Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 304

Choosing an Angle

 

When you approach a prospect with a proposal, you need to make a clear decision about what you angle you plan to take. Are you placing your emphasis on energy savings? Are you placing it on being a good corporate citizen? Are you placing it on sustainability? Are you placing it on the fact that the prospect has had problems that you can solve – repetitive maintenance problems or breakdowns or interruptions in critical services? What are you placing your emphasis on?

In most cases, your focus is probably not on the finances. A lot of people don’t care that much about money. It’s not their money that they’re spending to buy your product or service, and the money that you’re going to save them will not go into their pocket. If you met with the chief engineer to sell a new AC system and told him that you could save 20% of his time that is currently being spent maintaining the old AC system, the guy is going to be all ears. You’re now giving him back something he really values – his own time. He’s not going to get the savings in cash. He’s not going to spend his own money – it’s his boss’s money. He’s going to get his own peace of mind back. Think about what your prospect really values most and work that angle. 

 

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Selling with Stories and Referrals

 

Telling a story about helping another customer is a great sales strategy. It not only demonstrates your willingness to be a good Samaritan; it also proves that “this is not your first rodeo.” Besides, it feels great to be able to tell a prospect, “We do this all the time, and we can do it for you as well.”

Having a list of referrals to provide is ideal. It reduces your prospects’ perceived need to perform elaborate due diligence themselves. They take it for granted that the customers on that list already performed their own due diligence, and it’s even more reassuring that they already used your product or service successfully.

Think about all the purchases you make – everything from cars to makeup to food to movie tickets. Think how comforting it is to hear someone else whose opinion you trust say, “I had a positive experience with that product.” On the flip side, imagine for a moment what your life would be like without Consumer Reports, J.D. Powers, Yelp, or Amazon reviews.  How much more difficult would your selections be if there were no five-star ratings? Without all of that proxy due diligence at your fingertips, could you even buy 10% of the stuff you now buy with confidence? Do yourself a favor. Assemble a large repertoire of positive stories and references to share with your prospects. It’s a great way to help your prospects reach their own affirmative decisions with confidence.
 

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The Secrets of Power Persuasion

We all know how important it is to be persuasive in the sales setting. When you’re selling efficiency, it usually takes more than just a compelling value proposition to turn your prospect into a buyer. Persuasion is a holistic practice. It involves rapport building, trust, consistency, enthusiasm, and sometimes even a moderate and friendly dose of pressure. You can’t rely solely on the merits of your product or service to do the persuading for you.

So how do you develop the skills necessary to be truly persuasive? In his book, The Secrets of Power Persuasion for Salespeople, Roger Dawson teaches how to use emotion, psychology, rapport, and other strategies to become a persuasive seller, and he cites studies and tells stories to reinforce his ideas. Are you ready to become a “power persuader”? Pick up a copy of this book and try out some new techniques during your next meeting.

Here’s a summary from Amazon Books:

“Secrets of Power Persuasion for Salespeople, now available in paperback as well as hardcover, is a powerful, easy-to-read book that delivers scores of proven, effective methods and techniques you can use immediately to achieve the power and influence over buyers you desire. This book helps you master the art of persuasion, in turn helping your sales and profits grow. Divided into four sections covering essential topics such as:

-Playing the Persuasion Game: the 8 magic keys that control buyers; the 15 ways to make buyers believe you; how to make people decide quickly with the pressure of time; the 8 verbal persuasion ploys to control the buyer.

-Analyzing Any Buyer: how to distinguish ‘matchers’ from ‘mismatchers;’ what motivates buyers; and how they decide what they want.

-Becoming a Power Persuader: how to develop charisma and the 12 ways to project charisma to everyone you meet; the secrets to remembering names and faces; easy ways to use humor as a way to persuade buyers.

-Mastering Persuasion Techniques: the 8 ways to persuade an angry buyer; how to build credibility; the 8 reasons why buyers sometimes won’t open up.”

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Weekly Recap, February 15, 2015

Monday: Read  Becoming a Category of One: How Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison , by Joe Calloway, and learn how to set yourself apart from your competitors.




Tuesday: Learn why it's crucial to ask certain questions before jumping into your sales pitch.




Wednesday: Listen for repetition when your prospect or customer is talking. 




Thursday: If you're having trouble reaching a prospect, consider switching up your communication modality.




Friday: Discover two ways to ensure that you're putting you best foot forward when you communicate with prospects in writing.




Saturday: Read this article from the Huffington Post blog and discover some methods for boosting your creativity.
 

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Consume for Creativity

When you’re trying to think of a new idea – whether it’s your next marketing campaign, a solution to a problem, or a way to persuade a prospect to buy – you have to unleash your creative mind. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to force yourself to think creatively. One of the best ways to prepare your mind to think creatively is to constantly feed it. Read books and blogs, listen to podcasts, subscribe to magazines and trade journals. Ideas come from connections, so the more you consume, the more chances you’ll have to make new connections.

