Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 257
January 11, 2017
Learn from Your Losses
“You learn more from your losses, than from your gains.” – Paul Tudor Jones
Even the best sales professional will occasionally lose a sale. There are a million reasons a prospect may decide to drop a project or go with a different vendor – it happens to all of us. So what do you do in a case like this? Ask them (in a respectful way) why they decided not to use your product or service. Here’s an example of how you might approach the situation:
Send them an email or give them a phone call saying something like, “We always strive to improve our product delivery. I was genuinely surprised that we didn’t get picked for this process. I would love to know why you didn’t choose our <<>>, because it will inform how we go to market in the future. It would be a great personal favor to me if you would take 10 minutes of your time just to share with me what your thoughts were. I assure you that I am not going to contest your decision or try to convince you to change your mind. I would just like to learn from this experience so we might better serve you and others in the future.”
In my experience, if you ask them in a respectful way, they’ll give you an honest answer. You might learn that there was a genuine misunderstanding between you and your prospect. Perhaps you even messed up somewhere in the process without realizing it. Perhaps they found some inconsistencies in your proposal that you weren’t aware of. Whatever the reason may be, take it to heart, learn from it, and let it inform the way you approach the next prospect.
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January 10, 2017
Reframing the Benefits for Small Businesses
What does a small business owner care about? Most are running lean on working capital, so their primary concern is to make payroll. This can be an issue if you’re trying to sell efficiency products or services. The minute you start talking about the upfront cost of the project, the prospect’s interest will wane. Even if you offer them a one-year payback, they may still have to pass because their cash flow is already committed to keeping the doors open. Many simply don’t have the cash to advance an entire year’s utility savings today to pay for that “one-year payback” measure. Small business owners have to watch every dollar to ensure they stay viable. If you put yourself in their shoes, you could easily understand why. After all, what good is energy-efficient lighting if you can’t make payroll?
So let’s assume you’re trying to sell a lighting retrofit for a small café that would produce a few thousand dollars in utility savings annually. How do you convince the owner that the efficiency investment is worth undertaking?
The most direct path to a “yes” might be helping the entrepreneur focus on the positive outcome rather than the first cost. You might ask, “If you had a few thousand dollars of extra working capital in your hands today, what would you do with it?” Then zip it… just allow the question to hang in the air to give your prospect the time to consider it carefully before answering. He or she might say, “The first thing I’d do is replace our espresso machine that just died so we could once again sell coffee drinks at $4 a pop instead of the $2 we’re now charging for drip coffee!”
You might respond, “That certainly makes sense. What if we get creative about financing that lighting upgrade we’ve been discussing? What if we could secure a utility rebate for 50% of the project cost and six months of low-interest financing to cover the balance? I’ve already run the numbers and the project’s savings would fully amortize the 50% non-rebated portion in just six months. After that, all of your utility savings can go directly into a special account that you’ll eventually use to buy your new espresso machine cash. Think about it. Before long, you’ll have both the lighting retrofit and the new espresso machine paid off. Your shop will look better than ever, you’ll be back in the $4-a-drink coffee business, and you’ll continue to see lower utility bills for years to come.”
It’s always a good idea to think creatively when showing your prospects how spending money on your project is in their best interest. Doing so is exceptionally important when dealing with small businesses. Painting a picture of a shiny, new revenue-producing espresso machine lit by ambiance-enhancing new shop lighting is a lot more motivating than saying that if you do such-and-such energy-efficiency project, your electric bill will go down by “x” dollars a month.
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January 9, 2017
Stories of Big Decisions and the Teams That Got Them Right
Those of you in leadership positions know that the decisions you make on a daily basis are critical to the success of your organization. These decisions guide the direction of the company, and they have the power to greatly improve its success… or to drive it into the ground. Many executives take the “gut” approach to decision-making – they listen to their instincts and make solo decisions based on intuition. This approach works for some people; however, it’s a gamble.
