Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 307

Leap!

Last Monday, I recommended reading Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, by Bo Burlingham. In this book, Burlingham cites a variety of successful companies that managed to grow significantly while maintaining quality and staying true to their core values. Today, I want to share a book that I think is the perfect follow-up to Small Giants. The book is called Leap! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business, by Stephanie Chandler.

What makes this book a natural pairing with Small Giants? Small Giants gives us the foundation to understand business growth (both the benefits and the risks), and Leap! gives us the actionable strategies to make those positive changes that will allow us to successfully grow our businesses. If you’re looking for growth strategies, I highly recommend reading this book (ideally after you’ve read Small Giants!).

Here’s a summary from Amazon Books:

“Business growth requires more than a business plan and a dream. You must utilize many tools and techniques to take your company to the next level. LEAP! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business is loaded with practical strategies that you can leverage based on your business-growth goals and the distinct needs of your company.

“LEAP! is divided into four sections: Leverage, Execute, Accelerate, and Prosper; you will learn how to: 

Develop a business-growth action plan.
Automate your business.
Locate business capital.
Identify powerful marketing strategies.
Harness the power of the Internet.
Attract the media and gain valuable exposure.
Boost profits by innovating.
Protect your time so you can enjoy your life.  

“Also included are inspiring interviews with successful business owners who have made the LEAP to real business growth, along with advice from dozens of industry experts. Whether you implement just a few strategies from this comprehensive guide or all of them, the results are sure to be extraordinary. Are you ready to LEAP?”
 

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Weekly Recap, January 18, 2015

Monday: Read  Sm all Giants : Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big,  by Bo Burlingham for an in-depth look at a variety of successful companies that managed to grow significantly while maintaining quality and staying true to their core values. 




Tuesday: Discover some tips and tricks on how to explore new markets.




Wednesday: Learn how to make your buyer confident.




Thursday: Learn why it's important to make your proposals simple and understandable and how to test them for clarity.




Friday: Discover some ways to show your prospects that you’re listening to them.




Saturday: Read this article from Forbes for some actionable ways to increase workplace happiness.

 

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Happy and Productive

There is a strong correlation between happiness and productivity. Your business doesn’t necessarily need to utilize the latest and greatest productivity solutions in order to foster a productive workplace environment. While it can be beneficial to implement the many tips and tricks we discuss every Saturday on this blog, you should also work hard to keep your employees as happy as possible.

An article published recently in Forbes suggests several actionable ways to increase workplace happiness. Some of these strategies may require you to rework your HR plan, and some may even require a financial investment; however, given the positive impact that a happy employee can have on a business, these strategies are worth exploring. Click below to read the full article:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2014/12/02/how-to-squeeze-productivity-from-employee-happiness/

 

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The Good Listener

One of the key traits of efficiency sales professionals is the ability to listen. Why is listening so important? For starters, the words that come out of your prospect’s mouth can tell you a lot about their values, their worries, their desires, and so forth. Moreover, people like to know that they’re being listened to. If your prospect feels that the conversation is one-way street, you’re not going to build good rapport (and we know how important rapport is in effective selling).

Here are some ways to show your prospects that you’re listening: 

Make eye contact
Give them time to finish their thought.
Pause before you respond. (Regardless of whether or not you need time to come up with an answer, pausing shows that you are taking the time to process what’s been said and to come up with a thoughtful response).
Do NOT cut them off while they’re talking or answer their question before they’ve finish asking it, even if you think you know what they are asking before they’re done talking.
Think about what they are saying while they are talking to you (as opposed to thinking about what you want to say next). 

This last bullet point is very important. I’m sure many of you have been in meetings where you were talking and another person could hardly hold back from speaking over you. You can tell they’re not actually listening. You can see it in their eyes. You can see their mouths visualizing what they’re going to say next. If you want to develop good rapport with your prospects, don’t be that person.

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Do You Understand It?

Developing an outstanding proposal takes time. It can be a laborious and frustrating process; however, if the end result is concise, easy to digest, and persuasive, the hours of hard work will pay off in a big way. A proposal has the power to make or break a sale, and it is therefore vital that you invest some time and energy into making a template that really hits the ball out of the park.

There’s a difference between a short proposal and one that is persuasive and easy to digest. You may be able to trim the fat and get your proposal to a length that an average reader could digest cover-to-cover in less than ten minutes; however, the question you really need to ask yourself is: “Would a person without a background in efficiency be able to read this concise proposal and understand exactly what is being proposed?”

As efficiency sales professionals, we’re not necessarily able to answer this question on our own (since we do have a background in efficiency). I always like to say that the best way to find out if your proposal is understandable is to give it to your grandmother. If she can read the proposal, understand what is being proposed, and clearly see the value in the efficiency solution, then you know you’re on the right track. Your “grandmother” could be a friend from a different industry, your spouse, your neighbor, or any other unbiased party.

Here are some questions you might ask the person who is reviewing your proposal: 

“Can you tell what this proposal is about just by reading it?”
“If I only gave you five minutes to read it, could you tell me what exactly we’re selling?”
“If I only gave you five minutes to read it, could you tell me what the value is of this efficiency solution?”

These are the kinds of questions you want to ask because a lot of the decision-makers are going to spend five minutes looking at your proposal and make a decision about whether or not they should buy your product or service. If they can’t discern what you’re selling in this short amount of time, you have a problem.

