video: make more sales by taking a consultative approach

Taking a consultative approach increases lead to sale conversion and makes selling so much easier and fun.

I asked my brilliant guest Jacqui Shaw, Director at Coralline Health, about her motivation and sales journey.

Find out how Jacqui and her team:

📜 achieve a 70% sales conversion

📜 gain 70% of new clients from referrals and recommendations

📜 care for their clients’ well being

Watch the show here as Jacqui shares her insights and ideas how to become a trusted advisor so you can make more sales too.

video: make more sales through mindfulness

I learned making more sales by applying mindfulness.

Master sales leader and New Yorker, Ken Baldo is my amazing guest on the show. He shares his personal story to mindfulness so you can have more sales success too. Watch the show now and find out how:

📜 not being mindful during customer interactions affects selling success.

📜 over consumption of new sales ideas stalls you from developing mindfulness

📜 Ken’s 3 top tips help becoming mindful in sales

Ken maps out clear strategies to become more mindful and make more sales. His insights and ideas will help you manage your state of mind when selling. Watch the interview here

video: make more sales together

When Sales and Marketing teams work together in Fintechs, market intelligence becomes the magic ingredient enabling more sales conversations and ultimately more closed deals.

Jeff Banks, CEO at Blue Train Marketing shares the secrets of Marketing and Sales success in this episode of ‘best practice for sales professionals’.

Learn how Marketing helps more sales to be won by:

  • leveraging reputation and own networks
  • enabling sales conversations
  • positioning sales professionals as brand advocates
  • maximising why customers should buy from you and nobody else
  • using emotions to buy

And much more! If you are in sales, this is a must view interview

Watch the video

video: selling strategies in 2020 and beyond

Selling has been pretty tough in 2020 so far.

Customers now want a relationship more than ever! They do not want a transactional relationship being push from SDR to AE to Customer success professionals within a matter of days. This video shows the skills and steps involved in being a full cycle sales person. It works and is great for job security too.

Watch the video here

VIDEO: discover The art of relationship selling

Brian Geary is a master relationship builder.

In this video he shares the art and secrets of relationship building at enterprise level so you can use them too.

Brian builds deep relationships with prospective customers before the actual selling takes place. He is a master at it!

He wins multi million pound deals, has a background with VISA, First Data and now he is commercial director at Beyond Analysis.

Watch this 10 minutes revealing interview and learn about :

📜Research and keeping the sales funnel filled

📜How to build trust

📜How to overcome relationship building challenges

📜The signs of a good relationship

📜Top tips

Watch the interview

Trust As Sales strategy .

In an uncertain world customers are looking for certainty. Trust between buyer and seller helps to create certainty and an environment where purchase decisions are made.

In this blog I recommend three proven tactics building trust between buyer and seller.

Intuitively we know that trust between buyer and seller creates the environment to do business in. After all, would any of us do business with people or businesses we do not trust? The opposite is true instead: people buy from people they trust.

In today’s rapidly changing world full of uncertainties, trust is even more relevant as a successful strategy for sales success. Once trust has been established, the opportunity to sell will come along whether it is in shape of a tender or a next conversation. Trying to sell before trust has been established, is a dead end track.

Here are three tactics to start creating and maintaining trust with prospects and existing customers.

Sales people should position themselves as experts.

B2B salespeople should position themselves as experts in order to build trust and credibility with their prospects and customers. When prospects and customers see a salesperson as an expert in their field, it is easier to build a strong and lasting business relationship. An expert salesperson is also better equipped to provide the best advice and solutions for their customers’ needs. Additionally, positioning oneself as an expert can help differentiate the salesperson from their competitors and increase the perceived value of their services. Today customers still expect to learn from sales people as well as buy from them. Although 27% of buyers do extensive online research before speaking to a vendor, they do expect additional valuable information from the sales person. In addition Gartner* found that buyers are 2.8 times more likely to buy from vendors who have helped them with useful information during the buying process. Sales people need to make certain they know their products and services inside out and so building trust.

Here are two examples:

1) In the payments industry we saw additional focus on transaction disputes between consumer and retailer due to the impact of COVID-19. Retailers will turn to their payments providers for insight and advice to navigate through refund rules while minimising refunds where possible.

