Energy Practice

The main point of No2ndPrize is to help businesses of any size, in any industry, perform better in B2B sales, and strategy. Although I have spent most of my career in the energy sector, there is really nothing special about that sector in terms of the content of this site.

That being said, there are two obvious points:

1. Of course, everything about No2ndPrize and the proactive sales approach applies to selling in the energy industry
2. Equally, although I am not planning to devote all the rest of my life to the energy sector, of course, with the experience I have, I have a great deal to offer and I am very willing to help people who are in the sector to get better business results

Having made those two points, I would like to enlarge on the second one (the first needs no further comment)

Support for Sales in the Energy Sector
I have worked closely with colleagues in other companies and with colleagues within Schlumberger, in other business Segments, for many years. I enjoyed being able to prove that the proactive sales approach I have always espoused works in different Segments and various geographies. So, I know the approach works for Energy. At the moment (Q2 2016), things are extremely tough and unsurprisingly there is a strong focus on price. I do not believe, however, that this invalidates the proactive approach, indeed, with each downcycle I went through (probably around 10), I saw an increased focus on cost-effectiveness; it is up to each potential supplier to be able to quantify how their alternative approaches can help the customer cot their overall finding costs, or lifting costs, of whatever it is they are planning. If you are thinking of charging a multiple of someone else’s rates in this market, then I can’t help you except to tell you not to expect to have any success. But that doesn’t mean there is no place for differentiation – provide it leads to an overall cost benefit.

That being said, anyone who knows me from Schlumberger days will recognize that what I have developed is much simpler than the standard approach. I thoroughly enjoyed being an evangelist for the Schlumberger approach to sales – I was happy to teach it and happy to practice it. However, for many (probably, most) other companies, who simply cannot afford either the employee time or training budget to learn that way, I knew I had to develop something that could be taught in a day or two, but would also be something that could be used for a lifetime.  I had long felt that CRM was being treated as an obligation and not a help, and I decided that a completely different approach was required. A bit of time spent (probably, wasted) with some CRM packages suggested that it is really hard to get them to do what I wanted. That led to me creating the Proactive Sales Coach – which is based on Excel as that was the only approach that would enable people to benefit form that approach that would not have costed thousands to implement. I wanted to practice what I preach and make the PSC as cost-effective as possible, and I set myself a target of keeping it at the point when it would be paid for on a first sale. I hope people will find it useful.

Strategic Support, Consultancy and Advice in the Energy Sector
Since setting up No2ndPrize Limited, I have spent a good proportion of my time advising and consulting for businesses who are nothing to do with energy. I love this (and it has already made me realize that the methods I am proposing work across many industries). However, I have also been involved in quite a few Energy related projects and consultancy engagements. I am very happy to do this – I am not trying to avoid the Energy Sector, simply branch out – and I am happy to keep doing it. SO, feel free to drop me a line on robin@No2ndPrize.co.uk and I shall be very happy to help.

My only constraint is that I have some confidentiality agreements and some exclusivity commitments in place, which of course I shall be very strict about honouring. That may in certain circumstances mean that I am not able to engage on a particular project because of a real or potential risk of conflict of interest. I am sure that everyone out there will understand, but I wanted to ensure it was very clear.

Robin Walker
Founder and Director,
No2ndPrize Ltd

May, 2016