Welcome back to another edition of What Would You Do (WWYD) Wednesday!
If you’ve been in merchant services for more than fifteen minutes, you’ve run into this exact prospect. They want the moon, the stars, the latest tech, and oh—they want it all for nada.
As a sales professionals, your gut reaction might be to roll your eyes. But behind this unrealistic expectation is a massive opportunity to educate, build trust, and win a possible lucrative account.
Let’s look at this week’s scenario and figure out how to close it.
The Scenario
You get a hot lead for a classic, high-volume American restaurant (think gourmet burgers, fresh salads, pasta, and a bustling weekend crowd).
- Current Setup: They are processing with Aloha POS and Worldpay.
- The Pain Point: They are deeply unhappy with their current setup—likely due to rising fees, poor customer support and outdated hardware.
- The Roadblock: The owner proudly informs you that they have competitor quotes promising free hardware and free equipment.
- The Twist: They are open to Dual Pricing. However, because Dual Pricing requires displaying both cash and card prices, they want YOU (or whatever processor they choose) to pay for their physical menus to be completely redesigned and reprinted. Still not out of the question but it’s a cost.
The Reality Check
You know, I know, and the whole industry knows: there is no such thing as a free lunch (or a free POS). If a processor is giving away thousands of dollars in hardware upfront, they are clawing that money back somewhere else—usually buried deep in the processing rates or software fees.
Now, on top of the “free equipment” hurdle, this merchant wants you to act as a printing press for their new menus. They don’t understand the backend economics yet—they just see Dual Pricing as a chore that is going to cost them marketing dollars upfront.
The Playbook: How to Handle It
When a merchant drops the “free hardware AND free menus” bomb, don’t walk away. Use a strategy of empathy, math, and creative problem-solving.
1. Validate the Menu Pain (Build Empathy)
Reprinting menus is a legitimate headache and expense for a restaurant. Acknowledge that instead of fighting it.
“I totally get it. Changing to Dual Pricing is the smartest financial move you can make, but the thought of redoing all your physical menus, table tents, and laminates feels like a massive chore and an extra bill you don’t need right now.”
2. Do the Dual Pricing Math (The Eye-Opener)
Shift their focus away from the upfront cost and onto the massive, immediate savings. If a high-volume American restaurant is doing $80,000 a month in credit cards, they are likely burning $2K+ a month with Aloha/Worldpay.
“If we implement Dual Pricing, we are wiping out your $2k + monthly processing bill. That is $24K back in your pocket this year. Missing out on $24,000 in savings just to avoid a one-time menu print cost is letting a dime hide a dollar.”
3. The “Free Hardware” Trap vs. The Menu Reality
Explain that a competitor promising “free hardware and MAYBE free menu printing” is simply going to pad the Dual Pricing backend structure (like adding a hefty monthly compliance or software fee) to recoup that cash from the merchant anyway.
What Would YOU Do?
You are sitting across from this restaurant owner. They agree Dual Pricing is the future, but they refuse to sign unless the menu printing is covered.
Which approach do you take?
- Option A: The “Sign-On Bonus” Rebate. You calculate your residuals or upfront bonus on this high-volume account. It’s healthy enough that you agree to write them a check for $500 to cover the menu printing cost out of your own pocket once the account goes live.
- Option B: The Software Offset. You tell them you can’t pay for the menus directly, but you will waive their POS software SaaS fees for the first 3 or 6 months, giving them the exact cash flow they need to pay their local printer.
- Option C: The “Keep It Simple” Solution. You show them how to implement Dual Pricing without reprinting the whole menu right away (e.g., utilizing a standard visual matrix sign at the register/door, or using a flat-percentage customer pricing notice) so they can start saving immediately and reprint menus on their regular schedule.
At the end of the day, the “everything for free” merchant isn’t actually cheap—they are just risk-averse. They’ve been burned by Aloha or Worldpay in the past with creeping fees, and now they are putting up defensive walls. They want you to take on all the upfront risk (the hardware, the menu costs) because they don’t want to get tricked again.
Your job isn’t just to sell a terminal or a Dual Pricing program; your job is to shift their perspective from “What is this going to cost me today?” to “What is this going to save me tomorrow?”
When you can confidently look a restaurant owner in the eye and show them that spending a few hundred dollars on day one will put $24,000 back into their cash flow by day 365, you stop being a “credit card guy” and start being a strategic business partner.
This is where the rubber meets the road. Every sales person handles this objection a little differently.
- Do you eat the cost of the menus to buy the business?
- Do you stand your ground on the math?
- Or do you find a creative middle ground?
- or do you do something else?
Share your exact scripts and strategies with me. Let’s mastermind this one—how are you closing the merchant who wants it all for nothing?
Happy Selling,
David
