Sales Engineer Skill

5-Phase Workflow

Phase 1: Discovery & Research

Objective: Understand customer requirements, technical environment, and business drivers.

Checklist:

• Conduct technical discovery calls with stakeholders
• Map customer's current architecture and pain points
• Identify integration requirements and constraints
• Document security and compliance requirements
• Assess competitive landscape for this opportunity

Tools: Run rfp_response_analyzer.py to score initial requirement alignment.

python scripts/rfp_response_analyzer.py assets/sample_rfp_data.json --format json > phase1_rfp_results.json

Output: Technical discovery document, requirement map, initial coverage assessment.

Validation checkpoint: Coverage score must be >50% and must-have gaps ≤3 before proceeding to Phase 2. Check with:

python scripts/rfp_response_analyzer.py assets/sample_rfp_data.json --format json | python -c "import sys,json; r=json.load(sys.stdin); print('PROCEED' if r['coverage_score']>50 and r['must_have_gaps']<=3 else 'REVIEW')"

Phase 2: Solution Design

Objective: Design a solution architecture that addresses customer requirements.

Checklist:

• Map product capabilities to customer requirements
• Design integration architecture
• Identify customization needs and development effort
• Build competitive differentiation strategy
• Create solution architecture diagrams

Tools: Run competitive_matrix_builder.py using Phase 1 data to identify differentiators and vulnerabilities.

python scripts/competitive_matrix_builder.py competitive_data.json --format json > phase2_competitive.json

python -c "import json; d=json.load(open('phase2_competitive.json')); print('Differentiators:', d['differentiators']); print('Vulnerabilities:', d['vulnerabilities'])"

Output: Solution architecture, competitive positioning, technical differentiation strategy.

Validation checkpoint: Confirm at least one strong differentiator exists per customer priority before proceeding to Phase 3. If no differentiators found, escalate to Product Team (see Integration Points).

Phase 3: Demo Preparation & Delivery

Objective: Deliver compelling technical demonstrations tailored to stakeholder priorities.

Checklist:

• Build demo environment matching customer's use case
• Create demo script with talking points per stakeholder role
• Prepare objection handling responses
• Rehearse failure scenarios and recovery paths
• Collect feedback and adjust approach

Templates: Use assets/demo_script_template.md for structured demo preparation.

Output: Customized demo, stakeholder-specific talking points, feedback capture.