Payments sales professionals will need to know about chargebacks and refunds and why payment schemes introduced these features in the first place. This will help merchants in their decision making and develop further trust with their provider. That in turn will open up more sales opportunities in due course.

Do not oversell

Customers want feature rich products and solutions that are future proof, available now and cost effective. It is all too easy for a sales person to not tell the truth at the point of clinching the deal. Overselling or over-promising has a huge and sometimes irrecoverable impact on company reputation, future earnings, and also individual reputation. Any trust built up will soon vanish and may irrecoverable losing the customer. B2B salespeople should not oversell because it can lead to customer dissatisfaction. When a customer is promised something that cannot be delivered, they will feel misled and may be less likely to continue doing business with the company. Overselling can also cause customers to lose trust in the salesperson and the company, making it difficult to build long-term relationships. Finally, overselling can lead to customer complaints, decreased customer loyalty, and negative reviews which can damage the company’s reputation.

On the other hand, customers will appreciate a vendor that is clear and upfront about their solutions suitability. Of course, salespeople should be encouraged to push the line without crossing it, but they need to know where the line is and how far it can be flexed. When training salespeople, product knowledge, internal processes and selling techniques are all equally important to prevent overselling and build trust.

Ask questions and collaborate .

Trust can be developed by finding out what challenges a customer has. Asking questions is a powerful technique often underutilised by sales people. Here are ‘trust creating’ questions:

  • What are the challenges?
  • How are these challenges impacting the business, employees and customers?
  • Why are they seen as challenges?
  • Where do the challenges originate?
  • What are the current workarounds?
  • What has been tried to address the challenges so far?
  • What should the ideal solution look like?

These questions expose pain or gain points during the selling process and also create trust. Sales people who ask questions like the ones above, allow customers to reflect on their situation or position. In addition, good questions ensure no money is left on the table during the selling process.

Working together on the challenges, options and agreeing next steps are signs of trust between buyer and seller.

conclusion

Certainty is in short supply in a rapidly changing world. Building and maintaining trust with customers is even more important now.

I work with sales professional developing and executing sales strategies with two objectives in mind: creating more sales opportunities and closing more deals. Get in touch to find out how I can help your sales team do the same.

sources used:

*Gartner ‘the new B2B buying journey’

5 tips to look and sound like a sales professional should on Zoom

1. Focus on your camera, not on your prospects or customers

Every presentation coach will tell you that direct eye contact is vital to reinforce your point and build trust. In a video call, this means looking into the video camera, not at the smiling faces of prospects or customers. Speaking into a cold black circle will probably not feel natural or comfortable. We are trained to look at the people we are talking to. Entertainers, influencers and politicians have been talking to the camera for decades. It can be challenging to focus on your camera for an entire meeting — especially while others are talking — but know that you increase the impact of your points when you look deep into the dot. Practice looking into your camera during video calls when you speak, even for brief moments. The more you use it, the more comfortable you will become with it.

2. Maintain a strong voice

Strong voices convey authority, credibility, and confidence. This concept is just as true in virtual sales meetings as it is in actual ones. So even though you are using an external or internal microphone and thus may be tempted to speak at a conversational volume, maintain a strong, clear voice as if you are in a large conference room. Using a loud voice will also keep you from mumbling and from speaking too quickly due to the amount of breath required.

3. Frame yourself wisely

Proximity plays a big part in how audiences perceive you as a communicator. The further away or more obscured you appear, the less engaging you will be. In a video sales call, your head and the top of your shoulders should dominate the screen in the centre. If your head is cut off at the top or bottom, you are too close. If your entire torso is in view, you are too far away. If only half of your head is in sight, please adjust the camera. Have your eyes and the camera at the same level rather than looking down at the camera. It puts you in a much better light too. Also be mindful of your background. The bedroom or kitchen background may have been ok a few weeks ago. But now we set new standards. Cluttered rooms make communicators seem disorganised. Distracting elements will pull attention away from you. Find an environment where the background is simple, reflecting your professionalism. Consider a large piece of board or position yourself close to a wall behind you. I recommend getting a green screen and a film light. These will enable using a virtual background allowing you to demonstrate products, concepts or show slides. Your company logo in a corner will add that professional touch. And a daylight bulb with diffuser will complete a simple but professional looking set up. After all, you are representing your company. Amazon and eBay will sell you what you need for less than £50. Another simple solution to helping to have a personal space is running a cat5 cable internet cable (cheap and can be up to 100 metres long with quality loss) to your shed or garage. That space can easily be made your personal video cubicle.

