Are you a Sales and Marketing guy?
Recently, I was in a client meeting along with one of my business friend and was discussing something (not technically) about the feasibility of a project. After some time, the client asked some technical question from my friend, who is supposed to be working in that particular domain from the last 8 years. I was shocked when I got the answer for that particular technical query. The answer was “Actually, I am not a technical guy. I will get back to you later on this. I am a Sales and marketing guy”. The client was actually surprised to hear that. And me too.
Why this answer came at that moment of time? I discussed the same with my friend after that meeting and he said that this is the best way not to take any technical responsibility about the project. I doubt and questioned him that “Is this the best way to hide your in-efficiencies in the domain?” He said “You can think it like that also”. I disagree on this answer.
In my opinion, if you are a part of a very small organization, you are not supposed to answer like this about any technical question. Answering this way will only present your incapability about handling of technical queries. In a small setup, a single person takes care of many roles at a single time. The answer, like this, is not expected. This can be a correct answer in large organizations where there are separate departments like Sales, Marketing, R&D etc.
Better to be prepared for handling all types of queries – technical, managerial, HR, Finance, Marketing, Sales etc. If you are able to answer most of the queries in all the domains, you are a perfect asset for any small organization. But remember, if you are slightly confused about your answer, better to say “I will come back to you on this later” rather than “I am not a technical guy”
- Sanat Sharma
