The Movie Taken – Tips to Grow Your Skills in Merchant Services

Happy Memorial Day everyone. While your out boating, beaching and BBQing, I’m relaxing and watching movies.  I’m a huge fan of the movie Taken.
In general, Liam Neeson is the man. But, he’s especially the man in this movie. If you’ve ever watched the first Taken movie, I’m sure you remember the scene where his daughter calls him from underneath a bed in her friend’s cousin’s apartment in Paris, as she’s about to be abducted by what turns out to be some thugs running a prostitution ring. The kidnapper picks up the phone and Liam notices the change in breathing. He then delivers this amazing set of lines over the phone from across the world.

“I don’t know who you are

I don’t know what you want
If you’re looking for ransom, I can tell you that I don’t have any money
But what I do have is a very unique set of skills
A set of skills I have acquired over a very long career
Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you”

As you can see, Liam’s character, Brian Mills has confidence. He is direct and concise. He knows what he’s capable of delivering and he’s confident in telling the guy on the other end of the line what he can do. He is appropriately aggressive for the situation, but in a calm, cool and collected way. Anyone who is a father can relate to wanting to react in that way. Not many of us could. Very few of us would be able to deliver on the threat, either.

Merchant services salespeople need to be confident too. Merchant services salespeople need to be calm and collected. Even in difficult situations, they need to state clearly what they can do, set expectations properly, and then follow through on their words. They need to be appropriately confident so that their prospect believes them.

This simple premise applies to everything we do, especially in merchant services. Those who are most successful have identified what they do well in addition to what they do not do well. They tailor their sales efforts around their primary skills, while continuing to work on those areas where they are uncomfortable or lacking experience.

The challenge faced by most of us is that we are our own worst critics. We quickly recognize what we don’t do well instead of focusing on our strengths. To mirror those who have found success in the merchant services business, you must answer this simple question, “What do I do well?”

Notice that the question is not, “What do I do well in payment processing?” Rather it is, “What do I do well?” meaning what do you do well as a whole. For example, perhaps you are a strong communicator or a good listener. Or maybe you have great organizational skills or are good at mirroring.

If you have difficulty identifying your skills, ask your or processing partner or Graphite sales coach to help identify your skill set. You’re not looking for a critique of your skill set in terms of selling credit card processing services, but rather insight into what they think you are good at. Whether they name one skill or several, be sure to note them all.

After you have identified your best skill, take a look at your current sales efforts. The most common roadblock is trying to do what others tell you works for them instead of amplifying your best skill. In some cases, you may even believe that since you were trained a certain way, you have to sell that way.

For example, if your primary skill is that you are good at identifying and addressing needs, and don’t have to ask a lot of questions to get to the root issue, you may have a hard time closing the sale.

Once you have identified your strongest skill, take a few minutes and adapt your offering to fit that skill. You can ask your Graphite sales coach for suggestions, but remember, whatever you do must fit your own personal selling style – not that of someone else.

There is one caveat that I would like to mention. If you are unsure what to change so that you can tailor your sales process for your credit card processing business around your primary skill, ask your sales coach or other peers what they have seen that has led to success. This way you will be able to leverage others who have been able to amplify that same skill and have found great success doing so.

Make sure that your new approach not only amplifies what you do well, but also lessens your need to perform those skills that are not your strong suit. This will help you gain confidence while avoiding any self-imposed roadblocks.

That being said, it’s also important that you don’t completely ignore your weakest skills. You will never get better at these skills unless you practice them. It’s true they may never be your strong points, but once you improve they will go a long way towards helping your overall sales process.

Think of it like that great second baseman that was asked to play shortstop. Knowing what he does best, he recognizes how to position himself to limit the impact of his weaker arm. He may never be an all-star shortstop, but he is no longer intimidated by the position.

By leveraging your strengths and working hard to grow your other skills, you will find success and begin to see your specific set of skills and confidence grow, and your response to your merchant can be,

I know who you are.
I know what you want.
If you’re looking for an easy answer, I can tell you that I don’t have one
But what I do have is a very unique set of skills
A set of skills that I have acquired over a very long career
Skills that make me a savior for people like you
If you buy from me now, we will make progress faster
But if you don’t..
I won’t look for you. I won’t find you. I can’t help you.

What tips do you have for growing your specific set of skills?

For more information about joining Payment Lynx and growing your portfolio or to discuss keeping momentum going in July please feel free to contact me at DMatney@PaymentLynx.com or 833-729-5969 ext. 2  to discuss partnering with Payment Lynx.