4. Do not become your own distraction

In a live meeting, you never have to worry about talking while muted, annoying ambient noise, or the interference of pets and children. But these are all common pitfalls of virtual meetings, and they can quickly sabotage your point. Your job is to make sure you are remembered for what you did right and your products, not what went wrong. Be mindful of the power you have over both your virtual and physical environments.

Start by training yourself to stay quiet whenever you are not speaking and listen to understand. Encourage your prospects to do the talking until they want to know about you, your company, your clients and of course, your proposition

Finally, if boisterous children (or pets) want to participate in your call, your colleagues will probably laugh or relate, so do not be worried about or embarrassed by spontaneous distractions. However, if you are tasked with giving a major presentation to prospective customers, try to have someone supervise them in another room, far from the temptation of your presence, or at least create an engrossing activity for them. Parenting and presenting cannot happen simultaneously, and truly important messages require not only your colleagues’ full attention, but yours as well.

5. Use the chat window as your partner

The chat window is a unique opportunity in virtual meetings to elevate your presence, add dimensions to your ideas, and demonstrate what you are all about. Links to product pages, agenda, next steps or even action points all show professionalism

Whether you’ve been participating in virtual meetings for years or just started in 2020, it’s important to realise that a video selling isn’t just a calling in over video — it’s an entirely new interactive experience, which requires adapting your perspective, habits, and tactics to make it work effectively for you as a sales professional.

Feel free to get in touch and book me to find out how I can help you sell more

PAYMENTS KNOWLEDGE BASE FOR SALES PEOPLE

Merchants expect sales people to understand the payments business and how their solutions can help them. Knowledge means power and confidence in the selling process so it makes sense to have that knowledge in order to make more, better sales.

Here is a handy list of terms used in payment processing. Keep checking back for regular updates as the payments ecosystem evolves. And if you want new terms added, just let me know!

Acceptance:

The process whereby a particular brand of card is accepted by a terminal, merchant or other entity.

Acquirer (card acquirer):

The entity (usually a credit institution) to which the acceptor (usually a merchant) transmits the information necessary in order to process the card payment.

In automated teller machine (ATM) transactions, the entity (usually a credit institution) which makes banknotes available to the cardholder (whether directly or via the use of third-party providers).

Authentication:

A security mechanism for verifying: 1) the identity of an individual or other entity (including verification by means of a computer or computer application); and 2) the level of authority of that person or entity (i.e. the ability of that person or entity to perform specific tasks or activities).

Automated teller machine (ATM):

an electromechanical device that allows authorised users, typically using machine-readable plastic cards, to withdraw cash from their accounts and/or access other services (allowing them, for example, to make balance enquiries, transfer funds or deposit money).

Backup system:

A system designed to replace the primary system in the event of the primary system being unable to function for whatever reason.

Bank Identifier Code (BIC):

An International Organization for Standardization (ISO) technical code that uniquely identifies a financial institution. SWIFT is the registration authority for BICs. A BIC consists of eight or eleven characters, comprising a financial institution code (four characters), a country code (two characters), a location code (two characters) and, optionally, a branch code (three characters).

Batch (bulk payments):

A group of orders (payment orders and/or securities transfer orders) to be processed together.

Beneficiary:

A recipient of funds (payee) or securities. Depending on the context, a beneficiary can be a direct participant in a payment system and/or a final recipient.

Brand:

A particular payment product (especially a card) that has been licensed by its owner for use in a given territory.

Business continuity:

A state of uninterrupted business operations. This term also refers to all of the organisational, technical and staffing measures employed in order to:

1) ensure the continuation of core business activities in the immediate aftermath of a crisis; and

2) gradually ensure the continued operation of all business activities in the event of sustained and severe disruption. See also backup system.

