Many salespeople think that the sale ends when they collect their commission. Sales professionals are smart enough to know that extending the sales process to include a post-installation follow-up call yields tremendous benefits. Consider the following scenario…
“Hi, Max. It’s Martin with XYZ Lighting. I’m just giving you a courtesy call to follow-up on the lighting upgrade we did over there in July. How do you like the new look?”
“Hey, thanks for calling! Yep, the new lighting equipment is working out really well. No complaints at all.”
“Great to hear. Hey, while we’re on the topic, I’d like to ask you a question that I make a point of asking all of my clients a few months after installation: Are there any positive outcomes that you’ve noticed other than the ones we discussed when you decided to do the upgrade?”
“Funny you should ask… I was just chatting with our shop foreman last week; he told me that ever since those new lights were installed, our scrap rate has been down almost 10%. At first, he thought it was a fluke. Now that the system’s been operating for almost three months, he’s pretty sure the scrap reduction is here to stay. Frankly, I’m not surprised… His techs can finally see what they’re cutting and drilling. Remember how dingy it was in the shop when you did your lighting audit?”
“Wow, a 10% scrap rate reduction. Did your buddy happen to mention how significant the impact was in dollars and cents?”
“I was wondering the same thing, so I asked him. As crazy as it sounds, it’s actually saving the company more money than the utility savings!”
“That’s terrific. I bet your CFO will be happy to see the project throwing off a much higher return than he was expecting! Hey, do you mind if I use that little story you just shared with me when I speak with other small manufacturers with similar retrofit proposals?”
“Nope… Go right ahead… Just promise me that you’re not going to sell any of those fancy new lights to our competitors! Unless of course you promise to charge them three times as much as we paid (chuckle)!”
Energy upgrades can generate three kinds of benefits: utility-cost savings (e.g., utility bill reductions and rebates/incentives); non-utility-cost financial benefits (e.g., the above-referenced scrap reduction); and, non-financial benefits (e.g., getting an ENERGY STAR® label).
Most salespeople focus on the first and third buckets. Efficiency-focused sales professionals realize that the second bucket is often larger than the first! Moreover, they realize that the third bucket’s benefits often spill over into the second bucket (e.g., ENERGY STAR-labeled buildings having higher rent per square foot, lower vacancy, and higher sales price per square foot).
The more you understand your segment (in this example, the impact of better lighting quality on scrap rates), and the more research you do after the sale to discover non-utility-cost financial and non-financial benefits, the more comfortable you’ll be emphasizing benefits beyond utility cost savings as you engage future prospects. And by the way, those post-sale calls are also excellent opportunities to ask for referrals, particularly if the customer volunteers a huge unexpected benefit. Perhaps he has colleagues elsewhere in his organization who would be thrilled to see similar benefits.
