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It’s time to profit from history. |
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How to sell in a recession
Learn from the past
By Fred Kessler
Click here for a printable version. |  |
Worried about your sales numbers? You should be.
You
should be aware of the problems and opportunities in this economy and
that business failure rates are increasing and haven’t peaked.
With
the last serious economic downturn more than 30 years ago, not many
current sales professionals were in sales in the mid to late 1970’s. So
if you are under 53, you haven’t sold in a tough economy.
The
recession of 1980-‘82 was one of the mildest in history and represented
more economic stagnation than loss. So if you are under 46, you likely
didn’t sell during that mild recession either.
Sales reps will
cite the bubble burst at the turn of the millennia — but in real
economic terms, the economy grew those years. We’ve seen the longest
period of economic expansion in history. There is an unfortunate price
for the good fortune: The sales force of today isn’t prepared to deal
with selling in a recession.
Here are three keys to selling in a recession that may help you:
Down economic times doesn’t mean there isn't any money to spend.
It
just means that customers are driven differently than in a boom
economy. Customers are saying money is tight. Credit lines have been
disappearing, profits are down, non-essential spending is down — so
customers aren’t lying but they aren’t telling you everything either.
The
customers aren’t saying there is no money. Every major study in sales
since 1950 has found that neither price nor budget is any higher on
buying motivations. But in a recession, what does drive a customer?
Neil
Rackham, author of "Spin Selling," gave the compelling statistics on
selling in a depressed economy this year. What swayed customers in the
Great Depression, the recessions of 1953-‘54, the 1973-‘75 recession,
the 1980-‘82 recession and today’s recession? Customers want protection
- they want to avoid risk and will pay a premium to do so.
During
down economic times, people want security even if it is at a price.
Price or "no budget" objections are an easy way to get rid of sales
reps because most won’t probe further. When you don’t know what will
happen with your vendors, clients, or credit lines — wouldn’t you want
a little more security as well?
Force objectivity about your pipelines.
It’s tempting to stick with the prospects that you already know as times get tough. It’s tempting but it will cost you dearly. For the rest of this article go to;
http://www.cobizmag.com/articles.asp?id=2515&page=2
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November 2008
The New Agenda:
A New Energy Economy and 5 Million Green Jobs
With
more than 500 energy and climate advisors, President-Elect Barack Obama
campaigned on an aggressive and detailed plan to strengthen the
economy, spur green job creation, and protect the environment.
Harnessing
the amazing momentum and progress of the green building community,
USGBC is now working to promote sound policies in the next
administration that will stimulate a green economy, create millions of
green jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, advance greener, more
energy-efficient buildings, and spur green infrastructure. The
following policy proposals, advanced by the President-Elect during the
campaign, offer particular promise for advancing green building:
- Green Building:
President-Elect Obama has proposed the expansion of federal grants to
assist states and localities in building more efficient public
buildings through the use of LEED. In addition, under President-Elect
Obama's plan, all new federal buildings would have to be carbon-neutral
by 2025. This plan also would commit all new federal buildings to a 40%
improvement in efficiency within five years and would seek a 25%
improvement in the efficiency of existing federal buildings within the
same period.
- Building Efficiency Goals and Incentives:
President-Elect Obama has proposed a goal of carbon-neutrality for all
new buildings by 2030. This will be achieved by establishing a goal of
50% greater building efficiency for new buildings and 25% greater
efficiency for existing buildings over the next decade. Under the plan,
the federal government would award grant funds to states and localities
that implement new, energy efficient building codes, and would provide
matching grants to states that promote building retrofitting through
public benefits funds.
- Green Jobs and Job Training:
President-Elect Obama has proposed an investment of $150 billion over
10 years to spur the development of renewable and other technologies,
promote energy efficiency, and advance new fuel and smart electricity
infrastructure. This plan would direct funding to the manufacturing
sector for job training and transition programs, and would create an
estimated 5 million new green jobs. Additional training programs,
including a Green Jobs Corps for disadvantaged youth and a Clean Energy
Corps, have been proposed to stimulate the development of a highly
skilled workforce.
- Transportation and Infrastructure:
President-Elect Obama has proposed the consideration of smart growth
principles in the transportation funding process, as well as renewed
support for public mass transit projects. The President-Elect's
proposed plan also includes the creation of a National Infrastructure
Reinvestment Bank to direct $60 billion over 10 years to infrastructure
projects that could create some 2 million new jobs and $35 billion
annually in economic activity.
With
strong federal support, the green building community will be able to
accelerate its spectacular wave of growth and innovation, and help
ignite a rebuilt, revived green economy. USGBC looks forward to working
with the new administration to support these and other initiatives that
create jobs, save money and energy, and promote the creation of
sustainable buildings and communities.
