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Education

For the independent sellers on this supertanker ride, is we have never been shown a path forward in B2B. We
stormy seas are ahead. If the “race to zero” wasn't enough have fallen into the groupthink notion that selling B2B is
to make you a little seasick, a new race toward the bottom too hard and the sales cycle in B2B is too long.
of cash discounting is now beginning.
For sure, we cannot sell B2B like we sold B2C. The same
Couple this with rising inflation that consumers are now rules do not apply. But selling interchange plus is like
experiencing, and we can see the seeds being sown for putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound. To command
payment discontent. What was once the merchants' issue this new breed of supertanker, one that is seaworthy
with discount rate is now the cardmembers' issue with under today's market conditions, we have to understand
additional cost. Indeed, the pendulum has clearly swung how it works and speak the language of the crew. We must
to the opposite side. exit the comfort of B2C for a little while to embrace the
difference of B2B and see how credit can act as a collection
On the opposite side of B2C sits B2B. It's a close cousin tool for a business, rather than only a payment method.
to B2C but only in a sense that the plastic or metal they
are printed on are alike. B2B, by recent accounts, is a $33 The good news is the supertanker shuts its engines off 15
trillion opportunity—over six times larger than B2C—and miles before it arrives into a port to slow down the vessels
only 8 percent of B2B transactions are placed on plastic. and allow it to dock. The bad news is as a merchant seller,
In short, that means a boatload of opportunity awaits you only have so much time left to get the ship under
merchant sellers. So why aren’t more independents selling control. The dock is coming up fast. Will B2B be your soft
into this space? landing, or will you crash into the dock and sink?
Foiled by comfort Roger McNamara, president of Guide2Interchange LLC, is a 25+-year
veteran of the payments industry, most recently as director of busi-
Part of the issue is comfort. The supertanker is warm and ness development with American Express in the United States. He
dry, and despite the obvious warning signs such as losing has sold more than $200 billion worth of card processing and now
customers to attrition and aggregators actively pursuing leads a B2B merchant sales training organization. Contact him at
our clients, we stay in our bunk. The other part of the issue Guide2Interchange@gmail.com or 561-379-3151.