Eric Onomo

Eric

Onomo

Senior Sales Engineer, Africa

I like new challenges but not routines. If I am to do the same thing every day, I tend to question how things stand in order to keep my brain busy and active.

When you believe in what you are doing, motivation is endless, which helps you forget about sleeping hours, and think out of the box to achieve surprising results.

The misconception about a sales engineer’s work originates from its name, as people may not easily apprehend the boundary between sales and engineering. Within the company, sales engineers seem to have two identities – a colleague from Sales in the eyes of Engineering/Operations, and vice versa. Outside the company, people tend to see sales engineering as an operation support role. Sometimes it is this pendulum which makes the role an exciting one.

As a sales engineer who supports the sales team, you play different roles – the “Smart one” when you have a brilliant solution to propose; the “Fine one” when the only technical solution available requires some strategies to sell; or the “Bad cop” when no solution is available for you to communicate to the teams. Needless to say, being the “Bad cop” is a challenging one, especially when there is hopeful expectation from the teams, although this is a rare occasion!

Exploring the landscape from a balcony is a very inspiring way to unwind yourself. Depending on your luck, you can see a flying hawk, a barking dog, a pedestrian on the street or even a cat catching a bird. Take a break from your current situation and enjoy life as it comes!