Merchant Services: Selling value instead of rates

This sales tip is aimed a sales people who sell payment solutions yet the idea relate to many other sales people too.

Have you heard this before:

‘Businesses taking online or in-store card payments look for a payments provider that offers the lowest transaction rates and charges. It is all about price!’

And when sales people approach a potential customer, they believe the only way to get a follow up meeting or sale is to quote the lowest possible rates (and perhaps even below those)

My experience is businesses seek a payments provider that offers them best value for money. Smart negotiators may give the sales person the impression it is all about rates, yet they have requirements beyond pricing.

It is the sales person’s job to strike a relationship that allows for these requirements to be articulated.

Here are just some of these possible requirements other than price:

  • Future proofing
  • Reduced settlement days
  • Improved authorisation rates
  • State of the art fraud detection and prevention
  • Service reliability
  • EPOS solutions
  • Fast integration
  • Foreign currency capability
  • Chargeback management
  • Amex, JCB acceptance
  • Alternative payments acceptance
  • Bespoke reporting
  • One contact for account management
  • Innovation meetings

The larger the prospective merchant, the more important it is to agree an initial meeting to fully understand these requirements.

Smaller merchants maybe more price driven yet their other requirements may become more evident when asking about their growth plans.

Merchant Services sales people are payment experts. They would sell themselves short by selling rates instead of value.

If you want your Sales teams to sell value instead of rates, feel free to contact me. 07738010170 or look here for more information

#salestraining #salestechniques #merchantservices #paymentprocessors #sellingvalue #Training #salesteammotivation #salesteammanagement

The days of pushing a prospect are over

This sales tip is for sales people whose success ratios have started to reduce in the past 2 years. Their traditional way of selling may need a re-fresh

The days of pushing a customer into buying your product are over. Today’s customer is better informed than ever. They research you and your company long before they meet you. They are likely to know about your competitors too. It is quite possible they have made a decision to buy your product if the overall proposition is right. So stop pushing your customers around. They do not want it, will turn you down and go elsewhere.

Instead, seek gaining agreement to proceed for a purchase. You and the customer are actually on the same side. They need a solution and you want to sell it to them. The need help and you want to support them. The seek a thinking supplier and you want to be their trusted adviser.

Here are 3 examples how the old ‘push’ method has now changed in permission based selling:

1) Push: “What I would like to do today, is find out about your company and see how our products will help you”

Permission selling: “What would be a good outcome for you from our time today?

2) Push: “Most companies buy our product for one of three reasons. Cost savings, convenience or innovation. Which of these applies most to you? “

Permission selling: “Would it be useful to explore the options available to address the supply issues you described?

3) Push: “I would like to provide you with a quote and come back next week”

Permission selling: “What do you see as a good next step to take from here?”

I work with plenty of sales people who made the changes above. Their telling style has moved to one where they ask questions, explore the issues and options to progress.

Sales have taken off.

All it took was confidence and perhaps some encouragement mostly from their sales coach…

If you like sales tips like these and would like to receive more, feel free to join the mailing list

#permissionbasedselling #salescoaching

Sharpen that saw for an even greater sales success

With June 2018 behind us we should now focus on July and the second half of the year.

We need clear sales targets as well as agreed routes to get there. That is obvious.

Yet our personal development as sales people needs targets too. That is how we become the best we can be in the fabulous sales profession.

“Sharpen that saw” as Stephen Covey identified as the 7th habit of highly successful people who were on the top of their game.

Here is what I learned from the insurance industry where sales agents are continually developed in three key areas:

Knowledge

Know your products inside out. Know your markets in depth. Know how your quotations work and what they mean. With this knowledge you can add real value to your customers. Be an expert and a source of interesting and useful information.

Skills

Be a boss in selling skills: prospecting, appointment making, rapport building, questioning techniques, needs development tactics, gaining commitment, closing and application form filling are all key skills for a sales person. Aim to be brilliant at ALL of them. And for some sales people project management, public speaking, facilitation and negotiation skills are the staple of success.

