Most ISOs create printed or online training materials for agents by cobbling together sales tips gleaned from other industries and tossing in some rudimentary information on regulatory matters, observers say.
But a few industry players are taking a more serious approach.
U.S. Merchant Services, a Cypress, Calif.-based ISO, for example, offers agents a monthly formal training session and has a dedicated training area at its headquarters, says Mike McCormack, managing director of Palma Advisors, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based consulting firm.
"It's more impressive than some of the training facilities I've seen at large companies," McCormack says.
Good training requires dedication on the part of the ISO, according to Hiram Hernandez Sr., president of First Capital Payments, a Rochester, N.Y.-based ISO. Hernandez or his son and partner Hiram Jr. leads daily 8:30 a.m. training sessions for the company's agents. If both partners are out of town, one of them teaches the class by phone, Hernandez says.
Well-trained agents give merchants a good impression of the acquiring business in general and give ISOs an advantage over competitors, observers say.
Moreover, agents want to work for ISOs that offer effective training, observers agree.
"If you're going to be competitive in the space as an ISO or acquirer, you have to offer agents something more than just a basic Web page and merchant applications," McCormack says. "You've got to offer training resources."