According to Thomas H. Davenport and Brook Manville in their book, Judgment Calls: 12 Stories of Big Decisions and the Teams That Got Them Right, organizational judgment leads to better decision-making outcomes. Executives who call on the collective experience of their team are far more likely to make wise decisions. Most organizations also have a wealth of data that can be analyzed and used to inform future decisions. An executive who leverages these valuable assets is more likely to make a good judgment call than one who relies on intuition alone. I recommend this book to anyone in a leadership position.
Here’s a summary from Amazon Books:
“Despite the dizzying amount of data at our disposal today—and an increasing reliance on analytics to make the majority of our decisions—many of our most critical choices still come down to human judgment. This fact is fundamental to organizations whose leaders must often make crucial decisions: to do this they need the best available insights.
“In Judgment Calls, authors Tom Davenport and Brook Manville share twelve stories of organizations that have successfully tapped their data assets, diverse perspectives, and deep knowledge to build an organizational decision-making capability—a competence they say can make the difference between success and failure. This book introduces a model that taps the collective judgment of an organization so that the right decisions are made, and the entire organization profits.
“Through the stories in Judgment Calls, the authors—both of them seasoned management thinkers and advisers—make the case for the wisdom of organizations and suggest ways to use it to best advantage. Each chapter tells a unique story of one dilemma and its ultimate resolution, bringing into high relief one key to the power of collective judgment. Individually, these stories inspire and instruct; together, they form a model for building an organizational capacity for broadly based, knowledge-intensive decision making.”
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January 8, 2017
Weekly Recap, January 8, 2017
Monday: Check out our 5 most viewed blog posts from 2016.
Tuesday: Read why instead of assuming that the promise of saving money will convince your prospect to engage, perhaps you should look more closely for motivational drivers that are not so obvious.
Wednesday: Check out four simple questions you might ask your indecisive prospect that would allow you to continue the discussion… and maybe even land an affirmative decision before you leave the meeting.
Thursday: Explore how the more you understand your segment, and the more research you do after the sale to discover non-utility-cost financial and non-financial benefits, the more comfortable you’ll be emphasizing benefits beyond utility cost savings as you engage future prospects.
Friday: Learn how to connect the dots for your customer by highlighting additional positive impacts of your product or service.
Saturday: Check out an article published in Fast Company on “How to Prevent Your Next Productivity Boost from Eventually Losing Steam.”
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January 7, 2017
How to Prevent Losing Steam
There are a wide variety of things that can derail your productivity, but one of the biggest and most common culprits is losing steam. Staying focused on the task at hand is not always easy, particularly if it’s mundane work that you’d rather not be doing in the first place.
Fast Company recently published an article with steps for hanging onto productivity. I like all of their suggestions, but my favorite is creating sub-goals or mini projects that can help you track your progress towards a bigger goal. Read the full article here and consider giving some of the steps a try next week at work.
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January 6, 2017
Connect the Dots
Every efficiency-related product or service has a direct benefit for the consumer. However, true sales professionals take the next step, transcending those direct benefits and highlighting the additional positive impacts. Take foam weather stripping, for example. The most obvious benefit of foam weather stripping is a warmer home. Are you going to close a sale every time by telling your prospect that your product will result in a warmer home? Probably not.
I was asked to coach the sales team of a company that provides weather stripping and other energy measures for low-income homeowners on a direct-install basis. To prepare for that engagement I did a little research on the downstream advantages of energy efficiency for low-income housing. Applied to the example of weather stripping, here’s what I found:
When you put the weather stripping in, you prevent a cold living room. When you prevent a cold living room, the kids are no longer embarrassed to bring their friends over. If the kids aren’t embarrassed to bring their friends over, they’re not on the streets getting into trouble. Moreover, what comes in with the cold air? Moisture. What problem does the moisture cause? In many cases, mold. What happens once the mold arrives? It causes asthma. What problem does the asthma cause? Sick kids. What happens when kids get sick? One of the parents has to miss work to take the kids out of school. What happens when the parents miss too many days of work? They lose their jobs. What happens then? It goes all the way down…
So, are you selling foam rubber or are you selling the prevention of any one of those impacts of not having the right weather stripping in the house? You’ll have a much more interesting conversation if you discuss the in-depth impacts rather than just selling on the idea that weather stripping keeps your house warm.
