Today I want to talk to you about getting off the “hamster-wheel” of attrition. We’ve all been to the pet store or had our own hamster as a kid. We’ve seen a hamster on its wheel running and running and running! The hamster thinks he is really making a lot of progress. Obviously, we […]
Today I want to talk to you about getting off the “hamster-wheel” of attrition. We’ve all been to the pet store or had our own hamster as a kid. We’ve seen a hamster on its wheel running and running and running! The hamster thinks he is really making a lot of progress. Obviously, we know he’s not. Running in place gets you nowhere.
Unfortunately, I see a lot of merchant services reps doing this same thing. If a rep reaches a level of one hundred and fifty merchant accounts but loses forty accounts that same year, he is in trouble. He may sell forty-two accounts by the end of the next year, but he still only has one hundred fifty-two accounts. This rep is on a hamster wheel, running as fast as he can but not making any progress. The problem is attrition. Reps are losing too many customers.
I would like to talk about a new course just posted. Go to instantquotetool.com. Click on “training” and scroll down until you see a course titled “Customer Service – Referrals and Retention.” This course talks about how to generate a referral engine and reduce attrition, just to mention a few topics addressed. I’m going to give you a few highlights of the course in this episode.
There can be many reasons for a high attrition rate.
We all know Issues can arise from many areas; processors, terminals, or problems may arise from the type of expectations set from the beginning.
One of the first things we need to talk about is the idea of setting expectations. Too many of you are concerned with providing a specific level of support. To be setting the right expectation for your merchant is more important. We talk more about what the right expectation is and how to meet that in the “Customer Service” training course.
Are you a problem solver? Another item we discuss in this training episode is handling problems. Let’s talk about when a terminal goes down. Do you have at least one spare terminal in the trunk of your car right now? You should have one ready to be programmed for a merchant. The training episode gives more detail as to why terminals go down and how you should handle that situation.
A common pitfall in customer service is telling your clients what they want to hear instead of focusing on fixing their problem. If your customer has an issue right now, don’t just instantly promise, “Oh, we’ll have that fixed by the end of the day.” No, take some time before setting the expectation. Tell him/her when you will follow up but don’t make a promise you cannot keep. Focus on fixing the customer’s issue rather than just trying to make the merchant happy.
We cover all of these issues and many more in the training course on instantquotetool.com titled “Customer Service.” Be sure to take advantage of this to get off that “hamster-wheel” of attrition. Learn to understand the specific issues merchant services reps face and how you can overcome them.
Many sales people leave insurance, real estate, or automotive sales for merchant services. Why make that change? Choosing a merchant services career...