Sales engineer
The sales engineer , also known as the sales engineer , is responsible for the marketing of cutting-edge technologies. Positioned in the industrial goods market , sales engineers are required not only to have technical, but also economic, legal and psychological skills. He is the link between industrial customers and your own company. Willingness to travel, foreign language skills, interest in other cultures and communication skills are prerequisites that a good sales engineer should definitely have.
The field of application of sales engineers extends across all technology-oriented industries (e.g. mechanical and plant engineering, electrical engineering, medical technology, telecommunications and software) with products and services that require explanation. For the targeted marketing of complex products, he combines technical knowledge with knowledge of market and communication psychology.
definition
Sales engineers (VI) sell technical products to companies. They advise their customers and propose both technically and economically feasible solutions that enable the customers and their own company to achieve the greatest possible benefit. VIs understand the technology of the product and its area of application. You have economic expertise to understand and take into account economic conditions. VIs master the combination of engineering and economics combined with legal and psychological skills. Her communication skills enable her to act as a link between the customer and her own company. By acting as VI, you negotiate technical and commercial components of the contractual agreements between the companies. The area of application of sales engineers extends across all technology-oriented industries with products and services that require explanation. Examples of industries are mechanical and plant engineering, electrical engineering, medical technology, information and telecommunications technology, but also software development. Sales engineers are engineers and business people at the same time.
Areas of responsibility
The sales engineer works on an interdisciplinary field and pursues the principle of integrated customer orientation (see Bruhn 2002). As part of the sales process , the sales engineer is assigned a wide range of activities. These include, for example:
- Sales of products and technical services
- Planning and design of the sales strategy
- Product management
- marketing
- Market cultivation and analysis
- quoting
- Order processing
- Customer service
- Presales
- After-sales management
- Customer Relationship Management
- Sales controlling
Qualification profile
To be able to use the job title "Sales Engineer", you must have at least an academic degree in engineering, usually in one of the MINT subjects. Industrial engineers are often also involved in sales. Without a degree in engineering, using this job title is a criminal offense in Germany (Section 132a StGB) . Nevertheless, the illegal terms "engineer" and "... engineer" are often used in connection with z. B. Sales engineer, systems engineer, project engineer, etc.
Due to the growing complexity of today's technologies and products, business and industry increasingly need technically and economically trained sales staff who understand both complex systems and economic relationships. A core competence of sales engineers is to be able to explain the functional, effective and structural relationships of developments in an understandable way. In addition, these specialists must also be trained in commercial matters in order to be able to recognize and market customer benefits, for example on the basis of the economic advantages of their own product. Sales engineers operate in the industrial goods market and can be used in a variety of ways in companies. In-house coordination, mediation between departments and product management are some of the other areas of application for sales engineers due to their broad knowledge of technical and business relationships.
An essential requirement for the profession of sales engineer is an interest in technology and engineering topics. He must recognize and understand customer problems in order to then find solutions for the customer together with the services of his company. This also includes the willingness to deal with technical details if necessary.
However, technical skills are not enough. Sales engineers need the ability to establish good contact with their interlocutors. You have to be interested in their situation, ask appropriate questions and generate trust for yourself and your company. To do this, they need strong communication skills.
Solutions that finally emerge on paper are by no means a guarantee of business success. You have to find comrades-in-arms on the customer and supplier side who are convinced and enthusiastic about this solution. Project teams have to be formed in order to achieve the desired goal.
In most cases, sales engineers operate in a global environment. In order to understand customers and be able to build a good relationship, they have to deal with their culture. Those who only accept what they know from home are out of place in this job. Rather, as a sales engineer, you have to be curious about other countries, their cultures and languages in order to understand the people and their business. In addition to an interest in technology, an interest in dealing with people and their behavior is necessary.
Marketing knowledge is also important, as sales engineers deal with the latest developments in the markets on a daily basis.
As a sales engineer, you also have to be willing to work hard and be particularly flexible, as the work is very much shaped by the customers.
The tasks in technical sales have now become entrepreneurial tasks. It depends very much on the actions, decisions and skills of the sales engineer whether business is also economically successful or not. He therefore needs excellent knowledge in the areas of accounting, finance, controlling and contract law.
Overall, sales engineers, as generalists, must be able to focus their actions on the promising areas depending on the situation. For example, after a relationship with a conversation partner has been successfully established, you have to concentrate intensively on finding "factual" solutions.
In addition to the hard skills (technical skills such as construction, technical drawing, etc.), the soft skills (soft skills or social competence ) are of decisive importance. The reason for this is obvious. The sales rep must always sell the product twice. Once with the customer, the second time in your own company. In his own company, he negotiates when it comes to technical, time and price determinations. The success of the sales engineer is based on the fact that, based on his soft skills, he not only opens the door to the customer and his own departments, but can also overcome resistance here and there.
Winkelmann states that employees in sales should have eleven personality traits:
- Commitment: taking responsibility
- Involvement: Show commitment to be the "engine"
- Stamina: being persistent, overcoming resistance
- independence
- Integrity: Being credible
- creativity
- self-organisation
- Conceptual skills: e.g. decision-making skills
- Experience with IT applications
- Knowledge of project work: collaboration and teamwork in interdisciplinary teams
- Interest in permanent further training: familiarization with "new things"
It is not precisely defined in which ratio soft and hard skills complement each other; a 50/50 ratio is certainly necessary for sales engineers.