A Green Revolution:
Creating Green Jobs and Economic Recovery through Green Building
USGBC
estimates that 2.5 million new green jobs could directly result from a
100% commitment to energy efficiency in our homes, schools, and
offices. Indeed, McKinsey & Company reports that 85% of future
incremental electricity needs in 2030 could be met through energy
efficiency in buildings, appliances, and industry. For more than a
decade, the U.S. Green Building Council's members have been at the
forefront of the green building movement. Building by building,
neighborhood by neighborhood, we are already witnessing the positive
impact of green buildings on the planet, and we are making equally impressive progress in support of the other two "p's" that guide our work -- people and prosperity.
Through the deployment of new, green projects, products and
technologies, the green building movement is harnessing the
entrepreneurial spirit of our country, creating green jobs for the
future, and providing opportunities for individuals from all walks of
life to enjoy healthier, more environmentally responsible, and
prosperous buildings and communities. Informed by our collective
experience with more than 2,000 LEED certified facilities and nearly
16,000 LEED registered projects, we must now dedicate ourselves to
restoring not only our environment, but also our economy.
New technical expertise and skills will be required to transition from
our carbon-intensive economy to the green economy of the future.
Large-scale investment in building efficiency and renewable energy,
among other areas, can spur the creation of millions of new, green jobs
-- reviving domestic industries and communities while advancing our
environmental goals.
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Images via Boston University
Everyone is a smarty pants. A research team at Boston University is developing a whole new way to use LEDs for more than just energy-efficient lighting. They’re creating Smart Lighting, which would enable wireless communication through visibile light.
Ditching radio frequency, the prototype from BU uses light instead
to connect. Each light would essentially be a Wi-Fi hotspot with 1 to
10 megabits per second networking speeds. Data transmission would be
done over existing electrical wiring.
“Imagine if your computer, iPhone, TV, radio and thermostat
could all communicate with
you when you walked in a room just by flipping the wall light switch
and without the usual cluster of wires,” said BU Engineering Professor
Thomas Little.
I like imagining that.
The Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center is part of an $18.5
million, multi-year NSF program awarded to Boston University,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of New Mexico.
Their task is to develop this awesome way to use lighting as a method
of wireless communication over the next 10 years.
The possibility of using LED rather than radio waves boosts the potential for energy efficiency. Another interesting point brought up is that since light doesn’t go through walls, wireless evesdropping is limited.
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LED Streetlights in Anchorage, Alaska
We told you that LED streetlights were coming.
The latest town to get them is Anchorage, Alaska. The municipality,
along with Cree, Inc, a maker of LED lights, are planning to change
16,000 municipal roadway lights with high-efficiency LED fixtures
(about 1/4 of total streetlights).
Bigger Benefits Up North
Because Anchorage has 85 days a year with less than 8 hours of
daylight, any benefit over the tradition lighting architecture are
compounded. Read on for technical benefits of LED streetlights.
Anchorage at night.
The mayor of Anchorage said:
We have studied new lighting technology extensively over
the past several months to validate energy and maintenance cost
savings. We also conducted a lighting conference and public survey in
March of this year that showed our residents overwhelmingly approve of
the new white LED lighting.
Benefits of LED streetlights
The LED fixtures are expected to use 50% less energy than current
streetlights, which could save the city $360,000 per year at the
current energy prices. The cost of the project is 2.2 million dollars.
"The LED fixtures, based on performance-leading Cree XLamp(r) LEDs,
typically last up to seven times longer than high-pressure sodium
fixtures, allowing Anchorage to better utilize maintenance resources."
And the quality of light should also be better, though people will need
to get used to it at first.
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| Keep the world healthy and read your MONTHLY GREENS!! |
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| Pure Lighting LLC Newsletter |
August 18, 2008
Issue 6
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Dear Ben Skigen,
PERSPECTIVE...
That
is our key thought here at Pure Lighting these days. If things aren't
going how you intended or had wished them to be going: change your
goal, change what you are doing, or change your PERSPECTIVE. We all
know that "the economy has slowed down" but how we choose to move
forward knowing that, is what defines the successful businesses from
the ones that are becoming a thing of the past.
We are proud
to be able to assist many different businesses as they set themselves
apart by understanding all the new technologies that progress faster
than the weather changes in Colorado. From induction to the power of
LED's, and the all the restraints and benifits in between, our clients
are never afraid to type us an email or pick up the phone with a silly
question or idea.
