Engineers are becoming increasingly popular for sales jobs. They are even overtaking their counterparts from the commercial sciences when it comes to recruiting for international negotiation positions. So why are these profiles so popular? What is their main advantage? How can these engineers, with their traditionally technical background, reinvent themselves as true commercial players on the international stage? What challenges await them in the field? What are the key skills that turn an engineer into a versatile negotiator, capable of managing demanding international contracts? Bettina Descours, international trade consultant, explains.
Whether they are positioned as project leaders or collaborators, or even thrown into the deep end of field marketing, engineers are increasingly called upon by companies to provide practical support for the strategic development implemented by operational management.
What differentiates "sales engineers"?
Their main advantage is their dual technical skillsto best serve companies' development ambitions. These companies rely on their solid technical background putting them quickly in the front line.
Companies believe that these skills will make all the difference when negotiating, buying or selling.
What's more, their good level of English makes for almost immediate immersion. So here they are, with the title of sales engineers "They will be in direct contact with their multicultural partners! So there's plenty of scope for negotiation. And companies love these profiles!
Challenges encountered in the field
Three major tactical mistakes are naturally made, both by sales management and by the sales engineers themselves:
- Are the engineers ready in terms of posture and have they assessed the expected challenges and the associated risks?
- Have they previously acquired the technical baggage associated with international operations?
- Have they been able to digest and link these prerequisites to turn them into assets in the eyes of their employers?
Technical versus commercial spirit
Firstly, the companies that hire these profiles rely almost exclusively on their own resources. technical skills as a guarantee of a winning negotiation. Obviously, they see them as professionals capable of dealing with complex engineering problems.
The technical skills of "sales engineers
In production companies, they must also be able to develop products and processes using innovative technical resources. This makes recruiters feel secure!
What's more, they know how to manage overall projects, including products, services and systems. This is reassuring for their companies, as they are banking on profiles that can evolve over time, with the potential for a career within the company. Companies also appreciate their generalist mindset and the open-mindedness that goes with it.
Finally, why else would you recruit this type of profile? For their ability to ensure compliance with strict specifications, to use method and to proceed in stages. These are operating methods that they have assimilated throughout their studies, and are still very reassuring for sales management.
What kind of training?
As far as their initial training is concerned, the figures are clear: nearly 95 % of engineering school students have a general baccalaureate, according to the Conférence des directeurs des écoles françaises d'ingénieurs (CDEFI).
In addition, these profiles have undergone 5 years of higher education in order to obtain the diploma, either in full at an engineering school or through integration courses via preparatory classes or undergraduate university courses.
Sales negotiation will therefore be part of the daily routine for these engineers, some of whom have just been recruited, and who are proud to be flying off to negotiate on the other side of the world!
In the field, they come up against seasoned contacts whose practices are sometimes quite different from what they have mastered: they have been taught how and what to do, but now they are up against people and power! Project management is above all a matter of individuals, interpersonal relationships and sometimes opportunism, much more than simple milestones, stages or processes.
Expert opinion
I remember the example of two young engineers in a design office, working for a network detection SME, who were sent out into the field and were worn down by the harshness of the international commercial relationship. They were totally disillusioned after barely a year's effort. The reason: their management decided that they were incompetent in the field. According to Michael Page, design office engineers will be the most recruited group in France in 2023.
Of course, customer relations were not at the heart of the modules taught during their higher education courses. At the same time, companies cannot be blamed for expecting immediate commercial results in an increasingly fast-paced and demanding world.
International techniques for sales professionals
The second line of questioning is once again linked to the teaching they received during their studies. Have engineers acquired the technical skills needed for international operations? These modules either do not exist in their curricula, or remain a minor part of the curriculum.
Testimonial
Thierry, former business engineer
"Incoterms? We were taught acronyms like CFR or DAP, but they were totally disconnected from any reality on the ground. So I have to admit that I didn't learn anything in engineering school. Until the day I had to negotiate! That was a different kettle of fish! I had to study to bring myself up to scratch.