Even if your current proposal template that has won you some jobs, I recommend revisiting it from time to time. Give it to an unbiased party and ask them these questions. Then revise and repeat until you’ve really perfected it.
 

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Make Your Buyer Confident

A buyer that is not confident in your product or service is not going to buy from you. How do you make your buyer confident? 

 Be completely prepared: Think about every question or concern your prospect might have and be ready to respond accordingly. 


 Provide testimonials: Have a printed list of satisfied customers and testimonials, and work examples into your presentation. 


 Talk from experience: Tell a story about how you helped another customer in a similar situation. 


 Use a referral: If you have a good referral source, use it! 


 Name-drop: Drop the names of customers that your customer would resonate with; however, be careful if you name-drop one of the buyer’s competitors. 


 Think long-term: Emphasize service after the sale and a desire to have a long-term relationship with your prospect. 

 

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Market Research

 

Yesterday we kicked off the first day of the weeklong Efficiency Sales Professional™ Boot Camp at SDG&E’s Energy Innovation Center in San Diego. This latest cohort of more than 50 “Ninjas” includes a wide variety of companies serving a broad range of customers. Some of the attendees expressed a desire to explore new markets. Here are a few highlights of the discussion that ensued.

When approaching a new target industry, the first step is to locate its most respected trade organizations. Each trade org will likely have an online bookstore where you can purchase resources intended for professionals who are planning to make new careers in that industry. You’ll also probably see links to subscribe to the organization’s online and in-print media… and perhaps even find a place to purchase a copy of last year’s national conference proceedings.

Why are past conference proceedings so important? They give you an in-depth look at the latest successes, challenges, and predictions for the future. Moreover, although they are long, you can certainly listen to the CD during your work commutes.

Also realize that most national organizations have a committee that is charged with the responsibility of reviewing all submitted abstracts and selecting the presentations that would be most relevant to conference attendees. Understanding how a trade organization prioritizes topics provides great insights into key discussion points you’ll want to include as you present your energy solutions to its members.

Bottom line, the time you invest upfront in this type of market research will pay off handsomely when it comes to getting projects approved in that sector.
 

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Small Giants

Continual growth is crucial for the success of any business. The greatest businesses stay ahead of the curve by creating new products or services or by modifying their existing ones based on the needs of their target market. When considering how to grow a company, it’s important to distinguish between “growth” and “expansion.” Not all businesses need to expand (in the literal sense of the word) in order to maintain profitability or increase revenue.

In Bo Burlingham’s book, Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, Burlingham takes an in-depth look at a number of successful companies whose executive teams made a conscious decision to avoid expansion. These companies chose to focus their efforts on quality instead of size. Burlingham also proposes the idea that expansion may be a risky maneuver that can lead to a loss of quality (and ultimately, failure).

While I don’t think that expansion is a bad decision for all companies, I agree with many of Burlingham’s ideas in this book, and I think he brings an interesting perspective to the topic of business growth. If you are currently thinking of expanding your business, this is a valuable book to read.

Here’s a summary from Amazon Books:

“It’s an axiom of business that great companies grow their revenues and profits year after year. Yet quietly, under the radar, a small number of companies have rejected the pressure of endless growth to focus on more satisfying business goals. Goals like being great at what they do . . . creating a great place to work . . . providing great customer service . . . making great contributions to their communities . . . and finding great ways to lead their lives.

“In Small Giants, veteran journalist Bo Burlingham takes us deep inside fourteen remarkable companies that have chosen to march to their own drummer. They include Anchor Brewing, the original microbrewer; CitiStorage Inc., the premier independent records-storage business; Clif Bar & Co., maker of organic energy bars and other nutrition foods; Righteous Babe Records, the record company founded by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco; Union Square Hospitality Group, the company of restaurateur Danny Meyer; and Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, including the world-famous Zingerman’s Deli of Ann Arbor.

“Burlingham shows how the leaders of these small giants recognized the full range of choices they had about the type of company they could create. And he shows how we can all benefit by questioning the usual definitions of business success. In his new afterward, Burlingham reflects on the similarities and learning lessons from the small giants he covers in the book.”
 

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Weekly Recap, January 11, 2015

Monday: Read  The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less  by Barry Schwartz and learn why having too many options can be detrimental to the decision-making process. 




Tuesday: Discover the benefits of bundling Non-Mutually-Exclusive projects.




Wednesday: Learn how to calculate the Time Value of Money (TVM).




Thursday: Discover the true meaning of "value engineering" and learn how to use it in the context of efficiency projects.




Friday: Learn how to reframe your residential efficiency solution by demonstrating how the savings can be used to fund education. 




Saturday: Read this article from Entrepreneur for some tips on how to stay productive and manage business while traveling.
 

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Productivity on the Road

Modern technology allows us to be more mobile than ever before. With the ability to get Internet access from virtually anywhere on our many different mobile devices, tasks that once had to be done in the office can now be done remotely. If your work does not require you to meet with people in-person on a regular basis, it can be tempting to pick up your laptop and smartphone and hit the road.

Of course, working remotely – particularly away from a “remote” designated office space such as a home office – has its downsides. If you constantly change locations, your routines and habits can be affected by external and unpredictable factors (such as noise interruptions, ergonomic restraints, and so forth). The key to success on the road is developing a routine that not only maximizes your productivity but also adapts well to working in a variety of settings. An article published this week on the Entrepreneur blog suggests five tips for staying productive and managing business from the road. If you ever work while traveling, I recommend reading this article:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241473
 

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