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Interactive Engineering and Sales Dynamics: The New Business Yin- Yang

July 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

One of the first questions I ask the industrial manufacturing CEO’s with whom I work is: what are the dynamics of your sales force’s interactions with your engineers? That’s usually when their jaw drops. Dead silence. Isn’t this the $64K question? And that’s the low end of the value of this question.

Think about it. Think about your own corporate culture. How do you, as an engineer, typically interact with your salespeople? Not at all? Only when there’s a big mess for you to clean up? Only to “do your job “which you limit to “what is asked for or required” and then head back to your cubicle and hope that you’ve earned your keep.Sound familiar?

Too many organizations on too many continents still silo their engineers, their sales people and, quite frankly, anyone else they can silo. The lack of interoperability of skill set – translated into lack of communication – is DEVASTATING.

Too many salespeople negotiate the sale and then hand things off to the engineer to implement.Salespeople: I have news for you. The Engineer does not have the training or the skill set to grow the sale. Engineers: I have news for you. The salespeople are not asking all the necessary questions to define the parameters of the project.

So, in the best of all possible worlds: what if the salespeople continue to work with the engineers post-sale? Yes, I know, there are salespeople out there who only care about their next sale and large commission. Yes, I know, there are engineers who just want to be told what to do without any other responsibility.So how long are the engineers going retain their positions since the sales rep is the person generating revenue for the company?

THE BIG THING that engineers need to understand is when to stop the post-sale discussion about implementing the project. Engineers will spin a discussion out so that the scope of the project eventually resembles the attempt to reconcile quantum mechanics with general relativity. WHOA BOYS AND GIRLS. Let’s distill this project into bite-sized do-able chunks. The most profitable business pathway may ignore the most tantalizing engineering solutions which are not technically reasonable or feasible.

THE BIG THING that salespeople need to understand is not over-promising engineering capability and production capacity.Your company – and your engineers – are not all things to all people. However, it is up to you to figure out how they can become your rock stars.

What a thought, huh? Your engineers are your rock stars.

Message to engineers: you are the salesperson’s best friend. By working together you can actually grow the sale. Continuing to keep your cards close to your chest is not going to create job security for you. Nor is everyone interested in stealing your engineering solutions. NEWS FLASH: the whole world is not after your ideas. If your ideas are that great PATENT THEM. Relax. Message to sales people: the engineer is the only person equipped with the technical skill set and know-how to expand the scope of the project into multiple projects over multiple years (unless your sales person is also an engineer with the ability to win complex sales).   Each of you are the only people who can do what YOU do. Think yin-yang.

I’m not being idealistic. I do this every day. I thank my lucky stars for my sales engineers. I wouldn’t think of closing a complex sale without including my Engineer of All Engineers. He is my Rock Star.  I actually included him on a post-technical presentation (his gig) conference call where he could hear the conversation where I closed the sale. He was flabbergasted. Yet his background work was the reason I was closing the sale. As an engineer, he was not equipped to close the sale. He had never heard the language and dynamics of the sales conversation leading to the close. It was revelatory to him. I debriefed with my Engineer post sale, went over the dynamics, and the reason what he had said was so valuable that it resulted in the close.

The sales process should be synergistic. Not silo-ed.We both have something to teach one another. And, quite frankly, the engineers really have the technical know-how to be quite dangerous with a bit of coaching on sales probes.The sales folks know how to manage the dynamics of the sale but often lack the technical expertise to really “see” the potential of what they create for their company.Especially when it comes to adoption of new technology.

So the next time your salespeople hand over their hard-won sale to you, the engineer, to implement I recommend that you request that you both continue to work together as a sales team, post sale.You can learn from one another. It will improve your sales close ratio and your understanding of each others’ skill sets. It also may improve the perceived value that you, the engineer, bring to your company.

You know, you both really are not from different planets. We all reside on Mother Earth, not Mars and Venus. Time to talk the same language. In this global economy. Now.

Filed Under: Angels, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Entrepreneurs and StartUps, Professional Development & Social Selling, Sales, Pitching & Business Development Tagged With: , , , ,

LinkedIn, Your Value Proposition and Engineers

July 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

It should be no news at this point that LinkedIn has emerged as the #1 social media venue for professional business development. It is THE place where current and future employers or customers are looking for their next investment.

Are you giving them a compelling reason to do business with you or hire you? In addition to looking at your corporate website, they are also looking you up on LinkedIn to find out whether you “make sense” to them in meeting their business their needs.

Think about it.

Any engineer or technically-oriented individual – BLUE COLLAR AS WELL AS WHITE COLLAR – who has not established a LinkedIn profile is simply not managing their career path.The importance of having a current, up-to-date LinkedIn profile is critical to personal and professional development. No one else is going to do this but you. Face the facts.

Before you can develop a credible LinkedIn foundation, however, you need to develop your Value Proposition.Your Value Proposition, in the words of Jill Konrath, Chief Sales Officer at Selling To Big Companies, is “a clear statement of the tangible results a customer gets from using your products or services. It is focused on outcomes and stresses the business value of your offering.”

