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Inspiration

e
Payments, a retrospectiv
Payments, a retrospective

Be prepared, be very prepared

hrough the years, The Green Sheet has pub- in the payments industry. And he knew how much differ-
lished numerous articles on why preparing ence preparation can make both in landing and keeping
for sales meetings is essential and how to do merchant accounts. In Good Selling! : The Basics, first pub-
TM
T it effectively. Here are a few excerpts from our lished Aug., 1, 2004, he stressed the importance of prepa-
archives: ration when pursuing large merchants, noting that MLSs
tend to forget basic actions that may be critical to pros-
"Every opportunity is different. Before even speaking to a pects. "For example, most of us are lazy when it comes to
merchant, you must have a plan based on what you know research," Green wrote, adding that for large accounts, you
of the opportunity. This plan must be reasonably detailed need to have, at minimum, a basic profile of the company,
in that you understand what direction you want to go with annual revenue figures and the names of the corporate of-
the conversation. And it must begin with the prospect do- ficers before you meet with them.
ing most of the talking, not you talking to them." – Jeff
Fortney, "Signing isn't the be all, end all," May 28, 2018, In the same book, Green wrote, "Before you arrive at the
issue 18:05:02. meeting, know exactly how you will target your service to
each prospect. What will you stress? What will you offer?
"What's stopping us from having a customized demo that How will you negotiate? If you sit down and figure out the
shows prospects how the solution would work in their dis- answers to these questions before every meeting, you will
tinct retail or restaurant environments? After all, chances realize that each selling situation is truly unique."
are excellent that their products or menu items are all
online (at least they should be). So we have access to that Increasingly, we provide technology to help solve pay-
information long before the presentation." – Rick Berry, ment acceptance and other challenges merchants face. But
"How to propel merchants to shed comfortable habits," without the service we provide, those solutions would be
Nov. 26, 2012, issue 12:11:02 far less useful to those who use them. Sure, there are turn-
key, out-of-the-box solutions. But even in those cases, pay-
"ISOs and MLSs need to take time to digest as much in- ments professionals are best suited to help troubleshoot
formation about leads as possible; that knowledge can be when problems arise or when a merchant has outgrown a
used to great effect in meetings with merchants. It may beginning POS setup and needs something more sophis-
make all the difference in closing deals. At the least, what ticated. So follow the evergreen advice to always prepare
you learn about companies will help you formulate busi- well so you can prosper long into the future.
ness-specific questions that show merchants you have
taken the time to learn as much as you can about them.'"
– Christian Murray, "Sweet-spot MLS training," Sept. 8,
2008, issue 08:09:01

Wise words from the start

Throughout his career, our founder, Paul H. Green, gave Kate Gillespie, President and CEO
a helping hand to professionals seeking to build a career
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