Cap (limit):

A quantitative limit on the funds or securities transfer activity of a participant in a system. Limits may be set by each individual participant or imposed by the entity managing the system. Limits can be placed on system participants’ net debit and/or net credit positions.

Card (payment card):

A device that can be used by its holder to pay for goods and services or to withdraw money.

Card acquirer:

See acquirer.

Cardholder:

A person to whom a payment card is issued and who is authorised to use that card.

Cardholder Verification Value (CVV2, CVC2 and CID)

A method of cardholder verification uses the Card Verification Value (CVV). The generic system name is labelled Card Verification Value 2 (CVV2) by Visa, Card Validation Code 2 (CVC2) by MasterCard and Cardholder Identification Code (CID) by American Express. Card Verification information is not contained in the magnetic stripe information nor does it appear on sales receipts. It is an additional 3 to 4 character value, printed on the front or back of Visa, MasterCard, and American Express cards. To use Card Verification, enter the 3 to 4 character value along with the other transactional information at the time of processing the transaction. If the 3 to 4 character value is not authenticated by the cardholder’s bank, the transaction will be declined. If the 3 to 4 character value is authenticated, the transaction will be processed normally.

Card issuer:

A financial institution that makes payment cards available to cardholders, authorises transactions at point-of-sale (POS) terminals or automated teller machines (ATMs) and guarantees payment to the acquirer for transactions that are in conformity with the rules of the relevant scheme.

Card Present:

A payment transaction where both cardholder and card are present. For instance in a retail shop.

Card Not Present:

A payment transaction where cardholder and card are not present. For instance web purchase or phone order.

Chargeback:

Process where a cardholder is asking the bank to forcibly take money from the merchant’s account. An investigation follows, and if the bank feels the cardholder’s request is valid, funds are removed from the merchant’s account and returned to the consumer.

Card scheme:

A technical and commercial arrangement set up to serve one or more brands of card which provides the organisational, legal and operational framework necessary for the functioning of the services marketed by those brands. See also three-party card scheme, four-party card scheme.

Card with a cash function:

A card enabling the cardholder to withdraw cash from a cash dispenser and/or deposit cash. The cash function is usually combined with a payment function. See also cash card.

Cash card:

A card which has only a cash function.

Cash dispenser:

An electromechanical device that permits authorised users to withdraw banknotes, typically using machine-readable plastic cards. See also automated teller machine.

Charge card:

See delayed debit card.

Cheque:

A written order from one party (the drawer) to another (the drawee; normally a credit institution) requiring the drawee to pay a specified sum on demand to the drawer or a third party specified by the drawer.

Chip card (smart card):

A card with an embedded microprocessor (chip) loaded with the information necessary to enable payment transactions.

Clearing:

The process of transmitting, reconciling and, in some cases, confirming transfer orders prior to settlement, potentially including the netting of orders and the establishment of final positions for settlement. Sometimes this term is also used (imprecisely) to cover settlement.

Clearing house:

A common entity (or a common processing mechanism) through which participants agree to exchange transfer instructions for funds, securities or other instruments. In some cases, a clearing house may act as a central counterparty for those participants, thereby taking on significant financial risks.

Clearing system:

A set of rules and procedures whereby financial institutions present and exchange data and/or documents relating to transfers of funds or securities to other financial institutions at a single location (e.g. a clearing house). These procedures often include a mechanism for calculating participants’ mutual positions, potentially on a net basis, with a view to facilitating the settlement of their obligations in a settlement system.

Co-branding:

An arrangement whereby a product or service is associated with more than one brand.

Collateral:

An asset or third-party commitment that is used by a collateral provider to secure an obligation vis-à-vis a collateral taker.

Correspondent banking:

An arrangement whereby one bank (the settlement or service-providing bank) makes or receives payments (potentially performing other banking services in addition) on behalf of another bank (the customer or user bank).

Credit card (card with a credit function):

A card that enables cardholders to make purchases and/or withdraw cash up to a prearranged credit limit. The credit granted may be either settled in full by the end of a specified period, or settled in part, with the balance taken as extended credit (on which interest is usually charged).

