Engineers can't sell

Replies

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  durga ch

  Hi Robert,
  
  Good to see ya in CE . Did Not go through the book inthe link, but the reviews do surely say its a good book 😀
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  Kaustubh Katdare

  Welcome to CE, Robert. Could you tell us a bit more about your book? Here's my question to you -
  
  What are your tips/suggestions on selling advertising space on CrazyEngineers forum? 😀
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  RobertSeviour

  =Could you tell us a bit more about your book? Here's my question to you -
  
  What are your tips/suggestions on selling advertising space on CrazyEngineers forum? 😀

  The Seviour Books manual is a condensation of my experiences in technical sales. In the beginning I was completely 'sales-averse', meaning that I thought that engineering was cool and sales stank. Amazingly I discovered that sales is not like that at all and I slowly went through a transition where I discovered the value, both business-wise and in personal development, of learning sales skills. I challenge anyone to read the book and not learn many ideas that do the same for them.
  
  I'd like to see universities teaching much of the contents to engineering students. I was lucky that serendipity brought me into contact with the ideas I relate; many engineers never have that chance and are IMHO the poorer for it.
  
  Tips for selling advertising space: The #1 fundamental rule of sales - no one can buy from you if they don't know you exist, so tell all potential users. You always get some sales from doing that. Some are immediate, others don't occur until the time is right (for the buyer); some prospects will never buy, and there is nothing you can do about it.
  
  Active prospection is better by an order of magnitude than any passive method. (Chinese proverb - Man wait long time by open window before roast duck fly in to mouth). So brainstorm all locations and methods by which you can inform potential advertisers what you can offer and then tell them. It's simple but paradoxically difficult - we invent endless excuses for ourselves to avoid doing the above. What's remarkable is that when the procrastination finally finishes, the task isn't unpleasant. As Nike puts it - 'Just do it'.
  
  Robert
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  gohm

  I think they do know about sales just are not familiar to apply correctly. Every engineer sells more than they know. You sell yourself to a company during the interview process, you sell your ideas and projects to management, you sell to coworkers to work together,etc.
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  pracas

  lol! gohm, thats what you think. But i think its the companies that sell their jobs as the prized possession to engineers. Make you feel happy about projects by making you come out with what they want you to say(its a management gimmick to make you speak what they want! )
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  RobertSeviour

  gohm

  . . Every engineer sells more than they know.

  The problem is that if you aren't consciously aware of what you are 'selling' then you don't realise when your message is not a good one. One of the key elements of good selling is to hear what clients are most interested in and focus your reply principally around that. Engineers are often poor listeners and don't do this very well.
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  callyD

  This is an interesting area for me since I am an engineer who has been thrust into a sales position. I would like to understand these things better.