How to Cold Call for Merchant Services?

Selling is a contact-based transaction. The more dials you make, the more results you can expect. The only problem with cold calling is that it is quite challenging, as it may make individuals feel intrusive due to the number of rejections it will take to bring out the desired results.

One of the most common approaches business owners around the world have adopted is cold calling. With this technique, a business will conduct calls to individuals who fit their target demographic. Cold calling tends to be unsolicited and a number of businesses and individuals shy away from it because they don’t wish to bother anyone over the phone. However, that fear of denial will instantly go away if you take the proper measures for cold calling for your merchant services.  

Here are some tips:

• Ensure Preparedness: Before making the phone call, you should prepare in advance. You should understand who you are calling and why you are calling that person in the first place. It can be achieved by knowing important details like name, address, city, and the business name. You should also keep a basic script ready with a proper greeting. The greeting should be capable of seeking ample attention from the receiver.
  

You can think of writing down your own pitch or questions. Try arranging for either a face-to-face appointment or a follow-up call to ensure a full presentation towards closing the deal. Scriptwriting, as a salesperson, can take some time to master. Therefore, if you are new to the field of merchant services, you can go online and conduct in-depth research.

• Nurture the Database with Social Media and Email Marketing: Reaching out to small business owners at late hours of the night might not be a great idea. However, you can achieve greater results for your marketing strategy even during the after-hours of your business operation. You can think of improving your database through email marketing and social media marketing prospects.
  

Connect to every possible prospect on LinkedIn. Email some helpful articles with a link to every potential customer every month. You should also search for the business of every prospect on social media while engaging in their content. Most modern businesses nowadays feature dedicated Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, and Google Map listings to help you with the prospecting process. The final step should be to follow up and close the deal again.

In case you are nurturing a prospect that has denied your services, the rule says that you should aim at ensuring at least three positive interactions before going out of business.

• Collect Data Out of Every Prospect: One of the common mistakes that salespeople tend to make is that they give up totally upon getting a ‘NO’ from the prospect. When a prospect will say ‘NO,’ the meaning that is conveyed is that they do not know enough about your merchant services to make a decision in favor of your business.
  

When you receive a ‘NO’ from the prospects, you can implement some remedial steps. Firstly, you should go against the rejection at least twice before you give up the idea. In most cases, the prospects simply wish to ensure that you are confident enough to push things forward. Secondly, you can go forward with gathering their email addresses and first names. This allows you to be in touch for a longer period.

• Function at the Right Frequency: Most sales representatives do not function quickly enough while not putting in ample effort to obtain the desired results. When you are selling business-to-business, note that business owners you will be calling might already be receiving around ten calls per day. This implies that you are expected to spread a broader net by ensuring as many calls as possible.
  

Proper timing is an important key to obtaining the right results. Therefore, you should look for a prospect that will currently have the requirement of your products or services. Some prospects might not require your services at the current moment. Others might require the same in the future. Therefore, you should seek the ones who need it today.

Another important point to remember is the number of dials you are doing every hour, every day. It turns out to be one of the major pitfalls with cold calling. Sales individuals do not always make ample dials. Therefore, as a merchant service provider, you should aim at making more dials every day. The frequency at which you will operate is an effective tool to minimize rejections. When you maximize the dial counts as well as dial frequency, it can help in making a major difference in your sales success.

• Smile As You Dial: While it appears quite basic, it is not always an easy path to undertake. If you wish that your prospect will listen to you, it is imperative for you to be excited and upbeat on the phone. Sales can be regarded as the transfer of enthusiasm from one individual to another. Therefore, you should be committed to injecting your excitement into the individual at the other end of the line.
  

It is observed that when you smile while speaking to someone on the phone, it immediately changes the overall demeanor while allowing you to achieve lucrative results. The consumer is capable of mostly mirroring your tone on the call as well as its positivity. This will allow you to achieve better outcomes.

Conclusion

There are several more strategies as far as cold calling is concerned, but the most important thing is that when you have a list of potential leads, it doesn’t cost you much to make those cold calls. It can only aid you in getting the results you want and in understanding the specific requirements of your merchant service market. Therefore, get started by simply picking up the phone and dialing.