Carrington Fisk

Sales. Life. Growth

Seven Reasons Sales Professionals FAIL

by Leave a Comment

If you’ve talked to me or read anything I’ve written here, you already know that I’m an advocate of the nobility of sales. That said, a poor performing sales professional may, from time to time, cut corners in order to “seal the deal”. Racing to the close, pushing into an agreement before the client is ready, omitting potential “objection creating” facts is often how our industry gets a bad wrap.

So how does a sales professional be successful? How do we avoid the end of month desperation?

Here are Seven Reasons Salespeople Fail. Use them as a cautionary tale to [Read more…]

Understanding Payment Processor Cancellation & Closure Fees

by Leave a Comment

Understanding that $295 and up to change your processor

I love Netflix – it’s a great service. I feel like I get a bargain for the $9 or $10 per month I spend. Netflix continues to invest in quality content, the deliverability is stellar, and the interface is super friendly. So go buy some stock already… Seriously though, it’s a great service. But even a great service might get old. I may get tired of it. I may move to a Yurt on the side of a mountain in northern Wyoming without reliable internet service. If I were to cancel my Netflix service, I would be charged $0.

So why is it that if you want to cancel a merchant processing agreement, you have to pay anywhere from $300 to $3,000 to do so? There’s no “cost” to cancel a merchant agreement [Read more…]

What you put your name on says a lot about you

by Leave a Comment

I have been pitched every MLM out there. I’ve been recruited heavily by dozens of sales organizations in just the past year. I got recruited last week by a financial advising company.

I said no not just because I’m happy where I am, but I don’t believe in mutual funds. I think they are antiquated and that technology would have made them obsolete if it weren’t for the salesmanship of its proponents. Does it make them wrong and me right? No, it makes us on different sides of an opinion. What it does mean is that I shouldn’t put myself in a position where I have to sell mutual funds.

More recently, I have been on the other side of recruitment, trying to bring the right people to an opportunity that is right for them.

If you’ve read anything I’ve written on here or on LinkedIn, you’ll know I am an advocate for the Nobility of Sales. I believe sales is a skill and a calling and necessary to make business and life work. You’ll also know that it is a power that must be used wisely.

If you’re going to sell, sell the hell out of whatever you’re selling. If you’re going to sell the hell out of something, you better make sure that is something you want to attach to your reputation, your brand, your name.

In sales, there is nothing more valuable than your personal brand. Your personal brand transcends the product or service you are promoting… unless that product or service drags your brand down.

At my company, we all ride the white horse. We all really believe in what we are doing and that we are doing a great thing. We believe in the service that we offer, that no one will work harder or try harder to make the client love working with us. We believe that the philanthropic focus of our company is not just unique but empowering, allowing us to make a healthy living while helping those who aren’t.

So when you lose a promising prospect to a company that is the antithesis of what we stand for, it’s tough.

It has me thinking – what is your name worth? What are you willing to promote for a check? I get it, we all have goals and bills to pay and the curtain isn’t always drawn back. You can’t always know. But when you do know… when you know that the company that you are going to work for intentionally deceives not just their customers but their employees and partners for the sake of shareholder equity, that is something completely different.

Does it make you a bad person? No, I don’t think it does. I think it says more about your ability to push past fear. The easy choice, the one that isn’t scary, is rarely the best one. Does it mean you’re making a mistake? Yes, I think it does.

Decide who you are and what you stand for. Make sure that the company you work for, the company you start, or the products and services you sell mirror your stance. What you put your name on says a lot about your character, your focus, and your ability to make hard decisions.