How to Close a Merchant Account

During my personal reading this week I was reminded of two closing techniques that I have used successfully for years and I wanted to share them with you today.  I would say that these two techniques if used correctly and practiced can increase your closing ratio significantly.

Closing the deal

#1 – Review the Benefits.  This closing technique usually fits in somewhere towards the end of presenting the cost analysis and simply goes like this:

Agent: “Mr. Jones, let me summarize the benefits of our offer to see if we agree on what I am willing to provide to your company.  First of all, we have the month to month agreement, basically rather than having you sign a long term agreement like many of our competitors I am only asking you to give us a try today with our month to month program, I think I already mentioned this, didn’t I?”

Customer: “Yes, that is great.”

Agent: “Good, next is our free equipment.  As we have already spoken about I am going to provide you with a free credit card terminal that is EMV ready and really top notch so that you can process transactions quickly.  So basically we will provide you with a free terminal as long as you process with us and I think we are on the same page there, correct?”

Customer: “Yes, I understand that.”

Agent: “Two more for you, the next one is really pretty simple and that is the free paper and really just an overall commitment to local service.  I will bring you free paper as needed and be a phone call away to help you with any concerns you might have, I know you place a premium on local, high quality service, wouldn’t you appreciate actually being able to speak with a local agent when an issue comes up?”

Customer: “Yes, that would be great.”

Agent: “Well that brings us to the last item, the cost savings.  With all the benefits we just went over it would make sense if we charged a slightly higher price than our competitors but as I have shown you, we are actually going to give you a true cost savings of X per year with no investment on your part and I know cost savings is an important part of this program, right?”

Customer: “Yes, we always like to save money.”

Agent: “Great, do you have any other questions for me about what we covered today?”

If they have questions at this point, answer them and then repeat this line.  “What other questions do you have for me?”

Once they say, “I think that is all the questions I have” move on to the final step.

Join the conversation on:      Twitter     Facebook      LinkedIn      Google+

#2 –  Fill out the paperwork.

Simply take out the paperwork and say, “What is today’s date Mr. Jones?”

At this point, if you have effectively presented the benefits about 50% of your clients will simply give you the date and then you ask one detailed question after another completing the paperwork without ever really closing.  If they give you two pieces of info in a row and let you write them on the paperwork you have closed the sale.

If they say, “I didn’t agree to buy yet.” When you ask for the date, just respond, “I understand, I just have a terrible memory and like to write down all the details so I don’t forget.  I have plenty of these forms so if you decide not to move forward once we get this all entered, I can simply throw this one away, by the way, would you be looking to have the statement mailed here or to your home address?” and just keep going through the form until they stop you with an objection, answer their question then keep completing the paperwork until you have it all done and simply say, “Bob, with your permission I will get this submitted today and I would like to find out a good day next week that will work for you so that I can get the terminal installed, what day usually works best?”

Get a friend or family member and practice going through this closing process with you.  I have used it hundreds of times and I wouldn’t say it works every time but it comes pretty close!

Have a great day in the field!

James Shepherd

Read previous post:  How Many Merchants Told You “No” This Week?

How Many Merchants Told You “No” This Week?

Read next post:  3 Tips for Installation and Tech Support of Credit Card Terminals

3 Tips for Installation and Tech Support of Credit Card Terminals