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Miguel Gil Mast is the Frankfurt, Germany-based sales manager in the sustainability business unit at Schneider Electric, a French multinational company specializing in digital automation and energy management. For the better part of two and a half years, he's been helping energy buyers and sustainability professionals to sort through the decision-making process around renewable energy.
With a deep background in renewables and engineering, Miguel advises his clients about tailor-made power purchase agreements (PPAs) — in which clients procure clean energy directly from large-scale renewable energy projects — and carbon offset solutions. And in today's wide-ranging and fascinating podcast, he gives us a sense of how an engineer morphed into a customer-facing sales manager.
Miguel's career path is at once typical and atypical, fueled by an advanced degree in renewable energy engineering and early career experience at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). At GIZ, his work focused on the financial analysis of solar cooling for industry and commerce.
"That was the beginning of a series of events that led me to focus my entire degree, which was very technical and engineering heavy, into a business case direction. And it started what I think to this day is still my philosophy," he said.
He has a practical approach to the industry, noting, "Sustainability is fantastic, and renewable energy is great. There's great technology out there, and there are a lot of things going on. But if we want to make a difference, we need to convince the people who don't care about any of that stuff there's a business case."
Miguel is fully committed to sustainability, calling it his heart and background. But he's well aware that industry growth depends on persuading people who are inherently skeptical of the whole thing of all the reasons beyond the obvious why they should invest in it.
Through his education, internships and various jobs, Miguel honed his expertise in financial engineering. Now he's comfortable presenting sustainability numbers to people on the procurement side in such a way that they say, "okay, that makes sense to me, even if I don't care about renewables."
Miguel shares some interesting observations about the core skills that bring value to his customers and his corporation in his current role. They include excellent internal and external stakeholder management, including coordinating efforts, understanding who your allies are, and how to marshal essential resources.
And he shares a story I absolutely love about the teaching career he thought he might follow in high school. While he ultimately opted for a different path, he explains how he incorporated his passion for breaking down complicated topics into easy-to-understand ideas.
That ability still gets people excited about and clear around the sustainability topics he shares today through his work at the global, pancontinental, multicultural collective that is Schneider Electric — one of the largest corporations in the world.
In 2021 Schneider received the top ranking in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations list from research organization Corporate Knights for its dedication to sustainable practices, particularly regarding the digital transformation of energy.
It's worth noting Miguel is part of what was formally known as Renewable Choice Energy, a leader in helping commercial, industrial, and institutional clients navigate clean energy purchasing options. Schneider acquired the firm in 2017.
I’m excited to share Miguel’s insights about what customers and aspiring clean energy sale professionals need to know. “Anyone who wants to hear more about how to get into this space, how to get into sales from a technical background, or more about PPAs, hit me up on LinkedIn. And I'll be happy to start a conversation,” Miguel said.
TIMESTAMPS:
(04:35) How Miguel became a sales manager as an engineer
(07:49) Miguel's value to customers and Schneider Electric
(11:11) What hard skills are consequential to Miguel's growth
(14:00) How Miguel applied ideas to his work at Green Genius
(17:35) How sales teams bifurcate into verticals
(23:25) Trade offs in engaging organizations as a sales manager
(26:23) Internal Signs that a corporate client is ready to engage clean energy procurement
(28:47) External signs a corporate client is ready to engage clean energy procurement
(30:40) How sales managers build educated market for suppliers
(32:57) Why demonstrate track record publicly
(34:46) How Miguel chose his sub category
(38:08) Why educate yourself when selecting verticals
(42:00) Rough statistics of Schneider Electric
(42:46) Where to find Miguel
(43:34) Wrap up
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ABOUT THE HOST OF SUNCAST:
Nico Johnson is the creator and host of SunCast, consistently rated a top solar podcast in the clean energy sector. The content of the show is geared towards listeners looking for insights on where the markets are headed, how to position themselves or their companies, and what today's market leaders do to stay ahead of the pack.
Nico is an Investor, Executive Coach, and 15-year veteran of the solar industry, having led development in the US and Latin America for global companies like Trina Solar and Conergy.
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