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Did you miss part I – The Biggest Misconception in Sales… CLICK HERE!
Time. The merchant’s time is always the toughest balancing act for me. On the one hand you certainly don’t want to seem like you are rushing the merchant. Every merchant has a different personality, some being talkers and others wanting to get right down to business.
I find that on the whole, most merchants prefer to deal with you as quickly as possible, especially at the beginning. Also, the more you talk about this “BIG” decision and all your benefits, the more time the merchant has to think about the decision. This is not good for the merchant or for you.
One of my first large, multi-location sales went like this on the first visit.
Owner (in a dismissive tone): “What do you want?”
Me: “I want to do your credit card processing.”
Owner: “What are your rates?”
Me: “Lower than what you are paying now.”
Owner (looks up a little confused and smiles): “Okay. Can you tell me a little more?”
Me: “I tell you what, I can see you are busy and that you are a businessman who doesn’t like to waste time. How about I bring you back a cost analysis in a couple days so I can show you exactly what I can offer?”
Owner: “Sounds good.”
Me: “I just need to take a look at a processing statement. Do you have one handy so I can make a copy?”
Owner: “Sure.”
He proceeded to give me one statement for each of his five locations. Three days later I sat down with him over lunch at a different location and signed him up!
The first merchant sale I ever made was the total opposite of this one. I literally spent two hours at the merchant location on the first visit! It was a small bike shop that sold specialty bikes. The owner was in his late 80’s and had been working that shop for decades. He was a talker and wanted to know everything about our company and what we offered. After two hours I was able to close him on that first visit.
My point here is that the value of time is relative to each business owner, but you always want to lean towards taking less time rather than more time.
Don’t make switching a “big decision.” Instead, emphasize how switching will be simple and how you will handle everything. I believe one way to show this to the merchant is by being prepared for the sale. When I come to close a deal, I have the paperwork all typed up and ready. This saves us both a lot of time and makes the sale much smoother.
Read previous post: The Biggest Misconception in Sales – Risks into Sales – Part 1
The Biggest Misconception in Sales – Risks Into Sales Part I
Read next post: Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time – Risks into Sales – Part III
Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time – Risks into Sales Part III