Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu’s advice to engineers entering business: Learn to sell, face rejection
Moving from engineering, medicine or science into business can require learning a skill that many professionals may not encounter in their regular work: selling. In an X (formerly Twitter) post, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu shared a simple piece of advice for engineers, scientists and doctors who want to enter the business world—go on sales calls and learn to deal with rejection. Vembu said that technical knowledge alone is not enough to build a business. He argued that speaking directly with potential customers can help professionals explain their ideas better, understand the value of sales and develop the skills needed to run a business.
Sridhar Vembu says business begins with selling
“If you are an engineer or scientist or doctor turning to business, the first thing I would suggest is ‘Please go on a lot of sales calls, face rejection if necessary, but persist’,” Sridhar Vembu wrote in the post.According to Vembu, selling can also improve communication skills. People with technical backgrounds may understand their products or ideas deeply, but explaining them to someone else—and convincing that person to pay for them—is a different challenge.“You will develop better communication skills as you realise that explaining your ideas is not so easy,” he said.Sales calls can also change the way professionals view salespeople. Vembu said people who spend time trying to sell a product may develop greater respect for those whose job involves speaking to customers and handling rejection every day.“You will develop respect for sales people. You may even become good at business!” he added.
The simple lesson behind Sridhar Vembu’s advice
At the heart of Vembu’s post is a basic idea: a business cannot survive without customers and sales.“There is no such thing as a business without selling something. Sometimes the most obvious thing has to be said!” Vembu wrote.
