It's been more than a week since federal authorities captured the man behind the United States' largest financial data-security hack, the Heartland Payments breach. As the week unfolded, more details emerged.

The breach has been a slap in the face for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, since Heartland had been given the seal of PCI certification before the cyber attack. The breach has also marred the reputations of Visa and MasterCard, and left consumers once again questioning the security of retail ATMs.

Court records revealed a direct link between the cyber breach and the Citi ATM compromise at 7-Eleven, which came to light several months ago.

More than 130 million debit and credit cards were reportedly compromised, and the 28-year-old mastermind, Albert Gonzales, behind the scheme is accused of also playing roles in the TJX Cos. and Hannaford Brothers Co. compromises.

The former Secret Service informant allegedly was able to break into networks at retailers and major financial institutions to steal card numbers and PINs.

Mainstream news reports hit with force last week, with financial advice coming from all angles and directions. Among the top precautions consumers were advised to take: Avoid retail ATMs all together, since they are incorrectly labeled as being less secure than bank-owned ATMs; don't use debit; and avoid online purchases.

In reality, the payments industry is actually very safe, and consumers are often given poor advice. But the ATM industry has done little to put itself out in front in a way that gets the truth out to the public.

The ATM Industry Association has spearheaded a few initiatives through its best practices, but much of the onus falls on the banks and credit unions, since they have direct relationships with their customers and members. ISOs also could do more positive PR.

ISOs should educate the merchants they place ATMs with, telling them to talk with their customers about the safety of retail ATMs. And getting the word out to the mainstream media is critical. It can be challenging, but the industry needs to do a better job of putting itself out in front of the cameras and having its voice heard.

ATMIA could be a great organization to lead the PR pack.

"The ATM industry as a whole is very secure," says Mike Lee, chief executive of ATMIA. "Following the mass migration to Windows XP ATMs, we have been working on new ATM software security best practices due out in mid-September. Crime will migrate increasingly to cyber space because the prize — breaking into data storage systems containing sensitive customer data — brings a big pay-off and the risks of detection may be lower than in other crimes and in other operating environments."

But most consumers don't know or care about XP ATMs and the difference between an ATM-skimming attack and a cyber hack. Most also don't understand that retail ATMs, in many ways, are more secure than their FI counterparts, since FI ATMs are unattended after-hours and get higher transaction volumes — thus making them prime targets for skimmers.

"The percentage of transactions at ATMs that are fraudulent is miniscule relative to fraudulent transactions to credit cards," says Sam Ditzion, chief executive of Tremont Capital Group, a strategic planning and acquisition advisory firm that specializes in the ATM industry.

And what about the notions that debit is less secure than credit and online transactions are bad? Neither claim is founded.

Yes. Debit is vulnerable, but the consumer never pays the price, unless the suspicious charge or withdrawal is not reported to the FI. Even then, the vast majority of suspicious transactions and breaches are captured by the bank or credit union before the customer or member even notices. And the FI always absorbs the cost.

The same is true of online transactions. Advising consumers to stop buying goods online is ridiculous. More, not fewer, transactions will occur online over the coming months and years. Online purchases are convenient and secure. And if a card is compromised, again, the FI bears the loss.

"I have never heard of an example in which a victim of skimming fraud did not get a complete refund from their bank very quickly," Ditzion said. "So sure, consumers need to be vigilant and review their statements, but if you see that your account got compromised, your bank will credit your account."

Lee told me last week that this breach may be the nudge the United States needs to make a move toward EMV (the Europay, MasterCard, Visa standard) — which could be a good thing.

"We have seen a fraud migration toward non-EMV compliant markets," Lee said. "There is no bullet-proof vest that prevents all attacks by criminals on our things of value, whether cash, cards or online payments."

There has been a great deal of talk over recent years that the digital signage industry is finally “crossing the chasm” of early adopters and pioneers into the mainstream. We believe that this process is now underway and that the growth in the industry that has often been predicted is materializing.

There has been a great deal of talk over recent years that the digital signage industry is finally “crossing the chasm” of early adopters and pioneers into the mainstream. We believe that this process is now underway and that the growth in the industry that has often been predicted is materializing.
 
