When it comes to e-commerce businesses, mastermind coaching can be a powerful force multiplier when brainstorming solutions that can help a venture to grow. This applies to any e-commerce enterprise, but it is especially true for individuals who are looking to sell high-ticket items. Moving high-ticket items through an e-commerce platform has some unique challenges, and a mastermind coach can be an excellent resource in helping a businessperson to put in place the necessary infrastructure to support these sales. As a leader in the internet sales industry, E-Commerce 4 IM can advise coaches and business owners. We have years of experience helping sellers of high-ticket items sell their products online.
Defining the terms—high dollar sales and mastermind coaching
It’s always useful to explain what we mean by high ticket sales and mastermind coaching from the get-go.
- High-ticket sales: This term refers to the price of individual items or the aggregate price of things that are typically sold as a package; the term “high ticket sales” has nothing to do with sales volume (that’s another issue in and of itself). When thinking about high-ticket sales, think expensive; items like computers, jewelry, flat-screen TVs, fancy electronics, costly consulting packages—anything that has a high price tag in comparison to other products in the e-commerce universe.
- Mastermind coaching: This is more than just business coaching. Mastermind coaching is a powerful tool that can help e-commerce merchants clarify their planning, sharpen their business acumen, and polish their interpersonal skills. Often done in groups, mastermind coaching achieves its goals by relying on concepts like confidentiality, openness to new ideas, mutual support, honesty, and respect. It’s a great way to leverage the experiences and strengths of others to bolster e-commerce success.
How mastermind coaching can help high-ticket merchants
As a part of planning the roll-out of a new product, mastermind coaches will help their client think through strategies and resources to help make success become a reality. To that end, it’s critical that a mastermind group considers the unique challenges presented by high dollar sales.
What is a merchant account?
In order to understand why high-ticket sales might present some difficulties, you have to delve into the complexities of merchant accounts. A merchant account is not like a personal checking account at a local bank; its purpose is to retain money only long enough to settle credit card charges. You can think of a merchant account as the (electronic) place where customers and merchants get together to exchange funds. Once the charges are settled, the money is deposited into the merchant’s account of choice.
Risk and the cardholder agreement
The devil is in the details, however, as the purchaser’s cardholder agreement stipulates that they will receive the product or service that they have paid for. The merchant bank account is essentially a line of credit for the e-commerce business. In other words, what the merchant bank is saying is this: “We trust that you (the business) will deliver the product or service that has been purchased.”
The issue with high-ticket sales is that the rate of chargebacks tends to be higher than other types of products, whether this is due to defective products, high frequency of returns, or fraud. Fraud is especially prevalent in e-commerce high-ticket sales; one estimate says that nearly the majority of all chargebacks are due to fraud. The bank has to recover that money from someone—until they do, the bank is left holding the bag. For that reason, merchant banks consider high dollar sales to be high-risk products.
Quality, security, and mitigating risk
Keep your SSL certificates updated and to the industry standard. Implement fraud protection measures and chargeback mitigation schemes. By making sure your business is spotless in this regard, you significantly decrease the likelihood of experiencing shutdowns. After all, not having g a merchant account will kill any e-commerce business.
Where to find help
If you are a mastermind coach looking to bring fresh solutions to your clients, or if you are part of a mastermind group and want to offer some intriguing ideas about how to manage high-ticket sales, E-Commerce 4 IM may be able to help. We specialize in credit card processing, SSL certificates, and chargeback mitigation for high-risk internet businesses. Give us a call today at 1-800-570-1347 or contact us via our website.