It can be hard to predict your prospect’s current situation, even if you’ve done thorough research on the company, decision-makers, and so forth. In some cases, you’ll approach a prospective organization that seems to be a great fit for your product or service, and they’ll simply tell you that they’re “too busy with other improvements right now.”
Rather than accepting this as the final answer, consider responding with something like:
“It’s funny you should say that because that’s exactly the best time to be thinking about energy. Are you doing any capital improvements that either consume or generate energy?”
If you ask this question and happen to catch the project early enough, you may be able to improve the efficiency of the design (perhaps tremendously) at little or no marginal cost, particularly if you make certain aspects of the project rebate-eligible by tweaking the specs.
By the way, if you’re offering beneficial electrification solutions (electric fryers, induction cooktops, electric forklifts, microwave heating, etc.), you might find that they could change a planned process from some other fuel source to electricity and make their operation more efficient from a business perspective.
Additionally, you might even be able to leverage the existing project to reduce the level of inconvenience that your project would otherwise cause. For example, the existing project may require building modifications, and if contractors are already opening up walls and moving things around, you might be able to jump in there and make your own modifications without causing additional hassle for the building’s occupants.
