The stereotypes of sales people are so hardwired into the consumers’ subconscious, that as soon as you knock on the door of a residence or walk through the door of a business, their defenses are activated, and their mind is made up: I don’t want what you’re selling.
Nevertheless, it goes without saying that there are those select few agents make the art of selling look so easy. While you’re struggling to maintain a cordial conversation with a potential client, you know of other salespeople within your circle who are on a first name basis with their clients. Furthermore, they’re another ISO outselling you in the same payment processing industry, selling the same products.
What angle do they take? Should you take a direct value angle? “Our credit card processing will save you money, we offer affordable point of sale systems, we don’t have a term agreement or cancellation fee?” Or do you go for the quality value when selling merchant services? “When you call you will never be placed on hold or talk to a robot, you’ll get white glove service, our customer satisfaction is through the roof!”
1. Change Your Mindset About Selling
If you want people to view you as a human being with socially responsible values and not like an insect that just crawled into their establishment, you have to change your own mindset about selling merchant accounts.
The thing is, people are very observant – more observant than you think. From the moment they set eyes on you, they’re reading you.
Believe it or not, we can change how people read us by changing how we view ourselves and what we’re doing. Think of clients as a partner rather than a target.
Clif Reichard wrote in the Harvard Business Review: “Many sales organizations do little to create an emotional connection with prospective customers and concentrate instead on hype-filled sales pitches.” This is probably the most important sales tip, not only for payment processing but for sales in general.
2. Slow Things Down a Bit
No matter what social encounter you find yourself in, there are these sets of guidelines we must follow in order to get along with people. One of the fundamental rules of engagement that seems to repeat itself in almost every social situation is taking things slow.
A good example would be going on a first, second, or even third date with someone. No one in their right mind is going to meet someone on the first few dates, sit an engagement ring on the table, and begin listing all the reasons why you’re prime spouse material. You can be sure that you’ll get pretty much the same response a lot of salespeople receive as soon as they jump into their robotic sales pitch.
3. Know Your Product as If You’re the One Who Made It
Memorizing some lines or being able to list a bunch of technical mumbo-jumbo that even you don’t fully grasp makes it pretty obvious to your prospective buyer that you wouldn’t buy what your selling.
When someone like Elon Musk gets on stage to sell his innovative products, he does so with pure conviction. Musk convinces people around the world that he created these products because the future of the world as we know it depends on them.
Rarely do you hear Musk getting all techie with his audience because he likely knows most of the people either don’t care about the tech stuff or wouldn’t understand it to begin with. He focuses on the problems the average person is concerned with and offers solutions.
4. Build Long-Lasting Relationships
Just because you finally sold some guy or gal a point of sale (POS) system doesn’t mean the sale is over – it’s far from over. More than likely, he or she belongs to a community of business owners they can refer your merchant services to in the future. But the only way that will happen is if you maintain an open dialogue with them. Make them feel like you’re their partner.
5. Stop Selling and Start Interacting
When you’re trying to sell someone something, in essence, you’re attempting to convince them they need what you’re offering. Why is your credit card processing technology better than what they have now? Is that route relevant to them?
On the other hand, when you interact with consumers, you’re teaching them how your credit card processing system was designed just for them. Not only that, but it was designed to solve their specific problem(s) or enhance their business. By taking time to teach them how working with an independent sales organization (ISO) benefits them, this will perk their interest.
Believe it or not, these five tips are straightforward to learn. It takes time to get them down and to develop your style. Selling is like anything else you have to take time to learn. The difference is, when you’re dealing with rejection and concerned with targets – not to mention personal financial responsibilities – it can seem like a long journey.
Nevertheless, if you want to succeed in the long term, you have to buckle down and apply these five tips and give them all you got. Every failure is only a lesson learned, and every lesson learned gets you closer to being a pro.
