Is There a Difference Between any Sales Representative and a Sales Engineer?

I was wondering for quite some time now what could be the major differences between a Sales Representative of any product or service from a Sales engineer. After several attempts to develop a theoretical contract of their differences I ended up understanding their great similarities in many parts but also one major difference of the process of selling engineering.

As a first level of analysis we should point out that there are indeed several differences in the profiles of the competent sales engineers within the same company. In fact if for the sake of this short update we characterize success as measured by revenues or organic sales growth, we could safely say that it could also be affected to a large extend by the way we have analyzed the needs of the market to equip it with the proper selling profiles to achieve the market objectives.

For instance when I was actively involved in one major project to rebuild the sales team in one country, proper market analysis, branding, portfolio analysis and shifting market demands where key factors that should be taken into role design and selection.

The profile of the sales engineer placed in north was markedly different from the sales engineer placed into the south. The major reason for such a difference was based in the market demands and organizational support.

For north the need was more centralized to the technical aptitude, value added sales process and networking. The base of the organization was in the south. Thus, not much of a support from the back office and the person needed to act independently to support own efforts. The north market was more affected by the economic recession. Many companies had already abandoned the place and the few remained were either Key Accounts who were already customers covered from the south or medium and small sized companies who were focused on exports or had a good level of local revenue and were looking for opportunities to decrease their operational costs. The sales engineer would need to support the upgrade initiatives of the current equipment and also aim to push the new, value added, portfolio to increase client efficiencies in energy savings and operational cost decreases in the medium sized companies. As a secondary aim s/he would need to push to cover the needs of the small sized companies. For such a profile and given the limited support that the base could provide we aimed for a more technical person, but who would be local with the proper networks to be integrated fast in the market, having the mindset to cover the technical needs of the large and medium sized customers and support the Key Accounts. The Key Accounts Manager was based in the south. Thus, local networking, capability to work remotely with minimal supervision (self managed), being home based and acting independently having the willingness to travel extensively and a high level of technical skill to cover the product ranges from large medium and small ranges were the major factors of success. The company still remained well organized and present in after sales selling agreements and support at the north, therefore, the new sales engineer had to balance the time between farming and hunting. More farming in fact than hunting as the sales departments would put it.

For the south the need was more centralized to the willingness of increasing the networking, sales visits and presence. The country historically was more industrialized to the south and the company was not different. It was more oriented into the south than the north and had invested more to the south. The head office, the base, was in the south so it could provide fast solutions to the new sales engineer. The Key Accounts Manager and the Sales Manager were also based in the south so the person could have more support. Another major advantage was that the technical supervisor overseeing service engineers was based in the south; so more chances to provide expert advice to both customers and the new sales engineer. Traditionally the company had kept the key accounts covered and satisfied as they are the major contributors to its revenues. However, as the country had been historically more industrialized in the south, there were many opportunities in the medium and small sized customers. The south had traditionally developed many smaller industries and the company, due to its value added branding strategy had somehow neglected to penetrate the market of the medium and low product ranges. The product portfolio was not so technically advanced to need a very technical profile and the Sales Manager was near to provide support. The profile selected was less technical but more communicative and more energetic and with great resilience against negativity and held strong willingness to open new customers. Aim was to generate visits, provide availability, do market penetration in the mid to low range to increase revenues and organic growth.

My first lesson after the above experience is that it became clear to me that what is valid in building the profiles in any other field was also valid for technical sales tams. Do a proper market analysis of the demand. See the opportunities. Check your internal supports. Choose the profile with the set of technical skills and soft skills that would add value to your strategy. This was no different as of what we were doing in FMCGs. In FMCGs a sales representative working for small drops outlets is markedly different from the one working in Key Accounts. Indeed, the process analysis of the market demands and the role profiles matching was the same. The product was technical for sure. But the steps followed for the analysis were the same. Thus, irrespective of the product, the step by step analysis of the factors to end up with the proper profiles was the same.

But as a new HR in this organization and an OD specialist I was still puzzled with all the narratives of my new organization. The myth of the great difference between a sales representative and that of the sales engineer; stories that it takes on the average 6 to 12 months for an engineer to understand the product to such an extend to be able to generate sells. 

