[bdshaw]

Guys ( ladies excluded) I am loathe to admit it but MINE IS SHORTER.
May we now move on?
Bob

[KTK]

Lol @ Bob, dying over here. That's how you change the tune of the thread. Well done my man

[cbs]

Lol. Bob.

[John Galt]

Must admit Bob, good way to stop short....the argument. Diplomatic too.

[John Galt]

Doubt the funders have any regrets, not had a default yet. Most of my clients eventually end up with a decent paydex. But we have different styles. Never had a funder cxl me either. All I suggest is that ISOs try to limit competition by not allowing alot of enquiries on their clients. I agree with only sending the file out to a few lenders though. I do not like the stacking but it is hard to prevent as so many funders are willing to do it and so many advertise that they won't file UCCs. Earlier I made the argument that stacking is like someone with 10 credit cards....

[FUNd]

Thanks John!

[John Galt]

You're right and I agree to disagree with the poster.

[Drizzle]

I do believe we all agree John Galt is a jackass

[John Galt]

Sir Jackass to you drippy.

[AndyYSCISOdept]

My number one tip, seriously, is to go get an english grammar textbook and memorize the damn thing. Nothing has helped me more in business than being able to communicate clearly and effectively, without resorting to the buzzwords and rhetorical devices that my prospects have already heard twenty times today.

I would take on a room of callers single handedly, and I'm currently outgunning five people with that approach.

I am being completely genuine when I say, "That is the single greatest piece of advice in the history of Daily Funder."

[jotucker1983]

If you can sort through all of the infighting, this thread is probably one of the best ever on Daily Funder. A lot of good, useful, information.

[Zach]

TIP #8

Continuations Vs. Advances

At the end of two separate calls, you hear:

"Wow that's great! I really can use some money for my business. Why don't you call me on Tuesday so we can talk about it?"

"Okay, what do I need to do? Can you email me over the application? I'll try to get it to you by the end of the day."

What's the difference between these two statements? Is one objectively better than the other?

In fact, one of them is a continuation, whereas the other one is an advance.

A continuation is where the client makes no specific action to move the deal forward. They usually end up leaving you exactly where you started. Typical continuations include:

"I'm a bit busy, can you call me later?"
"Why don't you call me later and we can go over the application together"
"Let me talk to my partner and you can call me back later"

Nothing has progressed. A continuation is typically defined by the customer making positive noises so you FEEL like there is progress, but there is no action taken to advance the sale. A continuation is, in most cases, a polite way of getting you off the phone. A continuation is an unsuccessful call.


An advance is where the client moves the deal forward in some way (Signing an application, agreement on terms, returning a signed contract, a verbal commitment to send documents in). An advance is a successful call.

The reason why it's important to distinguish between the two becomes apparent when you see a new rep, beaming with excitement, saying something like:

"Zach!!! My client just told me he needs $250K!!! He told me to call him next week and talk about it."
"The client said he had an issue with the contract but that he would talk with his wife and call me back"
"This guy said if I call him next Monday he will send the app over!"

Now, none of these situations are terrible... but they are not an unmistakable commitment to push the deal forward, and therefore, are not worth getting excited over. Hell, they aren't even worth thinking about.

One of the key things to teach your new sales people is the difference between continuations and advances. This way they understand and learn how to push the sale forward, rather than getting caught up in a cycle of endless callbacks that lead nowhere.

[rick_clsfunding]

good stuff Zach...

[John Galt]

I always like to smoke out the objection "obviously you must have a reason for saying that, do you mind if I ask why?" Then once I find out the reason, clarify it and empathize. "so your saying you don't like the terms?" and isolate it. and then use it to close (resolve). "So if I can change the terms can we do get this done today?"

[Zach]

I always like to smoke out the objection "obviously you must have a reason for saying that, do you mind if I ask why?" Then once I find out the reason, clarify it and empathize. "so your saying you don't like the terms?" and isolate it. and then use it to close (resolve). "So if I can change the terms can we do get this done today?"

I agree -- isolating the objection is very important. "Is there anything else about my offer that is holding you back? So if I can resolve this one issue, would we be able to move forward with this loan today?"

[AndyYSCISOdept]

I agree -- isolating the objection is very important. "Is there anything else about my offer that is holding you back? So if I can resolve this one issue, would we be able to move forward with this loan today?"

Very good point. It also allows you to see whether or not you are wasting your time chasing down the "perpetual shopper" (we all have a few of these that give us nightmares) Ultimately, my time is the most valuable commodity I have and if someone is wasting it I become very upset.

[jotucker1983]

Another thing you guys could do is to just disclose a particular "range" of what your terms, pricing and conditions will be at the very beginning so the merchant knows what he's getting into.

With my deals, by the time the guy has sent me an app, he's already "accepted" what the terms, pricing and conditions will be. It's just up to the status of his risk profile on if I can get him approved or not. If I get him approved at the terms, pricing, and conditions we discussed at the beginning, there's usually no objections because he's already been made aware of the pricing at the beginning.

[FUNd]

Price conditioning is a good idea John, however since the pricing is so ugly on MCA, I think it's probably a good idea for a salesperson do that after the ROI is found and the dream is sold. Let them spend the capital in their mind first, then hit them with the costs. A knee jerk reaction to 80% APR is a resounding "no" in most situations, regardless of the need.

[jotucker1983]

Price conditioning is a good idea John, however since the pricing is so ugly on MCA, I think it's probably a good idea for a salesperson do that after the ROI is found and the dream is sold. Let them spend the capital in their mind first, then hit them with the costs. A knee jerk reaction to 80% APR is a resounding "no" in most situations, regardless of the need.

FUNd that's a good point, it's just that what happens on my side is that if I usually wait until the last minute to begin discussing pricing, I usually will get a lot of push-back from those that have "other options".

