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Education
StreetSmarts SM
Back to the future, MLS style
By Dale S. Laszig always-connected world, consumers and business owners
DSL Direct LLC have come to expect excellent service and fast response
times. We expect our suppliers to know our personal
recently heard from a friend who's thinking about styles and preferences, and to use advanced analytics to
returning to our industry. He sold merchant ser- anticipate our buying habits.
vices in the 1990s, spent the following decade work-
I ing with a few major food distributors, and was Today's merchants are savvier about pricing, payment
recently offered a job with an ISO that would give him a technology and value-added services. Transparent pricing
territory, training and a fair commission plan. models, government regulations, security mandates and
consumer advocacy have shaped the payments ecosystem
As I reflected on how much our world has changed and created a more level playing field.
over the last two decades, an old song from the musical Work smarter
Oklahoma! popped into my head: "Everything's up to date
in Kansas City; we've gone about as fer as we can go." Forum member www.paymentlogistics.com (Dustin
Niglio) noted that merchant level salespeople (MLSs)
Examine the pros and cons
who make service their value proposition and main tenet
The people who were singing weren't thinking about how of their business may have difficulty competing with
quaint their modern fixings would look a mere 10 years companies that offer holistic, end-to-end solutions.
later. And I can't help wondering how sentimental we'll
feel about some of our leading-edge technologies even a "Work smarter and harder," he wrote. "Signing merchants
year or two from now. But clearly, we have come a long using a savings and service pitch alone does not make for
way since the early '90s, when my friend was knocking on the long-term sustainable growth of a portfolio in today's
doors with a smile and a Zon Jr. market." He went on to say that today's successful MLSs
who want to achieve year-over-year growth need to find
I asked my advisers on GS Online's MLS Forum to share ways to insulate themselves from their competitors.
their thoughts on re-entry as my friend weighs the pros
and cons of this opportunity. Following are highlights So how exactly would an MLS differentiate in the evolving
from our discussion. payments sphere, with so little variance in pricing and
service models from one service provider to another?
Think beyond service
Differentiate with technology
Many of us remember a time when offering unprecedented
customer service was enough to differentiate us from Forum members cited technical knowledge as both a
other merchant service providers. In today's always-on, competitive advantage and strategy for account retention.
44
StreetSmarts SM
Back to the future, MLS style
By Dale S. Laszig always-connected world, consumers and business owners
DSL Direct LLC have come to expect excellent service and fast response
times. We expect our suppliers to know our personal
recently heard from a friend who's thinking about styles and preferences, and to use advanced analytics to
returning to our industry. He sold merchant ser- anticipate our buying habits.
vices in the 1990s, spent the following decade work-
I ing with a few major food distributors, and was Today's merchants are savvier about pricing, payment
recently offered a job with an ISO that would give him a technology and value-added services. Transparent pricing
territory, training and a fair commission plan. models, government regulations, security mandates and
consumer advocacy have shaped the payments ecosystem
As I reflected on how much our world has changed and created a more level playing field.
over the last two decades, an old song from the musical Work smarter
Oklahoma! popped into my head: "Everything's up to date
in Kansas City; we've gone about as fer as we can go." Forum member www.paymentlogistics.com (Dustin
Niglio) noted that merchant level salespeople (MLSs)
Examine the pros and cons
who make service their value proposition and main tenet
The people who were singing weren't thinking about how of their business may have difficulty competing with
quaint their modern fixings would look a mere 10 years companies that offer holistic, end-to-end solutions.
later. And I can't help wondering how sentimental we'll
feel about some of our leading-edge technologies even a "Work smarter and harder," he wrote. "Signing merchants
year or two from now. But clearly, we have come a long using a savings and service pitch alone does not make for
way since the early '90s, when my friend was knocking on the long-term sustainable growth of a portfolio in today's
doors with a smile and a Zon Jr. market." He went on to say that today's successful MLSs
who want to achieve year-over-year growth need to find
I asked my advisers on GS Online's MLS Forum to share ways to insulate themselves from their competitors.
their thoughts on re-entry as my friend weighs the pros
and cons of this opportunity. Following are highlights So how exactly would an MLS differentiate in the evolving
from our discussion. payments sphere, with so little variance in pricing and
service models from one service provider to another?
Think beyond service
Differentiate with technology
Many of us remember a time when offering unprecedented
customer service was enough to differentiate us from Forum members cited technical knowledge as both a
other merchant service providers. In today's always-on, competitive advantage and strategy for account retention.
44
