Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 131

Asking the Right Questions

Although most in-person meetings are on hold, sales calls are very much alive and well. Making a connection is definitely top of the list, but making the right evaluations are just as important. If you aren’t asking the right questions and know how to utilize certain answers, you may find your conversations being cut short.

Weekly Recap, September 6, 2020

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

Keep Your Online Meetings on Track

When it comes to virtual meetings these days, most of the emphasis is on the technical aspects of making them work. Regardless, meetings are much more than the “where, when, and how.” There’s the “what,” which is the content of the meeting itself, and perhaps even more importantly, the “why,” without which everything might go off track.

Trojan Horse Basics

When it comes to proposing energy efficiency changes, it may seem overwhelming to your prospects.  They may perceive it to be a hassle-filled process with paperwork and government interference, or something that has little value to them.  As with any Selling Energy strategy, you’ll have to ask yourself how to overcome their objections.  

Scheduling a Sales Follow-Up

At the conclusion of your first meeting (online or in-person) with a prospect, do you schedule a follow-up interaction… or do you wait and do it later? In my experience, it’s best to schedule the next session right then. Why? The fact that they set up the time to speak with you in the first place demonstrates that they clearly have an interest in your product or service and a desire to improve their situation with your help. If you wait, you give your prospect time to second-guess the urgency of your offering, you risk playing phone tag, and you may wind up losing the sale. Of course, if the first discussion resulted in a resounding “No,” you’re probably better off cutting your losses and focusing on a fresh prospect.

Selling Your Song

Before you interact with a prospect or customer, ask yourself, “What is my goal right now?” As sales professionals, our end goal is usually to make a sale; however, there are many steps that come before you “seal the deal,” and in order to stay on track, it’s important to consider what you intend to accomplish with each step.

Top 10 Sales Skills to be a Successful Sales Professional

Some people say that good salespeople are born, not made. Certainly, there are specific personality traits that top performers share. Steven W. Martin, a professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business, says his research shows that 70 percent of successful salespeople have personality traits that help them sell, and 30 percent have to learn the skills needed to sell effectively. He also estimates that for every 100 people who enter sales but lack natural selling ability, 40 percent will fail, 40 percent will perform at average levels, and 20 percent will become top salespeople.  

The Power of Influence

There are many ways to get to the “yes,” but finding the right ones can take decades of practice. Now that we’re selling in the middle of a recession, it’s more common to encounter resistance or a hard “no.” How can you improve your art of persuasion with the limited time you have?  

Weekly Recap, August 30, 2020

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

A Little Gratitude Goes a Long Way

As an educator, I have talked about email etiquette many times, particularly regarding follow-up and using the three-sentence solicitation as the center of your messaging. Subject lines are important. The language you use is important. But what about the sign-off? Most of us keep things fairly simple, but a slight change could get you a much higher response rate.