This week’s Energy Rant is written by Kenny Porter and Tyler Kashdan of Michaels Energy.
As I shoveled my way out of the recent record-breaking snowstorm, I couldn’t help but reflect on the monumental effort it took to move all that snow. It reminded me of our work in outreach. Not the physical lifting of snow, but the weighty task of convincing customers that their time isn’t wasted and that real benefits await them by enrolling in utility energy efficiency programs. We’re dedicating this blog to talk about our role as Account Managers.
So Much Waste
Did you know that commercial and industrial facilities contribute significantly to U.S. carbon dioxide emissions? Yet, a whopping 30% of energy consumed in these sectors goes to waste. Most facilities handle day-to-day operations well, but fine-tuning efficiency often falls by the wayside due to resource constraints.
Sure, we live in a tech-savvy world with automation tools galore, but no algorithm can replace the human connection. It’s the ability to truly engage with people and read the room during a conversation that makes a difference and sets us apart. Our goal isn’t merely to relay information about a program or service to a customer but to inspire action.
Ultimately, inspiring action is what the job is about. You do not “get” a customer to do what you want them to do by having a good script and reading it confidently. That may yield some success, but it will be limited. Instead, you demonstrate, through your words, tones, postures, and presence, that your goal is to genuinely help.
How to Start
First and foremost, you must sincerely want to help your customers. The good thing is that when you are working on utility programs, you’re usually helping customers access money that the utility is giving away to help reduce energy waste. That is something that most customers will benefit from. But even with that, if your main goal when you start an engagement is to close a sale or to get a customer to enroll in a program, you are starting off on the wrong foot. That is a goal about you and your success.
To excel in this line of work, you must go into every engagement with the intention that you are going to help your customer. For example, with an Energy Demand Management Program we’re running, when a customer enrolls, they help to stabilize the electric grid, reduce carbon emissions, and lower their energy costs. The goal when working with every single customer is to help achieve those results. Everything you say to a customer needs to be steeped in that message and stem from that message. In a way, you must renounce your own desire to get them to sign up, because what you want is not the point.
Meeting Challenges
You may work with a customer who has no flexibility in the way that their facility uses energy. During a conversation, it may come to light that they may not be a good candidate for the program. When you genuinely connect with that customer, they will tell you that they love the idea of helping the grid and reducing emissions, but there is no way that they could reduce their consumption on short notice. So, you can walk away and thank them for their time knowing that not enrolling is the best option for them. They get a great experience and you don’t waste your time and energy trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
You may have another customer who is not sure whether they want to participate in the program. Maybe they like the idea of saving some money but aren’t really sure if they can reduce their energy consumption. You do not have to push this customer to do what you want them to do! You can tell them that most customers feel unsure as to whether they can participate. In fact, that is exactly why the utility has invested in the service of having people come out to their facility to walk them through all the details of these programs. You can alleviate their concerns and take away pressure by letting them know that a no-cost assessment is offered so they can understand exactly what their savings could be and what they would need to do to achieve that.
Closing Thoughts
If you remember that helping a customer enroll helps the grid (which helps everyone), the utility, and the customer, you can focus all your energy on being helpful. You really must hold this intention when you engage with a customer so that they can feel it. And it must be true. Your true desire to help will shine through; most customers will sense that, and you will have much more success than if you are just trying to serve yourself by “getting” people to sign up.
As Account Managers, our role extends beyond individual efforts. Piquing their customer’s interest is just the initial step. If it weren’t for the Engineers, Product Managers, Project Coordinators, and Customer Support Teams, we wouldn’t get anywhere. But together, we can reach the goal: Customer Success. It’s not just about us; it’s about the businesses we serve—reducing costs, stabilizing grids, and promoting sustainability.