Here are 3 tips for selling Merchant Services in 2019. You’ll see great results if you implement these:
Tip #1 – EMBRACE SIMPLICITY. You’ll hear about many tools of the trade in our industry, such as technology advance and integrations. However, most merchants with whom you interact in the field and on the phone are looking for simplicity. They want flat rate pricing, subscription rate pricing – simple, simple, simple!
Simple isn’t always flat rate. Interchange plus pricing could also be promoted as simple. You could say, “You know, flat rate pricing is sometimes complicated because you can’t tell whether you’re being over-charged. We offer a flat half percent mark-up over interchange instead.” In merchants’ minds, merchant services is a solved problem, something they don’t need to worry about again. Just as they are not going to spend a ton of time looking at which cell phone provider to use this year. They’ve already chosen Verizon or Sprint and don’t want to switch. There isn’t a lot of value in switching. The thought is, “I have a cell phone; I’m good.” So, embrace simplicity in merchant services, too.
Tip #2 – EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY. Right now most processing agents and ISOs are going wide and shallow with technology solutions. What I mean is they may sell as many as fifteen different point of sale systems and smart terminals. They sell Poynt and Mynt and Clover, etc., but they don’t really know anything about any of them.
My challenge to you would be instead of going wide and shallow, go narrow and deep. Pick a point of sales system or a smart terminal you like and that you think serves 50% to 60% of your prospects. Then become an absolute expert. I mean, you should know everything there is to know about that terminal or that point of sale system. You could program it yourself. Know it inside and out; spend a lot of time learning. Get to know their support people. Start making sales with it. Really, really, really get to know it and go deep.
Later, maybe you’ll add another one. Next year perhaps you’ll add three new technology offerings to your value proposition. In 2019 embrace technology. But don’t embrace it in a wide and shallow approach; go narrow and deep. Become an expert.
Tip #3 -TARGET VERTICALS. This doesn’t mean selling exclusively to pizza shops or hair salons in 2019. Similar to tip #2, this means going deep not only with technology but with your marketing efforts, also. While you may target five or six different verticals, take a little time to really dive deep into each of them. Become more of a payment processing expert for them.
Customize your marketing materials. This is one of the most powerful things you can do. If you go to Staples, you can get your business cards for $10. Why get one box of generalized business cards when you could get five boxes of specific cards? Create one card for your pizza shop offer, another for hair and nail salons, etc. The idea is to give them options. Thus, when you go into the field, you know the value proposition for each vertical. Think about the merchants from their perspective. What are their particular concerns for 2019? How can your offer speak to that?
My big challenge to you in 2019 is to get into those verticals; go really deep; and become much more of an expert. Once you establish a good offer, find a way to simplify it. (See Tip #1.) Make your offer a no-brainer decision for merchants, and make it easy for you to explain. I hope that you have a record 2019 and sell more merchants than you’ve ever sold before.
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