By Allen Kopelman
Nationwide Payment Systems Inc.
No matter how much merchant services evolve, this business will always be about relationships, and no matter where you are in your career path, your success directly depends on finding the right partners.
In Part 1 and 2 of this series, I explored in-person and online selling methods. Here in Part 3, I'll dive into partnerships and how they potentially help merchant level salespeople (MLSs) scale, expand into new industries and build their merchant portfolios.
The MLS journey typically begins by partnering with a processor and continues with other service providers that can add value to products and service offerings while creating new recurring revenue streams. Like everything else in this business, referral partners come in all shapes and sizes and have a variety of business models and approaches to revenue sharing.
Some referral partners want money for leads and others do not want any money. For example, if you're working with a payroll company and you are sending each other business, you have a great reciprocal relationship and everyone is making money, so there's no need to pay for each referral that becomes a sale. On the other hand, if you're working with a web hosting company, you may pay them a one-time fee, or you could also get an ongoing residual from referrals that opted into their hosting services.
Whether looking for good prospects or good referral partners, the same rules apply, and it makes sense to remember that most opportunities are the result of hard work. Begin by identifying different types of businesses that work with business owners. These could be IT services, website builders, restaurant consultants or payroll companies. You need to get out there, meet them in person or reach out to them through LinkedIn and other social media sites.
The best way to engage with potential partners is to show that you are knowledgeable and can help people with their clients. Having a strong online presence with a website, LinkedIn profile and published articles will help build credibility. In addition, the best way to meet good people is to get involved in industry activities, networking and local community events. And remember, this is a numbers game. No one initially wants to form a referral partnership. These relationships take time and develop organically unless, of course, you get a warm referral from a colleague.
Professional networking groups are a great way to meet referral partners. Consider joining your local chamber of commerce, SCORE, Business Network International (BNI), Toastmasters, Rotary Club, entrepreneurial organizations, Meetup, Eventbrite and other public and private forums. The membership fees are tax deductible and well worth the investment.
Dave and I have had some great referral partners over the years, who have consistently sent business on a monthly basis. We've had others who brought us one very large account. In this numbers game, it makes sense to build up a network of people in target industries and see where your relationships take you. There is no magic formula for creating great partnerships, but in today's economy, everyone is looking for a side hustle to make extra money.
Above all, consult an attorney before entering into a formal relationship to make sure it's a win-win and you do not have to give away a large percentage of profits. A referral split of 10 to 20 percent or one-time referral bonus is good for someone who is just making an introduction.
Payments industry professionals need to stay up to date on security, technology and regulatory trends, which means reading trade publications like The Green Sheet on a regular basis. I also recommend reading self-help books about networking and sales. One of my personal favorite authors is Dr. Ivan Misner, author of Networking Like a Pro: Turning Contacts into Connections, Infinite Giving: The 7 Principles of Givers Gain and other bestselling business books.
To his point, people who are genuinely interested in others tend to do well in all types of industries. When they meet people, they want to know all about them, their businesses and lifestyles, which is the main idea in Infinite Giving, which Misner co-wrote with Greg Davies and Julian Lewis.
Givers who are generous with their time and resources tend to be happy people, the authors found, because the law of reciprocity allows them to build successful businesses while supporting others. In fact, the authors explain in the introduction to the book that their main inspiration came from experiences they had at BNI.
They wrote, "Givers Gain is more than a phrase. It's a way of living one's life. It's a perspective to view and interact with the world. It's an attitude, not an expectation. When it's applied properly, it will change your life."
Want to know more? Keep reading The Green Sheet and consider connecting with me on Linkedin, where we can share ideas and support each other, www.linkedin.com/in/allenkopelman. 
Allen Kopelman, a serial entrepreneur is cofounder and CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. and host of B2B Vault: The Biz to Biz podcast. Email him at allen@npsbank.com and connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/allenkopelman/ and Twitter @AllenKopelman
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