Most of you have multiple versions of your resumes. You recreate them depending on the job you are going after or the proposal you are presenting to a prospect. It’s like trying to be all things to all people so you don’t miss out on all opportunities for…. everything?

A Value Proposition is your focused, enduring Personal Branding statement.  No matter how many resumes you have circulating.It doesn’t change depending on the weather, the job or the prospect. It is a statement of WHO YOU ARE no matter what, day in and day out, throughout your business and personal relationships.It’s not about the job. It’s about who you are and what you value.

Which is why individuals who have LinkedIn profiles that are created based on a clearly articulated Value Proposition are highly sought after by employers and prospects. Anyone who has taken the time to develop the “why I am who I am” and is willing to walk that walk and talk that talk – honestly, accountably, responsibly – on the Internet, phone, email and in person is someone who has provided folks with a compelling reason to do business with him or her.

Marketing yourself is not a form of narcissism. It’s a necessity.

For those of you who are displaced, or for those of you that wish certain aspects of your job chronology would disappear into a black hole, STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP.You have always brought certain abilities, skills, values, beliefs to the table no matter how well run your former employer’s business was or how perfect that last proposal was – even if it did not result in a project.You may have been totally ineffective at your last job or jobs because you aim too high or low or don’t full realize what you bring to the table even when there seems to be a good fit. You may be targeting the wrong target time and time again.Your Value Proposition is about why you are extraordinary – even if you do the mundane and rote extraordinarily well.

Perhaps the first person you need to articulate your Value Proposition to is YOURSELF. Live it, breathe it, believe it. So you can walk the walk and talk the talk. No hesitation.

After all is said and done, you aren’t your job. YOU ARE YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION and value statements which comprise your LinkedIn profile. It is a rich tapestry of what makes you, well, “you”. No matter what career train wrecks happened over the course of your career.

Grab a sheet of paper or sit down at the computer and write out what you bring to the table.Something like : “I work with [what industry or types of customer or students] to develop [what is the end result? A solution? A product? A grade?].On average, my clients / friends / partners enjoyed a [some dollarization of return on investment or durability or artistic enjoyment] which resulted in [increased profit, less downtime and therefore less overhead]. “

So even if you have participated in jobs that resembled train wrecks, you still brought this valuable skill and outcome set to the table. Maybe if you were successful, but still were let go, you still brought this same skill and value set to the table.

YOU need to articulate your value. Don’t wait for someone to “see” what you do and reward you. Not in this economy. Even your current employer doesn’t realize everything you bring to the table. Unless you tell him.  Perhaps you should be looking forward to your next career move, whether it happens or not. Take charge of marketing your Personal Brand, of “you.”

Which is why articulating your Value Proposition on LinkedIn under the Summary section becomes so critical for letting your light out from underneath the proverbial bushel basket.

You will not be rewarded for keeping your cards close to your chest. You only will continue to be the best kept secret that only you know about.

As I’ve said before:What are you waiting for?

 

Filed Under: Professional Development & Social Selling Tagged With: , , , , ,

Are you telling time or just building clocks?

July 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The setting: a conference room somewhere in Manufacturingland, 9:00 AM on a Monday morning.

Sales Type 1 to Sales Type 2:“You’re new to the Company. So sit and listen. And whatever you do, don’t ask Bob from Engineering what time it is.He’ll just build you a clock.”

Sales Type 2 to Sales Type 1: “Bob seems like a good guy.What do you mean?”

Sales Type 1 to Sales Type 2: “Look, what I want is a simple explanation.What Bob gives me is a convoluted discussion without reaching a conclusion. He’ll play ‘what if’ forever and get you nowhere.”

Sales Type 2 to Sales Type 1: “Oh, gee, I didn’t realize this. I was thinking about using Bob as a resource for my sales strategy.”

Sales Type 1 to Sales Type 2: “You don’t have enough hours in the day to start working with Bob. He just wants to be told what to do and then take his time doing it. He’s not looking at the big picture.”

Sales Type 2 to Sales Type 1: “If I don’t understand the possibilities of what can be done from Bob, how can we have a big picture?”

Sales Type 1 starts to look confused….

The meeting progresses. Bob is called on, lectures for a bit, Sales Type 1 rolls his eyes at Sales Type 2. A few Marketing folks lean in to listen to what Bob is saying while the rest of the Marketing folks’ eyes glaze over. The Owner pays attention to what Bob’s saying and so does the CFO.A new project is formed, with Bob heading the team. Sales Type 2 is selected to work on the new product development team with Bob and folks from other departments.

This is pretty much the eternal dialectic between engineering / technical types trying to communicate with marketing or sales types. Left brain vs. right brain.Deductive vs. inductive. Objective vs. subjective. Brainiac vs. maniac?

OK, so maybe Engineers like Bob CAN AND DO understand when, where and why to use a quadratic equation. Or calculate the area under a curve on a graph. Engineers take pride in their capacity for analytical reasoning. And finding a solution to a problem. THAT’S WHAT ENGINEERS ARE TRAINED TO DO. THAT’S WHAT ENGINEERS WANT TO DO. IT’S THEIR CALLING.

