Can your industrial company smooth out problems between sales and engineers?

In recent years I have been able to talk to many industrial companies, particularly about the back end where there IT systems are involved.

It always surprises me just how many industrial businesses seem to have a rift between the sales department and its engineers.

Each is so valuable to the company, but rarely is the relationship smooth. Many put it down to the inevitable clash of cliché personalities and basically assume it’s incurable.

I think otherwise. Here are 3 basic pain points between sales and engineers I encounter in the vast majority of industrial companies, and some basic pointers in how to change it for the better.

1. Each wants to speak to someone else

2. Software systems, but never to manage these issues

3. Undefined process (centralise the process)

Each wants to speak to someone else

It’s a near-farcical triangle because sales obviously wants to talk to new leads and potential customers, but they prefer to talk to the engineers. Yet the engineers are reluctant to talk to them! You’ve seen it all before and we do offer a little more detail on this issue (which you can read by clicking here). But if you choose to read on, there’s more.

Software systems, but never to manage these issues

So many times I have been called in to tap my experience as an IT trouble shooter. Of course, I fix the problem pretty much every time. The odd thing is that while I am there I am also wearing my digital marketing cap and can’t help but see how obvious it is that the real solution for this impasse is actually marketing software. It would change the dynamics of most industrial companies, mend the factional burdens and actually improve efficiency and plain happiness for everyone involved (read more on this issue by clicking here).

Undefined process (centralise the process)

Which leads us to the overall processes. Plenty of businesses have IT setups that function on high input, low return.

And no doubt they would like to switch those dynamics 180° so processes to generate new business leads are as lean as possible, organised and returning a higher percentage? You can click here to read our brief summary on this very issue.

So before you begin to fret, often the political chasm between sales and the technical department can be solved by understanding the nature of the needs of each group, then properly analysing how software can help.

But the key is to genuinely identify the need, because once this is clear, the solution is a far better application. You can find out a little bit more by downloading our free e-book, which uses a contextual example to make the point a little bit clearer.