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Education

tion, too, and state upfront that an emotional decision on
any financial need ultimately will cost money. Timing is important. I ask

I remembered the exchange with my creative writing the question when it seems
teacher and thought the king-of-the-world question could the conversation is going too
be useful in converting emotion to logical, objective rea-
soning. But I couldn't see how to use it. I kept coming far away from a merchant's
back to my belief that emotions had to play a role in the
answer. Years later, I found the answer in one statement: personal situation.
People buy for personal, compelling reasons. They buy
subjectively, but justify objectivity.

This statement became the foundation of my sales phi- From my experience, it's process issues and time loss that
losophy and sales training. It made price a minor consid- are most common—indirect areas we can help them ad-
eration and illuminated the obvious: If we don't consider dress.
pain, a competitor will walk in and sign them away. You
have to steer toward identifying pain. The king-of-the- The king-of-the-world question is an important part (but
world question leverages emotions, helping to identify not the only part) of a successful sale. In following articles
prospects' personal and compelling reasons, and close I'll concentrate on how emotions have driven success for
sales. others— and how using emotions can work for you. Until
then, I'll leave you with this: If you were king of the pro-
Since I began sharing my thoughts and training others on cessing world, what would you do?
payment sales, use of the king-of-the-world question has
generated the most questions. Mentees often understand Jeff Fortney, a senior associate at The Strawhecker Group, is a long-time
the idea, but not the purpose or how to use answers. I payments industry executive and mentor. He is focused on sharing his
respond that the purpose is to let prospects expose the industry knowledge and experience with others to help them grow their
emotional side of their business needs. It helps drive the business. He can be reached at 214-458-1379.
emotions that will lead to a sale.

Timing is important. I ask the question when it seems the Calendar
conversation is going too far away from a merchant's per-
sonal situation. For example, the prospect may oppose or
support a mask mandate, but how is an opinion on that
going to help their business?

The question can be worded differently. One variation is
to ask, If you were king of the world, what would you April 6 -7, 2022
do to address your business needs? If you're uncomfort- https://northeastacquirers.com
able with this wording try something like, If you had the
power to do one thing to help increase your sales or help
your business grow, what would you do? Remember,
you're driving the emotional side so that you can address
that emotional pain. In doing so, you have virtually elim-
inated pure savings as the reason a merchant partners April 12-14, 2022
with you. https://events.jspargo.com/ETA22/
Public/enter.aspx
Specific, not generic

If a prospect offers a global response, draw the conver-
sation back to the present environment. If, for example,
they raise generic, politically charged concern, ask them
to be more specific. Take the mask mandate issue. You https://payments.nacha.org
can't just add a mask mandate or end a mask mandate to /what-payments#
see results in sales. The answer must address what they
would do to improve their plight and increase their sales. If you have a show you
would like listed, please
The purpose is to have merchants volunteer solutions or send information to
provide the biggest complaints they have about low sales
and high expenses. I would bet their responses have events@greensheet.com
nothing to do with the cost of their payment processing.

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