Most Sales and Marketing folks – not very technically oriented perhaps – feel like Engineers hold their cards close to their chest, using their unique vocabulary and technical terms like the keys to the kingdom to create an effective barrier to communication. This behavior pretty much communicates to the non-techy folks that they are not “worthy” … or smart enough …. to “get it.”As dense as they seem, the non-techy folks really do get that singular message loud and clear.

Technical folks should keep in mind that the non-techy folks are charged with dollarizing (marketing and selling) the value the Engineers provide to their Company. Why let sales and marketing types target the Next Greatest Thing when engineering has something even better, more functional, and even sexier to offer? Why should ignorance – and perhaps even intimidation – of engineering be a barrier to the longevity of your Company in today’s market place? That’s what’s at stake.

What if I told you sales folks that Bob The Engineer probably never would have signed up to become an Engineer if he thought he had to become involved in the sales process. That’s not what Engineers do. However, that’s just what Engineers need to think about doing before they are downsized and thrust into that role. And with small to mid-sized industrial manufacturers, they already serve that function. Some better than others.

Yes, I know. The Engineering folks complain that the marketing and sales folks REALLY DO NEED TO BECOME A LOT SMARTER ABOUT ENGINEERING THAN THEY ARE.But until they do…….

Isn’t it time for folks on both sides of the table to recalibrate? Regardless of whether you are an Engineer or a Sales or Marketing person?

YOU DON’T WORK IN A VACUUM.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IS A TEAM SPORT.

WITH A GOAL.

ESPECIALLY IN THIS ECONOMY.

Everyone in your Company needs to get that message. Perhaps that message should start with you. Be an innovator instead of an order-taker.

It’s about time.

Filed Under: Angels, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Entrepreneurs and StartUps, Professional Development & Social Selling, Sales, Pitching & Business Development Tagged With: , , , ,

Engineers may be from Mars instead of Venus … but this is not just another Cinderella story.

July 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Personal branding is a way of differentiating yourself from the crowd. If you are waiting for someone to notice you and pick you out from everyone else, don’t count on it.

If you are counting on your boss to recognize you for the work you are doing for the Company, you won’t be distinguished by fading into the wallpaper.

You must market yourself, your skills and your value in order to be rewarded. And create an enduring brand. Something that isn’t transient based on the latest Internet social networking trend. Something that’s your legacy.

And herein lies the problem: because engineering, IT and technical folks are uncomfortable “blowing their own horns.”The Marketing Folks think you are from Mars and they may very well treat you like that, too.So how do you self-promote without feeling cheesy (like you think the Marketing folks are because, well, they are from Venus, right?) Cinderella had the answer.


OK, here is the easiest – and most difficult –part of the story.  And this is no fairy tale: JUST BE WHO YOU ALREADY ARE. ONLINE.

Dan Schawbel’s Me 2.0 puts the personal branding cards on the table: Change is Constant. You are only as good as your last project or last sale. The economy is wrecking havoc on everyone’s nerves. As everyone anxiously awaits second quarter Department of Labor statistics, think about what you need to do to establish your value… even if it’s for your next career move, voluntary or not.

The only person who can free Cinderella from the tower is YOU. After all, you are the only person who knows WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR.Year after year, in spite of everything, Cinderella believed in herself. OK, so maybe a fairy godmother DID show up. And that’s where most people stop. Yeah, Cinderella had all this help. She was just sitting there in the cinders and the Fairy Godmother just popped by, waived her magic wand and solved all her problems.

Get real. Cinderella could have been skeptical and blown her fairy godmother off. After all, it’s not like the fairy godmother showed up with Cinderella’s future as a pre-packaged get rich quick scheme so that Cinderella didn’t even have to break a nail to achieve it.

Cinderella could have told her fairy godmother “I am not worthy” and sabotaged her own future because she didn’t think she was good enough.

But good old Cinderella recognized an opportunity. And decided to take it. And she made the most of it. Because of Who She is and What She Stands For. She didn’t have to change a thing about herself in order to be Who She Is.

Say the name “Cinderella” and you have a whole mental picture of a person and a value system.I’d say that’s an enduring personal brand.

So where do you start? I suggest LinkedIn. It’s a great site for building a resume that’s an aggregate of your personal and professional skill set and values.It becomes the fulcrum for your personal brand. If you have a website or a blog, make sure that the content of each underscores the value that you bring to the table, per your LinkedIn profile.

Take your time in developing your personal brand. To do this right, you have to be introspective. Your personal brand involves accountability and responsibility for WHO YOU ARE.

So if you haven’t taken the time to do a bit of personal inventory, there’s no better time than now. You may discover how valuable you are. You may discover why you haven’t retained jobs. You may discover a more reasonable and realistic course to take towards professional and personal development.

The only person who can free Cinderella from the tower is YOU.

What are you waiting for?

Filed Under: Angels, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Entrepreneurs and StartUps, Professional Development & Social Selling, Sales, Pitching & Business Development Tagged With: , , ,
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