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Education

Creating and using like car repair shops, dry cleaners or pizza places? Whether
you come up with five businesses or 500, it is fine. Don't
'practice' appointments attempt to force anyone to participate. The less pressure
you exert, the less likely it is you will cause rifts in your
relationships.
– Part 1 Next, learn about the niches you have identified, and

master business details such as how to properly complete
an application for any service you wish to offer. Keep
in mind this exercise is not just for beginning agents.
Whenever you find a new product or service offering,
complete a list like this. Merchant cash advance, POS
systems, mobile processing options, high-risk processing:
all can inspire agents to review who in the family can use
these services.
Set up the 'practice' appointment

OK, so you've gone through everyone you know and found
50 business owners. If you worked with financial compa-
nies like those I encountered after college, you'd immedi-

By Bill Pirtle
Clearent LLC Ask good questions

any financial companies that offer a salary
to new, untested sales agents have a simple, Many new MLSs believe their job is to sell people on their
proven strategy to decide which agents to products; they further believe that to do this, they need to
M support. The last step before being hired is tell people all about their products. Savvy, experienced sales
an assignment to provide 200 names and contact informa- agents will let newbies know that method will keep them
tion for family members and friends. The reason is to cre- poor. People do not want to be sold. Even your closest friends
ate an initial list for the potential hire and assigned mentor and family members will not sit for an hour meeting to have
to call during training. you talk at them.

Some sales classes will tell you, "You have two ears and one
In such companies, closest family and friends are mouth; use them proportionately." The Sandler sales training
considered to be softball sales. Managers of new recruits course goes further. Sandler says that successful sales agents
want to help them succeed and generally are able to only talk about 20 percent of the time during a sales call.
invest a little to help them on their way. However, due to
overzealous use of these lists, new agents who compile So, how do you keep control of the sales call while having the
them may find their receptions at Thanksgiving a bit prospect talk 80 percent of the time? Ask open-ended ques-
chilly for a while, because no one likes high-pressure sales tions and probe for more information. People buy on emotion
calls, especially from their own family or friends. and justify it with facts. The emotion to move someone to buy
is best when it comes from within.
I recommend that new merchant level salespeople compile
these lists, too, but with training uppermost in mind, not Sandler training identifies four primary buying motives:
to make easy sales. Whether you train on the basics first 1. Pain now
or begin with your list does not matter. What matters is 2. Pain in the future
creating a complete list of your family and friends who
own businesses, whether they currently accept credit 3. Pleasure now
cards or not. Also, note that as an independent (1099), or 4. Pleasure in the future
employed (W2) agent of a processor, your list will never
be given to anyone else (as long as you do not enter it into With credit card processing, I'd look most closely at pain –now
a company-owned database). Only you will have access. or future.
Study your list Sandler training also teaches salespeople to listen for the
following eight pain words: mad, frustrated, worried, upset,
Ask questions of each business owner on your list. Find excited, tired, anxious and concerned.
commonalities among their companies. Are there niches

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