-By Jon Ruiz
Tip #1: GET GOING
There are many reasons why we should get moving and keep moving! I like to stay actively prospecting, looking for leads on the Yellow Pages, Google, New business directories and all places that might get me an interested prospect.
It is a Fact: Most Merchant Service sales agents are comfortable and or lazy. They are looking for the next big sale and once they achieve it. It is time to relax! Don’t get caught in this trap, get going every day and keep your sales pipeline full!
Tip #2: Change or Die
Successful businesses must
Change or Die.
Best Buy has big problems: It is the type of store that gets lots of lookers who wind up buying items seen at Best Buy online for less money.
Target has the same problem, but to a lesser extent. Target has changed its model by adding very cost effective groceries to its stores. Customers who buy their groceries there likely to purchase other Target items that yield a higher margin.
Staples is relying more on their online website. People who used to buy in the store are now buying directly from Staples online.
Best Buy is changing its model to better compete with
Amazon.com and other online stores with more competitive prices and more services (such as repair and installation).
These businesses all accept the reality that you must
Change or Die. Just like these big players you must be willing to adapt in order to stay competitive.
I’ve seen too many great agents refuse to change or just die. They were great sales agents at one time, they opened doors and closed deals, but they never moved to the next big thing or looked on the Horizon. They had a great market, sales were great but, five years later, they were still doing the exact same thing. No change, no improvement.
When they stop to think for a minute, they were basking in success and then got lazy. They had confidence that they could keep doing the same thing and keep growing, until one day they stayed the same too long and rather than closing deals they were closing doors to opportunity.
So here is what I am suggesting:
Meet with your spouse, significant other or family member and come up with
FIVE ideas to improve your sales or lead generation. Listen to your Family, Friends (Only if its positive) and your Trainers of course. Also Listen to your customers and change your approach.
If you are serious about this business, make sure you hit all avenues to make you money, Advertising, Email marketing, SMS, Facebook presence, website (Your mirrored one, there is no need to spend $) and so on.
Improve your website. Just like Macy’s and Wal-Mart, you need to start selling and displaying more items on the Internet.
See what additional services you can offer your customers to add value to the items you are selling.
Work with other Business owners to cross promote your businesses.
Share advertising with other businesses in your area.
Find items that are unique and get customers to return to you for Business.
Make your business into a fun thing to sell. It should be enjoyable to talk with you, don’t make prospects and clients dread your visit.
Above all,
Change or Die. Being lazy is a sure way for your business to Die. You must always have an avenue for
Change and Improvement.
Tip #3 Don’t forget the Details
What do you think will happen if you buy a brand new phone at a kiosk and they tell you how much you have to pay monthly for your calls… but they forget to mention that you also have to pay for the insurance fee, messaging and data plan, for the taxes and prorated charges… Were you fooled? Those are charges that are technically obvious but because they were not mentioned when the agreement was made, most of the time you’ll feel that they were not transparent with you and probably wouldn’t refer their business to a friend.
This is the same thing that happens when you forget to mention about simple details at the time you close a deal. My experience is that agents have even lost account for “chump change” details for the processing. Here is a list of the most common details that amateur agents forget to mention before leaving the business with a completely filled out application:
-Pin Pad encryption charges (Usually $15.00)
-Shipping Charges (Ground is Free with NAB and PPT and 2nd Day air is free with TMS)
-Monthly/ Daily discount deposits
-Funding times (Don’t let them think we are doing next day funding if we are not)
-Scheduled installs (When do they expect the terminal to be installed?)
-PCI Compliance fees ($99 after 60 days with NAB / $4.95 per month after 12 months with TMS)
-Equipment compatibility
-Cash advance funding and charges details (when applies)
-Terminal file builds
-Paperwork explanations
-Cancellation details (Did you have them fill out the month to month agreement?)
Tip #4: Perception is Reality
What is heavier: A pound of Feathers or a pound of Lead? At first glance you probably thought “Obviously Lead” but, that is not the case. A pound of feathers weighs exactly the same as a pound of lead. Perception is reality and you need to be careful how you present charges to your merchants. The charges above do need to be mentioned but you need to be careful to prepare a great description of each fee that does not derail your sale and also don’t go through all of these charges one after the other. So, make sure to compose a simple sequential order that splits up the mention of these fees throughout the closing pitch instead of a bulk of details that makes it look like a lot of charges. That way, the merchant will perceive that the surcharges are small fees that makes sense just like the “pound of feathers” rather than presenting them as a big list of fees that sounds like the “pound of lead.”
Tip #5:Follow the Core Values of our Company CC Sales Pro:
Always Learning: Knowledge comes from experience. There are people that have more experience in your field because of their time and experience in that area so it is good to know what they know. Most of us learn the bad way, with mistakes and with situations that appear all of a sudden. It is very important for you to always learn, not only from the experience and mistakes but, also to read about your field of work. We don’t have to earn a bachelor’s degree in Credit Card Processing, but studying about it is as important as taking a chemistry class for a Pharmacist. Reading is not going to substitute the day to day experience, but will minimize the errors you make and will also help you to think faster when the situations occur. On the other hand, there are lessons that you can’t learn if you don’t take action. Learn how to make a balance of both so you don’t fall either because of lack of knowledge or lack of experience. Don’t be scared of slipping, read and study as much as you can but, don’t let that keep you from taking action even if it means you learn by making a mistake. Always Learning means learning every single day, through your own experiences and the experiences of others.
Always Living
Being your own boss is a big advantage, but it can also be a big disadvantage. You could find yourself waking up late and taking your time to start working when you feel like it because you are your own boss and nobody is rushing you to start your tasks at a certain time. On the other hand, you could be fixing paperwork late at night, but (other than your wife) you have nobody to remember you are working after normal business hours. You decide whether being your own boss is a benefit or a disadvantage. If you truly want to be your own boss, be your own boss, set a schedule and make yourself accountable. One thing that has helped me is that I like to work hard for four hours at a time, really concentrating to get as much done as possible rather than getting a little bit done and working at 30% of my capacity for 8 hours. The great thing about being your own boss is that if you only have 4 hours of work to do one day, you can get it done in 4 hours and then be done! You are not a corporate employee who must be at work 9 to 5, sometimes you only need to work 3 or 4 hours and some days you need to work 12 hours. Don’t be afraid to take the afternoon off to spend with your family even if you are not making a lot of money, many agents I know feel guilty like they must work all day because they are broke so they get 3 hours worth of work done in 10 hours and then trudge home in a bad mood. Don’t delay life!!!! If you only have 3 or 4 hours of work to do, get it done and then come home and tell your spouse you did all the work you could do that day and you are ready to spend time with the family. Be honest with your family and if you are broke say, “We don’t have money to spend tonight, but I did clear up some time in my schedule so let’s have fun here at the house together.” Just remember to work hard like a boss, but you also play harder, like a boss.
Always Leveraging:
How are you using procedures to make your work simpler and more efficient? If you find yourself typing out the exact same email 10 times per week, use technology to save the text of the email as a “Canned Response” (in gmail) so you don’t have to type it out again. If you are spending hours doing your schedule every week, make recurring appointments for the main events in your week so you don’t have to think about what you are going to do during those times and so your weeks are more predictable. You can only make so many decisions each day so do you really want to use up one of those decisions trying to figure out where your stapler is or if you are going to take the same day off this week as you do every week? Make procedures and use technology to make good decisions one time and then automatically repeat that good decision or action over and over again.
I hope you enjoyed these tips!
Jonathan Ruiz
What to Say and When to Say it
Read next post: How to Succeed in Merchant Services
How to Succeed in Merchant Services
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