Page 28 - GS211101

Education

StreetSmarts SM

SHARING WISDOM
SHARING WISDOM

WITH JEFF FORTNEY WITH JEFF FORTNEY

Out with old questions in today's new normal

By Jeff Fortney POS issues and so on. We addressed cost by reviewing
Signature Payments the statement; we addressed deposit issues by offering
next-day funding. Each was treated not as a pain, but as
've watched every episode of the original Perry an objection—one of many objections we were trained to
Mason TV series—all 271 episodes. I didn't see address.
them in their original run. My first exposure was
I watching reruns when I was 11 years old. I wanted Today, merchants are likely to raise the same concerns—
to grow up to be Perry Mason, not an attorney, but Perry. primarily because they're used to doing so. The challenge
is to get beyond rote answers. You can't allow merchants
Today, I still enjoy the show, even though it's more than to default to generic responses if you want to unearth the
65 years old. Beyond entertainment, there are lessons to real pain they're enduring today. And this requires over-
learn from that show. For example: you don't always win hauling your approach.
(contrary to popular belief, he lost three times) and things
are not always what they appear. It starts with your first question. A 30-second commer-
cial or elevator speech may have worked well pre-COVID,
I used to think certain lessons I learned in my early sales but unless you've already made adjustments, it doesn't ad-
training were enduring, too. For example, early instruc- dress the new normal. To avoid pat responses, mention
tors emphasized the adage, never ask a question you don't upfront that the world is different than it was before the
already know the answer to. They also advised to ask only pandemic's onset. You must drive emotion.
yes or no questions and begin questions with, "Don't you
agree …" Well, in today's new normal, these old standbys You can do this by saying something along these lines:
are no longer applicable. In hindsight, my hunch is that "My name is X, and I work with Y. I've been talking to
they contributed to the pressure on revenues we see to- merchants just like you to identify the impacts the pan-
day, as merchants switch providers quickly or expect pric- demic has had on their business and how I may be able
ing that generates no revenue. to help address them. If you have just a minute, I would
like to ask you a couple of questions and see if I can help
It was less about knowing your merchants and more about you as well."
convincing them you were a better choice than their cur-
rent provider. Sales were driven by cost savings, not by Before COVID, you were probably trained to get permis-
merchants' pain points—the subjective reasons for buy- sion to proceed, but if you do that today, you'll invite all
ing. As a result, their distinct processing pains continued the old objections. So, before the merchant can object, ask
to be passed on to each new processor—a vicious circle. an immediate question. It can be any open-ended ques-
tion that's targeted to their merchant type.
You have to get them talking
For example, you could ask:
It's impossible to identify merchants' challenges and pains
without asking open-ended questions and encouraging • Can you tell me who you see as your biggest com-
them to talk. This is contrary to how most of us were petitor today?
taught to sell, but the new normal all but dictates this
change. Before you can start the process of gaining their • What have you done to address the demands for on-
business, you must first identify their biggest concern— line sales and phone sales?
their biggest pain.
• Has dining in started to return to normal, or is it still
Previously, we focused on cost, deposit issues, terminal/ impacted by phone sales?
28