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Education

nal or POS solution. You likely For example, an MLS sells an account as interchange pass-through plus
have your preference and know a markup. Calculations indicate that the deal will be at worst the same
the terminal intimately. as the merchant has now, and at best, the merchant will save a few dol-
However, if you are not open lars. However, the first month's statement comes in and the merchant is
to other options, you are los- actually paying more. The merchant is upset, and the MLS can't figure
ing deals. Don't lock yourself in out what happened.
because of your comfort level
or preconceived notions about What the MLS didn't know was that the ISO partner was increasing
what is best for your customers. assessments, adding to the network access and brand usage fee and
acquirer processing fee, and charging an American Express processor
Remember, never try to fit a fee, as well. The merchant's previous processor did not, which explains
square peg into a round hole. why the merchant is now paying more.

• Someone's offerings will al- Take the time to know what you're selling, and if your partner pads fees
ways be cheaper: We talk and in any way, remember, you are in control of your own ethics.
talk about not selling cost sav-
ings, yet it's the default for Many others lessons learned can be applied today, and I am sure you can think
many merchant level salespeo- of some right now. But the most important lesson learned is one I recommend
ple. Selling price as the reason at the beginning of every year: avoid falling back into bad habits. Make this the
to change ensures that the next year you let go of old, detrimental habits, like selling price, forcing something
person in the door offering sav- to fit when an alternative would work better, and inadvertently misleading
ings (even if it's nonexistent merchants. You will find yourself happier and wealthier.
savings) will win the merchant,
at least temporarily.
Jeff Fortney is Vice President, ISO Channel Management with Clearent LLC. He has more than 17
If you begin the conversation years' experience in the payments industry. Contact him at jeff@clearent.com or 972-618-7340.
with price, nothing else will To learn about how Clearent can help you grow faster and go further, visit www.clearent.com.
matter to the merchant. He or
she will stop listening, but it
doesn't have to be that way.
Your customers are merchants,
after all. They understand the
cost of doing business. Sure,
they will squeeze on price, but
if you first identify what they
need to be successful, price be-
comes a part of the solution, not
the only question.
• People lie: In many cases, peo-
ple do not recognize their lies
as such. People often say that a
salesperson will say anything
to close a sale. There is even an
old joke about a salesman. How
can you tell a salesperson isn't
lying? His lips are closed.
The truth is that the vast major-
ity of merchant level salespeo-
ple (MLSs) don't intentionally
lie. Many are willing to walk
away from a sale rather than
resort to saying anything just
to close it. However, problems
arise when unintentional lies
come into play. The most com-
mon example is the practice of
padded fees.

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