In this episode of Altar of the Demo Gods, hosts Keith Wilson and John Morton welcome Ahmed Usmani, a Senior Sales Engineer with over a decade of experience in both technical support and sales engineering. The conversation covers Ahmed's unique career journey and insights into the role of a sales engineer, from his beginnings in platinum-level support to becoming a cloud success coordinator and ultimately a senior sales engineer.

The episode provides valuable lessons for both aspiring and seasoned sales engineers, especially about transitioning from technical roles into sales. Ahmed shares his experiences with learning the sales cycle, navigating sales processes, and the importance of being a fixer—someone who can bridge gaps between teams, solve technical problems, and still maintain excellent relationships with customers.

Some key topics include:

• Transitioning from Support to Sales Engineering: Ahmed explains how his technical background in security and cloud infrastructure laid a solid foundation for his sales career.
• Learning Business Acumen and Sales Cycles: Ahmed highlights how working with sales leaders and mentors helped him gain the business knowledge needed for success.
• The Importance of Relationships and Teamwork: Ahmed emphasizes that internal collaboration and shared knowledge are key to winning deals and creating successful outcomes.
• Navigating Sales as a Fixer: The importance of being both technical and people-oriented, with the ability to handle tough customer situations.
• Sets and Reps in Sales: Ahmed talks about the need for repetition to hone skills in both technical support and sales, stressing that ongoing learning and practice are essential.