In Germany, due to the high export share , the English terms for sales engineers such as Sales Engineers, System Engineer International Sales, Junior / Senior Sales Engineer, Junior / Senior Sales Manager, Export Sales Executive or Service Engineer can be found more and more.
Initial and continuing education
Trainee programs
Entry into technical sales is implemented for many engineering disciplines on a company-specific basis via trainee programs.
Education
There is the possibility of studying at the university or at the FH especially for sales engineers. It should be noted that this differs from the study of industrial engineering in terms of its technical focus as well as its content.
- Universities in Germany
| Facility | Course of study | graduation | Duration |
| Berlin (Free University) | "Technical Sales" - advanced studies | Master of Business Marketing (MBM) | 2 semesters |
| Bochum (Ruhr University) | " Sales Engineering and Product Management" | Bachelor of Science or Master of Science | 7 or 3 semesters |
- (Technical) universities in Germany
| Facility | Course of study | graduation | Duration |
| Aachen (FH) | “Industrial engineering”, specializing in sales engineer | Bachelor of Science | 7 semesters |
| Aalen (HS) | "International technical sales" | Bachelor of Engineering | 7 semesters (including 1 practical semester) |
| Aschaffenburg (TH) | "International Technical Sales Management" | Bachelor of Engineering | 7 semesters (incl. 1 semester abroad in non-German-speaking countries) |
| Bremen (HS) | "International Sales Management" | Graduate engineer (FH) | 8 semesters |
| Bruehl (FH) | "Sales Engineering" | Bachelor of Science | 7 semesters (dual course) |
| Eisenach (BA) | "Technical Management" | Bachelor of Engineering | 6 semesters |
| Furtwangen (FH) | "Sales and Service Engineering" (postgraduate course) | Master of Business Administration | 3 semesters |
| Giessen (FH) | "International Sales" (postgraduate course) | Sales engineer (FH) | 3 semesters |
| Ingolstadt (HS) | "Mechanical engineering" - focus on project planning and sales | Dipl.-Ing. | 8–9 semesters |
| Kaiserslautern (FH) , Zweibrücken location | "Sales Engineer" (distance learning course) | MBA sales engineer | 4 semesters |
| Karlsruhe (HS) | "Industrial engineering specializing in sales engineering" | Bachelor or Master of Science | 8 or 2 semesters |
| Kiel (FH) | "International Sales & Purchasing Engineering" | Bachelor of Engineering or Master of Industrial Engineering | 6 or 3 semesters |
| Constance (HS) | Master's degree "Mechanical Engineering and International Sales Management" | Master of Engineering | 3 semesters |
| Landshut (FH) | "Industry Marketing & Technical Sales" | Master of Business Administration | 3 semesters |
| Mannheim (DH) | "Industrial Engineering - Technical Sales" | Bachelor of Engineering | 6 semesters |
| Mosbach (DH) | "Industrial Engineering - International Technical Sales Management" | Bachelor of Engineering | 6 semesters |
| Reutlingen (FH) | "International Project Engineering" or "International Project Engineering" | Bachelor of Engineering | 7 semesters |
| Soest (FH) | "Industrial Engineering - Technical Sales" | Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) | 6 and 7 semesters (including 1 practical semester) |
| Wolfenbüttel (FH) | "Sales Management" (distance learning course) | Master of Business |
further education
The Association of German Engineers e. V. (VDI) launched the VDI course "Sales Engineer VDI" (formerly "Technical Sales Course") in 1998. This course conveys a lack of technical and methodological knowledge for engineers who work or want to work in technical sales. The final certificate of the course entitles qualified engineers to use the title “VDI Sales Engineer”. The VDI 4501 guideline “Knowledge areas and learning content for the qualification of engineers in sales” is the teaching basis.
The course is offered in cooperation between the VDI and the Ruhr University Bochum and is regularly organized by the Academy of the Ruhr University in cooperation with the Chair for Industrial Sales Engineering (ISE).
VDI sales day
The VDI Sales Day is a regularly held specialist conference that discusses sales-related topics in a group of experts with a changing focus or leitmotif. The field of participants consists of experienced sales engineers and executives who use practical lectures and best practice examples to discuss experiences and problems of technical sales. The main aim is to use the various positive and negative practical experiences of the speakers and participants to reveal possible solutions and potentials for their own sales activities in a joint dialogue. Another essential aspect of the event is the expansion of one's own network in order to be able to use possible synergy effects between companies.
The European Research Center for Business-to-Business Management (eurom) organizes the sales day on behalf of the VDI and takes care of the planning and implementation of the event. The program committee of the VDI determines the main topics of the VDI Sales Day, taking into account current industry trends or economic policy considerations. The last VDI sales day took place on March 8, 2012 under the motto "Renewable Energies" in the Hotel Park Inn in Bochum. In the previous year, the focus of the event was on “Medical Technology”.
swell
- ^ Schneider-Störmann, Ludger; Selling technical products with a system ; Hanser technique; 2015; ISBN 978-3-446-44414-0
- ^ P Winkelmann: Sales conception and sales control. The tools of integrated customer management (CRM). 3rd edition, Munich 2005, p. 85.
- ↑ Ruhr University Bochum - Sales Engineering and Product Management course
- ↑ International Technical Sales Management (ITV) , Aschaffenburg University of Technology
- ↑ https://www.th-ab.de/itv Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences International Technical Sales Management
- ↑ https://www.th-ab.de/itv Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences Degree in International Technical Sales Management
- ^ BA Eisenach - Technical Management course
- ↑ University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern - Sales Engineering course ( Memento from September 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )