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.”
Secondly, you need to move from “reactive” to “proactive” sales. Can you really grow your business simply fielding calls and producing estimates upon request? Using this approach, by the time you hear about a project, you are often too late. There are several dimensions of being proactive:
- Coaching others in the decision chain to drive requests for premium approaches.
- Communicating compelling value propositions that preempt value engineering.
- Selling directly to the owner.
If you are proactive in developing INTEREST IN and DEMAND FOR your energy solutions, you will be paving the way towards increased sales. Getting to the owner and communicating how your solution makes his or her life easier or more profitable sets the stage for more effective selling later.
