The 4th of July is almost here. Only 4 days away and it’s time to celebrate! Bring out that grill and get ready for a crazy independence day cookout! Go purchase big, loud, and colorful fireworks, and color the night sky with a dazzling spectacle of lights! But with all the fun and festivities, be sure to take some time to remember why we celebrate this momentous day. Are you excited? I hope so, because this Independence Day is going to be AMAZING. To help you get in a celebratory spirit, I present to you today’s top 10 4th of July  Facts – That Will Make You Want To Celebrate.

So, without further ado, from the home office in

Independence, Mississippi

Here are the Top 10 4th of July Facts..

10. Thomas Jefferson changed the wording of the Declaration of Independence from “the pursuit of property” to “the pursuit of happiness.”

9. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826.

8. Only two men signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th 1776 –

John Hancock and Charles Thompson.

7. Congress declared July 4th as an official holiday in 1870 as part of a bill to officially recognize other holidays, Christmas being one of them.

6. “Yankee Doodle,” a popular American patriotic song, was originally sung prior to the Revolution by British military officers in mockery of the unorganized and buckskin-wearing “Yankees.”

5.  The “Star Spangled Banner” was written by Francis Scott Key and was originally a poem stemming from his observations in 1814 concerning the British attack on Baltimore’s Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. It was later put to music, though  not decreed the official national anthem until 1931.

4. Including John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (mentioned earlier), a total of three U.S. presidents have died on July 4th. James Monroe is the third president to share this fate.

3. America’s 30th President, Calvin Coolidge, was born on July 4, 1872.

2. 88.5% ($3.8 million) of imported U.S. flags are from China.

And the #1 Top 10 4th of July Fact is….

1. While we celebrate independence day on July 4th, it’s not actually the birth of America. July 2nd is the real day congress ruled in favor of Independence, but it’s celebrated on the fourth because that’s when congress accepted Jefferson’s declaration.

So there you have the top 10 facts about the 4th of July! Bust out those hot dogs and grills! Get out your fireworks! Put on the good Ol’ red, white, and blue! And celebrate Independence Day two days after the Declaration of Independence was approved! 

Have a great holiday weekend and Stay hungry my friends,

David

As the waiter served my family our dinner while we were out celebrating my daughter’s birthday, her five-year-old son, my grandson declared his favorite mealtime phrase, “I don’t like that.”

We hear this often at dinners, as my sweet and opinionated grandson is a very picky eater. He even uses the phrase when he has chosen the meal sometimes.

Either the food wasn’t plated just as he had imagined or he changed his mind about it. This time though, my daughter was tied up with her youngest child, so I stepped in. Because handling sales objections is what I do, I decided to approach his objection like I would any other.

So I asked “why?”The conversation went like this:

He said, “I just don’t like it.”

Me: “But you haven’t even tried it.”

He: “I know I don’t like it.”

Me: “You chose it.”

He: “I chose mac and cheese.”

Me: “That is mac and cheese.”

He: “No it’s not, it’s not yellow enough.”

Me: Ahhhhhh….

Rather than try to solve the first statement, “I just don’t like it,” I used a process for handling sales objections that I’ve refined over the years to get to the meat of the matter. It wasn’t that my grandson just didn’t like it, or that he had chosen it and changed his mind. Rather, it was a simple color issue.

Handling Sales Objections

We all face objections every day in the payments world. Merchants often raise reasons why they won’t move, won’t consider moving, or won’t even listen to what you have to say. Handling objections may be the biggest challenge salespeople face.

I am sorry to say, but there are no shortcuts. In fact, most people try to short circuit the questions by jumping in at the first comment that appears to be an objection. The results are not positive.

After a situation like that I often get a call from the deflated salesperson asking me what I would have done, and I think, “something completely different.”  Handling objections is not about responding to the actual objections, it’s about diagnosing them. (Read this blog)

In almost every case, an objection is a symptom, not the true issue. You need to probe a little to get to the true issue. To do so, you need to refrain from the temptation to immediately respond to their objection and instead ask the merchant a question.

These questions can vary, but unlike the simple one-word question, you want to ask a question that garners more detail.  Examples include:

• Could you tell me more about your concern?
• It sounds like this has happened often/before. Can you give me when and what happened?
• Could you explain your question?

