Advantages of close cooperation between marketing and sales engineers

Sales engineers play a crucial role in the marketing of industrial goods and solutions that require explanation. Only they have the technical know-how to understand complex cutting-edge technologies. But can they also explain them?

To ensure that explaining is also successful, there are usually marketing departments that ideally work closely with sales engineers to create marketing measures that will convince the target groups in the long term. However, cooperation is not always easy: engineers come from Mars, marketing specialists from Venus. Distance: 770 million kilometres.

How can you intensify the cooperation and get the maximum benefit from it? How can you use the knowledge of both parties profitably to develop content for your target groups and implement it in cases, for example?

1. Discuss the benefits of closer cooperation together with the sales manager. This way you will find a consensus for future cooperation.
2. Then agree on concrete dates and milestones to create commitments. As your sales engineers travel a lot and are often under pressure to meet deadlines, this step will help you to stick to the timings for joint projects.
3. Then start the implementation! A first project could be the creation of cases, for example.

Best practice cases are a common way to convince potential customers of the uniqueness of your products and solutions and are in high demand by distributors. We recommend that you consider the following points when creating a case:

• Don't let agencies create case texts on their own, but try to bring the marketing team, copywriters specialised in industrial applications and your engineers to the same table.
• With the help of a prepared agenda, you can structure the exchange with your engineers in advance so that you can filter out relevant content for your customers.
• In the conversation, focus on the project requirements, the customer's challenge and the added value of your solution.
  The recorded results of the conversation can be prepared for your target groups by experienced copywriters.

With this approach, you will arrive together in a few steps at cases that will convince your customers in the long term.

It is best to involve your engineers in the development of the story. Contrary to the prevailing opinion that engineers are not very creative and communicative, we often experience that engineers provide valuable and creative input in strategic brand workshops - you just have to draw them out. Design thinking tools that facilitate a change of perspective into the customer's point of view are suitable for this.

You will find many practical suggestions in our series on the topic of "Design Thinking".

In the next step, you should hold a workshop with the entire sales team in which you practise telling the story. Let your engineers play the role of the customer. How is the story received? Is it understandable? And what can be improved in the personal appearance of the storyteller?

Close cooperation between marketing and sales is profitable for both sides. However, it requires a structured approach and a consensus on common goals. Liabilities are the key to success here.

If you manage to initiate a regular and personal exchange between marketing, sales and, if necessary, experienced external partners, then you will succeed in developing target group-oriented and convincing content: be it in a sales story or in the form of cases.