Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 215

How to Cross-Sell and Up-Sell More Efficiently, Part Three

In many cases, the sales professional is the team member responsible for using cross-selling and up-selling. I firmly believe, however, that all customer-facing employees should be trained to cross-sell and up-sell.

It is my studied observation that most people in this industry think that there is a hierarchy of roles and responsibilities. There are business development people. There are technicians. There are clerical people that answer phones and take care of paperwork. There’s executive management. The list goes on.

People in this industry assume that the only people who actually need to know how to cross-sell or up-sell are the people who are actually responsible for closing sales. So why would you ever need to instruct the secretary or the field technician or the CFO on how to cross-sell and up-sell? Because each of these people also has a very important relationship with the customer. Anyone in your organization who is customer-facing, even the technician, should feel confident recognizing customer needs so that they are better positioned to cross-sell and up-sell effectively.

If you missed “Part One” or “Part Two” of this series, you can read them HERE.

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How to Cross-Sell and Up-Sell More Efficiently, Part One

Every prospect’s needs and desires are unique. In some cases, you may not want to cross-sell or up-sell at all. Other times, it may make sense to use just one method or the other. However, if a scenario presents itself in which you can employ both cross-selling and up-selling in tandem, by all means do it. Not only will you maximize revenue, but you’ll also show your prospect that you are capable of providing a more intelligent solution. You’ll set yourself apart from the average salesperson by offering a unique bundle of products or services that is customized to fit your prospect’s specific situation.

Here’s an example of a situation in which you might use cross-selling and up-selling in tandem:

A prospect inquires about a new lighting system. They’re seeking a fresher “look and feel” to modernize their space and improve employee morale. When you visit the space to do your lighting survey, you discover that the space is only 50-feet wide and enjoys ample daylight on multiple sides. Since daylight penetrates the space 16 to 18 feet, it is now obvious that photocells could significantly reduce the lighting load provided the luminaires were properly circuited and controlled. So what do you propose to your prospect?

Up-sell: “Since your space enjoys excellent daylight, have you considered adding photocells to the mix so you could turn off your perimeter lighting when it is not needed? In fact, you could also capture some demand-response incentives if you were to connect your lighting system to a controller that would automatically dim the lights whenever a critical peak pricing event raises your cost per kWh. If you temporarily shed a portion of your lighting load at the right times, you could realize some real savings. And guess what? The utility is now offering a significant financial incentive for each kW of controlled connected load. That incentive would offset most of the cost of the demand-response functionality I just mentioned.”

Cross-sell: “By the way, while I was in your space, I noticed that you had pneumatic thermostats, and that several of the folks in your office were using space heaters. The office manager mentioned to me that the space is frequently too hot in the winter and too cold in the summer. As long as we’re focusing on modernizing the space, have you considered migrating to a more modern approach to controlling occupant comfort?”

Stay tuned for “Part Three” of this series tomorrow. 

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How to Cross-Sell and Up-Sell More Efficiently, Part One

Cross-selling and up-selling are two great ways to add value for your customers, and in some circumstances, form partnerships with non-competitive vendors and service providers, all while adding revenue to your top line and profit to your bottom.

Cross-selling: Adding an additional product or service to the sale that ideally not only increases your revenue, but also creates added value for your customer. In some cases, this involves partnering with a non-competitive vendor or service provider to deliver a valuable service that you don’t offer. If you’re selling LED lighting, for example, and the customer says, “I need the LED lighting retrofit, but I’d also like a better way to know which lighting is energized at any given time,” you could say, “Well, you know what? I don’t carry lighting controls; however, I do have an excellent source that we’ve used successfully for other projects. In fact, we could bundle the whole thing – my lights and their controls – in the same contract.”

Now you can bring new business to a non-competitive partner and add value for your customer while saving them the headache of sourcing and hiring another vendor.

