Yesterday we looked at the 7 signs of curiosity and why it matters.
Today’s topic is about “Curiosity” When you walk into the business, your reason for doing so should always be out of curiosity, not sales as we discussed yesterday. This probably sounds crazy to some of you, but I always start my opening pitch out of curiosity. Here a few common ones I use.
“I was driving over to meet with my client Lee at his liquor store, and I realized I have never introduced myself in this business. “or” I am looking for_______ business; are you familiar with them?” (Response: Yes..etc.)
“Great! I am running over there to do a demo of our new smart terminal or doing an install at. Do you already have one of those?” ( This is great to do if you have an extra terminal handy to show them) This type of “curiosity” for stopping by sets the prospect at ease.
Once I get past this initial “Curiosity or exploratory phase, I try to make the prospect feel great about his or her business. This is very easy to do if you try.
Here are some things I might say.
“I am always amazed by local businesses and the story behind them. I can see you have a solid business established here; can I ask for some free advice? How did you become an established business owner in the community?”
“I love the way you have the store set up. How did you come up with this floor layout?”Restaurant: “I have heard some good things about your food. What is your personal favorite dish here?”
“The atmosphere here really sets this place apart. I bet you put a lot of work into designing the customer experience.”
Now that the owner is feeling good about me, the time is right to jokingly, apologetically transition into the pitch for what I do. Here are a few ways that I set up the transition. “Do you mind if I give you the thirty second elevator pitch for my company?” or “I am always looking to develop new relationships in the local community. Can I give you my thirty second commercial about what I do?” “I do have one question before I leave my card with you. Is this a single location business or do you have multiple locations?” Now is the time to casually and confidently make your pitch. Here are a few ideas.
The Pitch – After I share what I do with them I say something like this, “I have found that there are really only two things that matter to business owners when it comes to credit card processing. First is reliability. You need to know that your money is going to be in your bank account quickly and can’t afford to have your terminal go down in the middle of a busy day.
Second, as long as you have that reliable service, the decision really comes down to service and value. I never tell business owners they should work with me based on savings alone. While I know I can provide the reliability and service you need, I have no idea what kind of pricing you are getting. I wouldn’t want to waste your time by talking about what I can do for you until I have established that it makes sense for you financially. What I would like to do is simply get a little bit of information from you today. Then I’d like to schedule a time to come back when I can spend ten minutes reviewing your current costs for processing and see if we can identify any areas for significant value based on the services I can provide. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?”
Here’s my recommendation, stop trying to close your customer and start focusing on understanding your customer, then the close will come. View every sales conversation as an opportunity for learning. You have the opportunity to learn about your customer. You have the opportunity to learn about your competitors. You have the opportunity to learn about how to become a better salesperson. Always be open to learning. It’s the only way to grow.
“Always be curious” .is the new “ABC”s of sales?
Always be curious will lead you to Always Be Closing.
Happy Selling,
David
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