How many people in the last 7 days told you “No?” Not how many people said, “I will think about it.” Or “Maybe after the first of the year.” Or “You should come back in a few weeks.” How many people flat out told you, “No, I am not interested.” after you gave them your presentation and closed the sale?
One easy way to figure out how many merchant accounts you will sell is to realize for every 2 or 3 flat out “No’s” that you receive, you should get 1 sale. Now, this doesn’t include business owners that will not speak with you and tell you “No” when you walk in the door, I am talking about business owners who have allowed you to speak with them, evaluate their needs and make them an offer.
The problem is that many agents simply don’t close their prospects. They would rather have 30 business owners who “like” them and didn’t say “No” or “Yes” than to have 10 business owners who actually said “Yes” and are using their services and 20 business owners who said “No”. If you don’t have any prospects telling you “No” then you are not closing and you will have very few prospects telling you “Yes.”
No is a requirement for Yes! Let me encourage you today to get out in the field, go into all of your prospects, make some small talk and then say something like this.
“Bob, it has been a pleasure speaking with you and getting to learn more about your business. I hope you have seen the value I bring to the table and I do want to work with you, have I earned your business?”
“Bob, thank you so much for taking time to speak with me today and I know that you see the value in what my company brings to the table with our local service, low pricing and free equipment, when would you like me to install your new terminal?”
“I always love meeting and talking with business owners Bob, you have such a great business here and I know that my service and pricing is going to be a benefit to you as your business continues to grow, with your permission, I would like to complete the paperwork and get started as soon as possible.”
All of these closes have one thing in common. They will generate either a “Yes” or a “No” and that is exactly what you want! If they say “No” that gives you more time to prospect and find someone who will say “Yes” rather than wasting more time with them. And if they say “Yes” you get to make money now. This is better than 3 or 4 months from now when you finally get up the courage or get frustrated enough with the prospect to ask for the business.
Just to be clear, I do like to avoid “Yes” or “No” questions during the presentation and lead them carefully and thoughtfully toward a “Yes” decision and in fact there are times when someone will simply present you with an opportunity to move forward without even really closing. For example, when they give you a “buyer sign”. But if I get to the end of the presentation and they haven’t given me a “buyer sign” or an opportunity to start the paperwork I am going to ask at least one and usually two closing questions before I leave that business.
If the prospect does give you a “Buyer Sign” don’t pass by it!!! Respond with a closing question like this:
Prospect: “So, you would provide us with a free terminal and install it for us?”
Agent Response: “Would you prefer that I bring you a free terminal and get it all set up?”
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Prospect: “How much do you think you can save me per month?”
Agent Response: “Do you have a number in mind Bob, how much savings are you looking for?”
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Prospect: “Could you hook the terminal up to an internet line?”
Agent Response: “Would you prefer I hook it up to an internet line?”
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These are all easy, easy closes but you have to recognize them and get used to responding to them in this way. Have a friend or family member ask you these questions and practice responding with a closing question.
However, if one of these easy buyer signs doesn’t present itself and you have given your presentation, it is time to follow the ABC’s of sales and “Always Be Closing!”
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Two Other Tips on Closing:
#1 – What if they respond with a “Maybe.” Here is Tom Hopkins advice on this: (I customized the pitch for our industry)
Customer: “I am going to have to think about this.”
Agent: “I am sure you wouldn’t think this over unless you intended to give my offer careful consideration would you? I mean you wouldn’t say you were going to think this over unless you were seriously considering it, right?
Customer: “Yes I am going to carefully consider it.”
Agent: “May I ask what part of my offer you need to think over, is it the level of service I will provide?”
Customer: “No, it isn’t that.”
Agent: “Is it the equipment I am going to provide you with?”
Customer: “No it isn’t the equipment.”
Agent: “Then can I assume it is the investment and savings you are going to think over since that seems to be what most of my current clients had to think over?”
Customer: “Yes, I just need to think over if it is worth switching.”
Agent: “I am sure that before I even came in today, you probably had a number in your head, an expectation of how much savings you would like to see, may I ask about how much cost savings you were looking for?
Customer: “I was really hoping you would be able to save me closer to $100 per month.” (Let’s assume you are actually saving them $60.00 per month) (By the Way, You will usually be surprised by how close you are, sometimes they admit you are like $10.00 off)
Agent: “I appreciate your honesty Bob, so it seems like I am asking you to invest about $40 more than you would like each month, is that right?”
Customer: “Yes”
Agent: “Bob, let me point out two things before I leave today in order to help you think through my offer.” First of all, if I am asking you to invest $40.00 more than you would like each month, that means your current company is asking you to invest $100 more than you would like each month based on their current pricing, so if we compare apples to apples with all the added benefits I offer, I think it is clear we have the better value proposition for your business.
Secondly, I know you are processing cards about 20 days per month so if you switch today, you will be investing about $2.00 more per day or about $0.20 per hour more than you had planned. If you look at the advantages to your business in having a local agent on call to help you at any time and a free, upgraded terminal that will process transactions faster and more efficiently, wouldn’t you agree that these advantages are worth an investment of only $2.00 per day?”
#2 – Use the Pressure of Silence to Close the Sale.
Once you ask one of these closing questions, never get caught speaking before the prospect. Hundreds of sales are lost every day because an agent makes a great presentation, asks a great closing question but simply doesn’t have the discipline to keep silent while the merchant thinks over the offer. You need to practice this!!! Have someone be the merchant and go through the role play examples above. Tell them to count to 10 or 15 in their head before answering you after you ask a closing question and get used to that feeling because it will make you a lot of money!
Good luck in the field this week, go get some “No’s” and watch the “Yes’s” roll in!
James Shepherd
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