Solution Engineer/ Sales Consultant

Elsevier is a global information analytics company serving research, academic, and clinical communities through technology, analytics, and content. The Solution Engineer/Sales Consultant partners with account managers to advance software sales opportunities by analyzing customer needs, delivering technical demonstrations and presentations, designing solutions, supporting tender processes, and facilitating implementation handoffs.

Responsibilities:

• Pre-sale: Prepares persona-tailored in-depth presentations and technical demos, informed by their in-depth needs analysis with the customer. Engages with Product/Marketing to ensure understanding of latest features and product roadmaps to be leveraged during sales conversations
• Sales: Review opportunity and account information in CRM to meet with Account Manager - Solutions and prepare for demo/technical discussion. Conduct demo and log all project requirements and customer needs in CRM
• Post-sales: Gathers insights from customer, Customer Success and Account Manager – Solutions on demo and value story and engages with Implementation Manager to ensure successful hand-off
• Drive technical sales process - Meeting with clients to discuss their software solution needs. Conducting detailed client discovery focused on the customer needs analysis & solution development in alignment with the Account Managers. Effectively communicating the value proposition to clients
• Support Account Manager- Drafting and delivering presentations with in-depth information on targeted software products, reflecting an in-depth understanding of client needs and how Elsevier solutions can fit in. Supporting the Account Manager with all technical related queries. Supporting User Group meetings, conferences, working closely with Marketing team on formulation of use cases, value proposition & client endorsement
• Drive tender process - Understanding of tender requirements, lead technical tender requirements and responses, close cooperation with tender team on tender write-ups
• Design solution and overall proposal to meet client needs and realize success & satisfaction - Perform the more technical parts of the sales process and design to the client’s needs and promised functionality of the solution, thereby achieving a high customer satisfaction based on client success metrics. Contribute to Product roadmap discussion and strategy; strategizing with the Sales & Product team to create feasible software solutions
• Provide support during implementation and post-installation – Ensure translation of client needs via handover to the implementation team & customer success manager; support the Implementation Manager and Customer Success Manager as needed in delivering a successful implementation
• Play an active role in generating referrals and reference customers – As a trusted partner during the pre-sales and handover process, aiming to have highly satisfied clients who generate referrals and become active reference customers. Support the finding of new potential clients through their network

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Software Engineering or Management Information Systems or similar field
• 5+ years of sales experience as a Solution Engineer/Pre-Sales Consultant or similar
• Ability to present ideas in a clean, user-friendly way
• Great communication skills
• Exceptional relationship building skills
• Fluent in English
• Extensive experience with selling, servicing, implementing software systems
• Proven experience in complex solution-sales approach - “consultative selling”
• Excellent analytical skills, attention to detail
• Excellent software demonstration and presentation skills
• Ability to create big-picture software solutions
• SaaS / Software as a Service experience is a plus
• Publishing expertise, experience with publishing systems and workflows is a plus
• Experienced in working in an international matrixed organisation is a plus