When you establish a relationship with a customer, you want that relationship to have many levels, not just one layer from one sale.

We all have our sales goals to meet on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. This doesn’t mean that once we get a sale out of our customer, that we hurry them out the door and move onto the next one.

Build a relationship with your customer. As you close the deal on your sale, talk to your customer, find out what it is they need and can use that you can provide them with.

People love to talk about themselves, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get them talking.

Ask about their job, their family, their pets, their hobbies, etc.

For instance, when I was in banking, working within the branch network and someone came in to open a checking account, I would sit them down at my desk and profile them.

How would I profile them?

I would take down their information and put it into my computer. By doing this I was able to see if this customer was new to our bank or an existing customer.

Now, if they were a new customer, and came in to open a checking account, I could safely assume that their savings account, investments, and loans were at another bank.

This is about the time I would start my profiling. I would ask about the other institutions that he did business with and compare the benefits and features of our products to the ones he had.

I also knew that there was a reason that he decided to open an account with me, perhaps he just wasn’t happy with his existing bank.

Remember, I only told him about our products and services, I did not push them on him. However, I did make notes of everything we discussed, so I could follow up at a later time. I would also leave my customer with a welcome packet consisting of a brochure for each of our products and several of my business cards.

The customer is in the door. You have some of their business. That is fine for the time being. You don’t want to overwhelm them. Build the relationship with them, gradually find out what their needs are by prospecting, than when the time is right, go over a product with them that you believe is ideal to their needs.

If I had an existing customer in front of me, I had the ability to se what they did and did not have, and again, I would go over the benefits and features of our products, taking notes, and following up at a later time.

The next time you have a customer in front of you, prospect them. Find out what they do and do not have with you. Once you have figured this out, offer to explain the benefits and features of products you have that you believe would be good for them. Make notes of the conversations you have with your customers, than follow up with them to talk about the products you had discussed.

Prospecting is simply finding out what a customer needs that they don’t have. Once you have established what their needs are, the rest will come relatively easy. Good luck.

Anyone who is in business these days is probably considering the benefits of an Internet merchant account. After all, applying for a merchant account is fast, easy, and usually inexpensive, although some underwriters charge for the privilege of submitting an online application. A merchant account offers the means of accepting credit card payments from your customers, and this is a benefit that many entrepreneurs are finding to be increasingly valuable. Research shows that more and more consumers prefer to use a credit card when they go shopping, whether at the mall or online, so it makes sense for a business owner to provide this payment option in addition to cash, check, or debit methods of payment.

You can apply for an Internet merchant account from many banks and other financial institutions or professional lenders. But you really need to work with one that is scrupulous and affordable. Check the Better Business Bureau about any company for which you have little information. Even though you cannot get a clear-cut business rating from the BBB, you will be able to find out if there are complaints lodged against the company and how these were resolved. You might also want to ask for a reference or check the company’s Website for testimonials, although you may want to check these out, as well. When you settle on a company to work with, apply for the merchant account by following the guidelines. As with a personal credit account, you will probably get an answer within a few days. If approved, you can get busy setting up your Internet site to accept customers’ credit card payments.

The way an Internet merchant account works is that it provides you with a gateway to channel credit card payments from your Website through a processing system to be deposited into your specified account. The underwriter will collect transaction or percentage fees for this service, and you should negotiate these before applying for the merchant account. Once the service is in place, however, you should not expect any new fees to be added, although again, you need to clarify this with your account provider. Make sure your Internet site remains functionally interactive, and that any broken links or inoperative services are immediately repaired. Customers who find out-of-date information at your site are unlikely to return, and they may tell others about their negative perceptions, costing you additional customers.

Your Internet merchant account can escalate your profits and reduce costs because your site can function without constant human supervision or interaction. Of course, it is important to have a customer service representative available to respond to consumer problems, and sometimes the underwriter provides this service. Generally, your Website can operate without much help from you except periodic monitoring to be sure everything is working as it should.

Talk with your banker, colleagues, or associates about the advantages of a merchant account. Make a business plan to see how this service might fit in with future growth. Then consider applying for your company’s Internet merchant account.

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