I recently returned from a trip and as usual passed my filing cabinets on the way in the door. Since I quit actively selling several years ago, my wife relegates most of my office files to the garage. I noticed I had a couple of stacks of recent folders that needed to be filed and made a mental note to have my teenage daughter organize them for me. The next day as I was showing her how to file (so she could make some extra summer money) I started to review some of my old merchant customer files.
    As I started to go through the files I could remember the majority of the personal sales I had made and even recalled specific details about each sale. Why not count them I thought? Based in a quick calculation I realized I had over 1200 merchant files sitting in my garage. A thought flashed in my mind, what if I was still actively selling in the business what could I generate by starting with just these files? How many of these merchants could use check services, gift cards or online processing?
    It’s like putting on a jacket you haven’t worn in a while and finding a fifty-dollar bill in one of the pockets. You’d completely forgotten all about it, so discovering it’s like getting a free gift. If you’ve been in the business for a year or longer, you to may also have a few forgotten gifts - sources of additional revenue waiting to be discovered. Who knows, they might even be sitting in your garage!
    I believe there are basically four ways to increase your net profits: reduce costs, increase prices, attract more clients or sell more to existing clients. When you consider that it costs you at least five to seven times more to sell to a new client than to an existing one, it’s clear that some of your best prospects are existing clients.
    Are you selling as many of your services or products as you could to your existing client base? What new products could enhance your customers business? Could you increase your revenue by doing a better job of marketing to your existing clients?
    The hard part is done, you’ve already established credibility and the value of at least one of your services with your merchant. How can you leverage that relationship and commitment gained into additional sales?
    One of the biggest mistakes that salespeople make is to stop marketing to a customer after the initial sale is made. This is the time to start mining for gold. Once you have made the first sale it’s time to keep your name in front of them on a monthly or quarterly basis. This doesn’t mean beating them up with constant sales pitches, it means just staying in touch with your customer just like an insurance agent or real estate agents does.
    Continue to educate your merchants about new challenges facing their business and new product developments as they are introduced. An informed and educated merchant is your best customer.

Help Existing Customers by
Focusing on Solutions

    Whatever method you choose to communicate to your customers with, i.e. email, newsletters etc. focus on solutions to problems or needs you know exist.
    Get your prospects’ attention by focusing your marketing message on the problems that you can solve. Show them how third party products like gift cards, check processing, debit and new terminal solutions can benefit their business. Do this efficiently and your merchant will clearly see the need for your products and services.

Continue to Educate Your Merchants

    Merchants buy from you when they believe you can help them. That’s why they initially bought from you in the first place. Educate your merchant before, during and after each sale. Knowledge is power, and when you continually educate your customer you empower him to make well-educated decisions about his business and how you can help him solve those issues. Through education you can unmask the need for additional services.

Transform Merchant Satisfaction
into More Sales

    Do your merchants appreciate your products and services? Use your good service as a tool to market to additional clients and as a third party endorsement to fuel more product sales. Publish or communicate success stories of how you have helped other customers just like them benefit from new and exciting products.
    Take a look at your current merchants and ask yourself “How can you add value to their businesses?” What other products and services can you cross sell to your existing base to improve your bottom-line and reduce attrition?
    You’ve already gone to effort to secure a new merchant, don’t leave any more revenue on the table by not properly marketing to them on a consistent basis. Focus on solutions, continually educate and leverage your good service and you will be able to mine for gold each and every month.