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Inspiration

Let's lessen the impact of bad apples

hile competition within an industry can be definitely have their favorites."
a good thing because it drives continual
improvement of products and services, cer- It helps to dig deep for insights about what truly makes
W tain competitors have the opposite effect. your company and its culture unique. Think about what
Instead of fostering higher standards, bad apples in pay- combination of facts, dreams and passions drive your
ments, for instance, maintain the lowest standards possi- business to stand out. Think about how to convey that in a
ble, causing the entire industry to take a hit in merchants' way that will spark the imagination and stir the emotions
eyes. And when that happens, merchants are likely to of your merchant customers and prospects.
brush off honest, enterprising merchant level salespeople
before they've even had a chance to say hello. Think of the loyalty of diehard Apple fans, the swath
of small merchants who love their Square dongles, the
In Good Selling SM: The Basics, Paul H. Green asked what you enthusiasm of Ford F-150 owners, the Mary Kay cosmetics
would do when met with the following responses from customers who thrill at the introduction of a new lipstick
merchants: shade. What if your business could enjoy that type of
• No thanks. We used company X and it wasn't for us. loyalty from your customers?
• We used a service like yours, and it was a waste of time. Competitors would have to struggle uphill to encroach
• We tried something like that before, and the company on your territory, bad apples would be more easily
still owes us money. No thanks! differentiated and shunned, and your business and spirits
would soar, knowing
How do you distinguish yourself? your customers smile at
the very thought of your
Green further asked, in the face of such objections, "How name.
do you differentiate your service when your prospect has
a preconceived notion of what your service is and does?
How do you separate your company from those that offer
similar products, especially to merchants who have used Kate Gillespie, President and CEO
other services previously?"

One helpful thing is to remember that
merchants tend to be ill informed when
it comes to the payments industry.
They are more informed than they
were in the days before the Internet
opened a new world of information and
competitive offers from payment service
providers. They also have more tools at
their disposal than in the days before
technology advanced far beyond simple
countertop payment terminals. They
obviously know more than the public at
large, as well.

However, due partly to the complexity
of payments, as well as the under-the-
radar status the industry enjoyed for
decades, merchants generally don't care
to distinguish one payment company
from another. They lump most of us
together.
What is your message?

It's time to do a better job of branding,
as leaders in other industries do. "For
example, all car companies manufacture
cars, but that doesn't mean all cars are the
same," Green wrote. "Many companies
offer phone service, but consumers

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