Up-selling: Selling more expensive products or services that the customer did not originally intend to buy. The goal of up-selling, of course, is to increase the income earned from the transaction, ideally while delivering a more complete solution for your client. In many cases, you’ll end up with a more satisfied customer because (assuming your products and services are priced fairly) the added value will be more than worth the extra cost. Here’s an example of up-selling that is a variation on the example above:

Your customer, an office building landlord with fifty tenants, calls you interested in upgrading to an LED lighting system. After asking a series of targeted questions, you realize that the subject property is located in a demand-response-sensitive utility territory AND that the lease form used by this landlord permits him to charge $25/hour for after-hours lighting… provided he can track the extra hours of use!

You recommend a more sophisticated lighting system than the customer was initially requesting. Your solution would allow the building to dim its lighting during critical peak pricing periods for electricity AND track each tenant’s lighting usage, producing a report that would facilitate tenant billing at the end of each month.

Without a doubt, the system you are recommending is more sophisticated and expensive than what the customer had in mind when he first contacted you. However, it may be easy to justify the incremental cost given the powerful advantages provided by the better system.

Tomorrow, we’ll discuss “Part Two” of this How to Cross-Sell and Up-Sell More Efficiently series.

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Your Work or Your Health?

Whether you are an employee or an employer, your main concerns are surviving and staying on top.  The field draws individuals who are driven, creative and intense, but even people suited to this work can find themselves in dire straits.  This doesn’t only concern the health of their business, but their physical and mental health as well.  Stress takes a toll, and if you aren’t mindful of its pitfalls then you might find yourself suffering from anxiety, obesity, addiction or other manifestations of illness.  Your relationships may likely suffer as well, worsening your symptoms.

These types of difficulties aren’t widely discussed, and according to Sheryl O’Loughlin’s book, Killing It, MBA programs are resistant to the link between work-induced stress and mental illness.  O’Loughlin knows about this link firsthand, having been a former CEO of two successful companies and the current CEO of REBBL while married and raising a family.  Her personal experiences are the backbone of the book, detailing the long road toward striking a balance between work and home.

Here are some highlights of O’Loughlin’s writings:

Most start-ups fail, which adds to the amount of stress and anxiety people in the business world face every day. This doesn’t only involve the long hours and lack of sleep… It’s the risk-taking associated with the job as well.
A love of what you do and the passion to pursue are good things; however, they shouldn’t take over your life. If they do, you’re putting your health and relationships on the line.
Failures can happen due to a variety of factors, most often due to hubris, lack of research or exhaustion from stress.
The importance of marriage, parenthood and friends in your life is a two-way street – you need to be there for your kids and form solid partnerships with your significant other and friends in order to stay healthy.
The same goes for your co-workers and employees. It’s important to foster trust that benefits everyone and maintain boundaries that keep work and home separate.

Although O’Loughlin’s experience is only one of many, her observations are applicable to anyone since stress manifests itself in a variety of ways.  Killing It shares anecdotes about various figures in the business world, from Elizabeth Holmes to Victoria Lai to James Eisenberg, demonstrating how habits can make you or break you.  It also offers particular insight on being a woman in the industry, which can be hampered by higher expectations and sexism.

If you often find yourself weighing the benefits of your work against your health and personal life, remember there’s nothing wrong with self-care.  Reading Killing It might just be the wakeup call you need.

Here is the summary from Amazon:

“The former CEO of Clif Bar, co-founder of Plum, and serial entrepreneur offers insights about launching and growing a business while maintaining a fulfilled life in this practical guide filled with hard-won advice culled from the author’s own sometimes dark, raw experiences.  With a foreword by Steve Blank.

“Aspiring entrepreneurs are told that to launch a business, you must go all in, devoting every resource and moment to making it work.  But following this advice comes at an enormous personal cost: divorce, addiction, even suicide.  It means sacrificing the intangibles that make life worth living.

“Sheryl O’Loughlin knows there is a better way.  In Killing It, she shares the wisdom she’s gained from her successful experiences launching a company from the ground up (Plum), running two fast-growing companies (Clif Bar and REBBL), and mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs (Stanford University). She tells it like it is: If you don’t invest in your wellbeing your business will not succeed, nor will you.

“Sheryl knows firsthand the difficulty of balancing the needs of her growing family with her physical and mental health, while managing other work and life challenges. In this warm, honest, and wise handbook, she gives you the essentials for killing it in business—without killing the rest of your life.

