Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 207

Getting to the C-Suite

Getting a meeting with a CEO, CFO or anyone 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 compelling case for a meeting.

3 Questions to Learn What Your Prospect Needs

It’s crucial to learn what your prospect needs from you before he or she is willing to buy. One of the best ways to find out this information is by asking what I call the “question trilogy”:

Aspiring to a Life with Less

As sales professionals who promote energy efficiency, how often do we turn the same principles we espouse and direct them toward our own lives?  In this culture, the urge to consume has become a driving force in our day-to-day rituals.  We spend for pleasure, amass more and more belongings, and often end up with possessions we immediately forget, rarely use or simply don’t need.  In short, they either end up in storage or in the trash!

Weekly Recap, August 12, 2018

Here are our favorite sales tips from this week's Selling Energy blogs...

Icebreakers, Please?

I’ve written about networking more than once because it can be intimidating, especially if you’re an introvert (hence the book, Networking For Introverts). Oftentimes the key is being relaxed and personable; however, it’s not always clear what to say or where to start.

The Cap-Ex Loophole

On Tuesday, we discussed the landlord/tenant dynamic and the metric to focus on when presenting an expense-reducing capital project to a landlord. Today, I’d like to delve into a bit of bonus landlord/tenant content that I cover in the Efficiency Sales Professional™ Certificate Boot Camp and our new Selling in 6™ mobile-learning program.

Working with Your Internal Champion

People don't take action unless they're motivated and people don't get motivated unless they're emotional about something.  Your job is to figure out how to get your internal champion engaged with your project, enough to burn some political capital and get the attention of a decision-maker. 

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.

Net Operating Income Drivers

Today, we’re going to discuss the metric that you should focus on when presenting an expense-reducing capital project to a landlord. 

Treating People Well

It’s easy to assume that the pressures of our jobs couldn’t get much worse, but imagine this -- what would it be like to oversee social gatherings at The White House?  You’re dealing with larger-than-life personalities, visitors from other countries with various expectations and customs, and your boss is… well, the President of the United States.  It doesn’t get more intimidating than that.