Many of us enter the field and start prospecting by telling potential clients how we can help them with their credit card processing needs. What we forget to do is ask questions. Lots of questions. This is the key to success when it comes to selling merchant services. Follow these basic rules and you will be on track to close more deals than you ever have before!

Avoid asking yes or no questions. Use this technique to draw more information out of your prospects and avoid a conversation that can be shut down immediately. Example: Instead of asking “ Are you happy with your credit card processor?” Ask “What is the biggest issue you have with your merchant services provider?” You will find that instead of a potential client telling you that yes they are happy they will provide you with an actual piece of information to help you form a solution for them.

Ask at least 3 questions to get more detail. If a prospect gives you an answer to your question you then need to continue that line of questioning to help you figure out exactly what they need from you to bring the mon as your client.,. Example: The client says their biggest issue with their merchant account is a lack of support. You could ask the following questions: “ When do you need support?”, “What issues do you have that you need help with?”, “ How often have you been left with no help when you needed it?” You need to keep digging and poking at the problem and then use this information to show how you can provide better service than what the client is currently receiving.

Ask questions that generate specific answers. You want to have your prospects provide you with answers that you can then use to craft a solution specifically for them – the more precise their answers are then the better you can make your sales pitch. Example: Don’t ask “Are you unhappy with your merchant services provider?” Ask “ What is the single biggest issue you have with your merchant services provider?”

Listen to answers and then ask follow up questions. If a prospect tells you that their biggest issue is that they have an old terminal that needs to be replaced then you need to start talking to them about what their new terminal options are and how you can get them one. This is NOT the time to start talking about pricing or anything else. Continue to question them about the terminal. Is it too slow? Does it break a lot? Does it not accept EMV transactions? Listen to each answer and form a response around that answer.

Ask prospects to tell you about a specific time when something went wrong. You can then reference back to this issue when discussing how you can help the client. Example: “ You told me when we started talking that your terminal stopped working once and you had a line of people 5 deep that you had to turn away. I can prevent that from happening by not only providing you a new terminal but by also providing you back up processing on your cell phone.”

Don’t forget to let your prospect tell you everything that they may have a problem with. You have two ears and one mouth – make sure you use them in the proper proportion. The more information you can gather from your prospect then the better you will be able to handle their merchant account needs.