Technical Sales
The technical sales is a special form of the sales department . Technical sales are about selling products and services that require explanation .
definition
Technical sales are understood to mean the sale of technical products or services that require explanation - mostly in the so-called business-to-business area (B2B). In the B2B arena, buyers are other companies who use the products they buy to create their own. A sale directly to the end consumer would be the opposite . Technical sales are therefore particularly relevant in the areas of high-tech , the supplier industry and the capital goods industry . The most common occupational groups in technical sales are engineers - especially sales engineers , computer scientists and technicians .
Main tasks
The employee in technical sales serves as a direct interface between the selling company that he represents and the potential customer. At the beginning he has to establish contact with a potential customer. After the customer has been initiated , he works with them to develop the best solution to cover the relevant customer needs . In order to achieve this, the sales representative must know the product and service portfolio of his employer, as well as the requirements of the customer. As soon as a solution that is suitable for both parties has been found, the salesperson's task is to monitor the order processing and negotiate prices and contract contents with the customer. In addition to looking after individual customers, the sales person needs enormous foresight in terms of general market developments . He also has to try to find out about offers and strategies from competitors in order to adapt his own offers and strategies if necessary. After a successful business deal, an employee from technical sales will do everything in his power to maintain the business relationships that have been established. This allows him to easily inform customers about new products and possibly obtain follow-up orders.
Delimitations
In order to get an even clearer picture of technical sales, it helps to distinguish it from some related professional fields.
Technical sales - commercial sales
Technical sales are mainly about the sale and marketing of goods and services that require explanation in the B2B area. In the case of complicated problems or requests from customers, the technical sales department takes action; it tries to understand these technical problems and then offers the customer the perfect solution, be it a solution from the existing product portfolio or a new one created in cooperation with the development department Product. Commercial sales, on the other hand, deal with all the actions that ensure that the customer receives his product. The sales process is an important part of this . The sales department plans, organizes and controls the entire sale of a product or service. In addition to this direct sales processing, the sales department also takes care of a suitable sales strategy for the company and a strategically intelligent alignment of the sales network. Examples of a sales strategy can be direct , indirect or online sales. In practice, these strategies are usually mixed and adapted to the company's situation. When asked about the alignment of the sales network, for example, sales take care of the correct positioning of the products on the market and the development of new markets.
The biggest difference between technical sales and commercial sales lies in the products to be sold. On the one hand the sale of technically sophisticated products and on the other hand products that are easy to understand and usable without explanation. In addition, the focus of skills is set differently for employees. Employees from technical sales are less likely to find the “classic” types of salespeople, but rather very well-trained IT specialists or engineers with a great technical understanding. The employees from the commercial operation, on the other hand, are usually very well trained in business management and, in addition to selling, take care of basic sales issues.
In summary, it can be said that technical and commercial sales can only be clearly separated from one another in a few aspects. Sometimes they even have similar or identical tasks, such as calculating prices or preparing offers.
Technical sales - project management
Project management is the planning , monitoring , control and completion of a project. It is necessary because the successful completion of the project can only be achieved with a structured time and process plan. In addition, the project management enables a concrete classification of the project status. Adjustments that have to be made can be recognized and implemented more quickly.
The Business Administration distinguishes two types of project coordination. The advance coordination as anticipatory coordination and the feedback coordination as a reaction to disruptions, also called project control.
These two approaches can also be found in technical sales. The technical sales representative not only advises the customer, but also informs him when there are new products that, according to his expert opinion, bring added value for the customer. Nowadays, technical salespeople take care of complete projects and provide customers with advice and assistance. So it's no longer just about purely technical aspects, but also about contract processing, etc. that the technical salesperson looks after. One can conclude from this that a technical salesperson is selling entire projects, not just a product. In this case, the product would be a project that aims at an innovative solution for the customer. The technical salesperson must therefore know the customer and the company exactly and, as in project management, carry out an analysis of customer expectations.
In the course of this, a project contract is concluded in project management. This defines the rights and obligations of the parties in a project and has a specific objective. This is fulfilled when the goal is achieved. The technical salesperson must also achieve a goal within the scope of the customer's requirements, but a contract does not always have to be concluded. Overall, the project management attacks in a different place than the technical sales. Project management takes place mostly internally in the company and serves to complete a product at the agreed time. In technical sales, a purely technical solution to a customer problem is modeled. Contracts and time management don't play that big a role. Project management is therefore much more general and can be extended to all areas of responsibility.
