How do you go about selling in technology? How do you sell aeroplanes or their avionics, an underground, an observation satellite or its optics, the defence system of a warship, driving assistance systems, a large building, a dam?
In any business, the “selling” or commercial activity can be carried out in different ways. This depends on the complexity of the sales act and the interactions it requires, as well as the cost of the sales structure implemented, which must remain economically viable in relation to the margins achieved. This ranges from selling simple products to the general public over the Internet, where the customer is familiar with them and requires little interaction, to mobilising a dedicated team for several months or even years for complex offers involving large sums of money and requiring a lot of interaction.
Which commercial structure?
When it comes to business structure, B2B/B2G high-tech companies, like any other company, trade off the structure needed for customer interaction against the cost.
They operate either through direct sales or through external or integrated structures. These structures can be distributors (when the product is technical but the interaction linked to its sale is fairly simple), OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) who integrate the product into their own product, commercial agents, service companies who can also resell products, etc.
Most of the time, high-tec B2B/B2G products and offers require at least one “salesperson” who is able to explain the interest of the product in the context of the customers’ use as well as its technical characteristics and performance. This is why we most often speak of a “sales engineer” (a term often abused in other contexts to avoid the word “salesman” which is considered too unglamorous) or a “technical sales engineer. The latter is responsible for interacting with the customer and negotiating the sale. They are supported by one or more technical or specialist staff (e.g. contracts) whom they can call on if necessary during the sales process.
Organising to sell ‘projects
Beaucoup de produits et services technologiques sont vendus dans le cadre de “projets” standard ou sur mesure, qu’il s’agisse de vente de produits, de services ou de projets dans lesquels la demande client porte à la fois sur les produits et des services.
The “projects”, both large and small, are innumerable, whether they are IT projects, construction, equipment or security of a site such as a station, an airport or an industrial site, upgrading or renewal of air or naval fleets, etc.
In this case, the “commercial project team” or “project capture team” responsible for drawing up the offer and defending it may, depending on the size of the project, be composed of
- Sales representatives
- Specialists in various techniques
- Lawyers
- Financiers
- Or specialists in project management, technology transfer or local production partnerships.
It is then a matter of dialoguing with the client to understand his needs, constructing the offer or proposal in its various aspects, defending it, negotiating it, sometimes in several successive rounds… and then, which is far from being the easiest thing in the world, carrying out the project within the framework of the contracted budget by achieving the planned margin in spite of the possible hazards of implementation.
Some “projects” are so important or prestigious that the winning of the contract or the completion of the project will be quoted in the general or specialised press.
Selling in technology is therefore most often a sale based on technical bases, carried out at least by sales engineers. It is also frequently a “complex sale” carried out by a “project capture” team mobilising different specialities to dialogue with the client, draw up the offer, present it, defend it and negotiate it in all its dimensions until the contract is signed.