We believe that this is based around five key factors:
 
a) Clearer understanding of the benefits of digital signage by sector.
 
When any new medium arises, it tends to use paradigms from old media to launch the new medium. For example, television borrowed from theatre and the Internet borrowed from magazines. This continues for a while until the new medium begins to create its own vocabulary and changes things in line with the way consumers use the new medium.
 
Similarly the DOOH space initially used the paradigms of billboards and television when it first launched. While these paradigms may be appropriate in certain situations, it is only now beginning to re-invent itself as its own medium meeting the specific needs of consumers in a place-based way.
 
There is now a much clearer focus on understanding the role and objectives of the network it is an advertising, merchandising and information network with clearer metrics on measuring the ROI.
 
This also spills through into understanding how the signage network will work in different environments and how the customer should be addressed. Advertising has classically gone through four phases: interruption, entertainment, engagement and dialogue. In the first phase, the ad interrupts what the consumer is doing and often forces them to watch the ad. This was the classical television advertising model of the seventies where consumers had no choice but to view the ad.
 
The eighties marked the start of entertaining advertising where the consumer wanted to see the ad and received a payoff from it. The Internet moved things along in the nineties towards an engagement model where the consumer focused on ads that interested them and they became more engaged with the products. Finally in the last few years brands have realized that advertising is about a dialogue with the consumer. Mobile and social networking technologies facilitate this ongoing dialogue.
 
Digital signage can also use these models effectively in different environments. For instance, in environments with a fast moving audience (outdoor, transport hubs, malls), the interrupt model still dominates the out of home space. In areas with a higher dwell time (cinemas, beauty salons), you start seeing more of an entertainment and engagement model while in other specific areas of healthcare, some retail environments and food services you can now move towards an engagement and dialogue model.
 
The dialogue model is being used effectively by some digital signage providers. For example, EnQii partner with Ping Mobile, who link the digital signage software to their mobile marketing infrastructure. This allows viewers of digital signage ads to respond and interact using their cellular or mobile handheld technology.
 
This type of strategic analysis of the networks allows the operator to ensure the best content is delivered in the most appropriate fashion to get the desired result.
 
b) Maturing of the technology and content
 
Another area that is driving the industry forward is the maturing technology. Historically, the industry has moved from unconnected DVD based networks to simple connected networks to more complex networks with sophisticated advertising scheduling.
 
Going forward, it will be important that the network owner has technology that utilizes the basics – it needs to be scalable, reliable and secure. But it also needs to be an open platform that allows third party and internally developed applications to link to it to provide cost and revenue benefits. EnQii, for example, has always been a believer in open API’s (Application Program Interfaces), which allows customers to create front ends that link to the software so that they can link into their own workflows. This also allows linkages to “best of breed” systems such as ordering systems for digital menu boards, wayfinding, ePOS and queuing systems on an as needed basis.
 
Finally, the technology needs to be easy to use, but complex enough to perform all the key tasks needed. This is no mean feat, as the software has to be used by marketing professionals as well as systems administrators. The wrong design fill frustrates both types of users, whereas the right design will ensure neither of them notice the complexity.
 
The content has also matured. Initially networks often put up TV or stills that they had available. However, current networks such as Footlocker, Care Media, Harley Davidson, and the WHEN network are realizing that ultimately what matters is that what is seen on the screen and a deep understanding of customer behavior will allow the networks to get the best results.
 
c) ‘Serious’ companies beginning to invest in signage networks
 
As is typical for companies “crossing the chasm”, network operators have gone from an entrepreneur with a dream and some family funding to large multinational companies beginning to invest as well as financial companies putting serious investment behind networks.
 
This is important because a lot of early failures in the industry’s experimental years have been from entrepreneurs who secured a good estate and some financing, but they made the mistake of assuming that they could build advertising revenues as they rolled their network out. Typically ad revenues come in on a stepped basis over time. Ideally, networks need a certain critical mass which is dependent on the advertising strategy (national, regional, local) and the desirability of the demographic before receiving any revenues. Hence, there is a need for adequate funding to bridge the gap to that critical mass as opposed to assuming ad revenues will flow as soon as just a few locations are installed.
 