“Filled with real-life examples and anecdotes, Killing It addresses common questions including:

How do you prepare your significant other for your business venture?
How do you time launching and growing your business with the ebb and flow of family life?
How do you find joy in the day-to-day?
How do you maintain meaningful, supportive friendships?
How do you walk away and start again?

“The ultimate life and business course, Killing It gives entrepreneurs the tools they need to start their enterprise and thrive—both in the office and at home.”

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Weekly Recap, March 11, 2018

Monday: Read  Lead and Disrupt , by Charles O’Reilly and Michael Tushman, which examines from the inside out why successful companies fail.


Tuesday: Check out some “Powerful Public Speaking Tips.”


Wednesday: Discover the three pieces of paper you should have when you go into a sales meeting.


Thursday: Explore how to know who the right person to get in touch with is before you make a cold call.


Friday: Learn to go into a conversation with a prospect or customer with an eye on how you’re creating value and can help them.


Saturday: Check out this article for 18 characteristics of a great leader.

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22 Characteristics of a Great Leader

A company’s success is directly related to the quality of its management. Without great managers or leaders, a business can have the most talented employees and still struggle to succeed. So what makes a great leader? 

According to an article in Entrepreneur Magazine online, there are 22 characteristics leaders should embody. If you work in management (or if you’re thinking about moving into a management position), I highly recommend reading the article.

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Would You Like Some Help with That?

A lot of people approach customers and prospects expecting that they’re going to get business.  This kind of thinking is fraught with peril.  The minute you call with that attitude it will be telegraphed in your language over the phone.  If you’re meeting in person it will be telegraphed in your body language and micro-facial expressions.

It’s much better to go into the conversation with an eye on how you’re creating value.  After establishing your pitch all it takes is asking, “Would you like some help with that?” It makes things interesting.  It’s coy and direct at the same time!

This is a friendly way to propose that they do business with you.  It’s not about asking, “Would you like to sign here on the dotted line?”  You’ve already determined that your offering is something that could help them become more competitive, profitable, and valuable.  Now it’s time to offer your assistance to make sure it can happen.

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Know Who You’re Talking To

When you’re cold calling and don’t know the right person to get in touch with… good luck.  These calls are clumsy and inconvenient for the person picking up.

What’s more, there’s no excuse for not knowing who the right person is!  You have sites like Google and LinkedIn at your disposal, so research is essential.  Think of it as spending more time chopping ingredients and less time cooking.  The extra time you put into this will result in a proverbial stir fry – very quick and tasty – as opposed to a slow pot roast.

Now, where do you find the information?  Obviously looking into the organization is your best bet.  Go to LinkedIn and find out who the players are, what their financial backgrounds look like and what they may have said in the press, particularly regarding energy efficiency.

Let’s say you’ve done some research on Bob Miller.  You know he works as a regional property manager for a real estate investment trust.  You also know he was on a panel exploring whether sustainability is a practical matter in commercial real estate.  It doesn’t set you back too far, perhaps an hour.

Now you pick up the phone and make the call.  Bob Miller’s secretary answers and says, “May I help you?” You say, “Yes, I’d like to speak with Bob Miller, please.” “May I ask what this is regarding?” “Well, I noticed Bob was on a panel on the topic of sustainability last year at the XYZ conference.  I needed to talk with him about some of his contributions.  In fact, I have the presentation right in front of me.  Is there a time that I might be able to get 15 or 20 minutes with him?  I just wanted to chat.”

This is totally different from the usual cold call.  When you get in touch with Bob, bring this up with him.  Once he asks who you are and why you’re interested- bam, you’re through the door.

This style of cold calling takes a lot of time.  But here’s the thing – you could a call a hundred people and not get one of them to talk to you, or you could put in an hour of research for each prospect and initiate fruitful conversations with the overwhelming majority of them.  When you have a reason to speak with your prospect, it’s much less likely that person will refuse your call.

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Three Pieces of Paper

When you go to a sales meeting you should have three pieces of paper with you.  Before presenting any of them you should have asked about your prospect’s decision-making process.  What will it ultimately be based on?  Price?  Value?  Warranty?  Quality of service?