What was that difference other than the fact that when you have to sell a technical product you would be required to talk the technical language from a certain point of the process and onwards?

Indeed the south person could also be able to avoid going into too much technical detail as a more experienced support could be provided. For sure the customers were different and the product was more technical (i.e. industrial sales) but to do value added sales you would need to follow all relevant steps of the sales process. Do a proper market research and start thinking of the customer needs on the basis of the sectors, do the initial calls, follow up persistently but gently and close your first meeting. During your first meeting aim to listen carefully to the needs, complaints, concerns and try to build rapport. Show availability to assist and provide not only a product solution but a value added service. A consultative sales service where you act as a consultant. Be aware of your customer’s and your own emotions into the whole process. Emotions are equally important in the deal closure as numbers and technical aptitude. So soft skills should play an equal part in the deals closures.

I soon realized that in respect to the soft skills there was no difference of what other sales representatives do into different organizations. However, I also realized that being in an engineering company selling engineering had lots to do with your confidence into your technical ability. It was more of the fact that the majority of my sales persons were engineers and they were leaving up to this standard. There were sales representatives, but being an engineer was also a form of their identity. If they felt confident enough in understanding the product and the pros and cons of it, they were more readily available to provide the willingness needed to visit the customers and close the deal. If they felt lacking the technical knowledge the confidence was down. Not even daring going to the customer.

In FMCG our sales representative needed a similar confidence in the company name and the goods quality standard. But there was no engineering identity to block the process. This could be of a difference.  Indeed, as I noticed in some other countries, there were sales representatives who had a non-university engineering background, who were more willing to go to the customer, to hunt and close the deal on the basis of relationship building and emotional selling. Engineering was there up to a point but they were not selling engineering per se as the sales engineers. They were selling availability, readiness, emotion, pricing as well as a product which they knew too well and believed in its quality. This was similar like the FMCG.

The difference then became evident to me as being a sales representative or engineer of a product or service irrespective of the sector and selling engineering.  In fact selling engineering was a specialized process who was a great asset but also could operate as a great blockage.

The majority of my sales engineers were aiming to sell their engineering.
In this process, they were aiming to put engineering, and value added solutions in their potential customers. In fact they would aim for the large customers, the Key Accounts as there were more chances to sell a more demanding engineering solution and this was exciting. This of course deterred them to go to the medium sized and smaller sized customers and the company was missing this market. But the major thing here is that if your starting point is that you aim to sell engineering your mindset is centered or tuned in selling the technical and/or technical-economic parts of the process; to act as an engineering consultant (the pros in energy efficiency, the decrease of production and maintenance cost etc.). If you do not know the product to a great extend, you will also be very reluctant to even think of just asking if there is such a need for such a product to your customer. The more experienced people were stating to me that you cannot sell engineering if you do not know the complete pros and cons of your product and the value added parts of it.

They were very few sales representatives, or even sales engineers, who had less of a technical profile, or were not concerned so much in selling engineering but were basing their confidence into the relationships building with the customer; tapping more into emotional selling and centering their minds on addressing the interactional steps of the business, building communication, rapport and listening carefully to the concerns.

Their starting point was to listen carefully to the customer’s concern and build the rapport to the point that the customer would go to their solution, which could also come from another technical expert. They were basing their confidence more into the soft skills of interaction. In fact they were, in many cases, more able to open the doors, build the initial rapport but had to ask for more support to close the deal bringing a specialist if the things were getting too technical. But their mindsets, being more on the emotional side, more on generating visits, perseverance and relationships building were more concerned with extending their competence in building this skills and less concerned with their gaps in the technical knowledge. In many cases they were the first to push new products in the market even if they did know just the basics and in many cases generated both organic and revenue growth. In their case being a non-engineer or less of an engineer was working to their benefit as it was less of a blockage. We did not face an identity blockage in them.

In one other country under my responsibility one of the most successful sales persons was an ex service engineer, a practical mechanic, with a medium technical background, but a great hunter and a guru in relationships building. When there was the need for more technical support and value added sales, he had the local manager coming to assist strategically in certain parts of the deal and in the closure. There was no issue of mixing his identity of engineering. He was no sales engineer and his personal aim was not selling engineering per se but selling in general. Generating revenues and keeping his customer satisfied.