In the last six months we have seen companies like McDonald’s and well-financed companies like Care Media and Zoom all invest in the space. These rollouts bode well for the industry, especially in recessionary times. The food services sector, healthcare, hair salons and a few others continue to do well in a soft economy as the network operators realize the importance of staying close to the consumer and influencing their purchases when dollars are tight.
 
Finally, the ad agencies have also started to set up dedicated divisions for digital out of home with Kinetic and Posterscope taking the lead in this area.
 
d) ‘Serious’ suppliers providing a full service
 
The flip side of serious network owners is that of serious suppliers. Historically the digital signage industry was a bit of a cottage industry. Over recent years this has changed and EnQii was set up specifically to create a leadership position in the space. The focus moved from hardware to communications – having a deep understanding of what signage works and what does not and how to get the best return. Operating as a global player and being well funded became the focus in order to be able to invest in the best technology for the customers. It became about creating the best partnerships and offering a full service solution to large networks. The idea is to let the networks do what they do best – monetizing their customer by offering the best service and content while allowing the service provider to do the rest and minimize the risk of the venture.
 
e) The view from China
 
Finally, the growth of DOOH in the Chinese market has proved that there is a real business there. Focus Media is generating close to $400m a year in revenues and has bypassed many of the agencies to go directly to advertisers for a large portion of this money. AirMedia had revenues of $119m and Vision had revenues of over $100m. While some dynamics in China are different – for instance, there is a higher propensity for out of home consumption – it proves that there is real money to be made in these businesses.
 
In summary, optimism remains about the growth of the DOOH sector and the belief that it will continue to accelerate as all involved learn more about the medium and how the consumer interacts with it.

Although the credit card processing industry is extremely complicated, most people believe that they are experts in credit card use. After all, we all use credit cards to buy presents for our spouse and to pay for dinner at restaurants. Additionally, we all use ATM debit cards to withdraw money from our bank accounts. However, the credit card processing industry is far more complicated than it seems and in order to maximize self-service equipment profitability, it is necessary to understand how the credit card industry actually works.

The credit card processing industry consists of two primary aspects. One aspect is credit card issuance, which consists of providing credit cards, and the resulting credit, to card users. The other aspect is merchant acquisition. Merchant acquisition consists of signing up merchants to process their credit card transactions through a specific member bank.

Prior to suggesting methods to increase credit card revenue for self-service equipment operators, I should explain the manner in which credit card processing activity is compensated. In order to process credit card transactions, the Card Associations (Visa, MasterCard, and the like) contract with various banks (known as member banks) to provide processing services to merchants. Each member bank contracts with various Independent Sales Organizations ("ISO") to solicit merchants to contract with that member bank. Each ISO contracts with smaller ISOs and has its own agents for such solicitation. In turn, the smaller ISOs have their own agents and may also have their own ISOs. Larger ISOs are often sponsored by the member bank to also become Card Association members. The rights of the various merchant solicitation entities differ based upon their contractual arrangements and their position in the merchant acquisition hierarchy.

When a merchant agrees to process through a member bank and during the life of the resulting processing relationship, the contracting merchant may be charged various fees. Additionally, each time the merchant processes a credit card transaction, the merchant is charged a fee for the transaction. Finally, when a new merchant is enrolled, the merchant may be sold or given a POS terminal and other equipment to enable processing. These charges to the merchant constitute the revenue which is divided among the various players in the merchant acquisition process.

However, each payment stream is divided differently. Generally, the various fees are divided among the various ISOs and agents involved in enrolling the merchant and sometimes the member bank also shares in such revenue. Such fees are generally implemented by the ISO or agent and may be waived at their discretion. The credit card processing fees (transaction charges) are divided among the relevant Card Association, the member bank, and each ISO and agent in the acquisition chain of the individual merchant. The amount received by each participant is determined by the contractual relationship between the parties. For example, assume that a merchant processes a transaction which generates processing fees and that the merchant was enrolled by an agent of a second tier ISO. A portion of the fee is paid to the Card Association. The remainder of the fee is retained by the member bank.

The member bank retains its portion of the fee and transfers the balance of the fee to the primary ISO on a monthly basis. The primary ISO retains its portion of the fee and transfers the balance to the secondary ISO which solicited the merchant on a monthly basis. The secondary ISO retains its portion of the fee and pays the balance to the agent who actually enrolled the merchant. Although each fee consists of only pennies, the volume of transactions can make the business very profitable.

