It’s Friday, which means it’s time to look back at the chaos, the field wins, and the brutal reality checks from this past week. From fighting a gang of Canadian geese to climbing under a diner sink covered in grey water, here are the top 10 takeaways counting down from 10 to 1 to carry into your weekend.
From the Home office in Pie Town New Mexico, Here are the
Top 10 Unhinged Closes, Parking Lot Standoffs, and the Raw Lessons from this Weeks Post
10. The “Taco Trail” Icebreaker Works Every Time
When a busy merchant tells you they don’t have time because they need to sell tacos, buy the tacos. Dropping $125 on 50 street tacos bought 15 minutes of undivided attention with a restaurant owner—and buying lunch for the surrounding retail shops yielded two additional accounts before the afternoon was over. Out-of-the-box hustle always beats handing over a business card.
9. Your Biases Are Stealing Your Residuals
Writing off industry shifts—like declaring Cash Discounting a fad back in 2015 or ignoring Square when they first launched—leaves money on the floor for competitors. Personal opinions on software or pricing don’t matter; merchant demands and market shifts do. Keep your ego out of the residual spreadsheet.
8. Master the 5-Minute “Pre-Game Reset”
Walking into a pitch with script fatigue or carrying the frustration of a brutal “No” into your next store will kill your close rate. Before you open a door: sit in the car, put your phone away, visualize the win, and control your breathing. Never let a bad call from ten minutes ago ruin your next prospect.
7. Solve Problems Money Can’t Buy
When a diner’s kitchen sink bursts during the morning rush, walking out isn’t the move. Sliding under the counter with a toolkit from your trunk to fix a pipe trap proves you’re a partner who gets their hands dirty. When you sweat for a business owner, you build a relationship no competitor can steal with a cheap rate drop.
6. Calm Energy Commands the Room
Operating at a frantic 100 mph brings chaotic energy straight into a merchant’s shop. Business owners can smell hurry and desperation from a mile away. Real authority is calm—slowing down before you step through the door lets you control the room, earn instant respect, and build genuine trust.
5. Correction Is Your Real Direction
Nobody likes eating humble pie, but holding onto the belief that you’re always right is a fast track to a stalled sales pipeline. A lost deal, a missed trend, or a tough merchant rejection isn’t a personal failure—it’s unfiltered feedback pointing directly to where you need to adapt. Top earners pivot twice as fast because they let corrections guide their next move.
4. Pivot Fast When Compliance Strikes
When a technical nightmare occurs—like a misconfigured terminal blindly surcharging debit cards—don’t freeze. Whether you take full ownership, offer fine guarantees, or pivot the merchant to a true Dual-Pricing model with compliant cash-vs-card pricing, survival in payment processing depends on acting fast under pressure.
3. Surcharging Debit Cards Is a Deadly Game
Surcharging can save merchants thousands, but surcharging PIN or signature debit cards is a direct violation of federal Durbin Amendment regulations and card brand rules. A single Visa secret shopper can trigger a $5,000 fine and threaten to shut down processing in 14 days. Double-check your terminal configurations before your clients end up in the crosshairs.
2. Turn Pipeline Friction into Strategic Advantage
The gatekeeper blocking your path, the prospect who wants a callback next month, and the deal crawling through underwriting aren’t dead ends. While average reps lose their cool over delays, top producers use forced downtime to study the prospect’s needs, refine their strategy, and map out their next strike.
And the # 1 Top 10 Unhinged Closes, Parking Lot Standoffs, and the Raw Lessons from this Weeks Post is …
1. Speed Kills, Ultimate Focus Closes
Sales reps are wired to keep their foot jammed on the gas pedal, but slamming through door after door without stopping leads straight to burnout. Sometimes, a flock of aggressive geese holding your car hostage in the parking lot for ten minutes is the universe forcing you to pause. Taking a deep breath, clearing the noise, and re-centering your mind before you jump into the grind will always be the sharpest weapon in your sales arsenal.
Which lesson hit closest to home for you this week? What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done to close an account? Let us know in the comments below, lock in your mindset, and go crush your weekend goals!
Happy Selling,
David