Attitude

Customers know and feel your state of mind. Belief in your product, your company and colleagues are essentials. Be humble, positive, certain, friendly, firm and kind. Your attitude determines how your customers feel about you and determines if they will buy from you. People buy from people they trust.

Knowledge, skills and attitudes define our sales success. Why not put a simple plan together making sure you sharpen your saw too and make 2018 even more successful for you.

#7habits#development#salesskills#attitudes#salesteammotivation#salesteammanagement#motivatingasalesteam

Complimentary offer to find out how good your sales team’s telephone skills really are……

HOW WOULD YOUR BUSINESS BENEFIT FROM A MINI REVIEW OF YOUR TEAM’S CALLING ABILITY?

Simply email the call you want reviewing with an overview of the call objectives and I will score it FREE OF CHARGE (worth £75) against the following elements:

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1. Introduction

2. Positioning of the call

3. Quality of questions asked

4. Ability to listen

5. Gaining agreement

6. Call summary review and presenting next actions.

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Mail the call HERE.The feedback you receive, can significantly impact on sales results, the customer experience and provide you with new approaches to coach your team.

You will also receive a free tip to improve your call technique.

​

terms and conditions:

  • Maximum duration for the call is 3 minutes.
  • Customer Service/complaints calls are excluded from the free mini review
  • One call per company only
  • UK based companies only
  • The free offer ends 27th Oct 2017

#salesactivitycalculator #sdr #prospecting #discoveryquestions #121

5 useful tips for successful telephone calls in sales

Professional sales people use the phone engaging customers to achieve one of the following;

  • Make an appointment
  • Qualify customers
  • Make a presentation and make a sale
  • Follow up on a quotation and make a sale
  • Develop or retain the customer relationship

Here are 5 simple tips to make calls more successful and make more sales:

Smile when you dial

Our tone of voice transmits a large proportion of the messages we pass to your customers. A smile in your tone of voice will engage customers. Believe it or not, they can hear it. A friendly smile is welcoming and attractive. So look in the mirror, smile and start calling.

Stand and deliver.

Ever wondered why singers prefer to stand up while performing? Less pressure on their diaframe allows for a clearer voice. In sales a clear voice it critical too. Besides that it makes you feel more energised and can motivate the rest of the team. So stand up and deliver that well rehearsed sales pitch.

Have a conversation

People buy from people they like and trust. Give your customers a chance to get to know you and get to know them too. Product features and benefits are important yet a call is an interaction between real people. It is not a digital, scripted one sided story engineered by Marketing gurus. It is the real thing and the main reason why the sales job exists. So get ready and have a chat to ensure a great experience for your customer and yourself.

Be a telemarketer but do not sound like one

Avoid these self destructing call centre line: “This is just a quick call to………..” or “Apologies for contacting you this way but……………..” or “Excellent”after every sentence.

Instead let’s be proud of our company, honoured to be allowed to speak to customers and excited about our products. Customers value sales people who listen and ask smart questions so meet their expectations.

Use your prospect’s name during the call

One effective way to connect to customers is to visualise their words and challenges while calling them. Use their first name once or twice during the call. They will know you are taking a genuine interest in them. So have their name in front of you, write it down and use it during the call.

No matter how new or experienced you are, feel free to contact me about improving your sales techniques. 07738010170 or mail me.

If you like my tips, why not join my mailing list and get them delivered to your mailbox as soon as possible.

#salestechniques #sellingmerchantservices #salesteammotivation #salesteammanagement

The Buying and Selling match.

This blog explains why sales people make more sales when they match their sales process to the buyer’s buying stages.

Buyers and sellers go through a number of steps when they buy or sell.

Most successful sales people use a flexible sales process ranging from “needs discovery”to “closing the sale”. They go through a series of logical steps to achieve a sale as fast as possible.

You can increase your closing rates further by matching your selling process to the customer’s buying stage when you first contact them.

The graphics above show the increasing sales percentage chance as customers get closer to placing an order. Buyers also use a process that works for them.

