What are the responsibilities and tasks of a technical-commercial advisor?

This information is obtained from a sample of job vacancies, extracted from job portals (for Belgium) In this analysis, we consider all vacancies that mention “technical-commercial”, regardless of whether this term is followed by planner, advisor, collaborator or any other word. On the basis of this set of vacancies, we distinguish two groups of tasks and responsibilities. First, technical tasks and responsibilities, which are closely related to the activities of the firm and the sector in which it is active. Secondly, we identify a range of administrative and commercial tasks and responsibilities.

 Technical responsibilities and tasks are generally closely related to those of other technical, blue-collar occupations. Common tasks involve providing technical advice and support, offering assistance to customers, addressing complaints and malfunctions, executing field trials, drawing and interpreting plans, creating new proposals, and so on. In many cases, workers need to be able to fix technical problems as well, but this also depends on the role of the worker within the company, e.g. does he or she have an advisory, planning or other role. There also is a link with some of the engineering occupations, particularly those that also involve a commercial dimension (such as commercial or business engineers).

 Similarly, commercial responsibilities and tasks are closely related to those of other commercial or sales-related positions, and involve interacting with existing clients, networking activities, follow-up of existing relationships/orders/problems, as well as identifying new potential customers and establishing relationships with them (generating sales).

 Finally, the occupation also entails clear administrative responsibilities and tasks, which include following-up on orders and sales, following-up on technical support activities and so on.

C. Education, skills and other requirements

This information is obtained from a sample of job vacancies, extracted from job portals (for Belgium)

Formal education required

Is formal education required? Yes, most vacancies do refer to formal education

Level of education This ranges from high school education (general or technical training) to the bachelor’s level (professional bachelor’s mostly)

Field of education This depends substantially on the firm, its activities and sector. Some examples are construction, chemistry, metal work and electro-mechanics

Skills required

Communication skills Communication skills are deemed highly important, many vacancies also refer to basic knowledge of specific languages (such as Dutch, French and English)

Computer skills Basic computer skills are required (MS Office), in some cases also specific computer programs

Non-cognitive skills Service-skills, client-oriented, stress resistant, reliable, responsible, commercial attitude, dynamic, detail-oriented Occupation-specific skills Technical knowledge and skills, depending on sector (e.g.

reading, interpreting and drawing plans, knowledge on how to fix technical defects, installation procedures, field trials)

Experience required

Is experience required? Not always, we found vacancies requesting none, starter position, 1-2 years, 3-5 years

Is job-related experience required? Not always, again some vacancies do not require any experience at all, while others explicitly list job- or sector-related experience

D. Geographical prevalence

1.

A European perspective

Results from job portals and Google search for countries in different parts of Europe: Some of the job portals consulted: Indeed, Monster, Stepstone…

Similar vacancies in

Western Europe

France Technico Commercial, Technico-commercial itinerant, Conseiller Technique cour matériaux, Conseiller Technique sanitaire

Germany Technischer Sachbearbeiter Auftragsbearbeitung, Vertriebsmitarbeiter/in

The Netherlands Technisch-commercieel medewerker, Commercieel-technisch medewerker

UK Technical sales staff, Technical sales manager, Technical sales executive Do these vacancies

involve similar tasks and have similar requirements as the vacancies for Belgium? Yes

Tasks/Responsibilities: contact point of clients, commercial tasks, customer and product management, technical and sales support, identification of potential customers, commercial and technical customer support and advice, preparation of proposals and offers, providing solutions for complaints and problems, organisation of customer training sessions, administrative follow-up

Requirements: previous experience in a related position, formal education, knowledge of sales techniques, technical knowledge of products, their use and their implementation, driving license, dynamic, excellent customer-service skills, independent, team player, ambitious, client-oriented, strong communication and technical skills, language skills, basic PC skills

Similar vacancies in

Southern Europe

Italy TECNICO COMMERCIALE, FUNZIONARIO TECNICO

COMMERCIALE, TECNICI COMMERCIALI

Spain Técnico Comercial, Técnico Comercial Personal Care, Técnico comercial medicina estética, COMERCIAL Técnico INTERNACIONAL

Do these vacancies involve similar tasks and have similar requirements as the vacancies for Belgium? Yes (but stronger emphasis on the sales part in many vacancies)

Tasks/Responsibilities: responsible for sales, finding new clients, commercial support, profile management, improving existing customer relations, increase sales, regular contact with other departments, technical support and commercial centres, regular business trips, advertising

Requirements: business degree, science degree, engineering degree, other degree, experience in similar position, international experience, technical sales experience, knowledge of foreign languages, product knowledge, customer-oriented, independent, friendly, assertive, flexibility, problem-solving

Similar vacancies in

Northern Europe

Denmark Related vacancies were found for sales/commercial engineers: Salgsingeniør - Teknisk salg, SALGSINGENIØR

Sweden Teknisk innesäljare, säljare med tekniskt intresse, Teknisk säljare

Do these vacancies involve similar tasks and have similar requirements as the vacancies for Belgium? Largely yes, given that even the sales engineer vacancies for DK are quite similar

Tasks/Responsibilities: support sales and technical staff, training of sales team and technicians, price calculations, prepare documents and information, project management, customer management, product and portfolio development, technical advice, management tasks

Requirements: degree in engineering/technician, have a technical background, technical higher education, (five years of) experience in technical support from a sales-related position or industrial sales, independent, responsible, team player, good at managing many tasks at once, passionate, ambitious, excellent communication skills, service-minded, able to travel, knowledge of MS Office, SAP, MRP, language skills, systemic, analytical, driving license

Similar vacancies in

Central and Eastern

Europe

Czech Republic Technický obchodník, Technický referent obchodu, Technický obchodníka

Hungary Műszaki és értékesítési képviselő, értékesítő munkakör, MŰSZAKI ÉRTÉKESÍTŐ

Poland Related commercial engineer occupations: Inżynier ds. wsparcia sprzedaży, Inzynier Serwisu specjalista ds. sprzedaży

Do these vacancies involve similar tasks and have similar requirements as the vacancies for Belgium? Yes, but the high demand for language skills is rather striking

Tasks/Responsibilities: generate sales, establish relationships with new and existing clients, preparation of contracts and documents, technical support, customer support, implementation of existing orders, prepare offers, data acquisition and reporting, negotiations, project management, organisation of events, technical advice, market analysis

Requirements: engineering degree (high school, university), technical education/proficiency, experience in sales or similar roles, language skills, computer skills, communication skills, customer- oriented, organised, reliable, independent, willing to travel, team player, flexibility, presentation skills, driving license, professional demeanour, interested in technical things/technologies