Particularities of international contracts, Incoterms®, general terms and conditions of export sale, customs, logistics, techniques for securing payments, application of guarantees... so many subjects that are poorly mastered. So many mistakes made on the ground!
Read also
People naturally pack samples in their suitcases without asking questions, they don't worry about the costs generated by delays or warranties that are always running, they accept contractual clauses without measuring the extent of the risks, and so on. It's the surprise on their faces when they discover and decipher what's at stake.
In SMEs, however, they thought they were well surrounded: lawyers, logisticians, guarantees from their purchasing or sales departments, finance departments. In large, highly siloed groups, they imagine that other players will take charge of these issues.
It's a mistake in every respect: they have to personally integrate all the constants in order to negotiate!
Skills and timing
The third mistake is temporal. Engineers imagine that questions about which they have doubts will be settled later. The age of immediacy imposes its own rules. A 2-hour negotiation at the other end of the world in English and by video implies :
- it has been prepared in advance
- that the main colleagues in the departments involved are present or available to respond at any given time
The same applies to pre-contracts drawn up on the fly (promissory notes, letters of intent): errors made during exchanges will be difficult to correct later.
Have engineers learnt to digest and link these knowledge prerequisites so as to transform them into assets once they are in the field?
Training to master international contracts
The new ORSYS Sales engineers: optimising the negotiation of international sales/purchase contracts provides companies with practical solutions.
The promise? To provide the engineers in charge of sales with the fundamental insights they need to make the right decisions. project management and mastery of international contracts. In an international context of complex change, where digital tools require speed and accurate decision-making, it is more important than ever for these "sales engineers" to know how to handle the different blades of their Swiss army knife with dexterity! ORSYS training provides answers that can be deployed immediately in the field.
The aim is for the sales engineer of the future to be a versatile, creative designer, empathetic and assertive in negotiation, ethical and capable of adapting to a demanding world.
These abilities, combined with their solid technical skills, are essential to meeting the complex challenges of the 21st century.e century. It's crucial to provide them with the best possible support!
Key points of the course :
- Identify the technical constraints associated with an international contract
- Optimising the integration of these constraints into the commercial offering
- Securing the sale/purchase contract
- Plan risk management in the sales/purchasing cycle
Exercise example:
- Quiz: find out which Incoterms® are most relevant to your business. Sample question: "Why no longer sell in ex worksWhy is it better to have a permanent establishment abroad when opting for a "one-stop shop"? delivered duty paid or returned duty paid?
Other ORSYS training courses exist to support sales engineers, for example : Successful international negotiations. The course focuses on 4 areas:
- Identifying different negotiation styles by cultural zone
- Acquire the keys to understanding and adapting to the negotiation context
- Managing difficult negotiations in multicultural situations
- Defending and developing margins
Reading advice
Customs, the basics, Bettina Descours and Pascale Di Felice, Le Génie Éditeur, 2020
"These players operate in a context of globalisation of trade, transnational companies, intra-branch trade, accelerated flows, dematerialisation of documents, and online negotiations (GHG and carbon footprint reduction).
For these employees, mastery of commercial decision-making tools is of prime importance. What's more, their solid technical knowledge and the accuracy of their decision-making will ensure a controlled business, with preserved margins, in the face of partners' demands.
The fundamentals presented here are designed for them, as they are responsible for securing their flows and meeting the constantly evolving international challenges facing their companies.
In support of these international challenges, I offer you the fundamentals of international negotiation, to optimise your success! With, as a bonus, a summary toolbox at the end of the book".
Once they have transposed the operational concepts of the ORSYS training into their own professional world, there is no doubt that sales representatives with an engineering background will be able to tackle the technical challenges of the international field with greater serenity. There's no doubt that this kind of training provides them with both technical support and a safeguard when dealing with partners who are sometimes very experienced! In this way, they can avoid falling into traps and protect the company's interests.
