Has this ever happened to you? You’re talking with a prospect about your services and the conversation has been positive. They have given you information about their concerns, you have overcome any objections they had and you have explained your solutions. Everything is leading you to believe that the merchant is ready to sign.
At this point, you pull out the application and get ready to complete it, right? However, at the last minute you have a brain malfunction and decide to bring up a product or solution that you think would be of interest to the merchant. You say something like, “While we’re talking, let me tell you about something else that we offer.” From my experience, many people do this because they’re nervous and are uncomfortable with the silence.
Unfortunately, more often than not this tactic will backfire on you. The result is that the green light the merchant seemed to be providing has suddenly turned to yellow. There is a pause, and the excitement you felt seems to wane. The merchant says, “Well, I hadn’t thought about that. It may be something we should consider, but I need to talk to my partner.”
The next thing you know, you are being asked to check back in a few days. When you do, the response is something you hadn’t anticipated, “We are not quite sure right now. We will call you when we decide to move forward.”
With one statement, the merchant has gone from a deal ready to close to one that likely has no future.
I have talked with many sales people who have experienced this very situation and were honestly unaware of what happened that caused them to lose the sale. In their eyes it was a done deal. However, if you walk through the sale, it becomes obvious: they went from being a consultant or trusted adviser to a product salesperson.
The merchant shared their pains, and an agreement had been reached on how to address them. They were comfortable with you and your merchant credit card processing services, but before you moved to the next step and closed the sale, you injected an effort to add or sell something.
Everyone will say that merchant retention, pricing consistency, and loyalty is found in consultative selling. In other words, find the pains that the merchant is experiencing and find ways to address those pains. This form of selling requires merchant sales people to actively listen and ask questions. When enough information has been shared, the solutions are presented, and if time has been spent building rapport, the merchant should be comfortable and ready to sign.
The challenge in the above scenario isn’t that a product offering was made. Rather it’s when it was made and how it was presented. The merchant had developed a level of trust, and felt confident in the solutions proposed. At the time they were ready to move forward, but then they received what they perceived to be a sales pitch.
There is a way to position the product offering in a way that will not cost you the deal. The first step is to start the application process without offering any additional product. Instead, position the offering differently.
For example, when completing the application, say something like, “You know, I am not sure you would be interested or not, but as we compile this information another solution has come to mind. It may be something that you would want to consider.”
Keep this part of your discussion very low key and toward the end of the paperwork, and if the merchant doesn’t ask for more information move on to another topic immediately. If the merchant seems intrigued and asks a question, give them the basic facts about what the solution does, but be sure to end with something along the lines of, “again, I’m not sure you would be interested, but I just wanted you to know that it was available.” Do not imply that you are selling. Instead position it as a “by the way” opportunity.
Just remember, even if the merchant passes on the solution now there will be opportunities to present it after they are up and running.
Don’t forget that the time when you close the sale is when the merchant is the happiest. Those times are what we all seek.
Do you have any other tips that you would like to share on how to make sure that you don’t miss another opportunity to close a deal? If so, email me below.
Happy Selling,
David
Payment Lynx Daily 