Also, with all the crazy mandations coming
in place these days there is more room than ever to educate and sell
green lighting products. The catch usually is getting the end user to
understand the upfront cost and simple payback, along with the constant
change in what's available on the market today.
We urge you to
step outside your comfort zone and get after designing a "green"
project, can you keep the price affordable, watts low and maintain the
ambient affect you desire?
Let us know if we can help....
Let the world change you...and you can change the world...
Truly,
Pure Lighting
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High Performance T8 Systems
Energy Savings Solutions for the most common commercial fixtures
When you need to offer energy savings without reducing light output,
Halco has combined a high lumen T8 lamp with a multi-volt, low ballast
factor ballast. The system states a 93.6 lumens per watt and
energy-savings. By employing this combination your customers can save
15% of the input power, while maintaining near equal light levels as
compared to standard T8 lamps and standard ballast systems. This
lamp-ballast system works with common/exisiting T8 fixtures so there is
no need to replace the fixture. With a slim case design, a 5 year
warranty on the ballast and TCLP high lumen lamps.
www.halcolighting.com
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Lighting as Artwork
Manufacturers are merging form and function to create a happy marriage of art and light
Lighting conscienceness has become more and more mainstream in the United States  in
the last decade. Peoples awareness to the topic can span from spiral
CFLs, Chiluly as a household name and even a past skit on SNL in a
lighting showroom. The days of brass and glass are behind us, as the
public has a worldly access to a plethora of  lighting
design via the world wide web. Fixtures take on personalities of their
own becoming focal and conversational elements in a room. The
utilization of a dynamic and functional design can lend lighting to
become a piece of artwork in its self. Pendants are full of color,
funky unique shapes and sizes. The "Guzuntight" pendant from Jesco
takes its design literally from a used hanky. The juxtaposition of the
"Thinking" sconce/table lamp with the black silouettes against the
white glass and the  frosted
bottom from Jesco's Envisage I collection is also available with
customized screen designs. The simplified design and beauty of
Solavanti's "Open Grill" uses T5 lamps to illuminate the wall beneath
it. Common applications we have seen with this fixture include framing
mirrors and artwork within the hollowed square. Recently in a large
custom home, several "Open Grills" were used up a wall in a cylindrical
foyer creating a unique geometric depth. There is no limits to where
lighting can take us.
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LED Slim Disks
Jesco Lighting's Low Wattage Lighting Solutions
Jesco's
high efficiency and low wattage Slim Disks are perfect for shelf and
cabinet applications on a residential or commercial level. Each fixture
is constructed of machined aluminum in a brushed aluminium finish
provided with a LED driver. The fixture is offered in a wide selection
of design options including: 3-light and 6-light versions in IP20 an
IP65 for wet locations; in round and square trim options with fixed or
adjustable inner disc, and with mounting options as a recessed cabinet
light or for surface mount applications. Also, all fixtures are offered
in three lamp color temperatures: 3000K, 4000K, and 6500K affording the
designer a wide variety of solutions to select the best option to
light a given space. The Slim Disks are energy efficient, safe,
reliable and have a long lamp life. Each high output LED consumes only
1-watt of power, producing far more light per watt than any
incandescent light source, offering a substantial reduction in energy
costs and greatly reducing heat produced, protecing the finish of the
woodwork it is installed in. LED Slim Disks are an ideal lamp source
for illuminating historical documents, artifacts, wine cellars, or a
high-end jewely display case because LED fixtures do not contain
harmful chemicals such as mercury. with virtually no UV radiation and
low heat emission. 
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USLT Cobra Street Light 100/200 Series
Winning the Race Against LED Street Lights
Designed for
residential streets our Cobra Street Light offers many
advantages over traditional HID fixtures.
Wattage:
40W, 80W, 100W, 150W, 200W and 250W
- Longer
life: 100,000 hours
- Lighter weight
- Lower depreciation time
- High
CRI of 85 makes colors look more true and
vibrant
- Cooler operation temperature
- Higher scotopic
lumens per watt.
- Instant on:
Yes
- Instant
restrike: Yes
- Vibration
resistant: Electrodeless design allow for use in
high-vibration applications.
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LED Lighting Standards Arrive
Scientists
at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in
cooperation with national standards organizations, have taken the lead
in developing the first two standards for solid-state lighting in the
U.S. Standards are important to ensure that products will have high
quality and their performance will be specified uniformly for commerce
and trade. These standards-the most recent of which published last
month-detail the color specifications of LED lamps and LED light
fixtures, and the test methods that manufacturers should use when
testing these solid-state lighting products for total light output,
energy consumption and chromaticity, or color quality.
Source:Craig DiLouie, Editor LightNOW News www.Lightsearch.com
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