Sales Aerobics for Engineers Sales Training and Consulting
“Babette was able to identify deficiencies with our web site and web based marketing and provide real solutions that turned into real customer activity. Babette’s talents lie in her knowledge and familiarity with manufacturing systems. This makes her a great candidate for any company that wants to have help from one source: a source that knows what is going on in the industry. Babette has her hand on the pulse of manufacturing activity in the mid-west. Being able to quickly identify where the right resources need to be placed in a manufacturing operation today is a great asset to any lean company.“
Carl Fries, President
Greg G Wright and Sons
www.gregwrightandsons.com
March 2009
What is the nature of the interaction between sales and engineering in your Company?
- Sales Aerobics for Engineers trains your engineers, IT and technical staff to have productive conversations with current and prospective customers that focus on defining short- and long-term revenue generating solutions aligned with your business model.
Most small to mid-sized companies have a non-existent sales culture. They rely on manufacturers reps, who are often being courted by their other clients and therefore may have divided loyalties. If your company is asking your internal engineering staff to engage in the sales process, they often feel completely outside of their comfort level.
Sales Aerobics for Engineers training and consulting gives your engineers, IT and technical staff the tools and techniques to build productive, branded, revenue generating business relationships from their conversations and meetings with current and prospective customers. Your staff and your organization benefit from offering innovative solutions rather than being perceived as order-takers.
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Asking your internal engineering staff to engage in the sales process without training is risky business. In today’s economy, there are too many choices for sales training and little direction for what sales process delivers the most return on investment. So a “no sales training” choice is made, which isn’t a choice at all . There aren’t enough hours in the day for an engineer to do their project-related work and engage in the sales process. So there’s a stalemate.
Most engineers have little understanding of the sales process and sales cycle. As a result, they identify peer conversations with business development. This misconception can result in lack of productivity as an engineer simultaneously tries to do two seemingly unrelated activities. The result of this strategy can turn your company into an RFQ mill rather than building your sales funnel.
- Sales Aerobics for Engineers allows your engineers, IT and technical staff to be “who they are”: Curious, Assumptive and Innovative professionals with One Significant Advantage: they have the ability to “simultaneously translate” engineering and technical jargon and deliverables into sales and marketing terms and deliverables. This skill set translates into productive, collaborative internal working relationships which positively impact the bottom line.
Be Curious
As an engineer, you feel you have all the answers to all the questions. There are a lot more questions out there for you to answer... If you have the patience and wisdom to listen and keep listening. Too often engineers are more like order takers, stopping the conversation when a discrete tactical solution is called for. After all, that’s how engineers are taught. Be curious, let the conversation develop and you become a resource and team member. You end up solving more problems that you originally identified.
Be Assumptive
Jill Konrath, http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com, talks about being assumptive about who you are and what you do. That’s different than being presumptuous. Being Assumptive involves walking your talk with confidence but not being presumptuous so that you create a barrier to communication. Root causes may have really large contexts. And you won’t know about the larger frame of reference until you allow for ideas to be developed and exchanged.
Be Innovative
Think Inside the Box First, Before You Think Out of the Box. A box is three-dimensional. How many of us use the entire box when we think? Look into those corners of your existing box and make sure you’ve used all the knowledge that’s available to provide solutions.
Provide solutions, not answers. Solutions have a broader strategic scope than do answers. Answers are singular and tactical. Solutions create more possibilities. This approach may seem counter-intuitive to technical training. The folks that positively impact their company’s revenue stream are regarded differently than the folks that simply do their work. Think about it.