There was a time in air conditioning sales when the buyer had the knowledge and the seller had the catalogue and price list.

Today’s commercial projects, however, demand high specification products that meet minimum energy efficiency requirements and robust building regulations and those selling them need in-depth knowledge of both product and application.

Expertise

Consultants and contractors expect the air conditioning sales person to be the expert who tells them what they need for the job. Anyone who turns up without the necessary technical know-how won’t be invited back for a second chance.

Confidence

Air conditioning sales people will often have to deal with a whole chain of people. They need to be confident enough in their knowledge to be able to talk business and budgets at the top of the chain and nuts and bolts at the bottom. It’s not just about how it works, it’s also about value for money and return on investment.

Responsibility

With less expertise in house, project managers will be relying on air conditioning sales engineers to take responsibility for a whole range of issues. The more advice you can give and the more value you can add through services, solutions, design and planning, the more they are likely to buy from you and trust you.

Honesty

Consultants value the relationships they develop with HVAC sales engineers and respect honesty and integrity. If you don’t have the right product for a particular project, be open about it and let the consultant know. Your integrity will be appreciated and the relationship will benefit in the longer term.

As the air conditioning market expands in response to growth in the construction sector, sales engineers with strong technical understanding and the ability to forge relationships based on trust are in an excellent position to capitalise on the current upward trend.