Furthermore, once a merchant is enrolled, the payment of processing fees (known as residuals) continues through the life of the merchant-member bank relationship. During this period, except for the member bank and sometimes the primary ISO, very little is required to be done by the other entities in the merchant acquisition chain to receive their residual payment.

Finally, since most self-service equipment has the credit card processing capabilities built in, the issue of the sale or distribution of processing equipment rarely comes into play. However, where the ISO provides free equipment to obtain the account, the absence of the need for such equipment is a saving to the ISO.

The foregoing is an extremely simplified version of the manner in which the merchant acquisition process is compensated. However, an understanding of the process suggests various methods to maximize a self-service equipment operator's or provider's profitability from the use of credit cards. Some of the available methods are as follows:

1. Negotiate. Processing rates and fees vary substantially throughout the industry. There are many different ISOs and agents who are attempting to obtain your credit card processing business. After all, signing up a merchant can generate a long term profit stream with little additional work. Therefore, you should be aware of competitive rates in the industry and the type of fees being charged. Although every salesperson you meet will tell you that his rates and fees are the best available, only one of them can be telling you the truth. For example, some programs charge set-up fees and annual fees and some do not. It is important to obtain a full understanding of what you will be expected to pay in writing. If there are fees being requested, there are alternate processors that may not charge such fees. Just because you are contacted directly by a salesperson does not mean that he will offer you the best terms. Also, you should be careful to limit your contractual commitment to the location for which you are requesting processing services. However, please understand that you are entering into a contractual commitment for a fixed amount of time. If you breach your commitment and the processing volume is significant enough, the processor will file suit to enforce the agreement. Washor and Associates has filed such suits on behalf of various ISOs.

2. Understand. Often there are provisions in the merchant agreement which may have an unexpected adverse effect upon your business. Therefore, you need to read and understand the merchant agreement before you sign it. If the term is too long, you may be stuck with an unsatisfactory processing arrangement for a long time. If the terms relating to chargeback are unreasonable, you may have your ability to perform credit card processing severely restricted.

We recently had a small incubator client who had been quite successful with various platform based businesses. The client opened up a new business which was less successful. It stopped soliciting new customers and continued to service existing customers only. However, the percentage of chargebacks increased because no new clients were being signed up to offset the number of chargeback transactions. Its ISO refused to process for his new business and ceased processing for his old businesses despite their generating close to $500,000 in monthly business with minimal chargebacks. Furthermore, the ISO TMF'd (put on industry list of merchants who were terminated by their processors) the client which made it virtually impossible for him to obtain an American processing for his businesses. In order to obtain an American processing relationship for his businesses, Washor and Associates had to contact the individual in charge of merchant acquisition for a large member bank. The client obtained the processing relationship but at increased rates. This could have been avoided if the client had understood the terms of his merchant agreement and he had spoken to the ISO before launching his new product .

Likewise, many ISOs charge merchants for permitting the merchants to monitor their own account activity. This should be discussed with the salesperson and the liabilities and cost imposed from such activity fully understood.

Finally, almost every member bank and many large ISOs have their own merchant agreements. Each agreement is different and although they appear to be boilerplate, they should be carefully reviewed before being executed and any problem provision should be discussed.

3. Join the Party. Assuming that your processing volume is large enough, there is no reason that you can not become an ISO or an agent.

If you are an operator of sufficient self-service equipment, many ISOs would be willing to enroll you as a secondary ISO or an agent. If your volume is large enough, there are some member banks that would do so as well. As an ISO or agent, you would be reimbursed the portion of your processing fees which would go to the ISO or agent which enrolls you. Since it is generally the ISO or agent which sets the various fees charged to merchants, you should be able to avoid the bulk of these fees and obtain a lower processing rate by enrolling yourself. In this regard, you should be aware that there is no special knowledge, education, training, or license required. Although if you desire to become an ISO, you will need to satisfy the Association requirements for being designated as an ISO. Of course, the value of this tactic will depend upon your actual processing volume and the type of business in which you engage.

