Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 112

How to Present to a CEO

CEOs are typically “what” and “why” decision-makers, so chances are that if they ask you a question during your meeting, it will be something along the lines of “Why do we need to do this?”

How to Land a Meeting with a C-Level Executive

Getting a meeting with a CEO, CFO or anyone else at the C-level can be challenging.  I can tell you that you’re not going to get to them by using a fake ID badge or sneaking past the gatekeeper. However, you will by making a thoughtfully crafted and genuinely compelling case for a meeting.

Becoming a Master Innovator

Being an innovator won’t always gain you popularity points, and in times like these, many folks think it’s more prudent to play it safe. But is that the best approach? Upgrading aspects of your work life can reap extraordinary benefits. The tricks lie in planning ahead and convincing others that taking risks is worth it.

Weekly Recap, March 14, 2021

Here are our favorite sales-enhancing tips from this week's Selling Energy Blogs...

Changing Your Expectations

It’s been a year since our home and work lives have merged together into one. The usual check-ins and business meetings now almost always overlap with our housekeeping duties and our personal lives. In some cases, our co-workers, employers, customers and prospects are seeing aspects of our daily lives that were off-limits before. With all of these changes, how should this affect the way we value our work performance?

Using Emotions to Sell

I've often said that most buying decisions are made emotionally and then justified financially.  I'm not suggesting “emotional” as in someone crying on the couch holding a box of tissues, but rather emotional motivation.  Ask yourself, what is your customer focused on achieving?  What are they most concerned with?  Where are their time and effort invested? 

How to Understand a Utility Bill

I was recently asked about the best way to read a prospect’s utility bills. Fortunately, I’ve been in the energy business nearly 30 years, so I've seen my share of bills throughout my career.

How to Deal with Difficult Customers: 6 Tips

It has happened to all of us: we’ve encountered a prospect who is demanding and difficult throughout the sales process. What are the best ways to deal with them? Here are some tips from my own experience, as well as some contributions from other sales professionals.

“Would You Like Fries with That?”

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How often do you find yourself working with a customer whose idea of a lighting retrofit is the lowest common denominator? They just want to switch to LEDs. More often than not, their decisions are based on the erroneous assumption that all LEDs are alike. They certainly haven’t considered the possibility of investing a bit more time and capital to enhance the retrofit’s savings potential and/or longevity. It may take a while to get the prospect to realize that all LEDs are not, in fact, the same. And once you help them make a better selection with the help of your expertise, you might add the equivalent of, “Would you like fries with that?”

Skills for Becoming a Power Couple

One of the biggest transitions for people last year was the new reality of working from home, and what’s more, sharing your work space with a spouse or partner. Couples are working alongside each other more often than before, which introduces a bunch of advantages as well as challenges. How will that transition play out in the long run?