I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific.

- Jane Wagner

s a merchant level salesperson (MLS), you strive to meet your merchants' needs. When they have problems, you reach into your bag of tricks (your products and services) to find something that will resolve their issues and, hopefully, exceed their expectations. Sounds simple enough, right?

But what do you do for merchants who don't know what their true needs are and don't even realize this is the case?

First, you must take into account the reality that some of your customers lack clarity when it comes to defining their business requirements.

Before you dazzle them with spiffy solutions, pause to take stock of their circumstances.

Some people are meticulous about writing business plans, setting goals and understanding the factors affecting their fortunes.

They stay abreast of developments in their industries, including those pertaining to payment processing and related services, and they have some good ideas about what tools to implement to get the results they desire.

But even the best-prepared merchants can use a little tuneup when challenges arise.

If you can help your clients get a bead on their needs and spot the best ways to meet them, you're well on your way to increasing the profitability of their businesses as well as your own. You can start this process by helping them state their needs in the clearest, most specific terms possible.

For example, a merchant may say, "I need something to help me increase profits" or "I want to make my checkouts faster." These may seem like clear, straightforward requests, but they are vague.

Plumbing for profits

Let's examine the client who wants to increase profits. This is a worthy goal, but it needs to be fleshed out to be useful. To find out what actions have a good chance of boosting this merchant's profits, ask some probing questions, such as:

• Do you want to augment profits by increasing sales? Or is there another way you wish to achieve this, such as reducing overhead? (If overhead is the main issue, there isn't much you, as an MLS, can do to help. Overhead is not in your control.)
• If you want to improve your bottom line by increasing sales, do you want to increase the frequency of sales, or the average ticket price?
• Do you want greater sales of a certain product or within a particular demographic?
• Do you have particular days or times of day that are slow during which you wish to increase the frequency of sales?

Questions such as these can help both you and your merchants get a realistic picture of exactly what they want. Specific questions lead to specific answers.

And when you implement a solution, based on conclusions drawn from their answers, you can measure the results against targeted criteria and decide if it was successful.

Increasing efficiency

Here are some possible questions you can ask a merchant who wants faster checkouts (you'll think of even more out in the field):

• By faster, do you mean you want more lanes open, or do you want each transaction time decreased?
• Are you willing to accept alternative or additional payment types?
• Are you agreeable to investing in new equipment? If so, who will be responsible for training, and when will it take place?
• Do you want to preserve employee/customer relationships, or are you willing to use self-service checkout stations?
• When do you expect to see results?

There are multiple ways to speed up checkouts, but they don't all work for every merchant and every industry. If you agree to make a retailer's checkout times faster without asking for more information, you will be in trouble.

For example, even if you do, in fact, reduce checkout times, the merchant could be unhappy with your methods unless you gather sufficient knowledge beforehand.

In the merchant/MLS relationship, it is critical for both parties to be on the same page. And it had better not be blank, blurry or smudged, or everyone involved will end up dissatisfied.

The great news is you don't have to read your merchants' minds. Instead, consult with them to determine their problems and discuss your ideas. And then work with them to find the best solutions.

The better you do this, the sooner you'll be living on Easy Street.