Happy Wednesday and welcome back to another installment of WWYD Wednesday’s. Today scenario in one that seems all to common nowadays.
You’re sitting at a table at a local Thai restaurant, pen in hand, running the numbers on three months of merchant processing statements on your tablet. The owner is busy but keeps coming over seeing if your done yet. He’s convinced his current processor is taking him to the woodshed. He looks at you and says, “Jim Bob, if you can save me 15%, the business is yours today.”
You’ve done 1 of the 3 analysis and you already know their current processor actually gave him a honest deal.
They are sitting on a 0.25 BP and 008 a trans. If you switch them, your rates would be virtually identical. To cut his bill by even 5%, you’d have to write the deal at almost no margin and pay for his new terminal out of your own pocket.
Now you’re sitting across from a motivated business owner who is ready to sign on the dotted line right now.
Here is the dilemma. What Would You Do?
- Option A: Match the rate, sign the contract anyway, and pitch your local service. You don’t make much, but you get another door added to your portfolio count and hope to make it up on future volume and referrals.
- Option B: Look him straight in the eye, hand the statements back, and tell him the truth: “Joe, you’ve actually got a great deal here. I can’t beat this rate without losing money, and anyone who tells you they can is lying to you.”
Here’s How Jin Bob Handled It:
He went with Option B.
He slid the statements back across the table, pointed to the interchange breakdown, and showed him exactly why his current setup was working for him.
He stared at Jim bob like he had two heads. In 20 years of running that restaurant, he’d never had a payment sales rep tell him not to switch.
Jim Bob gave him his card and said, “Keep my number behind the counter. I’m not going to take your money just to claim a win. But the day your rates creep up or the day your terminal freezes during a Friday night dinner rush and their 800 line ghosts you give call me.”
Jim Bob walked out without a signed contract. He didn’t add a single dollar to his residuals that afternoon.
Fast forward six months.
Jim Bob gets a call on a rainy Thursday morning. His processor had slapped him with a “PCI non compliance fee” and raised his monthly batch charge. He didn’t even call their customer service line. He called Jum Bob.
He didn’t ask for a statement analysis. He didn’t ask for a discount. He just said, “Jim, bring the paperwork over. You were honest with me when you had nothing to gain. I want my processing with somebody local I can trust.”
The Real Lesson
Our word and our reputation is the only piece of hardware you carry that never breaks down.
When you chase a zero margin deal just to flex a contract sign off, you’re trading long term trust for short term win. But when you prove to a small business owner that you put their bottom line ahead of yourself, you build a client for life and a referral engine that keeps paying out long after the deal is done.
So let me ask the reps who are out pulling door handles today:
When the math says zero savings, do you push for the signature anyway, or do you walk away to play the long game? WWYD?
Happy Selling,
David
