How often does the promise of saving money drive decisions? Well, let me rephrase that. Here in America, are we known as being a nation of savers? I don’t think so. If we were, we wouldn’t have credit card debt three times what it was in 1994.
So, what makes you think that when a person goes to his or her office, all of the sudden they become parsimonious and very, very careful with their money… or with their boss’s money? In fact, it’s even worse because at the office, they’re spending somebody else’s money. Just be careful about assuming that, “Oh, but look at all the money we’re going to save you in lower utility bills!” is going to be the close that’s going to get the deal done.
On a related note, there is a considerable amount of research out there suggesting that folks value avoidance of loss more heavily than the promise of gain. If avoided utility expense is the crux of your benefits list, you might think about how to rephrase that as avoiding a serious loss rather than capturing a windfall.