If you are a seller or a lessor of self-service equipment, it might prove profitable for you to become an ISO and contractually to require the merchants purchasing or leasing your equipment to process credit card transactions through you. Of course, the profitability of this tactic would depend upon the number of units which you sell or lease and the type of business for which the equipment is used. This strategy is more complicated than the other strategies suggested in this article and requires marketing skill in addition to legal documentation. However, this strategy should enable you to give the purchasers or lessors of your equipment better processing rates than they would be able to obtain on their own and if properly structured, could be extremely profitable for you.

Finally, it is important to keep in mind that I have presented a complicated industry in a very simplistic fashion and that implementing the foregoing strategies requires time, effort, and a thorough understanding of the process. In other words, some of the foregoing strategies are easier to suggest than they are to carry out. Nonetheless, every self-service equipment operator using credit card processing can engage in comparative shopping and negotiate to obtain better transaction pricing and fewer fees. There is no reason to pay more than necessary for credit card processing.

Lawrence Washor is an attorney at Washor and Associates, a firm that specializes in the self-service, ATM, and credit card-processing industries.

We live in incredibly complex times – and that’s a good thing.

Complexity suffers from bad press. A New York Times story on restructuring General Motors observes that GM “is a very, very complicated company,” and it’s not meant as a compliment. Advocates for tax reform pin an encyclopedia of ills on today’s “unbelievably complicated” code. An IT firm selling “autonomic policy management” software regards “complex business systems” as something to be “cured.”

Simplicity, on the other hand, is overrated – and sometimes unattainable, as digital signage system strategists well know. There is a big difference between helping users navigate complex spaces or buying decisions via a simple, no-learning-curve interface – and oversimplifying a complex challenge. The first is a design triumph, the second dishonest. People in our business like to tell each other, “keep it simple,” but simplicity is often just a code word for narrower choice.

And consumers like choice. They vote in favor of more diverse options all the time. Highly complex systems and processes, from Amazon.com to airline yield management to, yes, the build-to-order methodology at GM, evolve in response to consumer demand. They deliver vast customer and shareholder value: diversity of choice, degrees of customization and fulfillment speed unimaginable until recently. Very few consumers campaign for Baskin-Robbins to knock its 31 flavors down to vanilla and chocolate, or for Cover Girl to reduce its lipstick catalog to a straightforward red or pink. The virtues of business complexity far outweigh the drawbacks.

As product specifications, consumer buying decisions, financial transactions, and personalized, profile-based pricing offers grow more complex, chaos is a natural risk. Chaos is complexity’s evil twin, and it repels customers as surely as the products of complex systems lure them.

There is too much chaos in business environments today – customization processes run amok. But gross simplification is usually the wrong impulse. An oversimplified screen-based buying process may omit lucrative up-sell and cross-sell opportunities, for example. An oversimplified content management solution may not permit addressable, real-time pricing changes, leaving store screens out of sync with direct mail campaigns or online offers.

Besides, customers gravitate to providers that deliver personalized, responsive results on express timetables. Taking refuge in simplistic solutions is not only unrealistic, it’s bad business. (Credit Amazon and FedEx for conditioning us all to expect we can order nearly any product under the sun for delivery tomorrow morning; in that case, as in so many others, complex systems – albeit mostly masked from public view – are the consumer’s best friend.) In this marketplace, paring back customization options is not a winning strategy.

Excellence lies with masking complexity, not murdering it. The key competency that sets experience designers apart in this complex era is the degree to which they can identify, assess and mitigate chaos without compromising the desirable complexities of a business that satisfies customers and makes money.

This happens partly through elegant interface design. But even more important is a strategic sense of the client’s business; it’s difficult, we feel, for a solution provider to excel without complementing design and technology expertise with strategy.

This is a fantastic time to be working in this sector of the communications business. The best self-service process designers and visual information architects are developing new forms of literacy – entirely new languages to inform, entertain and sell to consumers. The words “complex” and “complicated” aren’t slights; when describing productive businesses with satisfied customers, they’re high compliments. Self-service and signage solutions that harness digital systems to deliver complex products and services via apparently simple and rapidly gratifying processes – that’s what best-in-class means today.

