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Outside sales engineer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Jonathan Byers,

Kaustav Misra Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical outside sales engineer skills. We ranked the top skills for outside sales engineers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 9.5% of outside sales engineer resumes contained customer relationships as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an outside sales engineer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 outside sales engineer skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Relationships

Customer relationships are the interactions and efforts made by a company to improve its customer service. Customer relationships cover not just all of the essential roles performed by customer support, but also the initiatives made before and after the interaction with a customer.

Here's how outside sales engineers use customer relationships:

Maintain existing customer relationships, and develop a new customer base in Hudson Valley of NY and Northern NJ.
Established, built and maintained long-term customer relationships in order to improve ABB's opportunities for sales and profits.

2. HVAC

Here's how outside sales engineers use hvac:

Assisted Mechanical Engineers in the detailed design of HVAC systems and in preparation of mechanical specifications.
Represented the HVAC products carried by Ace Mechanical.

3. Product Line

Product line is a collection of similar or related products that may be under a single brand manufactured by the same company. It may include different varieties of a specific product of a brand which comes in different categories. In other cases, the product line may differ in some characteristics despite being from the same manufacturer.

Here's how outside sales engineers use product line:

Communicated with Plants, Product Lines, and Management to provide timely service and innovative ideas for the customers I support.
Managed and consistently grew dynamic customer base and expanded product lines with new technologies and new product development.

4. CRM

CRM stands for Customer relationship management and it is a complete process through which a business or organization monitors and administers its interactions with the customers. A process in which large amounts of data are collected through marketing via a company's website, polls, surveys, and other social media applications. The basic goal of CRM is to target the right audience for their product, and then fulfill their needs, to increase the sales and revenue of the company.

Here's how outside sales engineers use crm:

Designed and maintained corporate CRM, customer quoting and invoicing systems for inside, outside sales teams, including accounting.
Increased revenue by developing better understanding of buying trends and customer decision-makers by instituting CRM and sales tracking software.

5. Trade Shows

Here's how outside sales engineers use trade shows:

Planned and executed special events and trade shows that assisted clients in establishing community recognition
Represented Huntington at local and national trade shows in a supervisory capacity.

6. Territory Sales

Here's how outside sales engineers use territory sales:

Generated and executed sales plans in existing customer base and in assigned accounts to meet defined territory sales goals.
Increased territory sales by 15% in first year while generating new business ventures with new clientele.

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7. Control Systems

Here's how outside sales engineers use control systems:

Trouble shooting and repair of industrial and commercial control systems.
Engineered control systems and instrumentation for process control industries and boiler rooms.

8. Technical Presentations

Here's how outside sales engineers use technical presentations:

Prepared and delivered technical presentations that explain products and services to customers and prospective customers.
Generate technical presentations and meet with engineering staff to present proposals for efficient upgrades.

9. Account Management

The process of strengthening the relationship between a company and client is called account management. Effective account management has two key objectives, one is to retain loyal customers and the second one is to help the company grow by creating connections with new customers.

Here's how outside sales engineers use account management:

Account management and development for key building owner decision makers in all major vertical markets.
Account Management experience included travel to Japan and Korea.

10. Customer Satisfaction

Here's how outside sales engineers use customer satisfaction:

Facilitated with service center on customer behalf; arranged for technician dispatch, monitored issues and assured resolution and customer satisfaction.
Maintained cooperative working relationships with all necessary departments to ensure sales are generated and are processed efficiently to achieve customer satisfaction.

11. Product Knowledge

Product knowledge is the skill of having better information and knowledge about the product you are selling. Product knowledge is essential for the employees of the companies so they can communicate and inform the customers about the product. Having great product knowledge is essential for a better sales pitch and to give the customer a better and complete idea of the product that will influence him to buy the product eventually.

Here's how outside sales engineers use product knowledge:

Developed and implemented successful training initiatives, integral to promoting high productivity levels while ensuring strong product knowledge among team.
Developed profitable relationships with current and prospective customers, and provide exceptional customer support through attentiveness and extensive product knowledge.

12. Technical Support

Technical support or tech support are the services provided by any hardware or software company to users. They help in solving the technical difficulties the customers face with their products or services. Moreover, the tech support employees maintain, manage, and repair the IT faults. They are also responsible for resolving the network problems, installing and configuring hardware and software.

Here's how outside sales engineers use technical support:

Direct sales, marketing and technical support of electronic automation equipment.
Provided technical support and procurement assistance to customers.

13. OEM

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer and is a term for a company that produces and markets the parts of equipment for another company after having received the go-ahead to do so. The company can also produce devices from the combination of parts from different companies while in partnership with these companies. This is common in the computer hardware industry and is popular in the automobile and computer industries.