An article published this week on the Huffington Post blog suggests several ways to make the most of your “pipeline” of consumption. If you’re interested in how you can use the information you consume to boost creativity, I recommend reading this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephanie-ciccarelli/working-smarter-not-harde_b_6645186.html

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Check It Again

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. In order to uphold our image of professionalism, it is vital that our writing be both accurate and effective.

So how do we ensure that we’re putting our best foot forward every time we send off a piece of writing? Here are two tips:

Write in advance: When you’re writing, time is your friend. Leave yourself enough time to set it aside – ideally overnight – and review it again before sending it off. When you revisit it, ask yourself, “Is the message clear? Are there any extraneous sentences? Is my writing persuasive?” You may find that some of your language choices were awkward or confusing in retrospect.

Proofread thoroughly: Regardless of whether or not you have time to set aside your writing and revisit it later, it always pays to reread your work several times. Your writing is a reflection of your professional abilities, and spelling or grammatical errors convey a lack of care. If you don’t feel confident in your ability to catch all of your mistakes, consider sending your work to a coworker or friend for proofreading. It’s always good to have an extra pair of eyes! 
 

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Communication Modalities

When you’re trying to move a project along according to schedule, timely communication is essential. Unfortunately, not all of your prospects and customers are going to be as quick to respond to your questions and requests as you’d like.

So what do you do when a person fails to respond to a time-sensitive email? There are several ways to handle the situation. If you know that your prospect or customer prefers email, you can send a second email with a subject line like, “Did you get my email?” or “Just wanted to make sure you received my email. Please respond.” Most of the time, the recipient will say, “Shoot! That was rude of me not to respond,” and then they’ll follow up immediately.

If you are not having success with this email strategy, you might consider switching communication modalities. You could call them (or leave a voicemail) and say, “I sent you an important email last week. I didn’t hear back and if we don’t get a response soon, I won’t know how to proceed with your project.” If they prefer text, you can send them a text.

Of course, you should always use discretion when communicating. I would not send an email, make a phone call, and send them a text at the same time – that’s just overwhelming! However, switching up your communication modality in certain situations just might clear the communication clog.
 

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Repetition

I’ve written in the past about the importance of listening carefully to everything your prospects say to you. One thing that you should be sure to take note of when listening is repetition. When people repeat words or ideas, it usually signifies importance. The things your prospects choose to repeat provide insight into their world (which is valuable to have when you’re selling).

Suppose your prospect mentioned multiple times a frustration she has with her current boiler. Knowing that this is likely the reason that she is looking for a replacement, you would be wise to focus the conversation on how your efficient boiler replacement could alleviate that frustration.

Listening for repetition can also help you build rapport with your prospects. You may be able to pick out a certain word or phrase that they use frequently. If you work that same word or phrase into your half of the dialogue, you’ll make them (subconsciously) feel comfortable talking with you.

 

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Ask First

As an efficiency sales professional, you have an immense amount of knowledge about your offerings. You know what the benefits are, and you know how they can bring value to your customers. You know the costs, the savings, the project timeline, and so forth. It can be very tempting to jump right in and tell your prospects about the benefits of your project, how much money you could save them, and how long it will take them to recoup the cost of the project through energy savings. Don’t succumb to that temptation. Before you present any information to them – regardless of how compelling it is – find out about their goals, objectives, needs, biases, and scar tissue.

Suppose you are selling an LED lighting retrofit. You might be tempted to approach your prospect and say, “We can save you a lot of money on your utility bill. This LED retrofit will pay for itself in just 2.1 years, and after that, you’ll save up to 40% on every utility bill.” Sounds compelling, right? Well it turns out that this particular prospect doesn’t care about utility bill savings at all.

Had you first asked a question like, “What are you most displeased with about your current lighting system?” you would have learned that your prospect was interested in LED lighting because he was tired of having to change light bulbs all the time. You would have learned that he was concerned about overworking the air conditioning system because the current lighting system was making the room hot. You would have learned that his current system did not align with his goal of running an environmentally conscious business.

After collecting this valuable information, your pitch would not be focused on utility cost savings. In fact, you wouldn’t even discuss cost at all. Instead, you would explain how your project could solve each one of the issues that your prospect mentioned. 

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Becoming a Category of One

Competition can be fierce in the efficiency industry. One of the best ways to set yourself apart from your competitors is to offer your own unique product or service and to create a brand around that product or service. If you offer something that nobody else offers and you package it in a way that is recognizable and memorable, you’ll create a category for yourself that will give you immunity against competition.

In Joe Calloway’s best-selling book, Becoming a Category of One: How Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison, Calloway cites examples from several world-class companies that have managed to separate themselves from their competitors by creating their own “category” of business. This book explores a number of actionable strategies for creating a “category of one,” including lessons about management, identity, and branding. If you’re interested in this topic, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.

Here’s a summary from Amazon Books:

“Becoming a Category of One reveals how extraordinary companies do what they do so well and gives you the tools and ideas to help your business emulate their success. Packed with real case studies and personal reflections from successful business leaders, it helps you apply the best practices of the best companies to set yourself apart from your competitors and turn your business into a market leader. Whether you run a multinational corporation or a two-person start-up company, the lessons you'll find here apply to any business.”

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