Tom Farmer and partner Jodi Swanson run Solid State Information Design (www.solidstateid.com), a research and consulting firm that helps connect digital signage providers with clients and end users. Erik Knutson is president of Design Laboratory, Inc., a leading professional services firm and Solid State client.

This is not what you nor your customers want to see.

This was taken at a Cincinnati Kroger's grocery location yesterday as my wife and I shopped for our once a month groceries. The deli ordering kiosk which normally sits just inside of the entry to the main store, was sitting by the shopping carts corral with this ugly but obvious sign. When your customers become so familiar with and used to the self-service kiosks you implement in your store, it can be a real disappointment to them when it's unavailable. And while no kiosk can have 100 percent uptime, you should at least move the kiosk out of their view when it is unavailable.

Now, truth be told, I think this was temporarily set aside while they were remodeling the space it normally sits in. New floors, new drywall, new counter tops, etc. so they had good reason to have this kiosk out of commission, and there was a second kiosk closer to the deli. But I believe they could have put this near a power outlet and dropped a temporary Ethernet to it for connectivity. But maybe this is too much of an over simplification of what it would take (I don't know their setup and networking). This would keep the customers happy, and the deli running efficiently... all of the reasons you deployed to begin with.

On a similar note, we just installed new kiosks for Kroger in a new store that hasn't opened yet in Norwood, Cincinnati. These kiosks are for a completely different purpose in the Personal Finance section of the store. We worked with their vendor who creates a lot of their retail displays and store fixtures. They were to provide an "enclosure" around our IBM AnyPlace kiosk computer.

But as of the time we brought the kiosks, connected and installed, they had not delivered the enclosures. As a matter of fact, the client had not even seen them yet. So this should be an interesting integration. We believe that we should have been engaged for the entire kiosk enclosure, software and hardware, and let that partner focus on what they do best. You know it's bad when the client contacts us to provide a turntable type solution to this yet unseen enclosure. Shouldn't that partner have provided that? Ah well, we will go above and beyond to ensure that this deployment goes well.

In the past we have also integrated kiosks into other grocery retailers for loyalty card systems. The kiosks are highly used and loved by the customers as a means to redeem their points and update their account information. In our initial deployment we had a problem with one of the printers not printing correctly and I was needed onsite to help troubleshoot (hardware firmware needed updating). Trust me, when you take one of the two kiosks offline even for a few minutes, the customers are not happy. They had to walk to the other entrance to use that kiosk instead, but they felt inconvenienced. And they were, but the point is that customers love self service. And when they become familiar and accustomed to using it, you need to ensure it is there for them. Don't disappoint your customers and don't take the easy way out. Keep that kiosk online!

Update: Weeks later my wife and I returned to do our weekly shopping (yes, we are trying to eat at home more often) and found to my delight that the staff had taken off the hand written note and put the kiosk back online! They had even improved the signage and branding on and around the kiosk. Nice job! The original location of the kiosk has been replaced with an in store clinic which may be a new trend in additional services being provided by grocers to enable customers to perform many tasks with one visit, ensuring customer loyalty and foot traffic. This explains why the kiosk was in transition and temporarily offline. My preference would be to not have any kiosk, than the one with the "out of order" note taped to it. Consumers need to know that systems are always working to build trust.

When it comes to sales, tried and true rules have been tested and proven. Below is a list of the top five mistakes I see salespeople across industries and professions commonly make. By addressing these issues with your sales force, you can dramatically improve your sales, in ATMs and anything else.

No. 1: Not listening

Salespeople often talk themselves right out of a sale because they are talking and not listening. Salespeople should spend a short amount of time talking about themselves, your company and the solution that your product provides. In fact, a salesperson should talk no more than 40 percent of the time when working with a prospect. The prospect, on the other hand, should talk more than 60 percent of the time about his business, his customers and his challenges.

The salesperson must ask questions that demonstrate she really cares about the potential client's specific needs. If your salesperson is actively engaged in listening, she will have a much higher understanding of the prospect and the prospect's needs.

To be actively listening, your salesperson has to listen to the words, as well as the physical gestures, the voice tone and context. Salespeople with excellent listening skills are able to easily identify a client's real needs and the solutions to fill those needs. The best salespeople are great listeners. When we think of a terrible salesperson, we often think of the stereotypical used-car salesman, who just can't stop talking. So, suggest to your salespeople that they stop talking and start listening.

