Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 259
December 22, 2016
Build Your Brand
Branding yourself and your business is key to success. What makes you stand out from your competitors? Do your clients think of you as an industry expert? Are you offering your expertise solely to paying customers or are you making yourself a resource to all?
Your brand should extend beyond your primary product or service – the more exposure you have across a variety of platforms, the more new business you’ll bring in:
Give talks or host a webinar: This is a great way to generate leads.
Write articles: This demonstrates your expertise and exposes your name to a larger audience.
Participate in online forums or write book reviews: The more presence you have online, the more people will see your name and (ideally) value your opinion.
Assist your prospects and clients: Even if it doesn’t lead to an immediate sale, become the go-to expert that your prospects and clients call upon when they need help.
Write a book: Join the ranks of the industry expert by publishing a book. If you don’t have time to write a full-length hardcover book, consider writing a short e-book as a free or low-cost offering.
The post Build Your Brand appeared first on Selling Energy.
December 21, 2016
Best Practices When Speaking with a Prospect
Over the course of my career as a sales professional, I’ve steadfastly adhered to certain best practices for speaking with my prospects and clients. The following are a couple that I believe are relevant in every sales situation:
Allow prospects to complete their sentences. After you’ve been selling the same product or service for a while, you’ve heard most of the common objections. The tendency is to say, “I’ve heard that” and you interrupt them mid-sentence as if you get extra points for answering before the question is completed. You don’t. You get points taken away for two reasons:
The person doesn’t feel listened to, and that’s a really bad feeling.
The objection may be slightly different from person to person. Your prospect may go in a different direction. The fact that the first half of the sentence sounds familiar doesn’t mean you know where it’s going to end up.
So what should you do in this situation? I’d go so far as to say that when you hear an objection that you’ve heard time and time again, just pause, if only for a couple seconds. Do not immediately come up with the answer. Your prospects want to feel as if they’ve been heard, and some of them even want the vicarious thrill of stumping the salesperson. They really want to know that they’ve hit you with a real zinger and that you had to think about the answer. If you respond with an answer immediately, they’ll feel defeated. It never hurts to wait a second or two before you answer.
Reframe objections with positive language. If a prospect expresses the fact that they don’t have enough money to fund the project, for goodness sake avoid saying, “I know you don’t have the money…” Instead say something like “I understand that we may have to be creative about making this affordable for you…” Never give any more energy to an objection by repeating it word for word.
If a prospect asks about the payback period, rather than saying, “It’s three and a half years but the savings-to-investment ratio is X,” put a positive spin on it by saying “It’s three and a half years, and I think what you’ll find more interesting is that the savings-to-investment ratio is X.” Now their ears are going to perk up at “…what you’ll find more interesting…” and you’ve created an opportunity to hand them a metric that highlights the investment you’re proposing in its most positive light. Note that I use “and” rather than “but” when connecting the payback with where I’d like the discussion to move.
The post Best Practices When Speaking with a Prospect appeared first on Selling Energy.
December 20, 2016
Expanded LCCA
Too many of your prospects are fascinated with Simple Payback Period, and it’s makes NO sense to focus on that metric in situations where you’re comparing mutually exclusive solutions (i.e., situations where your prospect has two or more solutions to pick from, but at the end of the day they can only pick one). Keep in mind that when comparing two or more mutually exclusive choices, there are several dimensions you need to consider:
1) The first cost of each alternative;
2) How many years each alternative will likely last; and,
3) What it costs to operate and maintain each alternative for each year of its expected lifetime.
Provided that you do understand how your proposed solutions will create benefits beyond utility savings, and service life, you might consider using an expanded style of life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA). What are the other benefits that should be factored in? Can those benefits be quantified? And if so, do they result in secondary financial benefits that may wind up being much more important than the utility savings or even maintenance savings could ever be?
As an example, there was an office building in Canada whose HVAC equipment was so noisy that if they were to rent office space immediately adjacent to the building’s core (where the equipment was located), pens would practically vibrate off the desk! Think of how much “secondary” financial benefit that landlord would receive if he could quiet his mechanical systems and rent that marooned square footage! This would allow the landlord to pick up thousands of dollars of additional rent and many times that much in incremental asset value using the income approach to appraisal. If you were doing a life-cycle cost analysis on this building, you might include these projected gains in rent and asset value in the financial analysis.
In a conventional simple payback analysis, these extra costs would not show up. Why? For two reasons:
1) Most people focus only on first cost and utility savings when doing an SPP calculation; and,
2) Even if the landlord did broaden the analysis to include these non-utility-cost financial benefits (such as incremental asset value), how much of that benefit would hit in the first year, which is the only year that the simple payback period analysis covers? Very little, if any. So even if additional benefits such as these were on the decision-maker’s radar, he wouldn’t see it in the SPP calculation.
