Editor’s Note: This is the final piece in a four-part series called “How to Be Your Customer’s Superhero.” Throughout the series – with the help of Every Day Heroes from some of the nation’s leading energy solution providers—we’ll share best practices and tips for identifying and overcoming objections when it comes. If you missed any posts from this series, you can access them here:
How to be Your Customer’s Superhero, Part 1: Qualifying Clients
How to be Your Customer’s Superhero, Part 2: Saving the Day with Energy Insight
How to be Your Customer’s Superhero, Part 3: It’s Easier to Just Pay the Bill
Part 4: No One Wants to Look Bad
Maybe you hit a run-scoring double at the company picnic. Maybe you helped a wayward family of ducklings across the highway. Or maybe you simply kept the backyard dandelion-free. Chances are you’ve done something heroic this summer. But if you feel like you haven’t been much of a superhero to your clients lately, the reason could be quite simple: no one likes to look bad.
Some customers are afraid that benchmarking their building and establishing an energy-use baseline will expose inefficiencies and waste that will reflect poorly on them and their own performance. As your customer’s Trusted Energy Advisor, you can certainly understand and appreciate their hesitation. No one wants to look bad in front of their peers, and certainly not in front of their boss – but like we’ve said all along, building trust is key.
Robust data insight will almost certainly expose shortcomings in any building (after all, that’s the point), so use the power of utility data analytics to get ahead conversations that may be scary for the client.
Start by reminding your customer that you’re on their side. Leverage objective utility data to build trust and keep them engaged. Help them focus on their organization, not the individual or department, and ask them some “big picture” questions (using your superhero building professional powers to soar high above the clouds and show them the 30,000 foot view).
Asking “Big Picture” Questions
Keep the questions simple and open-ended, pointing the way to next steps:
- What are your biggest pain points in managing your building?
- What would it mean if I could solve those problems for you?
- What is your owner or management team’s overall investment strategy?
- What if I could show you some simple ways to increase ROI, quickly and effectively?
Helping your client answer these basic questions will help them recognize that taking action to solve their energy problems and reduce inefficiency will positively impact their company’s bottom line and strengthen their personal brand.
Lean on your people skills and remember: it’s all about monthly bill reduction and ROI. Solid, verified data is key. As Every Day Hero Matt Long, Account Manager at Casto Technical Services, told us: “We use EnergyPrint to show our value, demonstrate success and deepen the relationship. You have to build confidence that you can make a building perform better, and convince the client that they will be a hero.”
Naturally, building owners don’t want to make costly capital improvements based on mere anecdotal evidence or hunches. But armed with clear, objective data that supports financial decisions and demonstrates meaningful ROI, energy improvements become a no-brainer. And your customer will reap the rewards, increasing their value as an employee and underscoring the important work of their entire department.
Even if you don’t close the deal right away, be confident and persistent. Numbers are on your side. Continue to build trust with your customer by flipping the script and turning their objections into a positive. If they’re afraid of looking bad, use robust utility data to show them how they can deliver meaningful ROI and reverse negative trends. Remind them you’re on their team and that, in the end, benchmarking their building will help them look good because it allows them to identify and solve problems that unnecessarily bleed money from their organization.
We hope that you enjoyed reading about How to Be Your Customer’s Superhero as much as we enjoyed bringing you the series. Now that we’ve shared some key sales tips and tactics on from some Every Day Heroes who work in the mechanical and building automation arena, we hope you feel more confident about how to overcome objections and strengthen your customer relationships in the process.
For a comprehensive look at how to approach energy conversations with ease, check out the full whitepaper:
“Tips from Industry Experts: Leveraging Utility Data to Drive Client Engagement”