probably look outside your current company.

And no, you don’t have to be an SDR first.
TennisandSales
Politicker
2
Head Of Sales
This is really good insight. 

Most companies are not really good at helping their employees do what they want hhaha. 

but I think there is total potential to go from SE to AE. 


CaneWolf
Politicker
1
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
I actually don’t agree with this. There were some people who killed at one of my former employees that have previously been SEs. If somebody in the sales management org will let you do it AND you feel like you’ll get the support you need, do it.
Pachacuti
Politicker
0
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
I don’t disagree with you. A sales minded SE can kill it in sales. I have seen it.
That said, the vast majority of the companies I have been involved with would not provide much support to an SE moving to direct sales because it makes life difficult for them in the short term.
It should be that way, but it is.
E_Money
Big Shot
4
💰
To be honest I have not seen a post on this specific topic yet, so congratulations you are already ahead of most of the neanderthals in here!

As with any transition, you should consider all the factors and be sure to talk to the right people. Without knowing how complex your product/sales cycle is, it's hard to say whether or not SDR is a necessary step. But to figure that out you should express this interest to your manager and to the Sales Director/Manager as well. 

They (should) help you find the right path and get the proper professional development to make the move. If they don't then you've got other problems.

You've clearly already got a solid handle on the product as an SE which is an awesome head start. So it is more about the squeaky soft skills, which can also be learned!

Good luck and welcome to the WR fam
AmbitiousTarnished
Praised Answer
1
Technical Presales Consultant
@E_Money Thanks for the feedback 

I have expressed my interest in the move from the beginning to my manager and the sales leadership, and have been given the generic promise of "we're moving things around, when a spot opens up it's yours." So, we will see what happens there. 

Clearly it would be much easier to transition internally, but I'm really just afraid of waiting for that to happen and 5 years go by. 

I've been working on some certifications, and will definitely be joining 'Sales U.' Here's hoping I can update this post in a year as AE. 
E_Money
Big Shot
4
💰
Yeah we have all been there. 

It's all about how much you trust the leadership there as to whether or not the "moving things around" is just an empty excuse or things actually happening.

Personally I wouldn't put it off for too long, once you feel like you are ready then make that shit happen!
ClutchDeluxe
Valued Contributor
3
asking people for money
Some of the best sales people I have worked with had an SE/product background because they understand the product feature ~ benefit connection so well. Good luck!
AmbitiousTarnished
Praised Answer
1
Technical Presales Consultant
I appreciate the input, solidified that I’m making the right choices.

Ps. Glad I’m not the only one on here on the weekend.
ClutchDeluxe
Valued Contributor
1
asking people for money
It’s Monday in Australia, so sifting around here goofing off rather than working lmao
butwhy
Politicker
2
Solutions Engineer
I know lots of SEs who made this transition - mostly for the money, but also just because they resonated more with the closing aspect than the technical win. I recommend doing it at current company for a short time and then leveraging it somewhere else if you are looking. 

Just make sure you learn how to work with SEs again once you make the transition - gosh it is hard to work with a micromanager AE. 
AmbitiousTarnished
Praised Answer
0
Technical Presales Consultant
Do you think the experience gained as an SE helped those you know perform better?
butwhy
Politicker
1
Solutions Engineer
In some ways, sure - being a strong SE means you know value and you can talk about the product related to that value without parroting a slide deck. It also helps with pricing, understanding a complete solution and where the give and take might be. 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
🦊
Does your current company have any AE roles open? If so, apply. 
AmbitiousTarnished
Praised Answer
0
Technical Presales Consultant
There is a standing ‘opening’ on our current vacancies page internally, but the SVP of sales himself told me that’s never looked at. Wouldn’t hurt to do it anyways, good idea.
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
2
Officer of ♥️
"I'm new here please be gentle" I died
AmbitiousTarnished
Praised Answer
1
Technical Presales Consultant
Set the expectation low, you’ll never disappoint.
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
1
Officer of ♥️
expectations are everything
AmbitiousTarnished
Praised Answer
1
Technical Presales Consultant
I think it's also worth noting that Thomas Niewiara had a similar career path to this, so it's got to be possible!
TechSalesTom
Member
0
Creator
Yup I made the jump from AE to SE twice!
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
1
Officer of ♥️
I'd say go for it, start applying outside too

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