The post Expanded LCCA appeared first on Selling Energy.
December 19, 2016
How to Win and Keep Big Customers
Those of you who have sold efficiency products or solutions to large companies know the significant effect it can have on your own company’s bottom line. A single, large contract can mean the difference between a great year and a poor one. While you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket, it may be a wise decision (depending on the nature of your company) to target large organizations. This is easier said than done, of course.
In his book, Bag the Elephant! How to Win and Keep BIG Customers, Steve Kaplan shares a wealth of strategies on how to successfully sell to large accounts (which he calls “Elephants”). He gives advice every step of the way, from finding a good prospect to making the sale – and beyond. If you’re interested in how to leverage large accounts to grow your business, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.
Here’s a summary from Amazon Books:
“Bag the Elephant is all about how smart businesspeople can woo and keep those all-important elephants – the big, make-or-break customers. Like its companion, the New York Times bestseller Be the Elephant, it is filled with dynamic advice and real-life examples, delivered in an energetic, straight-shooting fashion that gets right to the core of its powerful idea – how to land the account that will put you over the top. Here are five keys to achieving the elephant mindset and understanding the big customer:
How to map and use a big company’s red tape to your advantage.
Why the elephant needs you as much as you need it.
Preparing yourself and your pitch.
How to negotiate with elephants without losing your profit margins.
And how to avoid the five killer mistakes, from mismanaging client expectations to losing sight of the numbers.
“For small business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, and sales people, stalking and landing an elephant can be the most profitable adventure of your life, and Kaplan explains everything you need to know.”
The post How to Win and Keep Big Customers appeared first on Selling Energy.
December 18, 2016
Weekly Recap, December 18, 2016
Tuesday: Explore why selling an intangible is about reframing the sale in a way that allows your prospect to grab onto something that is tangible.
Wednesday: Convey the value of your product or service to a prospect by figuring out what pain they might have and eliminating it for them.
Thursday: If you’re giving some thought to what you want to accomplish in 2017, check out these tips for writing goals.
Friday: Read how a keen and intelligent line of questioning with a new prospect will help you build rapport, much as a doctor would build rapport with a new patient.
Saturday: If you’re beating yourself up for not getting everything done, check out this article published on the Inc.blog and try asking yourself five simple questions at the end of each day.
The post Weekly Recap, December 18, 2016 appeared first on Selling Energy.
December 17, 2016
Stop Beating Yourself Up
Do you ever feel anxious or stressed because you weren’t able to accomplish everything you had hoped to accomplish on a given day? Many of you are probably thinking to yourself, “Yes. All the time!” It may not be feasible to simply reduce your workload; however, what you can do is reframe your thinking in a way that helps reduce this stress and anxiety.
According to an article published on the Inc. blog, you should ask yourself five simple questions at the end of each day. These questions are designed to get you thinking about your accomplishments from the day, the things you learned, and the people you helped. Let’s face it – it’s easier (and more natural) to think about what you should have done rather than what you did do. By asking yourself these questions, you’re forcing yourself to focus on the good. You’re reflecting on the positive aspects of your day rather than the negative ones. It’s a powerful exercise, and I encourage you all to read this article and try it out.
The post Stop Beating Yourself Up appeared first on Selling Energy.
December 16, 2016
TMI? No Such Thing
Can you imagine visiting your doctor to address a health concern, only to find that the physician is too shy or unsure of himself to ask you any personal questions related to your physical condition? Do you think this doctor would have much success getting to the root of your problem? Likely not.
Energy efficiency sales professionals often ask me what kind of information is appropriate to request during a first meeting with a prospect. Is it appropriate to ask probing questions about capital budgeting criteria, past experience with energy projects, the corporate culture surrounding project approvals, etc.?
A prospect who has agreed to meet with you to explore efficiency initiatives is much like a patient going to see a doctor—there is already an implied level of trust that you, as a professional, can be of genuine service provided that the prospect has the need, desire, authority and ability to address their efficiency challenges. Prospects will understand that if you are to do your job effectively, you’ll likely need answers to sensitive questions. This is no time for either party to be shy. You need to ask intelligent questions and to listen carefully to the answers. Without those answers, you’ll be less prepared to render genuine assistance.
An added benefit to this forthright approach is that, by knowing what initial and follow-up questions to ask, you will demonstrate to your prospect that you possess industry foreknowledge. Be very specific in your requests. When meeting with a commercial building owner, for instance, you might ask whether their leases are gross, fixed-base, or net… or perhaps whether their model lease form features a capital expense cost recovery clause. When approaching an industrial prospect, consider referencing the same yardsticks that company is likely using to measure its own success. Whatever track you take, you need to demonstrate that this is not your first rodeo and that you have an eye for detail. A keen and intelligent line of questioning will help you build rapport, much as a doctor would build rapport with a new patient in the course of conducting a diligent and methodical medical examination.
