Page 41 - GS170901

Education

in more traffic and income. Next, what if a struggling Today, the antidote to a race to
business, with a one star online rating, learned that your
company has a proven method to quickly help raise that the bottom is to redefine the term
rating to four or five stars? How would that impact the "merchant services," expanding the
business? How would the ability to offer an economical
solution to handle this impact an ISO's business? If the definition to include value-added
solution delivers, how would that enhance client loyalty products and services that help
to the ISO that offered it?
businesses grow.
I have trained thousands of sales reps. One thing I focused
on was teaching them simple methods of relaying concepts
to prospects, a simple sales formula. Most salespeople just a small bump to the monthly payment. My numbers
don't do complicated. One of the methods I employed in soared and, thereafter, averaged more than $1,100 per ve-
teaching salespeople to present value-added products was hicle. The dealer was overjoyed.
the Customer Lifetime Value method. If you could get one Merchant account futures
new client a month from this product or service, what's
the potential lifetime value of that client? The calculation The point is every ISO can bundle value-added products
is simply average sale times number of visits a year, times and services and gain real market penetration, additional
the number of years the business expects to keep the earnings and longer-term clients by employing a package
customer. selling solution. Now there's a method to how to specifi-
cally do this in the payments industry that I can't write
Armed with this lifetime value method, salespeople have in this article. It takes some demonstration. There is also
a simple tool to show that the value of a product or service a highly effective way to train sales reps, even if they are
to a business far outweighs the investment amount (I say independents.
investment amount because it pays a return as opposed to
being a cost). Everyone wants to make more money. If you provide
sales reps with a simple solution and the tools to succeed,
Package selling and especially show them how these products and sales
As the Chief Executive Officer of an ISO, I've had some sales methods will also greatly increase their closing ability for
reps or managers express concern over selling too many new merchant processing (a major perk for ISOs, too), these
products or services; they felt presentations would take sales reps will take a few minutes to learn and employ the
too long and they'd overwhelm prospects by explaining strategies.
and selling yet another service and another product. They
were right, but only because the selling method they'd Inherent in the sales techniques is a method that enables
envisioned was a bit backwards. The answer was always ISOs to lock up "merchant account futures." Those who
to offer a package: bundle the services – like when I moved employ these techniques will win big. What are merchant
to my new home, Comcast offered me a bundle of Internet, account futures? A large pool of new processing accounts
phone, TV and security. I didn't want the security, so I that commit in writing to converting to the ISO's service
asked them to take it out, and what was left was a three- once their current contract runs out.
product bundle.
Instead of losing in the race to zero, be a winner in the race
Long before discovering the payment processing industry, to hero by helping small businesses grow new customers
I was a finance and insurance (F and I) manager at a car and income, and earning much more business and income
dealer. I averaged about $400 of gross profit per vehicle we while doing so.
sold. I was proud of that because it was greater than my
predecessor. One day, a vendor came in to see if I would Stu Rosenbaum was co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of US
sell her product. I considered it but told her I already had Merchant Systems for 23 years, until the company's recent transaction
too many things to sell, and I was taking too long selling with EVO Payments. Rosenbaum was also co-founder and co-creator of
each product or service. Turns out she was a former F and IntelliPAY (payment gateway) and Convenient Payments (specialty pay-
I manager and had been very successful at it. She said, ment SaaS platform). He's the author of the popular fictional sales book,
"You should offer it as a package," then gave me a couple The World's First Salesman and is currently the co-founder and Chief
of examples. Strategy Officer of Prodigio LLC, a company specializing in connecting

value-added product vendors with payment processors and implement-
I immediately employed the package selling method, of- ing training and strategies for ISO sales growth with these products and
fering a bundle of car alarm, extended warranty, paint and packages. Contact him at stu@prodigiousa.com.
fabric protection, and life and disability insurance. At the
end of the presentation, I offered one amount, which was

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