Here are examples of adjusting selling technique and style accordingly.

  • If they need advice, give it.
  • If they want options, provide them.
  • If they want a solution, present it convincingly.
  • When they want to buy, sell to them.

The temptation to start a call with demonstrating your product features and benefits is always there, yet is that what your customer wants right now? Customers have more choice and immediate access to great solutions than ever before.

As a professional, the sales person needs to deliver value that cannot be found easily elsewhere. Making sure you are relevant is critically important in a world where time is money.

When you find they are still at an early stage on their buying journey, you have excellent opportunity to give most support and demonstrate value throughout. Over time, your chances of closing the deal will increase.

If you first meet customers who are close to the end of their buying journey, you should aim to close on the spot with that killer offer to get the deal. It is quite possible the customer has already had a number of quotations from other sales people.

And if you meet them when there is no immediate need, you best move on to a customer that has immediate issues to resolve.

Next time you get a hot lead, match your sales approach to your buyer’s buying stages and increase your closing rate.

#Salestips #salestechnique

The perfect sales pitch

Are you looking for 40 free tips to make a convincing F2F sales pitch? Read on.

A sales pitch consists of four parts:

  1. Preparation
  2. Opening
  3. Fact finding
  4. Close

In this blog, you will find 40 practical tips for the perfect sales pitch.

Preparation

If you want respect from your prospect, professional preparation is a must. The prospect will notice this and appreciate the investment you’ve made. He/she will give you more time and is likely to share their factual issues. This dramatically increases the likelihood of sales success.

10 tips checklist

  1. Check CRM system for any history.
  2. Establish clear personal objectives for the meeting. (There is no point in not expecting to get the business!)
  3. Read the prospect’s brochures and other relevant information.
  4. Design and prepare your presentation pack.
  5. Research what the prospect’s key issues might be.
  6. Gain a solid understanding of the prospect’s industry and the issues/opportunities it faces.
  7. Have selected, relevant products ready for demonstration.
  8. Confirm the meeting the day before as well as checking the prospect’s expectations.
  9. Print the prospect’s website pages, review them and show you have them during the meeting.
  10. Have your route and timings planned so you arrive with at least 15 minutes to spare.

The opening

Rapport building is important, yet the two questions most buyers will ask themselves when you walk into the meeting are: 1) Can I trust him/her? and 2) Is he/she the kind of person I can do business with?

You need to start building this professional and personal relationship at the very start of the meeting. It is a condition that allows open discussion and deep fact finding. While enthusiasm is a real must in sales, staying composed at the start of the sales call is also a must.

10 tips to open the sales meeting:

  1. Shake hands and introduce yourself (name and surname) clearly.
  2. Where needed, start with some rapport building questions.
  3. Assess the prospect’s expectations of the meeting.
  4. Position yourself as the product expert.
  5. Check the role of the person(s) you are meeting (business card.)
  6. Agree a mutual objective for the meeting.
  7. Have an agreed agenda with timings.
  8. Execute your elevator pitch perfectly (practice, practice, practice.)
  9. Check the prospect’s expectations of the meeting.
  10. Be yourself.

Fact finding

The difference between a good and a great sales person is the questions they ask and how they’re asked. The professional sales person excels in asking questions in a structured manner where he/she discovers key buying needs. These needs cover both the company requirements as well as the personal needs of the buyer. What are these needs and why? What is affecting their needs most? How will they decide? What are the decision criteria? What have they tried so far to resolve their issues? What will happen if they do not address the issues? What budget is available to address the issues?

10 tips for excellent fact finding:

  1. Be bold and ask straight away what they believe their issues are and why they invited you.
  2. Deploy a logical questioning sequence linking previous answers.
  3. Ask lots of open ended questions to get to the real deep underlying issues.
  4. Listen to the answers, re-cap and go beyond the obvious.
  5. Explore fact and emotional buying reasons at company and personal level.
  6. Use up to 75% of the time listening and 25% asking questions rather than making statements.
  7. Ask the tough questions without fear.
  8. Establish the universal key qualifiers: Budget, Needs, Timing, Decision making and Competitor activity.
  9. Make plenty of notes.
  10. Avoid “solutioning”.