Here's how outside sales engineers use oem:

Evaluate applications in the field and suggest solutions to OEM and Industrial accounts.
Landed largest OEM in the Toledo Glass industry and grew sales from $0 to $250,000 in first 12 months.

14. Sales Plan

Here's how outside sales engineers use sales plan:

Created sales plans, directed activities, and set expectations for distributors.
Gathered detailed information through telemarketing and developed a cost effective sales plan to achieve goals.

15. Sales Presentations

Here's how outside sales engineers use sales presentations:

Conduct detailed sales presentations, implement strategic marketing programs, and create/organize bid proposals.
Manage approximately 150 accounts and grow customer base through networking, referrals, cold calling and sales presentations.

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What skills help Outside Sales Engineers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on outside sales engineer resumes?

Jonathan Byers

Assistant Director, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

- Professional skills related to career development competencies such as strong oral & written communication, teamwork & collaboration, leadership, problem-solving ability & creativity, and professional integrity, but we recommend that applicants do not just list these skills. They should provide evidence of how they have used them in their work experience, volunteer experience, academic experience, etc.
-The ability to use technology effectively to solve problems or improve collaboration; this could relate to social media management, computer hardware or software skills, proficiency with general programs like Microsoft Office Suite (also being able to demonstrate the use of these skills in various experiences).
-With diversity, equity, and inclusion becoming more important in 2020, the ability to appreciate different points of view, accept and appreciate different cultural backgrounds & types of identities, and increased awareness of one's own cultural biases and assumptions can also be important to market on a resume.

What outside sales engineer skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Kaustav Misra Ph.D.

Associate Dean, Central Connecticut State University

This pandemic taught us many things and one important thing that we have an efficiency gap.

The way of doing business will be much more technology orientated. Hence graduates should be ready to unskill and upskill their credentials. This time it is necessary to forget the old way of doing business and learn new skills to get a job or stay in a current job. Soft skills have become much more important than before, but a different soft skill set would be essential to interact with future market participants. Thus, a gap year should be utilized to unskill-upskill and enhance relevant credentials by getting into short-long term programs, training, and workshops would be highly recommended.

What type of skills will young outside sales engineers need?

Dr. Vallari Chandna

Chair and Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Critically, for all graduates, expertise or interests, in sustainability will be important. The reason behind this is the shift in looking at sustainability holistically and not just as something one-person does. This would also give an edge to those with degrees, specifically in sustainability. Graduates with degrees related to sustainability will often be asked to oversee or manage these across-the-board sustainability endeavors. Also, soft skills are highly desired. The ability to be better at time management, work in teams, and have a strong work ethic, will be more desirable. These are all interconnected with remote work as well. Employees who "thrived" in the pandemic were those able to manage their work-life balance, work remotely in teams, all the while performing well. The skills are thus "transferable" to both modalities of work in this way.

What technical skills for an outside sales engineer stand out to employers?

Dr. Matteo Cantarello Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, William & Mary

Programming has become an asset within the humanities, too. Even though hires of digital humanists are still limited in number (at least within my discipline), they are probably destined to increase in the near future. Also, flexibility and versatility with respect to teaching are also highly marketable. Any candidate who has experience with in-person, hybrid, and online courses and who has degrees, titles, and certificates that demonstrate that is extremely appreciated on the academic job market.

What soft skills should all outside sales engineers possess?

Jeffrey Gonzalez

Assistant Professor of English, Montclair State University

Students need to be able to write well; they need to listen well; they need to learn audiences quickly; they need to acknowledge that they're entering into conversations with grace, rather than running in full speed; they need to understand cultural and identity differences; they need to understand the digital environment has a contrary balance of speed (content production; viral reactions) and permanence (your data trail).

Do you want to know more?

List of outside sales engineer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an outside sales engineer resume and required skills for an outside sales engineer to have include:

Customer Relationships
HVAC
Product Line
CRM
Trade Shows
Territory Sales
Control Systems
Technical Presentations
Account Management
Customer Satisfaction
Product Knowledge
Technical Support
OEM
Sales Plan

Sales Presentations
Process Control
Mechanical Contractors
Customer Accounts
Technical Assistance
Engineering Firms
Cold Calls
REP
Sales Process
Product Training
Control Valves
PLC
Vacuum Pumps
Sales Support

Autocad
CNC
Engineering Support
Capital Equipment
Industrial Automation
System Design
Application Engineering
HMI
Business Sales
Business Development
Technical Knowledge
Sales Revenue
MRO

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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