There are plenty of reasons why engineers already have a huge headstart, the edge even, over other sales people when it comes to professional selling:
- They don’t want to be like the stereotypical dodgy ‘salesy’ salesperson, and they don’t tend to act that way
- Customers buying technical solutions often want to talk to them
- They’re intelligent and usually helpful
- They’re problem solvers
- They are often introverted which means they can question and listen well. This is perhaps their most important secret weapon
- Customers like dealing with someone who they know is not the ‘sales person’. They have more trust towards you from the start
- Engineers often like things to work, and to work well. This steers their approach with customers
- They can be methodical and know how to work a process
- They know how to connect the dots, and can learn which dots to connect in order to sell effectively
- They have great technical expertise, so can answer customer questions and score highly in this area
- They are generally steady in their approach, not over-reacting or behaving over-emotionally in front of customers
- They’ve spent their life, from childhood, ‘selling’ (or putting forward reasoning to steer the minds of other people around them)
- They usually believe in and take pride in their products and solutions
- They are usually honest, decent people
- They have proven that they can learn
