Get Visual

With the ever-present stimulation and fast pace of modern society comes the decline of attention span. If you want to capture the attention of a prospect who doesn’t have the attention span (or ability) to fully understand a formal written proposal with its complex financials and technical appendices, consider adding some visuals to convey value.
I heard a story several years ago that I’d like to share with you about a campaign created by JCPenney to transform the behavior of its tens of thousands of store associates:

JCPenney hypothesized that behavioral modification was a great way to save energy, so they spent $50,000 to hire a professional cartoonist to create a comic book that featured caricatures of the energy manager and all the C-level executives at the company. They even created fictional characters like “Energy Man” to guide readers through the story of how their associates could have a meaningful impact on the energy management of a typical store with zero capital impact. Prizes were given to the stores that saved the most energy – simple stuff, like pizza parties, “Extreme Energy Make-overs” of staff break rooms with ENERGY STAR® appliances, and tiny cash bonuses for the managers of high-scoring stores. They called the campaign “March Utility Madness” to coincide with basketball season.