Mark Jewell's Blog: Selling Energy, page 63

Networking Effectively, Part Three

When you’re at a networking event, you can get a lot more accomplished if you partner up with one or two people and work the room together. 

Networking Effectively, Part Two

“Networking is a lot like nutrition and fitness: we know what to do, the hard part is making it a top priority." – Herminia Ibarra

Networking Effectively, Part One

“If you're not networking, you're not working.” – Denis Waitley

What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently

A company’s success is directly related to the quality of its management. Without great managers, a business with even the most talented employees will struggle to succeed. So what makes a great manager? There are countless theories; however, many of them are truly “theoretical” and are not backed by actual research.

Weekly Recap, July 17, 2022

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

5-Hour Rule

What is the power of books these days?  What if reading five hours a week could be the currency that guarantees your value and adaptability in the future? 

Proposal Cover Page

The one-page proposal format is remarkably effective.  Hundreds of our graduates have taken the time to share with me how they’re getting higher closing ratios and shorter sales cycles using this simple approach.  It's definitely the wave of the future.  I envision a day where the majority of proposals presented by both vendors and their internal champions will be drafted on a single page, blank on the back. 

Tips If You Find Yourself on the Fence About Networking

Networking is an essential part of the sales cycle; however, it can fall to the wayside because of fatigue or shyness.  Other times it is pushed aside because of laziness and neglect. 

Time = Money

One of the biggest roadblocks in getting efficiency projects approved is time. Busy people place a high value on their time, and even the most compelling value proposition can be shot down if the project requires the buyer to invest too much time and effort.

Unlock the Doc

Students often ask me what format is best to use when sending a proposal digitally. While it may seem like a good idea to send a locked document (as a way of protecting intellectual property), I think it’s almost always better to send proposals as an unlocked PDF. Why? In an ideal situation, the person to whom you send the proposal will send it to other decision-makers in the chain. Since you took the time to create perfectly worded prose, you want to give them the privilege of copying and pasting some or all of it directly into their management memo and give them the credit for having written it.