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Education

StreetSmarts SM

Win and retain merchants with value-adds

By Dee and Emily Karawadra According to a report by Deloitte, merchants are willing
impact Paysystem to pay 7 to 9 percent to companies like Google that
envelop the ecommerce payment transaction within the
n this edition of Street SmartsSM, we discuss online shopping context and deliver sales. This means
the connections and synergy between value-added a merchant will pay 7 to 9 percent for a full payment
products and services, a consultative approach to service that delivers sales and ease of use versus 2 percent
I sales, and strong customer retention. It's a winning interchange for payments alone.
combination.
This should be music to the ears of professionals in
From Emily the merchant services industry. Finding value-added
products that will best enhance your merchants' payment
How can you be perceived as the best choice in a experience is the key to success. MSPs know how to sell
market full of ISOs, merchant level salespeople (MLSs), terminals to merchants as a solution, and they do this
processors and other Merchant Service Providers (MSPs)? every day. But what we need to refocus on is selling them
The competition is steep: merchants are marketed to daily a terminal or solution that is more sophisticated and
via targeted ads, social media, telemarketing and cold supports value-added applications.
calls in their business. What can an agent do to stand out
from the crowd? We see this in solutions like the Clover, Poynt and various
POS systems. With these, merchants can utilize add-on
Our experience tells us that the answer is service services. A time clock, payroll, age verification, gateways,
and value-added products. Value-added services are gift and loyalty cards, and sales tracking services are just
additional benefits consumers can receive when they a few.
purchase a product or service. They are add-ons that can
go a long way toward building goodwill and customer Today, a well-versed MLS can use gateways as a value-
loyalty. added product to secure long-term business from
merchants. As an ISO or MLS, you should be able to
In addition, value-adds can significantly increase revenue observe a POS system and do the homework of figuring
if offered for a discounted price to customers. Today, for out where it can be placed. Is that POS certified on your
example, value-added products and services can come processor? If not, is it certified on a gateway you have
in the form of gateway services, POS integration, gift access to? Once you establish the connection and know
and loyalty cards and programs, sales data marketing how to board it, tie in your value-added products, such
platforms, mobile processing apps, faster access to cash, as same-day or next-day funding or a gift card solution.
and merchant loans. By figuring out the logistics to board the deal, you will
demonstrate your credibility to your merchant.

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