Financial Statement Literacy For Sales Engineers

Financial literacy is uncommon because the majority of most companies’ employees don’t know how to read Balance Sheets and Income Statements. Why is this? Most instruction about finance pertains to personal concerns such as checking accounts, insurance, mortgages, certificates of deposit, etc. Balance Sheets and Income Statements are excluded because they are much larger and complex topics, most often included in business school curricula.

Unfortunately, the lack of financial skills prevents a company-wide connection with corporate and customer financial goals. That is, shareholder financial objectives can be an abstraction for many department heads and employees. These work associates, talented as they are, don’t understand the exact mechanics of, and risks to, Income Statement profitability or Balance Sheet health. Also, customers can sense that your staff’s skills and activities are not focused on their financial needs and objectives.

Financial Statements: What a Sales Engineer Should Look For

NAASE practical guide

Use financial statements to frame better questions about the customer’s priorities. The SEC’s beginner’s guide explains the distinctions below; the customer questions are NAASE applications for sales engineers.

Profit and cash flow are different measures: a profitable business can still face pressure from the timing of cash receipts and payments. Check reporting dates and the notes before comparing figures.

Example: Turn Inventory Growth into a Discovery Question

NAASE hypothetical example

A customer’s annual revenue has risen, while inventory reported at year-end has also increased. An SE considering a stock-visibility or replenishment solution might ask: “What is driving the inventory increase, and where does the team lose visibility of stock or replenishment needs?”

That observation does not establish a problem. The increase might reflect planned growth or a seasonal build. Confirm the operational cause before proposing a solution. If the customer identifies a visibility gap, agree which records and measures would show improvement, then build the business case together.

For related commercial context, see selling into PE-backed companies and the procurement perspective on evaluating a supplier.

Finance Insights, LLC reduces this costly knowledge gap with its 90 minute in person training module that explains financial statement structures and demonstrates how companies achieve profitability by growing and controlling specific line items on their Income Statements. If this type of instruction could be helpful to your organization, a Finance Insights presentation at your next employee gathering or training session will be a worthwhile addition. At the end of the seminar, attendees will be able to:

• Contribute to employer and customer revenue growth initiatives.
• Generate specific ideas to strengthen cost containment objectives.
• Employ financial statement knowledge to create solutions aligned with employer and customer goals.
• Effectively engage in and meaningfully contribute to budgeting and financial discussions.

With Finance Insights, LLC’s 90-minute format, financial statement literacy can be conveniently delivered in a variety of settings ranging from one-off staff meetings to formalized training sessions. Presentation content is effective and interactive while lively and entertaining.