They may reply with the same objection. If so, reverse it. For example, say a merchant’s objection is, “I am not interested” and their response to your first question is, “You people come in all the time with all these promises. I just don’t believe what you’re saying or promising will actually happen.”

It’s important to understand that their first objection may lead to another objection that is still a symptom. In this example, they weren’t interested because they perceived others in our profession didn’t keep their promises. And knowing this doesn’t necessarily allow you to diagnose the true objection. You must probe further.

Reverse it in this fashion: “I can understand your concern, and I am aware of many in my profession who make promises they can’t keep. But we aren’t all that way. I know I’m not. In fact, I don’t even know if I have a solution that works for you. Could you tell me some of the promises that haven’t been kept? What are the issues you have that they didn’t solve?”
Get to the True Objection

As you can probably tell, the true key to handling sales objections is to relentlessly ask questions until you get the true objection. Then address that objection head on.

Back to my original example with the skeptical merchant. The merchant might have been burned by promises in the past such as reducing cost or providing next day funding. When they realized that they had been taken advantage of, the merchant likely decided to guard themselves from future payments professionals with a fool-me-once kind of attitude.

Yes, this may take a little more time than desired, but the results are worth it. Invest the time, and you ultimately save yourself time in the long run. You may also have a happier merchant.

Oh, and I solved my grandson’s true objection rather simply. I asked the waiter for a little shredded yellow cheese. I sprinkled it on the top, and the color issue was solved, Mission Accomplished!!

Happy Selling,

David

It sounds rude when you say it to someone but I promise that in this case it is good advice.  If you follow it you WILL increase your success in sales.

I have a question for you.  What is EVERYBODY’S favorite subject? 

THEMSELVES! 

Unless they are the single most selfless person on the planet people like to talk about themselves more than any other subject.  It’s not that they care more about themselves than other people it’s just that it’s the one subject they know more about than anyone else. 

So let me ask you another question.  If you know that people love talking about themselves so much then why does your typical sales person walk in the door and not talk about the business owner??? 

If you want that business owner to work with you they need to like you.  in order for that to happen you better express some interest in their favorite subject.  While you’re at it you should get them talking about what is probably their second favorite subject:  THEIR BUSINESS.

The point I am trying to make is this.  A good sales person knows when to shut up and listen.  You have 2 ears and 1 mouth.  You are 66% ear so you should be listening 66% of the time.  Don’t walk in to a prospective client’s place of business and start spouting off about what you can do and all of the wonderful products you sell. 

You should walk in there and have a conversation about the business and the business owner.  Ask them questions. (This Blog here can help)

Get to know them.  Get them to talk about their favorite subject and they will be your best friend.  You will learn a lot about them  and their business and maybe you’ll find a problem that needs solving.  ( See the blog post from the other day about solving problems)  THEN you can start talking about yourself and how you can help them.   Until that time just shut up and listen. 

Happy Selling,

David

Happy  Friday everyone. many of you know my admiration for Tom Hopkins and his sales training. Every year I reread Tom’s book on “How to Master the Art of Selling” I highly recommend this book to any sales person if you need a nudge toward success. Tom Hopkins has been training winners for nearly 40 years. The list here are his Top  10 surefire success tips and as always in true David Letterman fashion.

From the home office in the corner of my garage in , Success, Missouri 

The Top 10 Success Tips from The Amazing Tom Hopkins. 

10. Covet your time. Time is precious–only 86,400 seconds in a day.  Average people waste most of those seconds in unproductive or unrewarding ways.  Successful people manage their time efficiently.  They are aware of how they spend it and make conscious choices to use it wisely whether to work, relax or regenerate with family.

9. Have a personal mission statement.  Hopkins has his personal mission statement at his desk: “I must do the most productive thing possible at every given moment” Mine of course is at the bottom of each article.   Successful people identify what they are about and make their choices accordingly.

8.  Spend 5 minutes a day prioritizing.  Without prioritization, it’s difficult to be efficient and productive. Hopkins suggests taking 5 minutes at the end of every day to sit down, assess and choose the 5 or 6 priorities for tomorrow so you can begin with clarity.  Success people  don’t squander effort and energy on unimportant issues. Remember #10?

