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Forty-percent of new accounts that merchants sign up for with independent sales organizations and acquirers are business referrals from trade associations, vendors, accountants and friends, according to an Aite Group LLC report. Fifteen percent of surveyed merchants signed with an ISO or acquirer after receiving a cold call, according to the report "And Besides Pricing? What Drives Merchants To Sign Up With Merchant Processors" released Wednesday. The least successful method of acquiring merchants is through direct-mail campaigns, with only 2% of merchants choosing companies based on mail solicitations, according to the report. "Reputation management is important in this field" because referrals are the best source of new merchants, says Adil Moussa, an analyst with Boston-based Aite and the report's author. The report results were surprising in that "things I took for granted that would work, the results showed that they didn't matter as much. For example, direct mail," says Moussa. Aite surveyed 160 merchants for the report.
