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CoverStory

Brandes Elitch As far as tools of the trade, this will vary by merchant SIC
CrossCheck Inc. code. Some merchants will focus on in-store, and others
will focus on online, mobile and phone orders. Some
The first point to note is the change in the sales process merchants will have massive issues with chargebacks,
and culture surrounding the sale. Ten years ago, the ISO returns and friendly fraud. Some will be focused on an
sold or leased terminals, sold the lease paper and generally omnichannel solution that will encompass rewards and
never saw the merchant again. The ISO was usually a W-2 loyalty. Some will want a payment portal for their B2B
employee or 1099 independent contractor for the processor customers to get them to pay from their bank account and
or acquiring bank. The sales process was driven by the not with an interchange based product. The salesperson
salesperson's tonality, emotion and certainty around the has to understand each merchant vertical to really provide
phrase, "I can get you a better rate than you are paying a tailored solution.
now." ISOs who had those three things nailed down got
the sale, because they were better at closing than the other As far as the top three qualities, the main quality is to be
ISOs. a good salesperson. This means listening to the customer
and thinking like the customer, and understanding the
Today, the top acquirers are also the top six or seven card vertical. Most salespeople just want to talk, talk, talk, but
issuing banks, and the salesperson is more likely to be a the good ones want to listen, listen, listen.
bank employee. Yes, these banks have sales quotas, but
they also have a huge base of small business customers
who are banking with them, and when you have the loan, Jared Isaacman
you have the entire business relationship. Shift4 Payments LLC

Because these are the largest banks in the country, they 1. As the industry continues to evolve, it is more important
will typically have best of breed products as well, and are than ever that MLSs become true business consultants for
now working with fintechs to enhance their product range their merchants. The top three tools of the trade that are
and mix in areas like insurtech, for example. Maintaining most critical to succeed in payments all reinforce that role:
the customer relationship is paramount for the bank. • Integrated POS systems: The convergence of
payments and POS/software technology has
Today the emphasis has switched from terminals to point been underway for a number of years, but at this
of sale systems that integrate to an accounting package point there is no denying that an integrated POS
or an ERP solution. There is a lot of talk about working solution is critical for any MLS to succeed in today's
with ISVs, and even today, only half of the ISVs have an marketplace. POS systems run a merchant's entire
embedded payment processing solution, so there is still a operations, becoming an integral part of their
lot of opportunity there.
business and delivering unmatched retention
benefits.
Merchants are more likely to trust their bank than a
third party whom they have no relationship with. But POS systems are the best way to build a stable
sometimes the bank will not have a solution specifically and profitable residual portfolio, but it takes
tailored for that merchant vertical, such as integration to more than just marketing a product, but complete
payroll, time and attendance; scheduling; job timekeeping; understanding of the entirety of the technology
memberships; subscriptions; analytics; and remote solution and its accompanying ecosystem. For
location management. One of the latest trends is for the example, an MLS that just wants to be able to sell a POS
acquirer to offer a small business loan to the merchant offering, but doesn't dedicate the time to understand
and make it easy to apply for it, which is typically a very online ordering, loyalty, pay-at-table, EMV, security,
arduous process for the SMB now. analytics, etc., will face considerable challenges. It's
essential for MLSs and ISOs to completely reinvent
The salesperson also needs to offer some assistance themselves within the integrated payments space
and explanation around EMV and PCI and security and not think of POS as "just another product."
compliance. One example of how not to do this is the
poorly handled EMV rollout. The card brands mandated • Business intelligence: One of the biggest selling
that this had to be done by October 2015. Here we are over points of a POS system is the valuable business
two years later and probably half of the merchants have reporting that it provides for merchants, but really
complied, and an entire industry, petroleum, has had their that is just the beginning. The capabilities of cloud-
date moved to October 2020. Talk about a credibility gap. based systems go well beyond reporting. Offering
Who will believe the next pronouncement from the card actionable data to your merchant customers further
brands now? reinforces your role as business consultant. You
can provide them a top-level view of their business
to make more informed decisions about their
operations.

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