The goal of this book is to give engineers a glimpse into how sales works with the intention that this knowledge will make you more effective. I propose that understanding how sales works should be part of every engineer’s skill set (and survival kit). As a side benefit, this will make your experience interacting with sales people and customers more enjoyable. (Or at least, less stressful.) There’s an unfortunate (but too often true) belief held by many in business that it’s a mistake to allow an engineer near a customer. The fear is that they’ll say or do something that will kill a sale (or god forbid, put off a potential investor). Equally problematic is that engineers are not known for having especially high opinions of sales people. This is a most unfortunate state of affairs, because engineers and technical people have much to contribute in customer-facing situations, and can actually help bring in business and keep customers happy. And happy customers supply the ‘fuel’ that keep the lights on.