7.   Surround yourself with likeminded people.   Wealth, status and accomplishment have their own rewards, but the more success you attain, the lonelier you can become, since others may no longer feel comfortable or relate to your lifestyle. Successful people are careful about who shares their time.  They look for people with a similar outlook, who can help them grow emotionally and spiritually. 

6.  Be a follow up specialist.  Many people talk a good game and then never deliver. Sometimes the cause  is hypocrisy  and sometimes it’s simply being sloppy and careless. Successful people do what they say they’ll do, and they pay close attention to detail so small issues don’t get neglected and become major catastrophes.

5.Take the best of the past to create the future. The world is full of shiny new toys and methods. It’s easy for humanity to get lost in the glitz and glamour of modern technology.  Successful people embrace modern tools for communication efficiency and continue to use traditional and rare methods like handwritten thank-you notes to enhance connections. (Ask me about Send out Cards)

4. Don’t follow the crowd.  If you are always heading the same direction as everyone else, you may move forward, but you’ll have little  control of your destiny . Successful people often figure out what everyone else does only to do the opposite, which many times puts them ahead of the pack.

3.  Keep a thick skin about rejection.  For many each “NO” is like taking a punch in the gut or a slap in the face. The way to get up and keep going is to remember that  it’s just business . Successful people know that the key to getting life’s few brilliant “yeses” is to positively cope with the many “no’s” you get on the way to receiving them.  No’s leads to the YES

2. Make others feel important. The greatest craving of most people today  is recognition. Unfortunately, so many people are so tightly focused on their own status and problems they are ignorant to the needs of others.  Successful people recognize, support and encourage others on their journey, which brings synergy, energy and satisfaction to all involved.

And the number 1 Tom Hopkin’s sales tip is….

1. Strive for more. Tom Hopkin’s overall philosophy for success can be best summed up by his commitment on how to live life:

“I commit to learn more,

thus I’ll serve more,

thus I’ll build more,

thus I’ll earn more,

thus I’ll save more,

thus I’ll be able to bless others by giving more.”

I believe its time to reread that book again.  Thank you for blessing us with your wisdom Tom.

Have a great weekend,

David

I often hear the following from new sales people:  “This job is too hard.  I went in to my first 10 doors and everybody told me to get out!”  This leads me to ask them the inevitable question:  “what did you say when you walked in the door?” 

9 times out of 10 the new sales person was guilty of what we like to call the show up and throw up.  Gross name I know  – but it perfectly describes their sales technique.  They walked in to the business and practically assaulted the poor business owner with every bit of information they had about our product.  It sounds a little something like this ” Hi – I’m ____ and I can save you money on your merchant services because I work for a great company and we have lower rates and yada yada yada…..”  Unless the business owner that very day was asking themselves how to find a new merchant provider then the sales rep is NEVER going to sign up a new client with this approach. 

So what is the right way to do things?

CREATE A PROBLEM AND THEN OFFER A SOLUTION.  You need to remember that you are not a sales person .  You are a consultant and your job is to solve a problem that the business has. 

Before you get to problem solving  though you need to introduce yourself – have a conversation with the business owner –  BUT – during this time you need to be on the lookout to see if you can figure out what their problem is.  You need to discover the problem yourself – bring it up to them – and then offer your services as a solution.  Here are some common examples:

1. You see an old outdated terminal.  Bring this to the owners attention.  Make them understand that they NEED to accept EMV cards to be compliant with Visa and MasterCard regulations.  Explain that you can get them set up with new equipment AND save them money in the process. 
2. You see a $10 minimum for CC transactions sign.  Ask them why they do this ? is it because they pay too much in transaction fees?
3. You see a “No American Express” sign.  Let the owner  know that we can get them set up to accept Amex at rates similar to Visa and MasterCard.  The days of paying more for American Express are gone.
4. The business does not have a pin pad.  Teach them the benefits of a pin pad and how much it can knock off of their monthly bill.

These are just a few examples of looking for the problem that the business owner may have.  Once you discover their problem  you really need to go after that issue and talk about it as much as possible.  You are bringing that problem to the front of their minds so you can help them fix it.  This is what a consultant does.  They fix problems. 

This should be the approach that EVERY sales person takes when they hit the field.  Try it and you will see much better results than what the old show up and throw up brings…always remember – nobody likes throwing up – especially when a sales person does it. 

Happy Selling,

David