Credit institution:

A credit institution is a company duly authorised to carry out banking transactions on a regular basis (i.e. to receive deposits from the public, carry out credit transactions, make funds available and manage means of payment).

Credit limit (credit cap):

A limit on the credit exposure which a payment system participant incurs either vis-à-vis another participant (a “bilateral credit limit”) or vis-à-vis all other participants (a “multilateral credit limit”) as a result of receiving payments which have not yet been settled.

Credit risk:

The risk that a counterparty will not settle the full value of an obligation – neither when it becomes due, nor at any time thereafter. Credit risk includes replacement cost risk and principal risk. It also includes the risk of the settlement bank failing.

Cross-border payment:

A payment where the financial institutions of the payer and the payee are located in different countries.

Cross-border settlement:

Settlement that takes place in a country (or currency area) in which one or both parties to the transaction are not located.

Cut-off time:

The deadline set by a system (or an agent bank) for the acceptance of transfer orders for a given settlement cycle.

Daily processing:

The complete cycle of processing tasks which need to be completed in a typical business day, from start-of-day procedures to end-of-day procedures. This sometimes includes the backing-up of data.

Debit card (card with a debit function):

A card enabling its holders to make purchases and/or withdraw cash and have these transactions directly and immediately charged to their accounts, whether these are held with the card issuer or not.

Direct debit:

A payment instrument for the debiting of a payer’s payment account whereby

EFTPOS terminal:

A terminal which captures payment information by electronic means and transmits such information either online or offline. “EFTPOS” stands for “electronic funds transfer at point of sale”. See also point-of-sale (POS) terminal.

Electronic money:

a monetary value, represented by a claim on the issuer, which is:

1) stored on an electronic device (e.g. a card or computer);

2) issued upon receipt of funds in an amount not less in value than the monetary value

received; and

3) accepted as a means of payment by undertakings other than the issuer.

Electronic money institution (ELMI):

A term used in EU legislation to designate credit institutions

which are governed by a simplified regulatory regime because their activity is limited to the issuance of electronic money and the provision of financial and non-financial services closely related to the issuance of electronic money.

Electronic wallet/purse:

see multi-purpose prepaid card.

Electronic signature (digital signature):

a string of data, generated by a cryptographic method, which is attached to an electronic message in order to guarantee its authenticity, identify the

signatory and link the content to that signatory (thereby protecting the recipient against repudiation

by the sender).

ELMI:

See electronic money institution.

EMV:

an acronym describing the set of specifications developed by the consortium EMVCo, which

is promoting the global standardisation of electronic financial transactions – in particular the global interoperability of chip cards. “EMV” stands for “Europay, MasterCard and Visa”.

Exposure:

the loss that would be incurred if a certain risk materialised.

Face-to-face payment:

A payment where the payer and the payee are in the same physical

Four-party card scheme:

a card scheme where the stakeholders involved are:

1) the issuer; 2) the acquirer; 3) the cardholder; and 4) the card acceptor. (In the case of automated teller machine (ATM) transactions, it is usually the acquirer that offers its services via the ATM.) By contrast, in a three-party card scheme, the issuer and the acquirer are always the same entity.

Gross settlement:

The settlement of transfer orders one by one.

See also net settlement.

Guarantee fund:

A fund which compensates non-defaulting participants for losses which they suffer in the event that one or more participants default on their obligations.

Interchange fee:

A transaction fee payable between the payment service providers involved in a transaction.

Merchant Account:

A merchant business will need a merchant account in order to accept payments. A merchant account is similar to any bank account. The type of account will depend on the device and method by which the merchant accepts card data.

Merchant service charge (MSC):

A fee paid by the acceptor/merchant to the acquirer.

Merchant account statement:

A monthly merchant account statement tells how much card transactions have been accepted, what kind of cards and how much the merchant acquirer is charging for each transaction.

Merchant Category Code

Banks assign a merchant category code to describe types of business activity. It helps to assess potential risks.

Mobile payment (m-payment):

A payment where a mobile device is used at least for the initiation of the payment order and potentially also for the transfer of funds.

