We often hear the following from new sales people: “This job is too hard. I went in to my first 10 doors and everybody told me to get out!” This leads us to ask them the inevitable question: “what did you say when you walked in the door?” 9 times out of 10 the new sales person was guilty of what we like to call the show up and throw up. Gross name I know - but it perfectly describes their sales technique
We often hear the following from new sales people: “This job is too hard. I went in to my first 10 doors and everybody told me to get out!” This leads us to ask them the inevitable question: “what did you say when you walked in the door?” 9 times out of 10 the new sales person was guilty of what we like to call the show up and throw up. Gross name I know - but it perfectly describes their sales technique. They walked in to the business and practically assaulted the poor business owner with every bit of information they had about our product. It sounds a little something like this ” Hi – I’m ____ and I can save you money on your merchant services because I work for a great company and we have lower rates and yada yada yada…..” Unless the business owner that very day was asking themselves how to find a new merchant provider then the sales rep is NEVER going to sign up a new client with this approach. So what is the right way to do things?
CREATE A PROBLEM AND THEN OFFER A SOLUTION. You need to remember that you are not a sales person . You are a consultant and your job is to solve a problem that the business has. Before you get to problem solving though you need to introduce yourself – have a conversation with the business owner - BUT – during this time you need to be on the lookout to see if you can figure out what their problem is. You need to discover the problem yourself – bring it up to them – and then offer your services as a solution. Here are some common examples:
- You see an old outdated terminal. Bring this to the owners attention. Make them understand that they NEED to accept EMV cards to be compliant with Visa and MasterCard regulations. Explain that you can get them set up with new equipment AND save them money in the process.
- You see a $10 minimum for CC transactions sign. Ask them why they do this ? is it because they pay too much in transaction fees?
- You see a “No American Express” sign. Let the owner know that we can get them set up to accept Amex at rates similar to Visa and MasterCard. The days of paying more for American Express are gone.
- The business does not have a pin pad. Teach them the benefits of a pin pad and how much it can knock off of their monthly bill.
These are just a few examples of looking for the problem that the business owner may have. Once you discover their problem you really need to go after that issue and talk about it as much as possible. You are bringing that problem to the front of their minds so you can help them fix it. This is what a consultant does. They fix problems. This should be the approach that EVERY sales person takes when they hit the field. Try it and you will see much better results than what the old show up and throw up brings…always remember – nobody likes throwing up – especially when a sales person does it.