Sales: Give People what they Want

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This is the laboratory notebook of Damon Bruccoleri. Here you will find engrossing, thoughtful and fun commentary/opinion. Leave a comment and let others know what you think about any post here, view my photo gallery, or sign my guestbook.

"...one of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought." - Albert Einstein

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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Sales: Give People what they Want

It sounds like an easy idea. Give people what they want. It sounds easier than it really is. If you can give people what they want I guarantee that you that any engineer will be successful in any business. The first step is listening to what the customer wants. The second is to actually give it to them. These are not always easy objectives.

A few years back I had a small company and we were selling electronic based products for the educational market. I really respect sales people for the job they do. I learned something trying my hand at sales.

One of the things I had to work at is to really listen. This listening issue is an issue of communication [more on communication in another lab note]. Working against the salesperson and engineer is that the customer may not be the greatest communicator. Therefore it is up to the salesperson and engineer to become a better listener.

Sometimes the customer tells you exactly what they want, and sometime you have to get it from them. That is one of the defining characteristic's of a great sales person, in my opinion. Great salespeople know how to listen.

Is it important for an engineer to understand sales? Not unless your employer does not expect to get paid for the items you design, or if the product is not intended to be used. The worst thing an engineer can do, and the most likely thing a new engineer will do, is to give the customer what the engineer wants them to have. That is why engineers need to listen to customers and salespeople.

It seems very common for a new engineer to extrapolate their own needs into some other (imaginary) larger market need instead of listening. It may be that listening is harder than guessing what the customer wants. [continued]

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Sweetheart said...

I think that's a very good analysis of a hyperchanging market. Perhaps you can come up with an invention to help working moms too!

Saturday, February 17, 2007 2:15 AM