Selling to engineers and other technical people can be adversarial, as they don’t consider a salesperson as a peer. Being technically proficient (and listening) can bridge that gap, but its not necessarily enough to close the sale. You still need to be a salesperson (or marketer) that enables their decision.
That’s where this week’s newsletter from SalesDog.com, titled How to sell to Techies picks up. The article is much more detailed than these key points I culled here:
1. Technical types prefer to have an authority set the rules, and then they can do the right thing. They prefer to use standards whenever possible.
2. Understand their centers of influence. Their purchase decisions often come from consulting with others.
3. Establish and prove that what you sell is an industry standard.
7. If anything at all smacks of manipulation, eliminate it from your discussion. Techies prefer to draw their own conclusions, thank you.
8. Give them all the data they need to make a decision.
The author, Mark Smith, was hammering on the ‘industry standard’ idea. Being ‘standard’ eliminates risk, justifies pricing, and removes the sense of manipulation. It’s a powerful concept.
And why do salesmen insist on wearing a suit to a techie sales call? When I was just starting out as a technical writer, I preferred to wear a tie. When I would interview the developers, they would give me generalities of what I needed to know about. When I lost the tie I got the details I needed. The developers couldn’t see me as a peer with the tie on.
And why do salesmen insist on wearing a suit to a techie sales call? When I was just starting out as a technical writer, I preferred to wear a tie. When I would interview the developers, they would give me generalities of what I needed to know about. When I lost the tie I got the details I needed. The developers couldn’t see me as a peer with the tie on.
The suit/tie thing is an interesting thing. Does the tie say you are professional about being a salesperson, or does it just create a barrier? Good question!
The suit/tie thing is an interesting thing. Does the tie say you are professional about being a salesperson, or does it just create a barrier? Good question!
I think we need to have a style and to follow that style and be consistent. I don’t see wearing tie is a bad thing, if the sales person is more comfortable with it.The other thing I think is important is to do a bit of research before attending a meeting to discover what the prospect/client’s dress code is, i.e if the techie guy is in suite, its good to wear formal and if he is in short and t-shirt, its ok to wear casual.Overall, I’d say, wearing formal would be safe in most cases, and that is because I always wear suit and I am cool 🙂
I think we need to have a style and to follow that style and be consistent. I don’t see wearing tie is a bad thing, if the sales person is more comfortable with it.The other thing I think is important is to do a bit of research before attending a meeting to discover what the prospect/client’s dress code is, i.e if the techie guy is in suite, its good to wear formal and if he is in short and t-shirt, its ok to wear casual.Overall, I’d say, wearing formal would be safe in most cases, and that is because I always wear suit and I am cool 🙂