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Insights and Expertise
ChapterTitle
StreetSmarts SM

Best-selling business strategies

Part 3: Referral partnerships

By Allen Kopelman Find opportunities
Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. Whether looking for good prospects or good referral
partners, the same rules apply, and it makes sense to
o matter how much merchant services evolve, remember that most opportunities are the result of
this business will always be about relation- hard work. Begin by identifying different types of
ships, and no matter where you are in your businesses that work with business owners. These could
N career path, your success directly depends on be IT services, website builders, restaurant consultants or
finding the right partners. payroll companies. You need to get out there, meet them
in person or reach out to them through LinkedIn and
In Part 1 and 2 of this series, I explored in-person and online other social media sites.
selling methods. Here in Part 3, I'll dive into partnerships
and how they potentially help merchant level salespeople The best way to engage with potential partners is to
(MLSs) scale, expand into new industries and build their show that you are knowledgeable and can help people
merchant portfolios. with their clients. Having a strong online presence with
a website, LinkedIn profile and published articles will
The MLS journey typically begins by partnering with a help build credibility. In addition, the best way to meet
processor and continues with other service providers that good people is to get involved in industry activities,
can add value to products and service offerings while networking and local community events. And remember,
creating new recurring revenue streams. Like everything this is a numbers game. No one initially wants to form
else in this business, referral partners come in all shapes a referral partnership. These relationships take time and
and sizes and have a variety of business models and develop organically unless, of course, you get a warm
approaches to revenue sharing. referral from a colleague.

Some referral partners want money for leads and others Professional networking groups are a great way to meet
do not want any money. For example, if you're working referral partners. Consider joining your local chamber of
with a payroll company and you are sending each other commerce, SCORE, Business Network International (BNI),
business, you have a great reciprocal relationship and Toastmasters, Rotary Club, entrepreneurial organizations,
everyone is making money, so there's no need to pay for Meetup, Eventbrite and other public and private forums.
each referral that becomes a sale. On the other hand, if The membership fees are tax deductible and well worth
you're working with a web hosting company, you may the investment.
pay them a one-time fee, or you could also get an ongoing
residual from referrals that opted into their hosting Numbers game
services.
Dave and I have had some great referral partners over the
years, who have consistently sent business on a monthly

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