Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 26

Put Yourself into Your Prospect's Shoes

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It may sound simple, but one of the best strategies for determining the ideal sales approach for a given prospect is to get into their shoes. There is no universal sales strategy that works across the board, so you need to figure out exactly what each prospect cares most about and work that angle into your proposal. So, how do you do this? Talk to people. Call store owners, building managers, hoteliers, even manufacturers. Ask them, “What would make your life easier?”

7 Ways to Thank People in Your Network

What is the structure of an effective presentation? Well, not surprisingly, it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is the call to adventure. The middle, of course, is the contrast – what is versus what could be. The end is a call to action. The three sections have to have a clear focus or the audience will tune you out. A focused presentation has a primary intention and no more than three or four main ideas to surround that primary intention. If you keep the presentation focused, people will know where you're going and follow you there.

Presentation Story

What is the structure of an effective presentation? Well, not surprisingly, it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning is the call to adventure. The middle, of course, is the contrast – what is versus what could be. The end is a call to action. The three sections have to have a clear focus or the audience will tune you out. A focused presentation has a primary intention and no more than three or four main ideas to surround that primary intention. If you keep the presentation focused, people will know where you're going and follow you there.

9 Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes

When it comes to presentations, the difference between “good” and “great” can make or break the sale. This is the reason I address presentation techniques so frequently on this blog… and why I encourage all of my students to dedicate a significant amount of time to honing their presentation skills.

Weekly Recap, July 23, 2023

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

Watch Your Grammar

When it comes to communication, you need to bring your best to every proposal, email, and in-person interaction.  Whether you’re writing or speaking, you’re aiming to make an impression that will be remembered.

Simple Tips to Improve Your Writing

As sales professionals, we use written communication on a daily basis. Whether we’re writing a proposal for a prospect, sending an email, or drafting a blog post, writing is an essential part of our jobs. To uphold our image of professionalism, it is vital that our writing be both accurate and effective.

Turning a Prospect into a Client

We spend a lot of time thinking about how to turn prospects into customers. While you should always be looking for new customers to grow your business, you should also remember to leverage your existing customer base so you can turn one-off customers into long-term clients. In other words, don’t just look for the next sale – look for the next client.

Ways to Position Yourself as an Expert

To sell energy solutions effectively, you need to become an expert in your prospect’s industry. This means doing some research: 

How to Handle the "I don't have the time" Objection

One of the big barriers of selling efficiency, particularly to busy professionals, is that they simply don’t have time to talk to you. I’d like to share a strategy that you might choose to use in this situation. Here’s how to conversation might go: