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66
Education
StreetSmarts SM
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By Jason Felts
Advanced Merchant Services
I'm about to give you keys that will unlock the
door to superior bankcard presentations, which
are essential components of the sales process. Sure,
lead generation is critical. However, the primary
purpose of generating leads is to secure opportunities to
present your offering to prospects.
Potent presentations
Education index
Dale S. Laszig .................................................... 74
Biff Matthews.................................................... 78
Lane Gordon ..................................................... 82
Nancy Drexler .................................................. 86
Please keep in mind, the approach I'm describing is not
for cold calls. It is for selling to merchants with whom you
have already secured appointments.
Find common ground
First, take two or three minutes to build rapport. The goal
is to help business owners become comfortable with you.
Before prospective customers will do business with you,
they've got to like you, trust you and feel comfortable
with you.
Uncover the owner's interests. Look for family pictures,
a fish on the wall, college diplomas or sports memorabilia.
Find a common thread. Ask appropriate questions.
Inquire about hobbies, outside interests or family activities.
Then let the person talk.
If you have difficulty establishing rapport based on the
owner's personal interests, ask about business. Sample
questions include:
• How long have you been in business?
• How did you get started?
• What did you do before?
• How do you like having your own business?
• A lot of business owners say that the hardest thing for
them to do is attract and keep good employees. What
is your experience with this?
Listening is key. What you learn while building rapport
can be drawn upon later when closing sales.
Don't underestimate the importance and power of making
personal connections. The stronger rapport you build
with business owners in the limited time you have, the
more psychologically difficult it will be for them to say
no to what you offer.
Question with care
To sell effectively you must become adept at asking questions
that reveal the actual needs of your prospects. The
whole idea behind asking questions and encouraging
feedback is to get potential clients talking. Let prospects
tell you what they like, want, need and expect. If you can
get them to do this, you can tailor presentations to individual
merchants, find a way to meet specific objectives
and, ultimately, get sales.
Create an interview questionnaire. Be prepared, and
always ask leading questions that will draw you closer
to understanding what your prospects are looking for.
People make emotional decisions, not rational decisions.
Ask several questions that make your prospects think.
The type of questions you ask will determine the amount
of emotion that surfaces.
How many times have you felt misunderstood? Make
sure your prospects are aware that you are listening and
that you understand what they are saying.