Page 31 - GS210802

Education

For restaurants, the actions centered on phone orders, on-
line orders and pick up. They knew the shelf-life of their
products was forcing them to do something. Retailers It was tough to admit
didn't have the same shelf-life pressures. As such, they
tended to have little to no immediate actions planned. the pandemic wasn't
Looking beyond immediate gains going to result in

During our calls, one consistent action was clear: agents recession-like impacts.
were considering or even already removing the monthly
minimums, if any. In some cases, it was prudent to treat It was going to result in a
merchants as seasonal businesses, turning off all fees. It
was the right thing to do. But it wasn't an easy thing to sudden stop in almost
do, for my colleagues knew it would cost them money as
well. Nevertheless, many led with this as a conversation every way.
opener. They wanted their merchants to know clearly that
we were all in the same boat.
tions to prospects who were operating similarly to their
As one month led into two and three, restaurants con- current merchant customers. The opening line many used
tinued to adapt. MLSs discovered that the elimination of was, "How are you accepting cards today with curbside?"
minimum fees didn't result in the extent of financial loss That question opened many doors.
they anticipated. A large number of restaurants were pro-
cessing at 60 percent or more of their previous monthly Even so, the number of new merchants signed was low for
averages. For the retailers, though, it was a different story. most. The high-risk market was still seeing new signings,
but the low-risk market production was the lowest I can
For MLSs, also known as independent sales agents, a PPP remember in my many years in this business. It goes with-
loan was likely not an option. Several ISOs, however, may out saying that many in our industry suffered immensely.
have leveraged PPP loans. By month four, most MLSs be- By February 2021, numerous merchants were able to open
came what can best be described as antsy. Success in our in some fashion, and the new normal took hold.
industry truly is found in selling. And agents wanted to
sell. Some had tried to learn how to telemarket, but real- Today, we are still dealing with market instability. Some
ized early that the skill sets for face-to-face selling and locations are open; others remain fully or partially closed.
telemarketing were very different. (And even the most But in the new normal, we can't go back to the way we
experienced telesales reps found merchants unwilling to sold before, nor can we sell cost savings alone. Several fac-
engage with them). tors have changed not only how we sell, but also to whom
we sell. ISOs and MLSs that promote and rely exclusively
As I continued conversations with ISOs and MLSs, I re- upon one way to sell are finding it difficult to get sales.
minded them to monitor how the merchants in their mar-
ket (specifically) reacted to this extended lockdown. I also Sadly, some agents will feel they can't adapt, fearing they
noted that their reaction might require the agent's assis- won't be able to compete. I can say without question, they
tance. are wrong. That is what I intend to prove—starting with
my next article.
For example, I had observed that many retailers were mov-
ing to curbside delivery. Nurseries would ask consumers
what they wanted to purchase and bring it to their car. Jeff Fortney is vice president ISO relations for Signature Payments. A
Since many consumers were homebound, a large number long-time payments industry executive and mentor, Jeff is focused on
of them turned to gardening and landscaping. But curb- strengthening and developing partnerships and evaluating new busi-
side ordering and delivery proved to be slow, as nurseries ness opportunities. He can be reached at 214-458-1379.
typically did not have a handheld solution or other appro-
priate solution for this type of transaction. ISOs and MLSs
who were in conversation with them found they could sell
into these types of merchants. A Also find us on lso find us on FFacebook, acebook,
Strategizing under fluid conditions L LinkedIn & inkedIn & TTwitter for the witter for the

From these and other observations, agents found success mos
most up-to-date stories, t up-to-date stories,
selling mobile solutions to their merchants. They found
can’t miss events and newest an’t miss events and newest
ways to support online item ordering using hosted pay- c
ind
ment pages. In essence, they were able to help their ex- industry announcements.ustry announcements.
isting merchants sell, and in return, they were building
loyalty. They also approached others to offer such solu-
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