Yesterday I shared my favorite opening pitch which is a petition, today I want to share 3 additional prospecting strategies to grab your prospect’s attention. One of the things that has really struck me as I’ve met with the top sales people versus the ones that are not doing so well, is that the top sales people and the top sales teams are so much more creative in the way that they grab their prospect’s attention.
If you watch the last video or listen to the last podcast episode, what you are going to learn about is how you can do a petition to accomplish this objective. I do realize, however, that many of you might read that and think, that strategy is a little too involved. So today, I wanted to share some additional strategies with you that you can use to dramatically improve your opening pitch.
You need to stop having one pitch that you are always going to use on everyone. When you are out in the field or on the phone and you are talking to a merchant, your goal is to gather information and to make that strong connection. You aren’t really trying to sell them anything when you first walk in the door. Even on a one call close or one stop close, you still need to get that rapport and gather that information initially. Think way outside the box of what you normally do. Here are a few simple ideas.
#1 – Create a Survey which is similar to the petition strategy but much easier to implement. Let me give you an example of this. Let’s say you went to all the hair salons in your area and said, “Hey, I’m doing a survey right now because we are looking to get into the salon marketplace providing payment solutions. I have a little survey with a few questions. I’m just trying to gather some information so I can design the right program. Would you have a couple minutes to help me out?” Usually a salon owner in that case, unless they are very busy, will say, “Yes,” or they will offer a time when you can come back. You’ve got to make it look official. You do actually need to have a survey. It also helps if you have a few things filled in, so get your existing clients to help you out.
Here are a few questions you could ask: “How do you currently process payments? Do you have a software system that does this? Do you have a regular terminal? Does your terminal take chip cards?” “How long have you been with your current processor? How happy are you with them?”, etc. You can obviously be very creative with this. You can do all kinds of different surveys.
When you think about it, the entire goal of a good opening pitch is to gather information to qualify the prospect and craft the right value proposition. So, you can either create a pitch that basically says, “I’m trying to sell you something and I need your information to accomplish that…” or you can create an opening that says, “I am trying to learn more about the marketplace and I need your help.” which of these two approaches do you think will work the best?
#2 – Use show and tell in person. I’ve talked about this before. You can all go back in your mind to first and second grade when you had show and tell. Which of these two approaches was cooler? You could bring in your hamster to show the class and let them pet your hamster, or you could bring in a picture of your hamster? “Look at this picture of my hamster; it’s so cool.” No one wanted to see that! They wanted to touch the hamster. They wanted to pet the hamster. That’s show and tell. When you go into a merchant’s location, use show and tell.
Sometime soon, we are going to do the un-boxing of the new Poynt terminal, which I love. It is a smart terminal and a type of point of sale system all in one. If you haven’t seen it, it is amazing. Use a terminal like this as “show and tell” to grab the prospect’s attention and just ask them if they have a couple minutes to try out this new technology. Show them the different apps that are on there and how they can manage their business with it.
Clover is another good example. You could probably get a demo version at cost from your processor. You can go in and show them the new Clover mini or Clover mobile. That would get their attention.
At the very least, make sure you have demos ready to play on a tablet. You can go in and say, “The reason I’m stopping by, I’m not here to sell you anything today, but I represent Clover Point of Sale. I’m sure you probably heard of them. The reason I’m coming by today is I have a demo they’ve allowed me to share with local business owners. I just want to show you the demo on my iPad, so that you are aware of it. If you get to a point in the future where you want to upgrade your terminal to a point of sale system, you will have seen Clover, and you can consider that.”
The whole idea is that you must convince them that you are not trying to sell them anything initially, so that they will drop their guard. Then you must get information from them that you want, and you have to show them something that is going to satisfy their needs and peak their curiosity. If their guard is down, they are going to like the Poynt terminal. If their guard is down, they are going to like Clover. They might even think a new VX520 or an Ingenico terminal that takes a chip card and Apple pay is pretty cool. The idea here is you’ve got to get them to drop their guard and then show them something exciting.
#3 – Create a Podcast / Show and Interview Business Owners. I’m working on something right now for self storage units. We built a self-storage software. One of the ways we are going to get leads, is that I’m going to do a weekly podcast for self-storage unit property owners, and I’m going to interview self-storage property owners every week. It is the easiest thing ever. You reach out to them. “Hey, we have a podcast. It’s about self-storage units and goes out to owners of these properties just like you. I found your property online and I want to interview you and ask you a few prepared questions on my podcast that I will share with other storage unit owners.” Almost everybody says, “Yes” to that, unless they are shy. Most business owners like to share their story.
You can do the same thing. Maybe you are in Chicago and you say, “Hey, I have a podcast for business owners in Chicago.” Or in Nashville, or in Orlando, “and I just wanted to see if you would be willing to come on the podcast and let me interview you.” Have some questions ready. Interview them. That’s going to give you a special bond with that merchant and allow you to ask them questions about their business. Don’t try to sell them on the podcast (Obviously… right?). Just ask them good questions. Make a great episode. When it is over, you talk to them. “Hey, how is everything going with your business? Who are you processing with?” Now you’ve got that in road.
My challenge for you today: Think way outside the box. Be super creative and see if you can find ways to get your prospects to let their guard down and share the information with you that you need to make the sale.
Make it a great day!
James Shepherd
Read previous post: An “Out of the Box” Opening Pitch that will Grab Your Prospect’s Attention
An “Out of the Box” Opening Pitch that will Grab Your Prospect’s Attention
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