Take the initiative. Believe me, your prospect is waiting for you to tap their knee with your reflex hammer, and if you don’t, they’ll likely doubt the value of any diagnosis you ultimately produce.
The post TMI? No Such Thing appeared first on Selling Energy.
December 15, 2016
Tips for Writing Goals
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” – Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins also says that most people spend more time planning a two-week summer vacation than planning their lives. Think about it.
In the fast-paced world of business, it may seem difficult – and frankly unrealistic – to take time away from work to sit down and write a list of goals. The payoff, however, greatly outweighs the burden. If you block out a bit of time from your busy schedule to set goals, not only will you be more successful, you’ll also save yourself a lot of time in the long run.
If you are giving some thought to what you want to accomplish in 2017, here are some tips for writing goals:
1. Be specific. A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal, you must answer the six “W” questions:
Who: Who is involved?
What: What do I want to accomplish?
Where: Identify a location.
When: Establish a time frame.
Which: Identify requirements and constraints.
Why: Cite specific reasons, purposes or benefits of accomplishing the goal.
2. Make your goal measurable. Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.
3. Make your goal attainable. You can attain almost any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps.
4. Make your goal realistic. To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willingand able to work.
5. Set a time frame. A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it, there’s no sense of urgency.
The post Tips for Writing Goals appeared first on Selling Energy.
December 14, 2016
Way to Create Added Value for Customers
When you’re conveying the value of your product or service to a prospect, you usually link your solution to either pain or gain. What I mean by this is that you offer something that will either eliminate an existing issue (pain) or create added value (gain). Which of these methods is most effective? It is my studied observation that linking to pain is far more effective than linking to gain. If you can’t find pain, make it and eliminate it.
One of my friends (who we’ll call Steve) is a rock star efficiency sales professional in the Midwest, and he told me a story about a time he was selling air quality systems to a local laboratory. He knew that the researchers in this particular lab were often working 16- to 17-hour days, so he started looking for the “pain.” If he could find a way to make these researchers more comfortable during their long hours at work, he knew he would be able to convince them to buy.
He discovered that the lab refrigerators (of which there were many) were producing so much extra heat that the ventilation system could not maintain design temperature. So did he go in there and talk about how many kilowatt-hours his system could save the laboratory? No. He told the overheated researchers that he could make them more comfortable. He found a way to eliminate their pain.
Your prospects won’t necessarily tell you what they don’t like about their current situation – it’s your job to figure out what pain they might have and eliminate it for them. Sometimes they don’t even realize it until you point it out.
The post Way to Create Added Value for Customers appeared first on Selling Energy.
December 13, 2016
Selling the Intangible
When you sell energy efficiency, you’re selling a high-dollar intangible. Whether or not you can physically touch the chiller or the LED lights or the solar film or whatever, you’re essentially selling an intangible because your customers aren’t really buying metal chillers, LED circuit boards, or plastic films. They’re buying the concept that their lives will be better in the wake of installing these technologies. If that perspective is true – and believe me, it is – you have to ask yourself, “How are other intangibles sold?”
A vacation, for example… is that a tangible or an intangible good? Can you touch a vacation? Can you feel it? How is a vacation sold? Do they give you the size of the room or the speed of your cruise ship? No. They give you all sorts of emotional images about how much better you’re going to feel once you’re on vacation.
Let’s get back to the energy world. Assume you’re selling solar panels to a homeowner. You can tell your prospect, “If you install these solar panels on your home, you’ll save $1,000 a year on your electric bills” and hope for the best.
Or, you could continue, “Think about it. That’s like giving yourself an after-tax raise of $1,000 a year. How much would you pay today to guarantee yourself $1,000 in increased after-tax annual income (plus inflation!) for the next twenty years, which happens to be the predicted useful life of these solar panels?”
In fact, you could kick it up a notch, as Emeril Lagasse is fond of saying on the Food Network. What is the before-tax value of that $1,000 raise? At a 35% marginal tax bracket, it’s more like $1,500 per year (plus inflation). So now your question becomes, “How much would you pay today for a $1,500 (before-tax) increase in your annual salary (plus inflation) for the next 20 years?”
Your prospect will undoubtedly get the point – the value of that increased income over the next 20 years is greater than the cost of the panels…and a whole lot sexier than the thought of saving $80/month on the electric bill.
What’s the moral of the story? Forget talking about equipment specifications… Ask questions that evoke an emotional response.
Selling an intangible is all about reframing the sale in a way that allows your prospect to grab onto something that is tangible – something that they can visualize and become emotionally attached to.
The post Selling the Intangible appeared first on Selling Energy.
Selling Energy
- Mark Jewell's profile
- 7 followers
