Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 147

Active Listening over the Phone Tips, Part 1

“A good listener has the ability to better understand and process information.  A great listener has the ability to use this information to negotiate, to influence, and avoid misunderstandings and conflicts." – Christopher Pappas 

5 Common Selling Mistakes When Discussing Energy Consumption

Making mistakes is an inevitable part of selling. Learning from your mistakes and the mistakes of others is what separates the exceptional from the good, the bad, and the ugly. We’ve laid out five common selling mistakes reps make when discussing energy consumption so you can reap the reward and bypass the “oops” moment that often precedes it.

Who Really Sells a Multifamily Energy Project?

A casual observer would assume that “vendors” and “contractors” sell energy efficiency projects to multifamily building owners.  In reality, the energy managers and other internal champions connected to those buildings wind up doing most of the “selling.”  They’re the ones who lobby to gain consensus among their peers in property management, facilities and engineering; persuade senior management to prioritize the initiative; and, ultimately convince capital budgeting to approve the needed funds.  And if the tenants’ cooperation is needed to make the proposed initiative a success, those tenants need to be sold on the idea as well.

A Total Productivity System to Achieve More by Doing Less

You may have heard the joke, “I wish there were 25 hours in the day, I would get more done around here.”  Punchline aside, having time isn’t necessarily the problem.  As a culture, we’re stretched thin and overworked and playing multiple roles.  In the meantime, it seems that expectations are only rising, with more role and activities filling our days and more expected of us as individuals.

Weekly Recap, March 29, 2020

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

Strategies for Managing Stress

As sales professionals, we deal with stress or uncertainty on a regular basis. During this time when COVID-19 dominates the headlines and public concern is on the rise, it’s important to have some coping mechanisms to help you stay motivated, positive, and productive.

How to Measure Online Sales Training

More companies are turning to virtual or e-learning programs amid the coronavirus pandemic. Taking your sales team away from their core job—selling—is sure to reduce productivity and affect your company’s bottom line, so e-learning is a way to provide training without affecting daily operations. However, you need to assess the true costs of e-learning before you can calculate online sales training ROI.

Identify Your Prospect’s Purchasing Motive

There are countless reasons someone might be interested in energy efficiency products or services. If you can find out exactly why your prospect is considering an energy project, you’ll be better positioned to prevail. I’d like to share a story that one of our Selling Energy Boot Camp graduates (we’ll call her Amy) shared with me. It exemplifies the value of knowing your prospect’s motives and adapting your sales approach accordingly.

3 Tips for Conquering Fear

Fear of failure can prevent us from pursuing what we really want in life. It can prevent us from starting our own business, making those cold calls to hot prospects, or asking for referrals even though we know in our hearts that we really deserve them.

7 Tips for Effective Proofreading

When you deliver a written piece to a prospect or client (whether it’s an email, letter, proposal, invoice, etc.), accuracy is essential in both content and form. Here are six things you should always check thoroughly.