My Secret Sales Weapon – The Group Sales Approach

This secret sales weapon could make you a fortune selling merchant services!  It is one of the most powerful tools to use in your local market.  The weapon is powerful both as a method for making sales and building trust.  Use it to assist you in making a helpful mental shift.  With some creativity and thought you can make a lot more sales.

Over the years I’ve made a lot of partnerships with affiliate groups.  For example, I would search for groups such as pizza shops who order their dough together for better rates.  Then I’d use the pitch, “Hey, I’ll give all your members a great deal on credit card processing.”  I would create a special offer for this group using a flat rate.  This gave me a targeted group to sell.  When I contacted each shop, I’d say, “My name is James Shepherd.  The reason I’m reaching out to you is that I’m offering a special deal with your affiliate group, XYZ pizza companies.”

I quickly realized this was a powerful strategy.  However, there are not many such groups!  I finally understood the real power of that pitch was the group mentality which says, “Everybody else is doing this, so I should probably do it, too.  I need to at least check it out.”  I began to recreate the same concept without going to any group or affiliate.  This is a very easy strategy.

Suppose the targeted group is hair salons.  First, go to instantquotetool.com and set up your free trial.  Create a program in the tool.  Set up pricing and save it as hair salon program.  Next, make a list of thirty hair salons in your local area.  Visit each business which is near you and say, “Hi.  My name is James Shepherd.  The reason I’m coming by is that I’m working to form a discount group.  Here are a few of the names of salons we’re working with right now.  We’re starting with a discount on merchant services.  I’m negotiating group rates through several different processors, working on the best rate for everybody.”

Create your own group!  I actually had marketing materials such as business cards printed.  Business cards are a huge marketing tool.  Staples offers the option of custom business cards for as little as $10.00.  Be creative.  Make the business card for “Central Pennsylvania Stylist Association” or “Central Pennsylvania Stylist Payment Association.”  Have a catchy abbreviation for it.  Make a little website if you want.  An association isn’t a special type of legal entity.  It’s just a group of people who buy stuff together.  Rather than being the servant of associations and affiliate groups in your area, start your own association!  Start five of them and go after specific verticals in that way.  The group sales approach is all about going after a specific vertical.  In that way you can sell them easier by customizing your pitch.  Here are more tips to keep in mind when using this secret weapon.

#1.  Remember the tip I already mentioned – instantquotetool.com.  If you haven’t already checked it out, make sure you visit today.  This will gain extra trust from merchants when you have a group.  You can say, “I’ll just show you right here.  I guarantee you this is going to save you money.  I already have the proposal saved in this tool.  We are making the same offer to everybody.”  A PDF proposal is available free with our solution.  Sign up for the free trial and use the tool to set up pricing profiles.

#2.  Pound the pavement!  You can make a huge campaign out of this.  All you need is some time for preparation.  Make your list and prepare some simple marketing tools.  Then go from one business to the next.  Make several rounds.  Another benefit of this strategy is that returning to a merchant more than once is easier.  When you visit the second time say, “Hey, I know last time you weren’t interested.  I wanted to check with you again since we just signed up Susan and Bill over here.  And, also, Bob at this place and Ryan have signed up.”  Merchants will begin to feel left out.

#3.  Cash Discounting.  This is by far and away the best pitch for cash discounting.  Business owners don’t want to be the only one who has a service fee.  Your pitch can be, “We are forming a group rate arrangement.  This is an association of pizza shops in the local area who are going to do cash discounting.  We’re all banding together; nobody gets left out.  Everybody is passing the cost onto the consumer.  So, everybody is on a level playing field and will save a ton of money.  Doesn’t that sound like a good idea to you?”

Try that pitch.  It’s going to work.  Use this secret weapon and make a fortune selling merchant services!

Read the previous post here: Two Extremes of Successful Selling  http://www.ccsalespro.com/two-extremes-successful-selling/  

Read the next post here:  http://www.ccsalespro.com/payments-playground-industrial-parks-office-buildings/  The Payments Playground – Industrial Parks and Office Buildings