Technical Sales

A key differentiator between Sales Engineers and other roles within the organization is that a Sales Engineer is usually compensated by salary plus commission as most Account Representatives are. This commission is usually paid out when the Account Representative is paid. Far less common is the case where a Sales Engineer is compensated with a base salary plus bonus. The bonus can be based upon the revenue generated within an assigned territory, set up as a Management By Objective(MBO) bonus, or a combination of the two. Either way, a Sales Engineer will make a base salary that is proportionally higher than their Account Representative counterparts, and much more than the traditional engineers in an organization.
Sales Engineers can spend 20-70% of their time traveling and work a flexible schedule due to the needs of the Sales organization they support. Most Sales Engineers telecommute or spend a limited amount of time in the office. Skills with teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and web conferencing (Webex, Live Meeting, etc.) are put to good use both on and off the road.
Sales Engineers, like their Account Representative counterparts, are hired based on their geographic location rather than their proximity to the corporate, or even regional, office. Working in another part of the country, or even outside the country, where the corporate offices are, a Sales Engineer may only make it to corporate once or twice each year