The Green Sheet Online Edition
October 10, 2017 • 17:10:02
Become a believer
Confident. Affable. Knowledgeable. Persistent. Caring. Honest. Attentive. Articulate. These are some descriptors that come to mind when considering what it takes to succeed as a merchant level salesperson. However, these positive attributes will not sustain you unless you also believe in the products and services you sell. Without that, long-term prosperity will likely elude you. "As a sales professional, you know it's difficult for most people to sell something they don't believe in," Paul H. Green wrote in Good Selling!SM: The Basics. When you believe in your offerings, objections become far less problematic than they otherwise would be, he noted.
"If you believe in your product, you will have no problem showing your prospect that your service is worth the price," he wrote, adding that it is not a crisis if prospects want to check out other companies' offerings and rates. "[E]ncourage them to do so," he wrote. "Then, focus on the value of your products or services." Dale S. Laszig agreed in her article "It's not what you say," The Green Sheet, Sept. 23, 2013, issue 13:09:02. "We need to believe in ourselves, our products and services, and the value that we bring to the merchant community," she wrote.
Don't sell a lie
Keynote speaker, trainer and coach Brent Kelly went so far as to state in a blog post on his website that without belief, "what you are selling is a lie." He went on to say that it's easy to spot salespeople who lack belief in what they're selling by observing them and asking whether they are:
- Talking or listening
- Genuinely excited about the product or service
- Helping or selling
"Those with belief in their product or service don't need to hard sell or be pushy," Kelly added. "They know what they have to offer will provide value for the right prospect. I understand that some salespeople are put into difficult situations and need to make money to survive, but without true belief in what you are selling, you are just wasting time."
Pick trustworthy partners
Along with belief in the products and services you represent, belief in the companies that create, deliver and support them is essential. Knowing that the companies comprising your professional ecosystem will go above and beyond to ensure that your merchant customers receive superior products and services strengthens your belief that the promises you make to your customers will be kept.
Experts interviewed for the feature article "Agent playbook on vetting partners," The Green Sheet, Sept. 22, 2014, issue 14:09:02, all agreed that "when vetting potential partners from a legal and ethical perspective, MLSs should look closely at how the candidates treat their merchants." It's also true that belief in your products and services, and in the companies you partner with, leads to enthusiasm, which is contagious. In "Rules by which to thrive, not dive," The Green Sheet, Feb. 23, 2009, issue 09:02:02, Jason Felts summed up why this matters. "If you present your products and services with enough enthusiasm and convey enough value to merchants, you will absolutely make sales.
Whether you want to upgrade your POS offerings, find a payment gateway partner, bone up on fintech regs or PCI requirements, find an upcoming trade show, read about faster payments, or discover the latest innovations in merchant acquiring, The Green Sheet is the resource for you. Since 1983, we've helped empower and connect payments professionals, starting with the merchant level salespeople who bring tailored payment acceptance and digital commerce tools, along with a host of other business services to merchants across the globe. The Green Sheet Inc. is also a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals.
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