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BUSINESS NEWS BALFOUR BEATTY COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION AWARDS 50 COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR 2016/2017 ACADEMIC YEAR Balfour Beatty announced that it has awarded 50 college scholarships for the 2016/2017 academic year to residents of properties owned and managed by Balfour Beatty Communities. Scholarship recipients were selected on the basis of demonstrated leadership qualities and a drive toward bettering their community. “This year, we received a record-breaking number of applications after a new approach to scholarship eligibility was adopted – widening the applicant pool to include military service members and their dependents, including spouses, as well as multifamily and student housing residents,” said Chris Williams, president of Balfour Beatty Communities Foundation. “The academic and community- driven integrity of our resident applicants is consistently impressive and we are proud to help support their academic journey and future aspirations.” As part of the foundation’s goal to promote the pursuit of education and a commitment to community leadership, Balfour Beatty Communities Foundation awards academic

scholarships to high school seniors, undergraduate and/or graduate students. JACOBS WINS CONTRACT FOR TCI SANMAR PVC-2 EXPANSION PROJECT IN EGYPT Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. announced it received a contract to provide detailed engineering and procurement assistance services to TCI Sanmar Chemical S.A.E. for its PVC-2 polyvinyl chloride plant expansion project in Port Said, Egypt. When complete, the PVC-2 facility’s production capacity is expected to be 200 kilo-tonnes per annum. Combined with its other global facilities, this takes TCI Sanmar’s total PVC production capacity to 400 KTPA, strengthening the company’s position as one of the largest PVC producers in the Middle East and North Africa. The project’s schedule includes 18 months of engineering and 21 months for mechanical completion. In making the announcement, Jacobs Senior Vice President Vinayak Pai stated, “We are delighted to continue our relationship with TCI Sanmar. I’m confident our global experience in the industry combined with our strong local knowledge can contribute significant value to this strategically important facility.”

MARK ZWEIG, from page 1

you are successful in making the initial sale. People will be angry and disappointed, and there probably won’t be a second sale if you oversell. 5)Be experimental. There’s just not enough willingness in this business to take chances when it comes to selling. I don’t know if it’s because people in this business are conser- vative and introverted, or if it’s that every project tends to have a lot of people involved and the group-think process takes over. But the fact is there’s too little creativity and humor in most of the sales pitches/presentations I see. In fact, the stuff is so boring it puts me to sleep. I can’t sit there while one presentation is being made, much less mul- tiple ones as a typical client would have to sit through. Why is this OK? How did this become a good way to do things? 6)Be flexible. When you’re selling, you have to be sensitive to the cues of the people you’re selling to. Are they nodding in agreement? Or are they secretly disagreeing with everything you’re saying? Watch facial expressions, body language, and listen carefully to their questions and comments. You have to be prepared to make a shift – emphasize a different benefit – move off the topic – to change things up. This is really important! 7)Be positive. Positive people believe they can overcome difficulties and succeed. People like being around other people who are positive. This expectation is often transmitted to the client you are trying to sell services to. Negative people see why things won’t work right away. No one likes that. 8)Work at it! Make a lot of contacts. Pick up your phone. Go see people. Selling is all about the possibilities you’ll create through a lot of activity. Want five times as many potential projects as you have now? Rev up the calls/meetings fivefold over what you are already doing and good things will come from it. Nothing will happen if you just wish to sell more but don’t do anything. 9)Once you succeed, train other people. Take them with you. Show them how it’s done. Demonstrate your approach. Help others overcome their reluctance to selling and you’ll improve your own skills in the process. 10) Repeat! Keep doing what works. And if it stops working, try something else. You have to keep going, keep working at it, and improving your methods to become more and more effective. There really isn’t any limit to what you can achieve unless you stop. MARK ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s founder and CEO. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.

1200 North College Ave. Fayetteville, AR 72703 Mark Zweig | Publisher mzweig@zweiggroup.com Richard Massey | Managing Editor rmassey@zweiggroup.com Christina Zweig | Contributing Editor christinaz@zweiggroup.com Sara Parkman | Editor and Designer sparkman@zweiggroup.com Megan Halbert | Design Assistant mhalbert@zweiggroup.com Liisa Andreassen | Correspondent landreassen@zweiggroup.com Tel: 800-466-6275 Fax: 800-842-1560 Email: info@zweiggroup.com Online: www.thezweigletter.com Twitter: twitter.com/zweigletter Blog: blog.zweiggroup.com

Published continuously since 1992 by Zweig Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310. Issued weekly (48 issues/yr.). $475 for one-year subscription, $775 for two-year subscription. Article reprints: For high-quality reprints, including Eprints and NXTprints, please contact The YGS Group at 717-399- 1900, ext. 139, or email TheZweigLetter@ TheYGSGroup.com. © Copyright 2016, Zweig Group. All rights reserved.

THE ZWEIG LETTER July 25, 2016, ISSUE 1161

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