Bank declines are very difficult in this regard because they do in fact have a project in mind that they are looking to use the capital for, but even if a particular bank declines them, usually they have these "other options" available that directly or indirectly compete against me.

So for me to save time, I always discuss the pricing ranges upfront. It filters out those merchants that just without a shadow of a doubt ever consider my pricing because they in fact have other options, so I can get down to the merchants who don't have all of these other options and we can workout something on the pricing.

What I've been finding is that there's this small group of merchants that will be open to our pricing as long as they have a project with a good ROI for example that suites it. And then there's a LARGE group of merchants (the majority of merchants) that will never accept our pricing, no matter how much we market to them or how "skilled" we are at selling it to them.

[Michael I]

Price conditioning is a good idea John, however since the pricing is so ugly on MCA, I think it's probably a good idea for a salesperson do that after the ROI is found and the dream is sold. Let them spend the capital in their mind first, then hit them with the costs. A knee jerk reaction to 80% APR is a resounding "no" in most situations, regardless of the need.

Fund never say what the interest rate is if they don't ask . Tell them best case we get you a $100,000 with a payback of a $115,000 paid out over a year . If they assume that is 15percent , let them . And like John tucker said this way you weed out the ones only looking for a bank loan . At the end of the day it's easier to bring them to a 1.3 if they were expecting a 1.15 and not 6 percent .

[Zach]

TIP #9

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is the single most significant indicator of success in any salesperson. Picture every extremely successful salesperson you know; odds are they are confident and self-assured.

Self-esteem inversely impacts a rep's fear of failure; this prevents "call reluctance".

Self-esteem reduces the fear of rejection; this allows the confident salesperson to ask for the sale, stay strong in the face of a barrage of "NO's", and not be scared to deliver high rates when necessary.

I understand that this tip seems a bit "new-agey" or hokey... but I assure you it is grounded in proper psychology. Self esteem is the gateway to success for salespeople. It effects the their tone of voice, how professional they sound, and how secure they are with their product. It allows them to answer tough questions without hemming and hawing.

Here are a few things you can do to boost the self-esteem of your reps:

1. Buy company gym passes and encourage them to work out (in a legal, non-HR issue kind of way)
2. Require reps to dress in professional attire (ties rather than just collared shirts)
3. Have a sales library and allow reps to check out books
4. Have your reps write out daily affirmations and repeat them out loud once per day at a designated time (super cheesy, but works)
5. Have your reps speak at a louder volume
6. Set realistic daily/weekly goals with small rewards (whoever gets the most apps today gets a $50 gift card to starbucks)
7. Role play and rehearse sales pitches daily or weekly
8. Give them sales training CD's to listen to in their car
9. Have daily or weekly product training so they understand what they are selling

I'm not saying you have to go out and do all of these things... but everything you do that increases the self-esteem of your reps is going to result in a more effective, confident sales force. It will help them improve every area of their lives, which will have a compounding effect on their sales ability.

[FUNd]

Very good. Self esteem is the #1 key to success in anything you do in life. Professionally and personally.

Have to disagree shouting daily affirmations, neckties, and role playing for any type of mid to senior level inside reps. Would be a lot of water cooler talk about those ones, like "is anyone else hiring?". Most of these seem applicable for 22 year old new grads perhaps that don't mind going through the hazing of being new to the professional sales game.

[anonymous]

Just take everyone to LIV, get bottle service and a bunch of girls. Self esteem? Check.

[Zach]

Very good. Self esteem is the #1 key to success in anything you do in life. Professionally and personally.

Have to disagree shouting daily affirmations, neckties, and role playing for any type of mid to senior level inside reps. Would be a lot of water cooler talk about those ones, like "is anyone else hiring?". Most of these seem applicable for 22 year old new grads perhaps that don't mind going through the hazing of being new to the professional sales game.

Yeah, most of it is pretty silly and designed for newer reps (usually younger). Ties are a fun thing if you have to "earn" not having to wear one... Once you fund 50 deals you get to work without a tie.

A seasoned rep would just need proper resources and enough free space to excel. As long as they are making money, let them do their thing.

[Zach]

TIP #10

Manage Your Clients

Depending on the set of data you are using, it might take an excellent app chaser 50-75 outbound calls to get an app. It might take an average chaser 150 calls. It might take a poor chaser 400 or more calls. I've seen a guy who averages 3 applications every day with about 80-100 outbound calls (guy is a BEAST). Often times this relentless prospecting can consume your entire day.

Even after you get the application, there's plenty of work to be done. The client needs to get approved, accept their approval, and sign contract documents. At each stage of this process a certain percentage of applicants will fall out; this is what we refer to as a sales funnel.

Without referencing my KPI's, here's some random numbers to look at:

200 calls = 1 app
10 apps = 6 approvals
6 approvals = 3 fundings

Using these metrics you can, to some extent, assume that it will take approximately 666.66 calls per funded deal. Assuming an average call volume of 150 per day, you could fund a deal roughly once per four or five days.

The point I am making is that it is a lot of work to find a funded deal. In fact, prospecting is usually the most time-consuming part of what we do. It takes a long time to find enough funded deals to build a significant residual portfolio.

Most reps, after funding a deal, don't reach out to their merchant ever again... Until it's time to renew. By the time you call them back, they have stacked your loan three times and have two offers currently on the table. They've forgotten who you are, and are just looking for another money-peddler to give them a 4-month 1.45.

It is incredibly important to maintain constant communication with your funded clients. It is much easier, and less time consuming, to retain an existing customer, than it is to make another 666.66 calls and find a new one.

Long story short... stay in front of your people and make sure when they buy again, they buy from YOU.