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Education

Why surprising merchants In many cases, I recommend small
tweaks they often know but haven't
is a smart way to sell employed. They implement some
right away to do better; others they
know but don't execute. Instead, they
By Jeff Fortney revert to bad habits (like talking more
than listening) when faced with a
Payments Professional challenging sale.

hen reviewing sales practices, I sometimes ask ISOs and agents Fear of losing control
the following: "Have you ever surprised a merchant?" None of
them have an immediate answer. Once they think about it, they In essence, they fear losing control.
W are likely to either reference pricing or say they haven't surprised They see surprising a merchant as a
a merchant. Most are afraid they will lose sales if they surprise merchants. loss of control. And controlling the
sale is the most effective way to sign
When I explain that the best and easiest sale is made when you surprise the a merchant, right?
merchant with something other than price savings, they look at me as if I were
daft. Even those who have embraced the need to lead with technology solutions While controlling the sales process is
tend to argue that a surprise, any surprise, in the sales process is a bad thing. critical, the challenge is that almost
every rep in the payments world has
When evaluating sales practices I look for two specific areas: selling actions learned the same process, the same
and revenue return. Few disagree when I discuss the need to increase revenue. words and the same way of handling
Objections begin when I recommend changes in sales actions. objections. Merchants have heard
them all before. And since they know
what you are going to say, they control
the sale, and whether you know it or
not, they are directing the sale.

It becomes like a movie script. You
say your line, and the merchant
responds. This goes on until you ask
to see the statement. The merchant
says sure – if you save me money (or
I am not interested). Yet some of the
most successful movies have actors
who have moved off script. Sure, a
good script makes a movie, but the
best movies are filled with moments
when the actor left the script. Some of
the most famous lines in movies were
adlibbed.

All too often MLSs stick to the
payments script. For example, you
walk into a merchant and introduce
yourself. Once you use the words
"merchant services" or "credit card
processing," you see the merchant's
demeanor and facial expressions
change. When you first walked in
you were a potential customer; now,
you are recognized as a salesperson,
someone selling the same services
the last three salespeople sold.

You try small talk to lighten the
mood. You mention that a mutual
acquaintance recommended you to

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