Challenges
Basically, the challenges can be divided into four subject areas:
On the one hand, there is the technical part of everyday technical sales. The sales representative has the task of advising the customers' development departments with their own know-how in order to make the most of the advantages of their own products. The goal is always to solve the customer's problems.
If the current product portfolio does not cover the needs of the customer, it is the task of technical sales to identify the potential. The identified potential should then be covered in cooperation with your own product management or your own development with the help of modifications of existing products or, if necessary, with new products. This constant improvement and adaptation of the product range is important for future successful project conclusions and thus elementary for the long-term success of your own company.
In order to understand the wishes of the customers and to be able to find solutions, it is necessary that technical sales staff have a good technical understanding of their own products, but also a basic understanding of the customer's product range and their markets. Due to the fact that customers, especially in business to business business, are often highly innovative and technologically advanced , it is of great importance for technical sales to always be up to date.
In addition to the challenges and tasks already mentioned, technical sales also have to cope with some commercial aspects. For example, it is the task of technical sales to assess whether potential customers have the necessary budget for a project . A possible follow-up business should also be analyzed by the technical salesperson . These considerations then have an impact on the level of effort for a project completion and price negotiations, which are also carried out by technical sales.
The third part of technical sales is that of interpersonal contact . The technical salespeople are by no means independent soloists, even if the organization of the day-to-day work can usually be done free of time or content-related aspects. The mostly intensive exchange with customers often leads to a partnership, but working with the in-house team is also part of the daily work of salespeople. The challenge lies in dealing with a wide variety of characters from the technical as well as the commercial area. Technical sales need a high level of social competence for this challenge .
The last major section of the challenges is dealing with failures . Technical salespeople often put a lot of energy into a project. It is quite common that a project has to be ended without a successful conclusion. These failures must be accepted by technical salespeople and must not stand in the way of self-motivation for other projects.
Project and product business
In the area of technical sales, you often have to deal with two different types of business, the project business and the product business.
Project business
A company is active in the project business when it treats and processes the orders of certain customers as a project. The entire provision of services is organized in projects. The main feature is that the customer often only needs one project, but it can also happen that a customer requests several similar projects in a certain time period.
A company can provide a wide variety of services, so potential customers must be found. Price plays an important role in the project, but issues such as reliability and trust are even more elementary.
After the customer acquisition , there are several discussions with the customer, whereby the customer usually consists of a whole team. It is important to find out which wishes, goals and visions but also which fears and fears the customer has. If the customer's wishes are complex and extensive as well as technically demanding, it makes sense to work with the in-house product specialist responsible for this product at the customer's. Thus, a project team is already formed in the acquisition phase in which all parties involved work together.
Project business has a major advantage over pure product sellers, as advice, service and added value are also sold. You can stand out from the market.
Product business
Due to the ever increasing demand for certain products, these have to be produced and marketed on a broad market. The product business takes care of the latter. The products are not offered on a customer-specific basis and without any joint effects, but are marketed on anonymous markets. The pure buy-sell process is less complex than e.g. B. in plant engineering .
The software elements (advice, training, financing and integral quality) are also becoming more and more important in the product business, so that a trend from traditional product to system business can be seen.
education
In 1995, the first bachelor's degree in technical sales in Germany was started at the Aalen University of Applied Sciences . There are now several basic training courses at universities and colleges for sales engineers .
literature
- L. Schneider-Störmann: Technical Sales with System, Publisher: Hanser Technik, 2015
- M. Kleinaltenkamp, S. Saab: Technical Distribution Publisher: Springer (2009)
- P. Speck, DJ Brauner: Professional goal engineer / industrial engineer / insider report on career entry, areas of activity, prospects. Published by Wissenschaft & Praxis, Sternenfels 2015
- T. Keitel: Factoring as a risk management tool in the project business. Gabler Verlag, 2008
- H. Schelle, R. Ottmann, A. Pfeiffer: Project Manager. Published by GPM German Society for Product Management, 2008