Customers have limited time. You need to connect the dots for them. I can assure you that most of the decision makers, even influencers, that you encounter will not have spent nearly as much time as you have spent understanding how energy efficiency intersects with what they most value. Your job is to know their segment well enough so that you can actually connect the dots for them.
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January 5, 2017
The Importance of Post-Sale Segment Research
Many salespeople think that the sale ends when they collect their commission. Sales professionals are smart enough to know that extending the sales process to include a post-installation follow-up call yields tremendous benefits. Consider the following scenario…
“Hi, Max. It’s Martin with XYZ Lighting. I’m just giving you a courtesy call to follow-up on the lighting upgrade we did over there in July. How do you like the new look?”
“Hey, thanks for calling! Yep, the new lighting equipment is working out really well. No complaints at all.”
“Great to hear. Hey, while we’re on the topic, I’d like to ask you a question that I make a point of asking all of my clients a few months after installation: Are there any positive outcomes that you’ve noticed other than the ones we discussed when you decided to do the upgrade?”
“Funny you should ask… I was just chatting with our shop foreman last week; he told me that ever since those new lights were installed, our scrap rate has been down almost 10%. At first, he thought it was a fluke. Now that the system’s been operating for almost three months, he’s pretty sure the scrap reduction is here to stay. Frankly, I’m not surprised… His techs can finally see what they’re cutting and drilling. Remember how dingy it was in the shop when you did your lighting audit?”
“Wow, a 10% scrap rate reduction. Did your buddy happen to mention how significant the impact was in dollars and cents?”
“I was wondering the same thing, so I asked him. As crazy as it sounds, it’s actually saving the company more money than the utility savings!”
“That’s terrific. I bet your CFO will be happy to see the project throwing off a much higher return than he was expecting! Hey, do you mind if I use that little story you just shared with me when I speak with other small manufacturers with similar retrofit proposals?”
“Nope… Go right ahead… Just promise me that you’re not going to sell any of those fancy new lights to our competitors! Unless of course you promise to charge them three times as much as we paid (chuckle)!”
Energy upgrades can generate three kinds of benefits: utility-cost savings (e.g., utility bill reductions and rebates/incentives); non-utility-cost financial benefits (e.g., the above-referenced scrap reduction); and, non-financial benefits (e.g., getting an ENERGY STAR® label).
Most salespeople focus on the first and third buckets. Efficiency-focused sales professionals realize that the second bucket is often larger than the first! Moreover, they realize that the third bucket’s benefits often spill over into the second bucket (e.g., ENERGY STAR-labeled buildings having higher rent per square foot, lower vacancy, and higher sales price per square foot).
The more you understand your segment (in this example, the impact of better lighting quality on scrap rates), and the more research you do after the sale to discover non-utility-cost financial and non-financial benefits, the more comfortable you’ll be emphasizing benefits beyond utility cost savings as you engage future prospects. And by the way, those post-sale calls are also excellent opportunities to ask for referrals, particularly if the customer volunteers a huge unexpected benefit. Perhaps he has colleagues elsewhere in his organization who would be thrilled to see similar benefits.
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January 4, 2017
Overcoming an Indecisive Prospect
An indecisive prospect will often tell you, “I need to think about it.” What do you do in this situation? All too many salespeople say, “Okay, why don’t you give it some thought, and we’ll talk again next week.”
When your prospect says, “I need to think about it,” what is he really saying? Is he going to think about something in particular? Does he even know what to think about? Perhaps the presentation was so overwhelming, he doesn’t even know where to start!
The next time you hear “I need to think about it,” think about this: if you take the path of least resistance and take the stated objection literally, you’ll either unnecessarily lengthen the sales cycle or you’ll lose the sale entirely. The minute you leave the room and you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind. So what should you say when faced with such an open-ended objection?
