Sales Empathy

Moving energy is a business of details: Not only do we have to keep track of the energy itself – the molecules and electrons that make up natural gas and electricity – we also need to track customer consumption which changes daily (or hourly as in the case of electricity) based on weather and such things as whether Junior has decided to take a shower today (thank goodness!) or Dad has a football game he can’t miss.

And that doesn’t include all the details related to meter reads at odd times of the month, data exchange with the utilities, managing sales and marketing, and then keeping all of our data systems running smoothly. On top of the sheer volume of data is the fact that it all interrelates. A change in consumption affects the supply and the billing. A change in the weather forecast can have huge consequences.

This is why we have a philosophy at MX: Everybody should be a jack of all trades and a master of one. We all have skill sets that are important, but only if we know how they fit into the whole can we truly make a valuable contribution. I am always glad to hear when our people express interest in making a move within the company. This helps spread knowledge to other departments and everybody learns more about how we operate.

Recently, I realized there was another benefit when our people move around, particularly when they want to move into sales. Why? To be good at sales requires that you in touch with a customer’s needs. It isn’t enough to get up in the morning and say, “Today, I’m going to sell electricity.” There are lots of competitors that want to do the same and why should somebody deal with us?

There has to be something more: An interest in and understanding of our customers’ energy needs, i.e., empathy. Our business, like most businesses, is about service first and energy second. Harry Bullis, once the chairman of General Mills, said to his sales people: “Forget about the sales you hope to make and concentrate on the service you want to render.” Our customers want to know that their energy needs will be satisfied, they will be billed accurately, and they will have a fair price. The sale is not what serves their needs; it is the service that meets their needs. When our first objective is to serve our customers, our customers will respond with appreciation.

I find that when our people move into sales from other departments, they are better equipped to understand a customer’s business. After all, they have been in the customer’s shoes within our very own business. If they have accounting experience, they understand our customer is watching his billing and the bottom line. If they have IT experience, they understand our customer wants his information in an easily digestible, reportable format. If they are simply breathing, they understand that good service requires integrity, rapid response and thorough attention.

Our products – fixed rate price protection, carbon dioxide offsets – have always been challenging to explain to commercial customers. It gets a whole lot easier when the MX team members making the sale care about and understand the customers’ needs.