Best sales engineering advice you have received 3

[josephv]

Hello,

Good day, a while back there was an interesting thread called "Best engineering advice you have received".

I would like to start a few posts on the "Best Sales Engineering" advice you have received.

Here are a few to get the ball rolling:

Listen to the customer
Never ask a question where no is the answer

Remember that all of us sometime or another need to be sales engineers (e.g. during a job interview)

Cheers,

 

[arunmrao]

Get your customers to trust you. Orders will follow.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

NEVER promise something you know you cannot deliver on time and on spec.

Don't over sell. Always have something you can offer to "up" the negotiations.

Don't flirt with the secretary...but be nice.

Get to know your customer.. hobbies, kids, etc. not at first but over time.

Be PROFESSIONAL - seems obvious - but.....

 

[reidh]

I am not a sales engineer, but my advice would be to really know your product.

Nothing is more frustrating than a salesman unfamiliar with their own product. There is nothing wrong with not knowing everything, but please don't give out bad information. When this happens I try to not deal with that salesman, and company if possible ever again.

Reidh

 

[KENAT]

Make sure the requirement is defined. This goes for any project or task, not just sales, but is applicable.

My last place actually got rid of the sales department. The non technical as well as 'big wig' stuff was handled by the MD/owner and we engineers handled the rest.

 

[tygerdawg]

From my own experience on the receiving end, I thought Salesmen were Evil-To-Be-Endured and generally could not be trusted. Something about an over-enthusiastic, overly-optimistic, under-educated yakkity-yakker just made them non-trustworthy.

My most successful sales situations could be paraphrased into:

"Now, John, I'm NOT a salesman. I'm just a dumb engineer who'll tell you the truth, warts and all. Now let's hear about your problem and see if there's anything I can do to help."

I was always sincere about that, and the sales were easy.

TygerDawg

 

[BJC]

Don't sell your self cheap. better to have two weeks work at $250 an hour than 5 weeks at $100 an hour. If people think your cheap they will value you less.

 

[bk11]

Don't come in to a new site and assume that the first women you see is the secretary. Bounding up to someone and saying 'Hi are you the secretary?' is not a great way to start a business relationship with a potential customer.

I'm not a sales engineer either but I have met a few.

 

[Romeosperson]

Don't just "drop in" to say hi. That is the best way for me to rule out someone who is marketing. Remember, your potential client is busy and their time is valuable. Show them that you respect their time, schedule an appointment.

 

[epoisses]

Focus on getting the NEXT purchase order, not (only) the one being negotiated.

Never respond to a RFQ without having given the technical department a call, even if purchasing hates it.

and as a reaction to some advice above:

"Make sure the requirement is defined." (KENAT) - couldn't agree more

"Don't flirt with the secretary...but be nice" (MikeEng) heh heh... Do flirt with the secreraty... but be nice! (sorry I gave it away I am really a sales eng)

 

[RAH1234]

- You are oftentimes the only representative of your organization the (potential) customer meets. Your company's reputation is at stake.

- Consult with the engineers responsible for making your ideas work. Promising something that cannot be delivered causes friction within your organization as well as between you and the customer.

- Do not be afraid to no-quote. If for some reason your company is not really interested in a job, don't waste the customer's time by submiting a quote you know is not competitive.

 

[swearingen]

I had a former boss that jokingly used to say, "Don't let the truth get in the way of a sale."

That said, he was by far the best salesman, of any type, I've ever seen. I attended a meeting with him across the table from an owner, the owner's customer, and the contractor and handed out our proposal for new construction in his plant. The contractor commented that some of our unit pricing for some simple structures was twice that of a much larger and more complicated structure he had just completed at the same site. In about 7 minutes, my boss had that contractor and everyone on the other side of the table nodding and understanding why they had to pay twice as much. As we walked into the parking lot after the meeting, he told me, "I hope you had your boots on. It got pretty deep in there."

 

[plasgears]

One sales guy had a bad habit of doing my engineering calculations. I told him to stick to his sales business.

On another occasion, he countered my engineering suggestion for cost reducing the product for the customer. He would rather let somebody else provide a cost-reduced product. That's exectly what happened.

Engineers groomed for sales work would be a good way to handle the engineering sales dept.

 

[epoisses]

That reminds me another rule: your main target should be customers that are rich and stupid.

Ok Catbert take off your mask now...