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Insights and Expertise

Help merchants Clover, Toast and Square have similar dashboards, and
while these dashboards are not the same as direct client
use their data, not feedback, they allow merchants to understand details and
behaviors about their clients. Repeat clients and ticket
sizes can be parsed and compared to historical data.
prompted surveys Sales by time of day, server, margin or menu items can be
compared.

This is powerful. Sales professionals should explain how
using this data can propel profitability. Further, data
can help businesses understand when they need to staff
up or when they need to cut back on employees to more
efficiently manage their staffing costs.Also, although
providing more value and greater data driven decisions
is key, the vastness of the data has value for predictive
modeling and determining future trends at a much more
granular level.
The uncanny valley
By Ken Musante
Napa Payments and Consulting I purposely used the Stripe example, as although its
dashboard is rudimentary, Stripe provides this to all
don't fill out customer surveys. Ever. Just because of its clients. Most legacy processors make specific data
I shopped at your store does not mean I want to available in accordance with a merchant's POS. And, in
spend another two minutes so I can provide you this context, unless it's a proprietary POS, the processor is
I feedback. You rang up my items proficiently and blind to the details. Think of a merchant, utilizing a mega-
pleasantly. The hotel was clean. The flight was on-time. processor with an agnostic POS. The transactional level
You answered all my questions accurately. That's the ser- data is not shared with the processor. The processor may
vice I am paying for. I am frustrated when issues arise. I not know key client data such as tips or SKUs.
am irritated because I must spend time correcting them.
I'm not filling in an online survey. And I always press "1" While processors will know repeat customers and time
when asked if I will provide a response to a brief survey of transactions, they won't have other key metrics such as
at the conclusion of a call—but only out of fear that my cart abandonment and tax amount. Further, processors
experience will be inferior if I do not. Of course I never need a dashboard to provide this data back to the
complete the survey. merchant, and because the data available is inconsistent,
many merchants do not have dashboards as a part of their
Any survey done is inaccurate. It excludes curmudgeons merchant services.
like myself. Respondents are tainted by the pleadings
of service personnel who beg for replies because it will The gulp gap
increase their pay or is a part of their performance review. This is an enormous gap in traditional offerings that is being
Hotel staff leave notes with QR codes linking to online exploited by new fintechs and payfacs providing complete end-
surveys, and upon checking out, guests get three to five to-end solutions. These newer offerings have far more details
requests to fill out surveys. Some will include free points and provide that information back in a consistent format—
or an entry into a contest. If you are relying on prompted typically both in mobile and desktop format.
surveys, you are already lost. Data is gold. Look at your
data and you will know your trends and service. Processors should appreciate this gap and solve for it. Until this

$70 billion reasons why gap is solved, Square and Stripe will continue to steal volume.
Clover can and should be used as an alternative, but if legacy
I understand that social media is important, and online processors wish to remain relevant, they will need a data set that
reviews are one way a merchant may garner new clients is consistent and available to all of their merchants.
which, at times, necessitates online reviews. Data,
however, is unvarnished and unsympathetic. It is not As founder of Humboldt Merchant Services, co-founder of Eureka
swayed by a flowery note or heartfelt request. Companies Payments, and a former executive for such payments innovators as
like Shopify, Clover and Square recognize this. They all WePay, a division of JPMorgan Chase, Ken Musante has experience in
have modules to allow business owners to leverage their
own data. Stripe's dashboard is included with the product all aspects of successful ISO building. He currently provides consulting
and allows merchants to remotely manage payments services and expert witness testimony as founder of Napa Payments
from the Stripe App. The dashboard is basic, but it allows and Consulting, www.napapaymentsandconsulting.com. Contact him
merchants to track payments and earnings and compare at kenm@napapaymentsandconsulting.com 707-601-7656 or www.
them to historical data. linkedin.com/in/ken-musante-us.
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