In today’s economy, merchants still want to know how much credit and debit card processing is going to cost, but independent sales organizations say price is only one part of the sales pitch. Listening to what the merchant says it needs can be equally as important in securing the deal.
“Never tell a merchant what he needs,” says Linda Rossetti, president of Bluestone Payments, a Peachtree City, Ga.-based ISO. “Let him tell you what he is looking for and then make suggestions as to what product will fit his needs. Do more listening than talking, and the sale will be yours.”
However, some sales agents quickly turn to price when confronted with a merchant question they cannot answer, says Tom Della Badia, senior vice president of third-party acquiring at Cynergy Data LLC, a Long Island City, N.Y.-based processor. When they do not receive a satisfactory answer, merchants may say they are paying too much and ask whether the sales agent can beat the price, he notes.
“When merchants ask about a product and the rep doesn’t know the answer, the rep will take the path of least resistance and go back to price,” Della Badia says.
The lowest price for credit and debit card processing likely is not enough to persuade a merchant to switch service providers. The merchant likely will have questions about other aspects of an ISO’s service.
For example, agent knowledge of interchange–a component of the overall rate merchants pay for credit and debit card transaction processing–is vital, as is knowing the fees an ISO or its acquiring bank may charge to a merchant, Rossetti says.
Agents also should know the billing practices of different processors so they can explain them to merchants. “One must price competitively, but it does not necessarily have to be the lowest-priced proposal to win a merchant opportunity,” Rossetti says.
