hen you're sick, you call a doctor. You contact a doctor you believe in, a professional with credibility. When merchant sales are sick, business owners look to another kind of doctor to cure their ailments. If you have credibility, you'll be the one they call.

How do you establish yourself as a sales healer? By incorporating the same skills a physician would.

• Examine. Before a doctor can make a reliable diagnosis, he or she must conduct a thorough and complete examination of the patient. For the sales professional, this involves asking your prospect insightful questions to reveal where exactly they hurt.

• Listen closely. A doctor wants to hear what the patient is saying. If you don't give your prospect an opportunity to describe the symptoms, you won't know how to alleviate them. As you listen, stay focused on the problem, not your products.

• Get history. Like a good M.D., a good salesperson researches the patient. Find out all you can about the prospect's business - length of time in operation, last year's annual sales figures, amount of traffic, recent changes in daily activities, etc. before you make a diagnosis.

• Speak simply. Merchants are overwhelmed with information. They are bombarded by television, radio, direct mail, e-mail and the Internet. They don't need more involved, wordy discussions. They need you to give them a simple, concise explanation of their illness.

• Offer a solution. A smart doctor will be ready with a treatment when he delivers a diagnosis. A smart salesperson is ready to provide a viable solution to the prospect. If you can't readily fix the problem, someone else will.

• Work smart. It's the 80/20 principle - 80% of your revenue is generated by 20% of your efforts. Doctors don't go out looking for patients who someday might want their services. They answer calls of those who need their services now. Use your time wisely. Find the merchants who are ailing.

• Start small. A doctor builds credibility by first treating a small ailment, then continuing to attend to the patient when larger illnesses arise. So, too, the savvy sales professional begins a merchant relationship with one service and builds upon it with added value as trust is established and future needs arise.

• Go the extra mile. While the days of doctors making house calls may be gone, that personal service is key to credibility when it comes to merchant accounts. Follow up with not just phone calls but on-site visits to ensure that your services are helping the patient recover. Show the patient your best bedside manner.