Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 50

10 Elevator Pitch Tips

An elevator pitch is how will you capture someone's attention in 15 seconds or less. It needs to be sensitive to what that person's segment is, what their organizational orientation is, and their role within that system. This also applies to where they are in their career. Ask yourself: are they a young buck trying to gain access to the boardroom? Are they nearing retirement? Are they comfortable where they are? Are they seeking a promotion or a raise?

Make Yourself TED-Worthy

When it comes to designing presentations, my go-to books are Nancy Duarte’s Resonate and Slide:Ology. However, if you’re looking for supplemental material on how to master the art of storytelling and persuasion, then look no further than Akash Karia’s writings on TED Talks. He has written four books on how to incorporate the best of those award-winning speeches into your own.

Weekly Recap, November 27, 2022

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

26 Habits of Incredibly Successful Sales Professionals

It doesn’t matter how many great ideas you have – unless you are able to communicate your ideas effectively, you might as well not have them. People who communicate well, do well. You have to be an effective and persuasive communicator in order to make something happen. 

Keeping Grandma Warm

Regardless of what we’re selling, we have to make a case for saying yes.  With energy efficiency it’s even trickier, since we’re often in situations where we have to guess our way to a solution.  How do we do that?   The usual.  We do our research before our pitch.  We talk to our prospects at length.  We ask questions, probing for the emotional “why” that will make our prospect say yes.  

Are You Facing Sales Fatigue?

Considering what all of us and the wide world are going through, it isn’t surprising that feelings of futility and helplessness spill over into what we do on a daily basis. There may be days where you don’t feel like working, particularly when it comes to reaching out to new people.

Surviving the COVID-19 Crisis

Being human and genuinely empathetic is key in today's economy.  Our careers are being disrupted by all sorts of supply chain interruptions, cashflow shortages and unemployment.  But that’s not all.  Everyone else is also adapting to these changes and effects.  That includes your prospects and customers.  That should be top of mind in all of your communication: hosting a conference call, writing an email or text, or even just leaving a voicemail.

Weekly Recap, November 20, 2022

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

How You Sign Business Emails Matters

As an educator, I have talked about email etiquette many times, particularly regarding follow-up and using the three-sentence solicitation as the center of your messaging.  Subject lines are important. The language you use is important. But what about the sign-off? Most of us keep things fairly simple; however, research suggests that a slight change could get you a much higher response rate.

8 Common Sales Misconceptions

Working in sales can be rewarding, if you understand what a career in sales is all about. To help remove some of the mystery and illustrate the real potential offered by a career in sales, here are 8 common misconceptions about the sales profession.