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Education

The magic formula

The only type of marketing to merchants that works
is marketing that comes from a company associated or Working with associations takes work
partnering with a business that has a group of customers
who will not hang up if you mention the company's name. In "How to network like an industry leader – Part 2," The
What do I mean by this? Green Sheet, Nov. 10, 2014, Justin Millmeister, president
and CEO of Elite Merchant Solutions, shared lessons he
Here is an example. Sign A Rama, a large chain with 900 and his colleagues learned about how to partner suc-
franchisees located in South Florida, recently entered
into a deal with an ISO to offer merchant services to the cessfully with trade associations to win merchant ac-
company's franchisees. Now, I am fairly certain that the counts.
ISO will share a percentage of the residuals with the
franchisor, so there is an incentive for the franchisor to "We have tried several networking tactics, some which
help market to members. However, the members are not didn't yield results and others that yielded tremendous
required to use any particular processor, so they can work results. The answer was quite easy as to what tactics
with whomever they please. We process for many of those yielded results and what did not," Millmeister stated.
franchisees in South Florida, and when we started to "At first, when a sales rep signed an association as a pre-
receive calls from them about this new processor, it came
as no surprise. ferred provider they would kind of sit back and think the
deals would pour in from association members because
Even though we were priced at a very aggressive rate, we were now the 'preferred vendor.'
these merchants, instead of hanging up on the new
processor, were starting to listen because they were the "That could not have been further from reality; we found
chosen processor of their headquarters. I believe this type out early on that you must work these associations and
of business relationship is the magic formula. Just calling actively attend their events. Signing an agreement with
every merchant from a call list and hoping for the best is a an association in no way guarantees you the business
waste of time and money.
with its members; however, it gives you a big leg up
when contacting the members.
SnapShot of Up Coming Events "In addition, we consistently have a booth at tradeshows
around the country with whom we have a relationship.
This gives us an opportunity to talk with the members
and successfully earn their business."

November 29 -30, 2018
Crowne Plaza Times Square New York, NY
You need to have a hook, and the best hook is the blessing,
https://www.americanbanker.com/conference/ Your entrée
or at the least a hunting license, from the man at the top.
block-fs-2018/register-now
You have a much better chance when you start the call
with, "I am calling on behalf of the new Sign A Rama
processing program, and I was given your number by Sign
A Rama headquarters" than when you start with, "I am
with XXX Merchant Services, and I've got a deal for you."

I know that this type of relationship will take time, and
finding the right group to work with is not easy. But once
you do, I can guarantee that your life will be much easier,
and you will start to really like what you are doing. So
give it a try, and let me know happens.

January 16-17, 2019 Steve Norell is director of sales at US Merchant Services Inc. Based in Port
Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott St. Lucie, Fla., he oversees the USMS sales force and maintains the com-
Newark, NJ 07114 pany's bank and processor relationships. You can reach him by email at
https://northeastacquirers.com/neaa-2019/
steven@usmsllc.com or by phone at 772-220-7515.

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