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Merchant-level salespeople contending with uncertain economic changes should consider adopting sales tactics that eschew old-style methods, suggests Jeff Marcous, president and founder of Dharma Merchant Services, a Portland, Ore.-based ISO.
"Lying used to be a common sales tactic," Marcous told attendees at the Western States Acquirers Association conference last week in Anaheim, Calif. In the past, some merchants reported ISOs telling them they could switch their merchant accounts without penalty, but the ISOs failed to disclose termination fees or downplayed them, he says.
Marcous said his ISO's tactic is to tell merchants who say they have time left on their contracts to call back when the contracts expire. Dharma Merchant Services does not charge termination fees. Termination fees are a "good sales strategy," Marcous said, but "not ours." Instead, sales success should be about educating merchants "about the nature of payment processing. Let them know exactly what they're getting involved in," Marcous said.
How a merchant is treated could have an impact on future business. Adil Moussa, an analyst at Aite Group LLC, a Boston-based consultancy, told the panelists a recent survey of 160 merchants found that 36% of them discovered their current payment processor through referrals.
Decent Profits
Sales agents should avoid conventional sales approaches, advised fellow panelist Mark Dunn, founder of Field Guide Enterprises LLC, a Hartland, Wis.-based consulting firm. "Don't sell what you always sold," Dunn said. "Don't sell what will not make you decent profits."
Lower fees and integrated point-of-sale systems and software to help run a business and concurrently handle transaction processing are effective options ISOs can
present to merchants, Dunn said.
"Look for services to build revenue with merchants and keep clients," he advised. And that includes assessing how the ISO stands against competitors. "Don't go head to head with the big guys," Dunn said, referring to so-called "super-ISOs."
Instead, look for a "less-developed niche," Dunn said.
He recalled the story of one sales agent who called on a veterinarian supply and feed dealer in a farming community.
"It's not the sort of place one though would accept credit cards," Dunn said. The agent discovered, however, the merchant had not heard from its ISO in about four years and was ready for a merchant-service provider with better customer service.
The sales agent won the business, which saw about $150,000 in monthly volume, Dunn said.