Closing the call

Now you have a clear picture of the prospect’s needs and wants, you progress to the selling part of the call. Present your solution in a manner that clearly links to the requirements discovered before. This needs to be slick, logical and injected with a big dose of enthusiasm. Needless to state that your product knowledge needs to be perfect too. This is where you add real value in the prospect’s mind.

10 tips for closing the sales deal

  1. Start with a succinct recap of the key needs.
  2. Confirm these needs with the prospect.
  3. Match key product features and benefits with the prospect’s needs.
  4. Translate your product features in customer benefits.
  5. Ask for feedback throughout.
  6. Invite questions.
  7. Ask for the business.
  8. If there are objections, explore and answer.
  9. Present with enthusiasm and expectation.
  10. State examples of delighted customers.

#salespitch #salespeople #salesteammanagement

6 Rapport building tips to make more sales

6 rapport building tips.

Sales are made as a result of effective communication between buyer and seller. Building rapport lies at the heart of effective communication. Therefore, knowing how to develop rapport is key to your sales success and performance.

Below are 3 body language related and 3 general tips to build rapport with prospects in an effective way.

If you have not had much formal practice in understanding body language yet, don’t worry. We are all natural experts, but often just not aware of it yet. So have a go after reading these tips. They really work.

– Movement

Observe your prospect’s body movements, facial expression, arms and hands. What posture is the prospect assuming? What are they doing with their arms and hands? Is the person leaning forward or backward? How do they look at you?

Observe, and then match their posture and gestures.

If for example, the person is reserved in using their hands, there is no point in you gesticulating frantically to make your point. Instead show the same level of reservation.

Look at this fabulous example below showing US President Barack Obama and UK prime minister David Cameron building rapport at world leader level. They both carry their jackets over their shoulder. They are clearly in tune with each other.

– Energy level

What is your prospect’s energy level? Reserved or extrovert?

Observe their energy level and match their style.

If your prospect is wordy and engaging, then be the same. If your prospect is to the point and factual, then do the same when asking questions and presenting your products.

– Tone of voice

What is your prospect’s tone of voice? How fast do they talk?

Listen and match their style.

A softly spoken prospect will respond better to you when you match their style. Do the opposite and rapport building has just become much more difficult and the sales opportunity may disappear.

You may be interested to know that hostage negotiators across the globe have been using these techniques as a matter of life and death for years.

Here are 3 additional rapport building tips related to the sales profession

– Be yourself

The prospect will have just two questions in mind: “Can I trust him/her?” and “Can I do business with him/her?” By being yourself you will show your genuine interest in your prospect’s business success. That is a good way to build rapport.

– Be on time

Start with setting the standard of product delivery by being on time for the meeting. 15 minutes before the appointment time will work well. And if you are late, call the prospect personally. It is a great rapport building opportunity!

– Look the part

Show respect for your prospects by looking smart from hair cut to shoes and even that clean car. You are the company representative. Respect and rapport go well together.

#effectivecommunication #bodylanguage #salestechnique

What Scotland Yard, Journalists and Sales Champions have in common

The Five Ws, are open ended questions whose answers are considered basic in information gathering or problem solving. Detectives, journalists and top sales champions use them frequently.

They constitute a formula for getting the complete story on a subject. According to the principle of the Five Ws, a report can only be considered complete if it answers these questions starting with an interrogative word:

  • What happened?
  • Who was involved?
  • Where did it take place?
  • When did it take place?
  • Why did that happen?

Each question should have a factual answer — facts necessary to include for a report to be considered complete. None of these questions can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”

When selling to new customers and in account management, they are very useful when building rapport.

And there is one additional benefit that is often overlooked. These questions, when being answered, increase customer engagement. The emotion rises. The willingness to address the problems gets bigger and the sales opportunity shapes up.

Using open ended questions in sales is elementary when factfinding and closing deals.