Ideally you’ll find a way to get your prospect to do at least most of his “thinking” while you’re still physically present to help guide the process. Here are four simple questions you might ask your prospect that would allow you to continue the discussion… and maybe even land an affirmative decision before you leave the meeting:
“How do you mean that?” This is a polite way of asking your prospect what exactly he needs to think about in order to come to an affirmative decision. He may tell you what it is specifically that he has reservations about, and you can use this information to propose a solution to his concerns. If you find the prospect still floundering to provide an explanation of his reluctance, proceed to question #2.
“Are you more interested in thinking about the savings we’ve been discussing or the costs of attaining them?” Giving a couple possibilities will guide your prospect to agreeing with one or both of your suggestions… or open the door to a totally different concern that has your prospect stalled in the decision-making process.
“What are you feeling?” Ultimately, people are driven more often by emotion than by reason. Even in the context of expense-reducing capital projects, decisions are often made emotionally and then justified financially. Therefore, when a person says, “I need to think about it,” what they really may be saying internally is, “It just doesn’t feel right yet.” If you ask your prospect what he’s feeling, it might be just enough to push him over the edge – to get him to turn off the verbal filter. He may say in response, “Well, honestly, I’ve never had much luck getting capital projects approved around here,” or “I don’t want to go to capital budgeting and ask them for anything – last time they made me produce a mound of proposal-related paperwork and projections. I wasted six months of my life trying to put solar panels on this roof and they wouldn’t let me do it. And frankly, I don’t know if I have the stamina to stand in front of them and our board again to defend any proposal, even if it would save the company a boatload of money.” Now you know that he’s unwilling to endure what he experienced last time to get a new project approved. In this case, move on to question four.
“How can I help?” No one is going to throw a rock at you for offering to help. Your prospect may say, “Well, if you can help me construct a more compelling pitch than what I had to work with last time, I’d be willing to give it a shot.” Who knows, by helping your prospect refine an attention-grabbing elevator pitch, one-page proposal, and one-page financial summary, you might empower him to work more effectively with his colleagues in the future and get a lot more than your project approved!
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January 3, 2017
Spending vs. Saving Money
Why might your prospect be interested in your solution? The most obvious reason someone would want to invest in an energy-saving opportunity is to save energy, right? Perhaps… Perhaps not.
What about saving money? Is that why your prospects become interested in your offerings? And before you answer that, ask yourself a few questions:
How do people make their decisions at work vs. at home?
Put another way, is saving money a national obsession… or is spending money?
HINT: If we were a nation of savers, the country wouldn’t have an outsized deficit, and household net worth wouldn’t be in the toilet. So, if people aren’t exactly obsessed with saving money at home, is there any reason to assume that the “savings” gene drives decision-making at work… especially when in many cases it’s not even their money they would be saving?
Paraphrasing a gem from Tony Robbins, the world-famous motivational speaker and coach, the quality of one’s life is a function of the quality of the evaluations one is prepared to make.
Instead of assuming that the promise of saving money will convince your prospect to engage, perhaps you should look more closely for motivational drivers that are not so obvious. Remember, you need to replace myth with math and motivation, and emotion is what drives motivation. Are you taking the time to target the right emotions as you advance your efficiency initiatives?
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January 2, 2017
Our Top 5 Blog Posts of 2016
Just in case you missed them, here are our 5 most viewed blog posts from 2016.
What Does My Listener Need to Know?
I talk a lot about communication strategies on this blog because effective communication is vital to success in sales. There are so many well-intentioned technologists, well-intentioned scientists, well-intentioned building experts, and even well-intentioned salespeople who take a haphazard approach to communication. Read More…
I read that one of the fastest growing segments of the sales training industry is business acumen training for salespeople. Why is that? I believe the reason is twofold. Read more…
Things Productive People Do in the First 15 Minutes of the Workday
How do you start your day? If you want to be truly productive, you need to set clear goals for yourself for the rest of your workday and stick to them. Read more…
If you’re meeting with a prospect and you want to put your best foot forward, you have to not only ask the right questions, but also listen carefully to what you’re hearing in response. Read more…
Take Responsibility for the Quality of Your Communication
Communication is so vital to success, whether you’re guiding your prospect through the project or communicating with them regularly to make sure they’re in the loop. Read more…
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