262: You Have To Understand The Tools At Your Fingertips with Ramzi Marjaba

Phil's guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Ramzi Marjaba, Senior Sales Engineer for Keysight Technologies, where he helps customers to diagnose problems and then build a vision of the required solution. He is also the creator of the website WeTheSalesEngineers and its corresponding podcast, which seeks to help other sales engineers develop and improve their careers.   KEY TAKEAWAYS:   (2:35) TOP CAREER TIP Although the world is headed to a more tech-driven destination, we must always endeavor to work on the human side of business, developing skills such as communication, persuasion and demonstration.   (6:20) WORST CAREER MOMENT A technical error can lead to disaster, as was almost the case with a simple mouse-click for Ramzi. It's important to know the tools that you're using, and understand what the potential consequences can be.   (8:19) CAREER HIGHLIGHT The bane of every sales engineer is to perform a demonstration with little information going in. Ramzi chose to forego the misinformation he'd been given on one occasion, and focused instead of the small data he did have. It led to success and a subsequent sale.   (13:15) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T IT is an ever-evolving industry, being led and shaped by technological advances. If we strive to maintain our own development in this area, then we will be taken along in that growth, and find our skills energized naturally.   (14:25) THE REVEAL What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Sales engineers are rewarded for being more pro-active in terms of sales, plus the projects are far more varied. What's the best career advice you received? – Make sure you never reveal too much to your customers about advances in the pipeline. It can stifle contemporary interest. What's the worst career advice you received? – Spray-And-Pray approaches to demonstrations never work. Always do your advance preparation instead of presenting irrelevant data. What would you do if you started your career now? – Go into sales engineering sooner, and do the best you can to achieve certification. What are your current career objectives? – To help as many sales engineers to become better at what they do, and to provide a wealth of resources. What's your number one non-technical skill? – Listening  - the importance of listening and understanding people cannot be overstated. How do you keep your own career energized? – Always endeavor to learn from other people through conversations. What do you do away from technology? – Family time is important. When lockdown is over, physical wellbeing will be another priority.   (21:35) FINAL CAREER TIP Learn how to communicate with people effectively. Approach each conversation with an objective, and figure out the best way to persuade that person to complete that objective. Always work on how to communicate in better ways.   BEST MOMENTS   (2:10) – Ramzi- "I'm more like the doctor who tries to understand and prescribe a solution" (7:52) – Ramzi - "I always make sure I know the tools I'm using!" (9:51) – Ramzi - "I didn't need to do that 90%. They just wanted to see the results" (12:28) – Ramzi - "The salespeople are in a hurry to sell, and the customers are in a hurry to solve their problems" (16:04) – Ramzi - "Solve the problem with what you have today, not with what might be coming down the line"   ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organizations to design, develop, and implement software solutions.  Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers.  And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.   CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/philtechcareer LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess Facebook: https://facebook.com/philtechcareer Instagram: https://instagram.com/philtechcareer Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact   Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast's website, https://itcareerenergizer.com Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer   ABOUT THE GUEST – RAMZI MARJABA Ramzi Marjaba is a Senior Sales Engineer for Keysight Technologies where he helps customers to diagnose problems and then build a vision of the required solution.   He is also the creator of the website WeTheSalesEngineers.com, and its corresponding podcast, to help other Sales Engineers develop and improve their careers.   CONTACT THE GUEST – RAMZI MARJABA Ramzi Marjaba can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:   Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeTheSEs LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramzimarjaba?originalSubdomain=ca Website: https://wethesalesengineers.com