Second lesson learnt. There is a difference in selling whatever product and service and selling engineering. If the aim is to sale engineering then the person needs to be technically fit enough to have the confidence to proceed. If not it blocks his confidence and willingness to proceed. Furthermore, selling engineering and doing the value added consultative part of the sales, when measured in revenues and organic growth, was not more successful than selling simply a good product and showing active availability to the customer.

In many cases the highest organic growth and revenues were generated from a less techy more hunting profile, good at selling him or herself and his or her availability, and being inclusive to the customer. Especially in the medium and small sized customers, those skills were more important than selling engineering. In this customer population the product ranges were specific and not differentiating this company much from the competition. So selling engineering was not the major you could do to these customers. Selling yourself properly and professionally could differentiate you from the competition.

However, selling engineering was the strong part of the organization and it was a niche market that the company had earned through years of investment in superior product design and an innovation culture. Thus, selling engineering solutions and services was increasing the brand awareness for this niche market and it was in the centre of our culture as well as training and development processes. Putting the brand and keeping it at the niche market that the company would wish to have it.

Faced with these observations I am now more confident to state there is a major difference between selling any product and/or service like the FMCG and selling engineering. The process of selling engineering requires a lot of technical training; a lot of calculations and trial and error in finding the most acceptable solution and a lot of knowledge of your competition. It requires specialized engineering background and a strong appetite of continues learning. It is a skill that is build gradually through experience and both the individuals and the companies need to invest continuously. But in fact, it is more important for the individual to invest in it as it brings his confidence to the upper level. So selling engineering is not for all as it also requires a learning through life attitude and it is very demanding.

Selling engineering requires a certain mental model which may also work against the person or the company. If the person is not very well trained or believes that has not understood the product 100% s/he will be reluctant to even start thinking of selling it. This may bring the revenues down or loose the momentum in launching a new product.

Less technical persons bypass this gap by investing more into the practical parts of generating visits to increase the pipeline, and also in their soft skills of active listening, building rapport and opening doors. This is equally important for the company in generating fast revenue and also in achieving organic growth. Such a profile is more of a hunter and more able to work in medium and low range of products. But we have to remember that in many cases there will be a need for such sales profiles to bring a technical expert to close the deal. In many cases this is the Sales Manager as I found out and for a very good reason as we will see latter on.

Final lessons learnt. As most of the representatives of the company were sales engineers with the mindset of selling engineering it was important for the company to also build their emotional selling skills, providing them with the mindset and the soft skills to unblock their mindset from the engineering part. I would say in this company this was very much of a cultural questioning of their selling process. We were investing too much time in consultative technical selling techniques, and building the technical skills of the sales force, but what it was really needed was a real balance of an emotional selling and NLP selling skills to cover the selling engineering blockage when it was occurring. Even in selling engineering the process is also very emotional and at a certain point one needs to abandon the technical conversation to be able to capture the concern.

There were only few people that could combine both parts of the process into one continuum. Working both with emotional selling and technical skills if and when is needed. Many of those had progressed to the managerial positions early in their careers and now could play either one or the other role assisting their teams to cover the one or the other gap in the sales process.

To answer the real initial question

“Is there a difference between any other representative and a sales engineer?”

Not really more than the fact that from a certain point you will need to have engineering knowledge to base your analysis and proceed to the deals closure. But there is a real difference between selling any other product or service and selling engineering. So be aware to give a balanced development program to your people to increase also their emotional selling skills if they are too much into selling engineering. All sales people could benefit for an emotional skills sales training, communications skills training, spin selling, NLP in sales. If they are engineers and start their mental process from this part, be aware to enhance the rest of the skills and keep them aware of this blockage danger.

The combination is very rare and if you have such people in your organizations use them to build your teams as sales trainers or sales coaches or in management.

To build the engineering skills, further than the aptitude, it becomes a matter of experience, and real case studying. As the years pass most engineers will be able to be more efficient in their competence. However, the soft skills development is a matter of strong developmental initiatives with targeted classroom training, structured coaching and mentoring follow ups. If the majority of your sales people are in this selling engineering mode be aware of the blockage and further to technical training invest in this inoculation training in bringing their soft skills up.

Please share your experience

All the Best
Greg