gent banks. Associations. Chambers of commerce. Organizations like these are powerful targets for ISOs/MLSs. Sell one, and you've opened the door to many others.

But selling to banks and member-based organizations requires a little bit more work, a little bit more know-how, and a lot more preparation. Following are some pointers to help you land these types of customers:

Get in the Door

With larger organizations and associations, getting in the door can be your biggest hurdle. Often, it's about whom you know, and/or who knows you. The more active you are in your community, the better off you'll be. So join, join, join: the local chamber of commerce, the Better Business Bureau, the PTA. Join, be active and contribute.

Develop relationships with your fellow members, and ask them to refer your services whenever possible. Reward recommendations fittingly. And when you call a prospective client to set up an appointment, always lead with the name of your mutual acquaintance, and follow immediately with a benefit.

Look the Part

Meeting with bank executives? This is probably not the best time for your sweat pants and college t-shirt. Organizations that do business with you are counting on you to represent them to their members and the community. This means you have to look like they do.

In fact, it means every part of your organization has to look the part. Anyone who stands in front of the customer and any marketing/sales materials that are put out to the customer, have to look like part of your client organization.

Convey History and Experience

This really is a continuation of the previous point. After you've made your first impression, you need to communicate that you can handle the job. Maintain a strong Web presence and make sure all your communications, from your telephone messages to letters to print materials, are all targeted and professional.

Make Sense and Cents

Don't waste your time trying to sell ice to an Eskimo. Your program must deliver easy-to-see benefits to the organization and its members; if it doesn't, there's no point investing your time, money or energy to try to sell it.

Obviously, price is a logical place to start. If you can save the organization and/or its members money, you'll want to let them know that from the start. If you can't, you'd better have some unique and valuable benefits to offer.

Remember that a member-based organization has one primary objective: to get and keep members. With that in mind, any program you design for such an association should offer a direct and useful benefit to members, reinforcing the organization's image as a valuable resource and, in that way, helping the organization recruit and keep members.

Wherever possible, you want to help the association market the new program to members. If you can't actually manage the program yourself, at least provide some tools the organization can use to get the word out. Letters to members, brochures, newsletter copy, even ads and inserts, will all help sell your program to both the organization and to its members.

Keep It Simple

While creating benefits for your new client organization, you certainly don't want to create headaches. Remember, your primary job is to uphold, if not improve, the organization's reputation; to make it look better in the eyes of its customers.

To do that, your sales, customer service and underwriting must be near perfect. You must underwrite accounts in a proper and timely fashion and pay residuals accurately and on time.

Systems must be in place for seamless processing, responsible information tracking and reliable reporting. Respond to problems and questions quickly and professionally, and you'll boost satisfaction and loyalty.

Thomas Lineen is the Sales Director, ISO Channels at Cynergy Data. Cynergy Data is a merchant acquirer that provides a wide array of electronic payment processing services while continually striving to develop new solutions that meet the needs of its agents and merchants. In addition to offering credit, debit, EBT and gift card processing, along with check conversion and guarantee programs, the company offers its ISOs the ability to borrow money against its residuals, to have Web sites designed and developed, to provide merchants with free terminals, and to benefit from state-of-the-art marketing, technology and business support.

Founded in 1995 by Marcelo Paladini and John Martillo, Cynergy Data strives to be a new kind of acquirer with a unique mission: to constantly explore, understand and develop the products our ISOs and merchants need to be successful, and to back it up with honest, reliable, supportive service. For more information on Cynergy Data contact Nancy Drexler, Marketing Director at nancyd@cynergydata.com .