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Education

In reality, great salespeople put others at ease through the sky is the limit. Those with great talent understand
conversational talent and engage them in a series of this, and they develop 12-, 24- and 36-month projections
questions while listening to their answers intently to gain and then hit their goals.
knowledge of the DBMs and make mental notes for future
presentations. They don't make assumptions but rather The millennial salesperson, in particular, might be quite
probe deeper into conversations, picking up on possible different than you once were as a young sales rep. They
buying signals and hot buttons as prospects state them. are motivated by fancy cars, casual offices, and the ability
to set their own work schedule and work from a home-
By gaining a true understanding of DBMs as they are based office at least part of the time. They love the use
revealed, great salespeople can develop a polished of electronics, apps and other technology to help them
presentation that accurately addresses the DBMs as well succeed. One thing to keep in mind: great salespeople will
as potential objections that could arise. The sales process offset the expense of providing things that make them
is developed rather than rushed. Relationships are built happy through the revenue they produce. Don't think of
that entail more than simply landing new accounts. this as an expense but rather an investment in your super-
star sales reps. If you motivate them correctly, they will
Short-sighted salespeople might be able to land accounts, motivate you to be even more successful.
but when a competitor hits them up to switch, there is no
loyalty established, which makes it easy for merchants Getting creative and rejecting an off-the-shelf, take-it-or-
to jump ship. Relationships that are nurtured from their leave-it program for your agents is key to success. Just
inception are much more likely to result in merchants who like merchants, good agents might have different DBMs,
call their current sales reps rather than defecting to other and the ISO that can correctly identify how to help agents
companies that roll in with tempting offers. Identifying reach their own DBMs via customized compensation
merchants' DBMs and meeting those DBMs through plans is the ISO that will win.
managed relationship building will result in more sales
with greater value to both parties. Leading great talent
The competition for great talent Once you have brought super-star salespeople on board,
you must motivate and inspire them. Good leaders are
Let's look at how the competition has changed since 2011. also good teachers, teachers of ethics and techniques that
To begin with, more companies now offer huge sign-on are proven to work within their own ISOs. Good leaders
bonuses. One of the pitfalls of this is if your talented new instill confidence in their people. They never place blame
sales reps leave you soon after joining your ISO, there isn't on someone or the team but provide corrective action
much you can do but watch your money leave with them. and guidance to learn lessons from mistakes made. Good
You might have had them sign an agreement to pay back leaders are interested in hearing from their people and
the bonus if they leave before a certain time but, honestly, aren't all about "my way or the highway." They know we
the amount of money you would spend on court fees and all are engaged in a continual learning process. Successful
attorney fees to enforce the agreement would not pencil leaders are eager to learn new information that can be
out.

However, you must be cre-
ative to attract top talent.
You could use a vehicle al-
lowance, a sign-on bonus,
paid vacations, a tiered com-
mission structure, quarterly
bonuses or many other perks
based on your financial abil-
ity and the generally accept-
ed compensation in your
area. I like to breed a sales-
person who wants to earn
"forever" money by build-
ing residuals. The power of
residuals, through which so
many have become multi-
millionaires in this business,
is real. We get to earn money
every time a client makes a
sale, and if we can learn how
to passively grow this while
keeping our clients happy,
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