Verein Deutscher Ingenieure

Occupational field Technical Sales - Suitability profile and skills of sales engineers
 N VDI 4501 BLATT 1

Annotation

As technical and commercial advisors of the customers engineers of the sales sector must meet high demands. These refer in particular to the understanding of the customers' problems, the development of customer-specific solutions as well as support in implementing such solutions in their companies. Technical competence and knowledge of market and business economics are not sufficient here.

An Engineer working in the sales sector must have communication skills enabling him to act as an agent between all areas, for business economists and engineers use different terminologies and analyze problems from different angles.

Sales is one of the most crucial sectors of the enterprise, for companies do not actually live on development or production but on the sales of their products and services. Sales engineers are the link between two industrial enterprises which offer or acquire goods or services for the purpose of manufacture, which explains the term of "business-tobusiness". They advise and support the existing customers and attract new ones. They advise the customers on specific products and on the commercial effects the use of the products and services may have. They prepare quotations, conduct price negotiations and observe how the customers' expectations are put into practice. They open up new markets while observing market developments and identify sales potentials. Moreover, sales engineers sell physical products, technical systems, complete plants, IT solutions or services. Profiting from his close contacts with the customer and his communicative abilities, the sales specialist analyzes what solutions may have a positive influence on the value-added process of the customer. As he knows these processes and also the expectations of the customers, he induces sectors of his own company such as research and development, production, marketing and technical service to develop new solutions with a view to permanently improving the customer relationship.