No. 2: Failing to prospect for new customers

Many salespeople underestimate the importance of prospecting. They need to know that constant prospecting will produce a consistent flow of customers to your business. Even when business is great, salespeople need to prospect for new customers. Inconsistent prospecting is one of the most common mistakes salespeople make. Salespeople must devote a certain percentage of their work week to prospecting for new, qualified customers.

The best way to find new customers is by scheduling a specific portion of your calendar to prospecting only. If done right, the pipeline will be full of new prospects, and thus reduce the common peaks and valleys that occur in sales.

No. 3: Not asking for the order

People want to work with people (and businesses) who genuinely want their business. The easiest way to demonstrate that your company wants the prospect's business is to just ask for it.

A salesperson's presentation should be designed to get a commitment from the client. After investing time, qualifying the customer, explaining and demonstrating how your company's product or service will solve the prospect's problem, it's time to ask the prospect to make a purchase. The salesperson's job is not done until he has confidently asked for, and earned, the order.

I'm surprised at how often a salesperson will do everything well in her presentation and then sheepishly ask for the order. And some salespeople never ask for the order at all.

An "ask" can be the nudge your customer or potential customer needs to make the final positive buying decision. Your salesperson has an obligation to ask for business. The salesperson does not have to be pushy, but should respectfully and with great confidence ask for an order.

Not asking for a buy shows some lack of confidence. The customer won't know if the salesperson is apprehensive about the price, the product, the service or her company. Your salesperson has to ask for the order at the end of his presentation to earn the client's confidence.

No. 4: Failing to follow up

Just because a prospect decides not to buy today does not mean he won't be a buyer in the future. If the prospect is an interested, qualified, potential customer, then someone will sell that prospect, eventually. Your salesperson has done the work, so it should be your salesperson that earns the business, when it comes.

Your company and salesperson have to be the supplier this customer thinks of when he's ready to invest. The way you earn this business is to have a consistent and persistent follow-up program. Most salespeople don't consistently follow up. But following up is a critical step in the selling process.

Your salesperson already has a relationship with this potential customer; build on that relationship. Only the salesperson can convert this missed opportunity into a future sale. Following up should be an integral part of all of our corporate-sales strategies. Customers and prospects are already interested, why would we let them go? The chances of closing a warmed-up lead is much higher than chasing down a new or cold lead. Timely follow up will lead to more sales with fewer leads.

No. 5: Wasting time

Salespeople often waste time in three ways. First, they often chase down non-producing prospects. Some prospects will never buy or invest. To earn any money, some prospects will dissect every one of your profit centers and drain whatever profit you deserve and keep the profit as their own. These "profit parasites," as I call them, need to be encouraged to take their business to your competitor. These non-productive prospects will be happy to take your profit and waste your time.

The second time waster: Not walking away from the "wrong" client. Some potential clients are the extremely high maintenance with very low profit potential. Sales professionals know the "wrong clients" will add a lot of stress on support staff and co-workers. This added stress from these clients can have a negative effect on future sales. The "wrong clients" tie up phone lines, fill up mailboxes and slow down progress.

The third time waster is ineffective time management. A salesperson's main asset is time. When salespeople measure every minute as a profit or a loss, they will see new opportunities. We need to stop spending our time on non-profit-producing activities. The wildly successful and the poorest salespeople have exactly the same amount of time; obviously only one is using her time effectively.

Have your salespeople invest in one of the many time-management programs and use it properly. When salespeople really see how much of their work time is needlessly spent on non-profit-driven activities, they can adjust their schedules and sell much more.

In conclusion, we can teach our salespeople time management and listening skills. Our sales team members also can learn to look out for and steer clear of "profit parasites" and the "wrong customers." Salespeople who can't or won't confidently ask for the order may need to be retrained, remotivated or removed.

Profitable customers think they buy logically, but most of them actually buy emotionally, and a sale is a transfer of emotion. Your salespeople need confidence to seamlessly transfer that emotion to customers so customers can confidently buy products.

Damien Fitzgerald owns DTD Marketing, a marketing and consulting firm that focuses on the ATM field.