Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 197

Do You Make These 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.

Prevailing at a Premium

As energy sales professionals, we’re often faced with situations in which prospects gets hung up on the cost of the project. In some cases, they even try to low-ball us by mentioning bids from lower-cost vendors.

Scaling Up Excellence

What is scaling, exactly?  In business terms, it means spreading effective practices throughout a company, which seems pretty straightforward.  Chances are most of your experiences with scaling optimal work practices have been simple and uncomplicated – inspirational posters, emails, checklists and the occasional “pep” meeting.  However, at the end of the day most of the things just don’t cut it.  Successfully scaling a company is complex and requires a lot of time and perseverance. 

Weekly Recap, November 18, 2018

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

5-Hour Rule

What is the power of books these days?  What if reading five hours a week could be the currency that guarantees your value and adaptability in the future? 

An article on Medium argues that attaining knowledge is more important than ever, particularly in an era where our lifestyles are changing at an accelerating rate.  You can read more about this here.

The Green Effect

It’s no secret that many salespeople are drawn to the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries because they want to make a positive impact on the environment. Helping businesses increase their sustainability profile is a worthwhile and noble cause. However, it’s not always wise to lead with the environmental agenda in business-related sales settings. Even if the individual you are addressing is an environmentalist, his or her employer’s agenda will set the tone for the discussion and ultimately determine the fate of your proposal. 

Reframing Your Motivation

 

No matter how much we love our jobs, there are times when work can seem tedious. Maybe we have to make a bunch of cold calls; maybe we have to enter a couple hundred business cards into our contact database; maybe we have to send out follow-up emails to all of our clients from the past month. Whatever the case may be, it all comes down to the way we frame these tasks in our own minds.

The Top 10 Skills Salespeople Need to be Successful

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.

What’s the Real Payback?

It will come as no surprise to anyone who has experienced one of my efficiency-focused professional selling or financial analysis workshops that I recommend migrating the conversation away from Simple Payback Period (SPP) when discussing the merits of a proposed expense-reducing capital project. 

The 46 Rules of Genius

Sometimes you can find great advice in the most unlikely places.  This week I’d like to highlight a book that doesn’t necessarily come from a business or energy efficiency standpoint, but from a design standpoint.  Nevertheless, it has some excellent ideas you can apply to your career and home life.