Sales: Shaken Not Stirred
April 18, 2012 at 12:31 AM
Have you ordered a martini? Have you had the pleasure of having your bartender upsell you on the better vodka? As with any drink, upselling to the better brand can be pricey but it makes a huge difference in taste. This can be applied to upselling merchants on better terminal brands and value added services.
With the focus of many merchants falling on rates, as that is the only tangible thing that they feel they can bargain with, it is easy to forget that there is more to sell beyond the rates. Upselling products and services doesn't just increase the ability to retain merchants for the long term but also increases profit. The retention of the merchant leads to longer residual life, while the increased profit can boost upfront commissions.
Asking good questions allows agents to find out what a viable solution is for the merchant. Upselling gives the agent the ability to offer POS systems, gift cards, and more.
Beware, merchants who are upsold on an idea but have small budgets have a tendency to back out just before signing. Let the merchant know ahead of time that there are a host of options if he or she needs help reaching the upsold goal. Allowing them to lease or obtain a cash advance secures the upsell and increases merchant retention.
MPI encourages our agents to upsell to better equipment to increase profit, especially on lease deals. It gives our agents the opportunity to increase their commission. Recently, MPI had a pizza shop that was using a standard dial up terminal. Our agent, Kyle Morgan, was able to upsell the pizza shop on a POS system that allowed for increased efficiency in the restaurant. In addition to the higher commission, Kyle has seen an increase in their volume due to the POS system's efficiency. This has increased his monthly residual income, an additional byproduct of upselling better products.
On your next sales call, ask questions that give you the ability to upsell. Don't let the merchant get caught up in the "rail" terminal, make them fall in love with the idea of a "top shelf" POS system that will increase his or her profit.
If you’d like to learn more about becoming an MPI agent, please visit our MPI Agent Program Page .
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