If they base their decisions on price, you should take out the first piece of paper.  Tell them, “We’re a contractor, and as you can imagine we do a lot of subcontracting.  We’ve learned over the years that basing our decisions on price puts us in a world of hurt, so we created a list of criteria our subcontractors need to meet.”  Sharing that first piece of paper leaves a strong impression, because not only are you offering them advice, but protecting them as one of your own.

The second piece of paper should outline two things.  One side of the paper should include the questions you ask of your subcontractors.  The other side should share the answers you’d provide if you were asked the same.  This can be your prospect’s guideline with your competition; a way to prove your insight and written insurance that they won’t get taken advantage of.

The third piece of paper should be a list of highly regarded, well known customers with whom you’ve done business.  Tell your prospect, “These are customers who have selected to work with us, not because we were the lowest bidder; rather, because we were not the lowest bidder.  Without a doubt each of them had had bad experiences selecting vendors based on price alone.  They know that our levels of service and quality are what they deserve and they were willing to pay a fair price in return.”

Those three pieces of paper help your prospects become more educated consumers.  They also help those prospects lobby their colleagues to pursue a more rational and value-driven approach to procurement rather than just seeking the lowest price.

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Powerful Public Speaking Tips

Today, we’ll discuss how to craft an effective sales presentation to a large group of prospects.

Public Speaking 

According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, “All the great speakers were bad speakers at first.” There is no quick or easy way to make yourself more comfortable speaking in front of crowds. In my experience, public speaking is no different than any other discipline: The only way to get better is to just keep doing it.

That said, there are simple strategies that can be employed to make public speaking less intimidating. This entrepreneur.com article presents seven excellent tips by successful TED Talk presenter Simon Sinek. Among his points of advice:

Don’t begin talking right away; instead, pause for a breath when you first take the stage.
Make eye contact with individual audience members.
Speak unusually slowly. By consciously trying to talk at a rate that feels slower than normal, you will adjust for the subconscious tendency to speed your words up when you are nervous.

Brevity is the Soul of Wit—and Sales! 

One of the biggest sins of a group presentation is speaking too long. This sin is doubled if your speech rambles on without coherency or a central theme. If your audience is bored by your presentation, a week later they won’t remember your pitch; they’ll only remember being bored.

I suggest making an outline of your presentation. As you make your outline, be conscientious of your core message. Review your outline, and don’t be afraid to trim away any points that don’t relate back to your central message. The “delete” key can be your best friend!

Hit Them “In the Feels” 

On the subject of your core message, how do you decide exactly what that message is? One of the downsides of a group presentation is that it’s unlikely that you’ll create a message that absolutely everyone in the audience will identify with personally. However, the common denominator that will appeal to everyone is emotion.

Remember that even in business, most decisions are based primarily on emotions. Make the case to your prospects that your energy efficiency product will add comfort, add value to the bottom line, or remove known stressors (like chronic absenteeism or regulatory non-compliance). In short, your product will make life better in the areas they care about. If you must include technical or financial details in your presentation, be sure to make the connection to these key areas that motivate people at the gut level. By the way, stories are more impactful and memorable than facts and figures, and stories that evoke emotion are absolutely the most effective.

The Wrap-Up 

Make sure your audience understands what steps come next to pursue your proposed project. Give them something physical to take with them, remembering to keep things as brief as possible. A lengthy booklet full of technobabble is likely to become a paperweight on the prospect’s desk (or worse yet, wind up in the recycling bin). On the other hand, a single-page proposal that highlights the rationale for change, the current status, the financial benefits of proceeding, and the next steps – all in 500 words or less – will help that listener either decide to buy, or become an internal champion who will help the ultimate decision-maker come to that affirmative decision.

Finally, remember to thank the audience for their time and attention. Take a moment to make it clear that your appreciation on this point is sincere – after all, the time given is a valuable asset to you. Acknowledging your audience on a personal level will leave them with the impression that you are earnest and trustworthy as a professional. Gaining this trust should be a key goal of any sales presentation.

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