MSC:

See merchant service charge.

Multi-purpose prepaid card (electronic purse/wallet):

a prepaid card which can be used at the outlets of several service providers for a wide range of purposes.

Net settlement:

The settlement of transfer orders on a net basis. See also gross settlement.

Offline card transaction:

A card transaction which is authorised without contacting the issuer at the time of the transaction.

Online card transaction:

A card transaction which is authorised following explicit approval by the issuer at the time of the transaction.

Payment Gateway

This is an online equivalent of a card terminal as its job is to mediate communications between merchants and banks.

Payment gateways securely transmit sensitive card information and debits the customer’s account for the required amount.

Much like a physical POS terminal in a shop, the Payment Gateway allows you to take card payments directly from your website either by integrating a secure payments page or directly customers to a secure external payment gateway.

Payment card:

see card.

Payment instrument:

A tool or a set of procedures enabling the transfer of funds from a payer to a

payee. The payer and the payee can be one and the same person.

Payment scheme:

A set of interbank rules, practices and standards necessary for the functioning of payment services. See also card scheme.

PIN:

See personal identification number.

PCI DSS:

The PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is an information security standard designed to increase controls around cardholder data to reduce payment card fraud. Merchants, providers and any institution that stores or transmits cardholder data have to meet these standards.

Point-of-sale (POS) terminal:

A device allowing the use of payment cards at a physical (not virtual) point of sale. The payment information is captured either manually on paper vouchers or by electronic means. See also EFTPOS terminal.

PDQ Machine / Card reader terminal

A PDQ machine (or Process Data Quickly Machine) is a physical device (card machine with chip and pin keypad) used to process card payments and the card payment software that manages orders (also referred to as a point of sale system).

PDQ machines come in three forms:

  • Countertop: A fixed card payment terminal usually located at the point of sale in a retail environment. Needs to be connected to broadband by an Ethernet cable. Can accept contactless payments.
  • Portable: These terminals use wireless or Bluetooth technology to operate within a 100m radius of a central hub. Ideal for start-ups, pop-ups and businesses with no fixed address. Will need to be charged to ensure payments can be taken. Can accept contactless payments.
  • Mobile: Uses a mobile sim and GPS signals to accept payments anytime, anywhere. Perfect for festivals or large, busy events, as well as for restaurants and cafes where the terminal can be bought to a customer’s table.

Prepaid card:

A card on which a monetary value can be loaded in advance and stored either on the card itself or on a dedicated account on a computer. Those funds can then be used by the holder to make purchases. See also multi-purpose prepaid card.

Processing:

The performance of all of the actions required in accordance with the rules of a system for the handling of a transfer order from the point of acceptance by the system to the point of discharge from the system. Processing may include clearing, sorting, netting, matching and/or settlement.

Refund:

In card payment this is the process where a card holder requests a refund to their card because the goods/services bought did not meet their expectations. Goods could have been faulty or wrong specification. Also see chargeback.

Reject:

In the field of payments, a payment transaction whose normal execution is prevented by the payment service provider of either the payer or the payee prior to settlement.

Retailer card:

A card issued by a merchant for use at specified merchant outlets.

SEPA:

See Single Euro Payments Area.

Settlement:

The completion of a transaction or of processing with the aim of discharging participants’ obligations through the transfer of funds and/or securities. Also see gross settlement, net settlement.

Settlement day (settlement date):

The day on which settlement actually takes place.

Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA):

A process initiated by European banks and supported, interalia, by the Eurosystem and the European Commission with a view to integrating retail payment systems and transforming the euro area into a true domestic market for the payment industry.

Three-party card scheme:

A card scheme involving the following stakeholders: 1) the card scheme itself, which acts as issuer and acquirer; 2) the cardholder; and 3) the accepting party. This contrasts with a four-party card scheme, where the issuer and the acquirer are separate entities and are separate from the card scheme itself. See also card scheme, four-party card scheme.

Truncation:

A procedure in which a paper-based transfer order or other financial instrument is replaced, in whole or in part, by an electronic record of the content of that instrument for the purposes of further processing and transmission.

Find out how my sales coaching and merchant services sales training can help you make more sales