By Dinesh Saparamadu
Apptizer Inc.
There's no doubt our industry is undergoing profound transformational change. At the intersection of financial services and technology, large numbers of fintech startups are bringing new innovations to market at breakneck speed. And the market is gobbling them up. So it's really no surprise that cutting-edge technology will drastically shape the next wave of ISO and merchant level salesperson (MLS) efforts.
Payment processing has become a commodity. Offering the lowest processing rate and making money on hardware and hidden fees is no longer a viable way to win and retain merchants. To thrive, today's ISOs and MLSs must adopt consultative solution selling techniques to gain small and midsize merchant interest in integrated payments solutions that complement business operations and add real business value.
Solution selling focuses on identifying merchant problems and addressing them with appropriate offerings. Popular smart terminals have taken a lesson right out of the smartphone playbook, combining traditional POS payments capabilities with a bevy of third-party productivity apps that help merchants better manage customers, employees, inventory, analytics and more.
Solution selling ISOs and agents can help merchants select and harness the power of these apps from smart terminal platforms like First Data's Clover, Poynt and Verifone Carbon to take their businesses to the next level.
Mobile app-building tools are standouts among the burgeoning list of smart terminal productivity apps. Without having to become tech-savvy coding gurus, mom-and-pop retailers and restaurateurs can now go mobile, rapidly creating and deploying professional iOS and Android apps customized for their establishments. Adding a new mobile channel with order-ahead capabilities enables these merchants to drive more sales, enhance the customer experience, increase loyalty, attract new patrons, speed up service and cut down on errors. And having a mobile app helps them effectively compete with big-box retailers and restaurant chains. What could be better?
In our world of rapid technology innovation, solution selling smart terminals with software productivity apps can turn ISOs and agents into superheroes. The merchant marketplace is demanding much more than just credit card processing and dedicated payment terminals. They want and need the increased sales, improved operations and strong customer retention that integrated smart terminal solutions offer.
Not only can merchants run their businesses better with these solutions, ISOs and MLSs can benefit through easier merchant acquisition and long-term merchant retention. At the end of the day, solution selling smart terminals is a win-win for all parties involved. 
Dinesh Saparamadu is CEO and founder of Apptizer Inc., a company focused on delivering innovative mobile app-building platform technology. Saparamadu is also CEO and founder of hSenid Group of companies and is Chairman of the Board of PeoplesHR. Contact him at dinesh@apptizer.io.
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