Page 30 - GS231101

Education

Find, cultivate diamond-in-the-rough partners

services company that he positioned as a perfect partner
for ISOs, MSPs and MLSs. "Our company is offering a
turn-key, ground floor sales opportunity to ISO/MSP of-
fices and salespeople," he said. "No experience is neces-
sary with our exclusive, market proven program. It will
begin to yield you dollars today."

Find your multiplier
Fast-forward a few decades, and prospective partners are
making the same pitch, albeit with different add-ons. Pay-
ment card processing and websites are ubiquitous, but the
market is still hungry for seamless, contextual commerce.
MLSs who are open minded, client-focused and willing
to dispense with old selling habits can help fill that void.

By Allen Kopelman We've all seen enterprise-scale, independent software ven-
Nationwide Payment Systems dors (ISVs) that embed payment capabilities into products
and services using payment facilitation and payfac-as-
a-service models. However, plenty of small and midsize
n payments, walking away from opportuni- merchants prefer to process independently, not as sub-
ties usually means walking away from money.
Opportunities that are complicated or don't provide merchants.
I a clear path to short-term gain are still opportuni-
ties and deserve to be treated as such. Are you forgetting Working with these merchants can open adjacent oppor-
tunities with industry associations and professional orga-
how complicated payments acceptance can be to someone
starting a business? nizations that could provide you with a continuous pipe-
line of referrals. These opportunities require some initial
groundwork. Following are recommendations:
What is your approach to helping a first-time merchant?
Do you keep it simple by showing a plain vanilla system • Customize, customize, customize: Understand as
or one or two choices—or do you tailor something to their much as you can about a business before you visit.
needs? The same rule applies when looking for channel Be prepared to tailor a solution that addresses your
partners that sell into select industries. The best partner- prospective merchant's needs. Customized systems
ship opportunities are not always readymade; many un- offer flexibility, efficiency and tailored POS prod-
tapped markets are diamonds in the rough that you can ucts that give your merchant a competitive edge.
transform into shiny treasures with a bit of grit and polish.
• Understand your merchant's industry: Conduct
From ISPs to ISVs preliminary research on your merchant, such as

The Green Sheet, now in its fortieth year, has promoted target market, competition, product and service of-
partnerships since the internet's early days. A Novem- ferings and recent innovations in the space. This
ber 1995 article in Issue 95:09:02, titled, "ISOs can become knowledge will open opportunities for meaning-
ISPs," made a case for bundling processing with internet ful discussions and set you apart from other MLSs
connectivity for end-to-end promotional and financial who are there just to make a quick sale.
transaction processing services.
• Have technical knowledge: Have a fundamental
grasp of POS and ecommerce technology to help
"You have a rapport with the [restaurant] owner, and you your merchant navigate the array of processing
have learned that he/she has a booming lunch 'delivery' choices in hardware devices, software and mobile
trade with local businesses in the high-rise office build- apps. Be prepared to recommend a solution for to-
ings in the area," they wrote, suggesting this would be an day that has sufficient potential to adapt and pivot
opportune time to pitch the restaurateur on a webpage. as the merchant's business grows and changes.
Whether or not you close the sale, it sets the stage for ad-
ditional discussions, they added, and demonstrates you • Manage expectations: Have a plan to help the mer-
have more to offer than just payment card processing. chant migrate from an existing POS system to a
new platform by making sure that all funds settle-
The article quoted payment veteran Brian Roemmele, who ments have occurred prior to installation and that
at the time was president of Multiple Media Corp., a web staff are fully trained to operate new equip

30