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Education




        I also learned (indirectly) what made him successful. And                    Calendar
        I can see how he influenced my mirroring tenet. Mirroring
        wasn't even something he tried to do. It was just natural
        for him.

        He could cuss like a sailor (which he had been in WWII)
        or be as pious as a nun. He avoided anything political or            November 3 -4, 2021
        controversial by using an action I later found out is called     https://members.wnetonline.org/
        "redirecting." He dressed not to impress but to mirror his      page/2021LeadershipSummit_Home
        clients. He was never seen as polarizing. He avoided in-
        dustry talk unless it was about a customer's industry. And
        he did his best to build rapport with each individual. As                    Learning & Development
        a result, he was well liked by his clients, and that led to                  Virtual Summit 2021
        ongoing success.
                                                                                     Nov. 7th-9th, 2021
        In today's polarized world, it can seem difficult to mir-
        ror. One example is the uproar over wearing masks. If you                 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzgrj5qzgLPVCl
                                                                                  fa7ASZE95R7eoF-usysW1N_cnqvAhNWsAg/viewform
        see  a  sign  at  your  prospect's  indicating  they  encourage,
        require or expect all to wear a mask, wear a mask—even
        if you otherwise never wear a mask. If you see a store
        with no mask references, and you are comfortable in an
        establishment only if you're wearing a mask, learn this
        word: immunocompromised. You may even lead with it in
        stores that are obviously opposed to mask requirements.      https://www.stapayments.com/registration/
        For example, you could say, "I wish I didn't have to wear
        this mask. But I don't have a choice." You will only need
        this option for times when you recognize the store is anti-
        mask.

        Remember, your goal is to make a sale—and to mirror the
        customer. Even if the customer holds different opinions
        than you do, their money is still green. Then, if you master                      April 6 -7, 2022
        the art of mirroring, you must also find a way to identify
        your prospect's pains. This leads to the other tenet of focus                 https://northeastacquirers.com
        in this article: listen.

        Listening takes thought
        Listening may be one of the hardest tenets to implement.
        You need to control the conversation, not by dominating
        it, but by asking open-ended questions. If an answer is too          April 12-14, 2022
        specific, ask your customer to tell you more. Today's new        https://events.jspargo.com/ETA22/
        normal provides  an excellent conversation  starter.  You              Public/enter.aspx
        could say something like, "It is good to meet you. For me,
        it's great to be able to talk to merchants again. The COVID
        lockdown was very hard on all of us.  How did you handle
        it?"

        Listening doesn't only involve letting your customers talk.
        It means truly hearing what they say to you. Pay attention
        to any key words that can help you direct the conversation                     https://payments.nacha.org
        to their pain. You are listening for pain, and even if you                         /what-payments#
        find only one area, keep probing. In my next article, I'll
        wrap up discussion of the tenets, exploring ways to probe
        deeper and to stop chasing those maybes.                       If you have a show you

        Jeff  Fortney  is  vice  president  ISO  relations  for  Signature  Payments.  A   would like listed, please
        long-time payments industry executive and mentor, Jeff is focused on   send information to
        strengthening and developing partnerships and evaluating new busi-
        ness opportunities. He can be reached at 214-458-1379.         events@greensheet.com

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