Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 34

Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels

Whether you have experience in leadership or not, transitioning to a new leadership position can be difficult. If you are promoted to a management role in your current company, you are probably going to be overseeing employees that were once your equals. If you are joining a new company, you are going to be managing a team of people with whom you have never worked. Both of these scenarios present their own set of challenges, and you should be prepared to face those challenges right from the start.

Weekly Recap, May 7, 2023

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

Time Cost of Multitasking

Many people think that they can get more things done in a day by multitasking. It makes perfect sense – if you’re always doing more than one task at a time, you’ll be able to accomplish more in less time. Well it turns out that this theory, however logical it may seem, is wrong. Studies show that multitasking is a productivity killer. The amount of time spent cleaning up mistakes from work that was produced with divided attention is typically greater than the amount of time the same work would take when executed with a person’s focused, undivided attention. 

Understand Your Prospect’s Highest Priority

Let’s face it: energy efficiency is not always at the top of everyone’s list of priorities. You may find yourself in a situation where your prospect doesn’t think an efficiency upgrade is the best use of capital. What can you do in a case like this? Find out what does sit atop their list of priorities. You may not be able to help them fulfill their entire wish list.

Put Yourself in Your Prospect’s Shoes

One of the challenges we have in this industry is a lot of inexperienced people jumping into the industry trying to sell a component that is being sold by the company they happen to work for. “I sell drives.” “I sell pumps.” “I sell glass.” You know what?  A building owner doesn’t buy glass or pumps. A building owner buys comfort. He doesn’t buy any of these individual components.

Are You an Efficiency Sales Professional?

To become a sales professional, you must first realize that:

Energy-related products, services and programs all require effective selling.
Professional sales skills make you more successful at advancing any energy initiative, regardless of your role in the process.
You need to think of yourself as a sales professional even if your job title does not include the word “sales.” 

Reframing a Lighting Retrofit as an Oil Well

When you use the metaphor of an oil well as each light fixture, it paves the way for a more intelligent decision.

The Science of Capturing People’s Attention

One of the biggest challenges we face as sales professionals is capturing our prospect’s attention. Whether it’s through a proposal, a meeting, or even an advertisement, we have a very limited window of time in which to pique their curiosity – and to keep that curiosity alive. So, how do we make the most of those critical first moments?

Weekly Recap, April 30, 2023

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

Daily Mantras to Boost Your Productivity

One of the best ways to stay productive is to remind yourself to stay productive on a daily basis. I don’t mean simply saying to yourself, “Remember to be productive!” I’m talking about specifics. Create a list of mantras that you can keep in mind everyday, each one pertaining to a specific aspect of productivity. These will serve as simple “best-practice” reminders that will help keep you on track.